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Butler Basketball: Takeaways from home win over Wofford

By Lukas Harkins

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 16: Kamar Baldwin #3 of the Butler Bulldogs dribbles the ball around Terence Davis #3 of the Mississippi Rebels at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 16, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 16: Kamar Baldwin #3 of the Butler Bulldogs dribbles the ball around Terence Davis #3 of the Mississippi Rebels at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 16, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 20: Thompson of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – FEBRUARY 20: Thompson of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

2. Ball movement was flat-out elite.

There is no shortage of ball movement in Butler’s offensive scheming this season. Head coach LaVall Jordan has clearly showcased a ton of trust in Aaron Thompson, the team’s junior point guard, to lead the offense this year and he has answered the call in a big way. Furthermore, though, Bryce Nze’s contributions as a playmaker should not be overlooked. The 6-foot-7 forward exhibits tremendous passing vision and ability out of the post and from the top of the key. That kind of versatility is what makes Nze who he is as a player.

Butler is definitely placing a higher emphasis on ball movement during this campaign and that was evident against Wofford. The Terriers might not be the toughest defensive matchup in the country but the Dawgs showed great patience and discipline while searching for their best possible shot on each possession. They definitely passed (get it?) the eye test on the offensive end in this game and the box score backs that up.

Butler finished this game with 19 assists on 29 made shots. The team also only committed eight turnovers. With regard to this display of passing, Coach Jordan had this to say in postgame:

"“We’re getting better. We’re not there yet, but we talked a lot this week about being purposeful in our decision-making. Guys are trying to put each other in good positions. I think we found our bigs when they were available with some really good passes and we had 12 assists between our two starting guards. [Baldwin and Thompson] were really good at finding Sean [McDermott] when he was open and seeing our roll guys in the pick-and-roll.”"

Butler currently ranks 83rd in the entire nation in assists per made field goal at 57.9%. If that number stays consistent throughout this entire campaign, it would the Dawgs’ best rate of ball-movement (at least under this statistic) since the 2008-09 season.

Additionally, Butler’s current turnover rate of 12.4% ranks 12th in the nation. That would also be the second-best TOrate ever posted in the KenPom era by any program if it holds up. Four games is a super small sample size, I know, but it’s fun nonetheless.

Coach Jordan emphasized playmaking in postgame once game by mentioning that the team is “connected, on both sides of the basketball, and it’s a group where nobody cares who scores, they’re all about winning.” That’s definitely a great mentality to have and it is hard to be too upset with how the Bulldogs moved the ball against Wofford.