Game Recap: Butler

The funk continues. I have to stop and tip my hat to a very good Butler team. Even though they are young they showed they can pull out a win in a tough atmosphere. Hayward could play for a lot of teams and I can see why the staff recruited Matt Howard so hard. I would imagine Brad Stevens is one of the hottest young coaches in the country. Very impressed with his poise and demeanor on the sideline. The Bulldogs deserve our spot in the top 25.

Now to our end of things. First the good: Brown played strong, Frease showed some offensive life out there in the first half, Redford continues to look more comfortable on the floor, and the team battled on the glass.

The bad: the black hole that has become CJ Anderson needs to realize the game isn't always one on one. He missed several opportunities to kick the ball to wide open shooters. He also needs to strengthen his free throw shooting if he is going to get to the line that much. Where have you gone BJ Raymond? We need you to get to where we want to be. Our warts of inconsistent free throw shooting overall and ball handling have been exposed against very good teams this week. I would suspect a lineup change for the next game. Also a little disappointed in Sean for not keeping his composure towards the end of the game. At that point I knew any chance to get over the hump in this one was finished. What X fans can take from this mini slump is to look back to last season. We were blown out by Arizona State after final exams and came back and went down to a solid Tennessee team at Cintas right before Christmas. That team learned their lessons well and went on to do big things. Hopefully our seniors will do the same for this edition of the Muskies.

I will be back first of the year with some 'inside' information on the recruiting front concerning a very talented PG from the 2010 class out of the NYC among other things. Also I have an opportunity from Learfield Sports to ponder that could lead to some interesting things for yours truly come first of the year.

I hope everybody has a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I am off to finish Christmas shopping.