Butler

[heels05champs]

Well, time to look ahead after surviving. This is the game that worried me when the brackets first came out. Butler plays smart, hits 3's and will force us to beat them in the half court. They're the type of team that has given us fits at times and they definitely won't beat themselves. I just don't like this matchup. Thoughts?

 

[-BBH-]

Butler by 5.

 

[HeelFan58]

Our last game vs. Butler was a disaster.

 

[strummingram]

UNC will beat Butler.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

They beat us in 2013 and again in 2015. Stevens was the coach in 2013, but the same coach now as in 2015.

Our turn.

Make it a blowout, please. Both to atone for those earlier losses and to get the taste of this Arkansas squeaker out of our mouths.

 

[Go Heels #1]

UNC by 10. Our down game was tonight and we escaped.

 

[Indy_Heel]

We struggle against teams like Butler... but not this time

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Berry has time to heal. Boys on a mission, bring it on.

 

[imajericho]

Think we will end up being too big for Butler. Should be able to dominate inside and just need to play the outside even.

The one thing Butler does tend to do well though is boxing out to prevent offensive rebounds.

 

[dlew71]

what is their main Defense? Man or Zone?
If zone and multiple then I am concerned as outside shooting other than the opening game of the NCAAT has been off for awhile

IF the Heels can focus and play inside out then I agree should be a 10 pt cushion

Need Hicks / Meeks / Bradley / Maye to punish Butler all night

 

[CrazyHeel]

We've played poorly on quick turnarounds all season. Butler will be a tough out, no doubt. If we get by them we're gonna have to play much better to make the final four.

 

[RoseHeel]

I felt the game we had with Arkansas is the type of game we would have with Butler. So hopefully we win by Double Digits.

 

[Indy_Heel]

We've played poorly on quick turnarounds all season. Butler will be a tough out, no doubt. If we get by them we're gonna have to play much better to make the final four.

In those games we seemed slow and sluggish. That wasn't the case tonight, so that's positive I liked to see. I would like to see how many teams could handle the aggressive defense and still stay poised when not getting the calls.

 

[GoNtheDistance]

We owe butler. They've gotten the best of us recently.

 

[Heels smoked your team]

Heels need to get the ball to Hicks and Meeks down low and set the tone early.

 

[Heeelz46]

I rewatched our Butler game in 2014 atlantis. So ugly. Of course-it was November..Roy played about 30 different lineups..but we beat ourselves just as much as Butler playing well. Having said that Butler plays very sound and disciplined. The whole game looked like the ten minute stretch vs Arkansas where we looked like we were playing the wrong sport.

 

[gunslingerdick]

I have a feeling that we'll see a pretty good performance from the Heels on Friday night. Butler will have to play their best game of the year to beat us. I don't think they will and I think the Heels roll.

 

[GoNtheDistance]

we have to pound the paint from the tip. if we allow butler to force us into taking jump shots, we will lose and it will look a lot like the Arkansas game. a steady dose of Meeks, Hicks and Bradley will do wonders against Butler. I suspect them to use a lot of zone so we'll need to hit some outside shots but we can't turn have Justin or Joel turn into a black hole of hiking up 3 after 3 after 3. We also must work hard to defend through screens, etc.

 

[gary-7]

Well, time to look ahead after surviving. This is the game that worried me when the brackets first came out. Butler plays smart, hits 3's and will force us to beat them in the half court. They're the type of team that has given us fits at times and they definitely won't beat themselves. I just don't like this matchup. Thoughts?

I haven't watched much of Butler this season, but they are always one of those style teams that we have to be on point to play.

They "value possesions" --- that sounds like a cliche but it's a fundamental thing of not being loose with the ball and valuing getting a solid shot. Apparenty that's going well for them so far in the tourney with their FG %. They have historically been more than willing to push the limit on allowable screens and hand-offs, and I'm sure will try to stress our Bigs on the perimter. Our guys need to be sound thru the shot-clock, move their feet and and not bite on ball-fakes. I see they haven't always been gang-busters from deep, but they've been shooting well of late so we need to run them off the 3-pt line.

Butler is also physical --- not in-your-face physical like Arky --- but more like Villanova, crafty and sneaky (and, yes, occassionally dirty) "old-man tricks" like subtle undercuts, redirect hip-checks, kidney shoves on rebounds, etc, etc. Our guys need to not underestimate them and also be strong with the ball and anticipate contact on drives and finish thru it. The Offensive Glass should be our friend in this one.

