Georgetown @ Butler 12/19/23 Discussion

[DanMcQ]

Time to continue our good showings at Hinkle, hopefully with Epps in the lineup.

[thedragon]

Hard to handicap this matchup until we know if Epps is healthy again - and even if he's available, will it take him another week (like Rowan before) to shake the cobwebs and get strength back?

At 100%, I think we matchup pretty well with Butler.

This is where it would be nice if Georgetown could get there sh*t together from the SID front and post pregame availability from Cooley. They do it for home games but still not on road.

[thedragon]

[EtomicB]

By most accounts, this should be deemed a big game but since most agree this is a "developmental" season it's hard for me to describe it as such.

Without a win tomorrow, the team is staring closely at a 0-3 start to BE play.

Also, it'll be a big test for the youngsters, especially Epps & Brunbaugh due the the pest Alexander is defensively & his attacking style on offense.

Looking forward to it.

[prhoya]

Dec 18, 2023 14:20:28 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

By most accounts, this should be deemed a big game but since most agree this is a "developmental" season it's hard for me to describe it as such.

Without a win tomorrow, the team is staring closely at a 0-3 start to BE play.

Also, it'll be a big test for the youngsters, especially Epps & Brunbaugh due the the pest Alexander is defensively & his attacking style on offense.

Looking forward to it.

True, but I like that we have this 3-game road-trip in the “area”, instead of several round trips from DC. That Marquette game is always a killer and the students will not be there. The less fans, the merrier! How are tickets selling?

That Creighton, DePaul and Seton Hall homestand before the students come back from winter break really sucks.

[thedragon]

Dec 18, 2023 14:20:28 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

By most accounts, this should be deemed a big game but since most agree this is a "developmental" season it's hard for me to describe it as such.

Without a win tomorrow, the team is staring closely at a 0-3 start to BE play.

Also, it'll be a big test for the youngsters, especially Epps & Brunbaugh due the the pest Alexander is defensively & his attacking style on offense.

Looking forward to it.

2-5 in the first 7 would be my baseline. Anything over that would mean a pretty good upset somewhere. Anything under and we likely need to re-examine if getting to 5 big east wins is doable.

[guru]

If we win, it will mark the first time we have been above .500 in conference place since January 2, 2018.

[thedragon]

Dec 18, 2023 15:18:37 GMT -5 guru said:

If we win, it will mark the first time we have been above .500 in conference place since January 2, 2018.

Whens the last time we've been 4 games over .500?

[bearsandbulls]

Cal alum and Gtown BB fan with 2 fam members grads recently. Cal just played Butler at Hinkle which Cal fans were very impressed with the total experience and beat them in OT......I think the Hoyas are better than Cal this year with both teams having new coaches and transfer portal players. I am very surprised at the point spread, especially if Epps plays. BTW. I love the way Cooley is doing it....Transfer portal to jump start, but quality recruits coming in over the next year. Things are looking up, but especially in the way he engages the whole Georgetown community.

Edit: Said "beat" them in OT. Sorry, meant lost 90-97 in OT....Remains, Cal is not as good as G'town

[hoyasaxa2003]

Dec 18, 2023 12:34:06 GMT -5 thedragon said:

For what it's worth, the spread is usually pretty close to the projection on KenPom, which for this game is 83-70, so Butler by 13.

Butler is doing quite well this year compared to last year. Thad Matta, at full strength or near full strength, was an elite level coach, so I am not surprised that he has the team playing better. (This is also another piece of evidence for my stating it takes time to rebuild a program, assuming Matta and Butler continue to improve.)

What does Butler do well? They shoot twos really well (22nd best). On threes, they're basically average (34.2%). They defend the three well keeping opponents to only 30.6%. They shoot free throws well, too (21st best). They protect the ball quite well, and do not turn it over a lot.

What does Butler NOT do well? They aren't particularly strong on rebounding on either side of the ball, but especially on offensive rebounds. On defense, they do not force a ton of turnovers, nor are they very good at getting steals.

Stylistically, Butler doesn't take a lot of threes. Only 28.7% of their points come from threes (ranked 219), whereas 53.8% of their points come from twos. While good at free throws, Butler does not draw many.

Overall, at least so far, Butler has been a much better team than us, though on both sides of the ball. Butler's overall offense is ranked 49th and their defense 84th. In contrast, our offense/defense is ranked 108/280. I really think a very large range of outcomes is possible here. I think it could be a competitive game, especially if we can get it going from three. But, it's also easy to see a situation where (especially if we lose Epps) Butler shuts us down, and we give up a lot of easy baskets in the paint.

Our keys to success are to play better defense, rebound, and make threes. Of course, that'll be the case in almost every game we play this season.

[calhoya]

I watched Butler play Penn St. , Boise State and Texas Tech and while a couple of those teams are in rebuilding mode, I have to admit I expect Butler to beat the Hoyas fairly comfortably. The opening 11 point spread is not a shock to me. They are disciplined and do not make a lot of the careless mistakes the Hoyas are making from game to game, with the exception of Posh Alexander who continues to make steals and TOs with the same pace. If Epps cannot play or is not playing well due to illness, then I expect that this could get ugly early. Going to need the same Fielder we saw against Notre Dame, Rowan carefully handling the ball, more from Styles, Heath and Massoud and Cook cannot shoot 50% on his layups.

[hoya9797]

Dec 18, 2023 15:41:49 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Dec 18, 2023 15:18:37 GMT -5 guru said:

If we win, it will mark the first time we have been above .500 in conference place since January 2, 2018.

Whens the last time we've been 4 games over .500?

Jan 26, 2016

[thedragon]

Dec 18, 2023 19:56:40 GMT -5 hoya9797 said:

Dec 18, 2023 15:41:49 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Whens the last time we've been 4 games over .500?

Jan 26, 2016

This can't be real life!

[hoya9797]

Dec 18, 2023 20:11:06 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Dec 18, 2023 19:56:40 GMT -5 hoya9797 said:

Jan 26, 2016

This can't be real life!

Things got pretty grim and then managed to get worse.

[EtomicB]

[dense]

For the people wanting Ryan to play. I think this game is one he might get 8-10 minutes in.

[daveg023]

[michaelgrahmstylie]

I just had to pause and extend my voice, and how we should applaud this true Georgetown hero.
I believe we should applaud anyone doing anything legal for 50 years!

Radio: 1067 The Fan, Sirius XM 383 (The legendary Rich Chvotkin/50th season)

[hoyaboya]

Dec 19, 2023 7:25:32 GMT -5 daveg023 said:

Must be one heck of an illnesss...hope the kid is OK and it's nothing serious.

[professorhoya]

Dec 19, 2023 10:47:15 GMT -5 hoyaboya said:

Dec 19, 2023 7:25:32 GMT -5 daveg023 said:

Must be one heck of an illnesss...hope the kid is OK and it's nothing serious.