Similar to what we did for Marquette, we are going to breakdown the numbers from Synergy on the Butler Bulldogs.
Before we get started, I just want to acknowledge a few things:
First, while Synergy gives us a wealth of information, not every possession ends up being charted. Almost everything is but there is the occasion where a possession gets lost or simply not charted. Either way, the numbers give us a good indication on how a team gets their points and what players are best in certain situations. Synergy allows us to do a deep dive without going so into the film (although trust me, the film helps).
Secondly, sometimes the numbers lie. For Marquette, the numbers told us McEwen was a bad defender and that the Golden Eagles were bad in pick and roll defense. The thought was this should be great for James Bouknight, who heading into the game, had been really good in pick and rolls. However, upon watching the game and the film review, Marquette was actually really good in their pick and roll defense and McEwen was excellent on Bouknight for the possessions he was the primary defender.
But! Sometimes the numbers are right! For example, the numbers told us Marquette was good out of the post, especially when entering it into John. Additionally, the numbers told us Garcia and Lewis loved to pick and pop and Garcia was very efficient in these situations (and spot-up situations). Both these things were true in the game!
To recap - the numbers will never tell the full story, but they do give us a good indication about a team, its player, and their style of play.
Okay, enough blabbering - onto Butler.
Butler Bulldogs 3-5 (2-3)
To start, here is a chart of their top six minute getters:
Talking Aaron Thompson
Senior Guard Aaron Thompson was out for weeks after a knee injury before finally getting back into action in their win over Georgetown Wednesday night. He played 30 minutes against Georgetown which tells me we should fully expect him to play Saturday afternoon. Remarkably, in the 98 games Thompson has played in, he has started in 95 of them.
Last year, Thompson averaged 7.2 PPG and 4.7 APG. He has only shot 60 three-pointers in his career. He is not a threat from three.
Very good defender last year. Allowed 31.1% shooting when primary defender.
We are going to breakdown Butler’s top 4 used possessions but it should be noted that while they only have 26 possessions of players coming off-screens, Jair Bolden is 8-15 coming off screens.
Butler’s Top 4 Used Possessions:
Spot Up
Pick and Roll
Post Ups
Transition
Butler Spot-Up Possessions:
*Reminder, spot-ups are any basketball play not off a ballscreen, handoff, downscreen or cut. Generally, they are the result of a spot-up. It can be a catch and shoot, drive to the hoop, or dribble pull up. They are most common off of a ballscreen where the ballhandler doesn’t keep it nor pass to the screensetter.*
Butler’s possessions end in the spot up about 23% of the time and they are averaging 1.066 Points Per Possession. Rather than breaking down what this means, let me just tell you that it is really good; good enough for 31st in the country. On these spot-up possessions, Butler is shooting 41.6% from the field.
The three most used spot-up players for Butler are freshman Chuck Harris, Grad Transfer Jair Bolden, and freshman Myles Tate. Harris has been involved in 31 spot-up possessions, shooting 17-29 from the field. Bolden has also been involved in 31 spot-up possessions, shooting 12-29 from the field. Lastly, Tate has been involved in 21 spot-up possessions, shooting 9-21 from the field.
The three players’ spot-up possessions are very good and now you add Aaron Thompson into the mix who in very limited data (7 possessions) is shooting 4-5 from the field in spot-up situations.
It should also be noted that Harris, Bolden, and Tate are extremely good in catch and shoot situations, most of which come from the spot-up possessions (or transition). Harris is 13-22, Bolden is 17-34 and Tate is 7-19.
How does UConn Defend Spot-Ups:
UConn is excellent when defending spot-up possessions, ranking 35th in the country in Points Per Possession allowed. UConn is holding teams to just 31.8% from the field on spot-up possessions.
According to Synergy, UConn’s six defenders who have been involved in the most spot-up defensive possessions are all labeled as excellent, very good, or good. James Bouknight has been involved in the most defensive spot-up possessions at 24 and is allowing 7-20 shooting. RJ Cole is the only “Excellent” defender, allowing 3-16 shooting on 17 possessions.
Butler Pick and Rolls:
Overall, Butler has run 195 pick and rolls, which accounts for 34% of their total possessions, and are shooting 41% from the field on all pick and roll situations. While the overall number of 41% is above average, the made shots are mostly coming from spot ups, not from the primary ball handler keeping it or the screener scoring. The Bulldogs are shooting 31.5% on keeps and 45.7% on when the ball is passed.
Butler uses 4 different ballhandlers in pick and rolls: Tate, Harris, Thompson, and Bolden. Tate has run the most pick and rolls at 67, keeping it 31 times and passing it 36 times. On keeps, Butler is only scoring 29% of the time but when he passes, the Bulldogs are 16-31 on ballscreen situations.
Harris is next at 61 possessions with 25 keeps and 36 passes. Similar to Tate, Harris is 4-19 from the field when he keeps it but Butler is 17-31 when he passes it to a teammate. Bolden is at 36 possessions which is only 4 per game. He has kept it 20 times and passed 16. Overall, Butler as a team is shooting 38% from the field on his pick and rolls.
Lastly, Thompson has been involved in 31 pick and rolls in only 3 games played. He has kept it 20 times and passed 11. He is more prone to convert off the pick and roll, usually by taking it all the way to the hoop or shooting a runner. As pointed out earlier, he is not a three-point shooting threat. Overall, he is 6-14 on keeps.
Here is chart form:
Who is setting these ballscreens?