Bottom line is this is a style/team that has given us trouble. It just falls on us to be on point. Take care fo the rock, convert a good % of open looks and control the glass. I go back to my pre-tourney keys: Score in transition, Lock in on D, Make our FTs, and JB aggression. If we meet these against anybody, we win.

 

[gary-7]

Berry has time to heal. Boys on a mission, bring it on.

Key^^^.
A healthy JB can make these guys' lives miserable on both ends. Let's hope the ankle is better than it was Sunday.

 

[notashelbyfan]

We win easy if we pound them in the paint and don't shoot 30 3'S, but if we jack up 30 3's and are not hitting we will lose!

All year we have went thru stretches where we get into that 3 point shooting game and it kills us.

 

[jah420]

If we get up early like we did on the Hogs, I would love to see Roy just go ahead and play the core starters and try to step on the team's throat. I know he is probably not going to adjust/change his sub patterns.

 

[BillyL]

Friday's game is going to be a very, very tough battle for us IMO. Butler plays very good defense, if we suffer another poor shooting night as we did playing Arkansas and we're likely not going to like the outcome.

 

[Spacegrass]

All I know is the boys better bring their lunch pales because it's gonna be a long , tough time at the office Friday night. Don't let Tyler Lewis get revenge for the beat downs he caught at State.

 

[Heelicious]

A healthy JB can make these guys' lives miserable on both ends. Let's hope the ankle is better than it was Sunday.

Has anybody heard anything on how Joel Berry is doing this week? I assume he's getting treatment nearly around the clock, but I wonder how his ankle is doing, and whether he's been able to practice. And whether he's going to have to wear some sort of wrap on his fingernails on his shooting hand (I hope not).

 

[JuleZ '02 HEEL]

Has anybody heard anything on how Joel Berry is doing this week? I assume he's getting treatment nearly around the clock, but I wonder how his ankle is doing, and whether he's been able to practice. And whether he's going to have to wear some sort of wrap on his fingernails on his shooting hand (I hope not).

He says he's good, just a little bruised, and practice went ok.

First question here.

 

[gary-7]

Has anybody heard anything on how Joel Berry is doing this week? I assume he's getting treatment nearly around the clock, but I wonder how his ankle is doing, and whether he's been able to practice. And whether he's going to have to wear some sort of wrap on his fingernails on his shooting hand (I hope not).

JB just said earlier today that there was still discoloration (which is normal) but the pain was pretty much gone. Went full last practice. Fingers crossed.

 

[uncfan in ky]

 

[Tigertown_a_Rick]

We played like we were on a Dook hangover last weekend, and I hope that we got it out of our system, and can get refocused for this weekend?...Butler has beat some good teams this year including Nova and Xavier twice along with Arizona, so they won't be intimidated a bit by the Tarheels....But the bright lights do get a little brighter once you make it to the sweet 16, and most of our team has been there and done that, so I hope that experience from last season pays off this friday, and we play our best game of the tournament....We need to pound the boards to take advantage of our size advantage, and we need to defend the perimeter on defense....If we can do those two things, limit our turnovers, and make our free throws....I like our chances to advance to the Great 8!

Go Tar Heels!

 

[ChiShankCity]

Gonna have to earn it. A couple stats.

- Butler is 10th best in the country in offensive possessions that end in a turnover.
- Pretty much everyone but 2 of their rotation guys can shoot the 3. Tough matchup.
- Their bigs draw fouls. Our bigs can foul.

We should absolutely dismantle them on the glass. Butler doesn't even try to offensive rebound.

That will probably be really telling. If we're not dominant on the glass, we'll probably lose. That's an area we need to be decisively better.

 

[Archer2]

We played like we were on a Dook hangover last weekend, and I hope that we got it out of our system, and can get refocused for this weekend?..

We had a big first half lead against SC and relaxed, then lost all the momentum. We can't afford to do that again.

Butler has beat some good teams this year including Nova and Xavier twice along with Arizona, so they won't be intimidated a bit by the Tarheels....But the bright lights do get a little brighter once you make it to the sweet 16, and most of our team has been there and done that, so I hope that experience from last season pays off this friday, and we play our best game of the tournament....We need to pound the boards to take advantage of our size advantage, and we need to defend the perimeter on defense....If we can do those two things, limit our turnovers, and make our free throws....I like our chances to advance to the Great 8!

Go Tar Heels!

Amen on all counts.