Lamont Butler (UK Athletics Photo)
If there were any doubts about Lamont Butler’s value to this Kentucky basketball team they vanished Tuesday night.
Kentucky lost 70-66 at Clemson in large part because of Butler’s limited minutes due to foul trouble and an ankle injury.
Butler got two fouls in the first five minutes of the game and picked up his third foul in the opening minute of the second half.
“Lamont’s been playing great, and he actually had a pretty good game cooking to start this game,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said after the game. “One of the things that every coach struggles with is you never want to foul your own guy out. And I probably did that a little bit with Andrew (Carr) tonight. Probably needed to play him with two fouls in the first half. I probably could have done a little bit more with Lamont.”
Pope admitted he made a mistake late in the first half after Kentucky got a lead when he took Butler and Carr both out of the game to protect them from getting a third foul.
“In hindsight, maybe I’d roll the dice and play those guys a little bit more in the first half. That’ll be something we’ll argue about and have no answer for. Philosophically, I don’t want to foul my own guys out,” Pope said.
Butler ended up playing only 19 minutes but had 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting, five assists, two rebounds and two steals. But the key number is that UK was plus 17 in Butler’s 19 minutes — not the kind of number you see very often in a loss, according to UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens. Butler’s backup, Kerr Kriisa, was a minus 21 and went 0-for-4 from the field and did not have an assist in 21 minutes.
“He got hit on the arm, rolled his ankle (in the second half) and had foul trouble,” UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens said about Butler. “I could tell by the flow of Kentucky’s offense even more so than on defense that Kentucky was a much, much better team with him in the game.
“Nothing against Kerr Kriisa. They are two different kinds of point guards. He (Butler) is a winner. It hurt when he picked up that early second foul because it forced Kentucky to play a half-court game.”
Pope admitted the ankle injury in the second half “slowed” Butler down.
ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes said Butler, a San Diego State transfer, is a better and different player this season.
“He is a much better finisher this year and is so strong,” Dykes said.
Givens said few players can impact the game on both ends of the floor like Butler can do and did when he was in Tuesday’s game.
“It was so clear how he affected both ends of the floor,” Givens said.
With Butler on the bench half the game and not directing the offense, UK was held o 0.97 points per possession by Clemson after averaging 1.27 points per possession during its first seven games. Kentucky also came into the game shooting 66 percent on shots in the paint but went just 15 of 34, a 44 percent mark, against Clemson.
Kentucky also came into the game leading the nation in fast break points with 23 per game. The Cats got only eight against Clemson.
“We never got to a great flow. Credit Clemson for that,” Pope said.
One Response
Butler can be a reliable scorer but that takes the team out of the offense as he is a one-on-one scorer. Butler can get 20, but that means the rest of the team might get 60 at best. For us to score in the upper 90s, our point guard will have to be a facilitator who looks to pass first and then move to the 3 point line. The other four guys need to be screening for each other with one popping out to the arc and the other to the basket on their respective half of the court. The first pass will be to a wide open man at the basket or a freed up man on the arc. If to the arc, the ball keeps moving around the arc until an open shot develops or a man is open at the basket. Butler looks for his shot first and that slows down the offense. That could be because we are standing around waiting for a pass instead of moving and screening to get open for one. Butler should be involved in more pick and rolls with our bigs where he can throw it up for a dunk to the rolling big or take it to the basket if open. Butler also should know that he can’t play bully defense on the road, the refs simply will not allow it. It appears that Butler’s motivation is focused on where he hopes to play next year instead of where he is playing right now.
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