Bryce Golden has set the most ballscreens for Butler at 23, popping 10 times, rolling 6 and slipping 4 times. Overall, he is shooting 8-20 from the field as the screen setter. Bryce Nze and JaKobe Coles have each set 7 screens and are a combined 7-11 from the field as the screen setter. Both have popped 5 times and rolled twice.
How UConn Defends Pick and Rolls:
UConn has been involved in 141 pick and rolls this year and are allowing just 34.6% shooting, something considered Excellent by Synergy standards while also forcing turnovers on 16.3% of turnovers. In terms of Points Per Possession, UConn ranks 26th in pick and roll defense.
Jalen Gaffney has been involved in the most pick and roll possessions at 22, allowing just 3-16 shooting when the ball handler keeps it. Additionally, Tyrese Martin has elevated himself into an excellent pick and roll defender, allowing 2-9 shooting as the primary defender. Here is a breakdown of the five players who have been involved in the most pick and rolls as the on-ball defender.
When opponents pass to the ballscreener, UConn is allowing 5-15 shooting and forcing a turnover 23.8% of the time. Unfortunately, we don’t have the information for how UConn defends the spot-up out of a pick and roll.
Butler Post Ups:
The third most used offense by Butler is the post up at 67 possessions. On those possessions, they are shooting 37.5% and are scoring on only 34.3% of post-ups.
Nze, at 6-7, is the most used post-up player at 42 possessions. He has kept it 33 times and passed it 9. On keeps, Nze is shooting only 28.6% and turning it over 21.2% of kept post-up possessions. When he passes, Butler is shooting 6-9 on those possessions. Golden is the next most used post-up player at 22, passing it out only twice. On keeps, he is 4-15 from the field on post-ups.
How UConn Defends Post Ups:
UConn has been involved in only 35 post-up possessions this year with 12 coming in their previous game against Marquette. On those 35 possessions, UConn is allowing 12-25 shooting from the field which is about average.
Isaiah Whaley has been involved in the most post-up possessions on defense at 14, allowing just 3-9 shooting from the field. Sanogo is next at 11 and he is allowing 5-8 shooting from the field.
Butler Transition:
Butler has only 54 charted transition possessions which makes sense due to their adjusted tempo that ranks 299th according to Kenpom. On those 54 possessions, Butler is shooting just 31.7% from the field.
UConn Defending Transition:
On the 55 charted transition possessions for UConn, they have been poor, allowing 28-41 shooting and scores on 61.8% of possessions.
Luckily, it is not in Butler’s DNA to push the ball up the court in transition and even if they did, their numbers aren't’ great.
UConn Offense:
Spot up
Pick and Roll
Transition
Post-Ups
UConn Spot-Ups:
UConn has been involved in 118 spot-up possessions, shooting 38.4% from the field. RJ Cole has been involved in the most at 26, shooting 8-22 from the field. UConn has six different players with over 10 possessions of spot-ups.
How Does Butler Defend the Spot-Up
Butler has been involved in 139 total spot-up defensive possessions, allowing 39% FG and 1 Point Per Possession which makes me think they let up a lot of three-pointers. According to kenpom, Butler ranks 299th in opponent’s three-point percentage at 38.1
UConn Pick and Rolls:
UConn has run 119 pick and rolls this year accounting for 24% of their total possessions. Overall UConn is shooting just 34.8% from the field on pick and rolls and turning it over 19.3% of pick and roll possessions. These numbers were not as bad going into the Marquette game but due to Marquette’s stout pick and roll defense, the numbers regressed.
James Bouknight is still the leading pick and roll primary ballhandler at 42 possessions. On his 30 keeps, he is shooting 35% from the field but turning it over 26.7% of the time.
How Does Butler Defend the Pick and Roll:
Butler has been below average in their 163 possessions of defending the pick and roll. Overall, they are allowing 39.2% on opponent’s pick and rolls. Butler’s Harris has been very good in defending the pick and roll, allowing just 4-16 shooting when he is the primary pick and roll defender. Tate has also been above average allowing just 4-13 shooting while Thompson has been poor, allowing 5-7 shooting.
UConn Transition:
UConn is about average in their 68 transition possessions, scoring 1 point per possession and shooting around 50% from the field.
Similar to Butler, UConn’s adjusted tempo is 329th so they are not looking to play fast but Hurley did just make comments regarding wanting to play more in transition.
How Does Butler Defend Transition:
Butler has been good in their 83 transition possessions. They are allowing 53.4% shooting but forcing turnovers 22.9% of the time.
UConn Post-Ups:
Rather than discussing UConn’s possessions off cuts (something that accounts for 11% of our offense), we are going to delve into post-ups. While UConn has only gone to the post-up 24 times, they are scoring 1.042 Points Per Possession, shooting 10-20 from the field and scoring on 54.2% of possessions.
Sanogo leads the way with 11 postups, shooting 5-11 from the field. Carlton is next at 10, shooting 3-6 from the field and passing once.
How Does Butler Defend the Post-Up:
The reason for diving into post-ups is because while UConn’s data is limited, Hurley is known to make it a point to establish a post presence early in games. While it is early in the season, Butler is allowing 55% shooting on post-ups this year through five games.
When Golden, who is Butler’s biggest player at 6-9, is the primary defender, he has allowed 11-16 shooting from the field.
Hurley recently had quotes about Sanogo being a double digit guy by the end of the year and I’m curious if the timing of those quotes had anything to do with Butler’s poor post play.
