Game Thread: #14 Butler @ St. Joseph's (Wednesday 1/9/13)

[Title_BU]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...butler#comment

[WH]

I admit I am amazed by how well Butler has played.

I look at the roster and nobody except Clarke really jumps out at me. (His ability to penetrate and finish is a bit of a surprise, though).

Jones is a solid player who creates matchup problems. The same is true of Marshall. Smith has stepped up as a senior. Dunham is going to be terrific, though his game right now has obvious holes.

The sum is quite clearly better than the parts. Butler is a veteran team that plays with poise and smarts, and they are plenty tough, too. After that Xavier beating, the Bulldogs haven't let anyone push them around. They don't make a lot of mistakes on offense and know how to dig deep when they need to get some defensive stops.

Obviously most of the credit has to go to Stevens. We all knew he was a great coach. I didnt know just how great he was until I starting watching a lot of Butler games.

The Butler Way was brightly illuminated yet again last night by the Bulldog opponents. I look at SJU's starting five and they appear a lot more impressive. That's why the Hawks were the preseason favorites to win the A-10.

The Hawks sure don't play like the Bulldogs, though. They lack the poise, the toughness, the togetherness to fight through hard times.

I sure hope that changes over the course of the season. This SJU team should be tourney bound, but the prospect is really starting to slip away.

[hawkhill]

Cirlcing march 2nd on my calander- Butler vs VCU. That will be a great game.
Hawks prove that five fingers dont necessarily form a fist.
Still scratching my head why Chris Wilson played less than 9 minutes in second half.

[SDW]

Any update on the temperature of Martelli's seat?

If the plaudits go to Stevens the opposite should be true for Phil. After half a decade of listless play, this was the season he pointed toward. Is this the epilogue of his era?

[Title_BU]

Last night's win over St Joe's was Butler's 445th since the start of 93/94 (19+ seasons) With 0 more wins in 12/13 BU will have averaged 22.75 per year for 20 seasons.

[butlerblue101]

@ESPNLunardi: Worst Thursday losses: StJoes(Butler), StJohns(Rutgers), LSU(@Auburn), Cal(UW), NoIowa(Evans), UVa(@Wake), VaTech(BC), MurraySt(EKU).

Dude is a clown.