Brian Butch

[campybatman]

Anyone who follows WU have any insight on Butch?

Brian Butch was one of the most heralded prep-prospects in University of Wisconsin history. The former five-star from Appleton was rated higher than the likes of Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza out of high school, and was expected to be a force in the Big 10. He has not exactly lived up to expectations, though, redshirting his freshman year even. However, this season, without the likes of Kammron Taylor and Alando Tucker by his side, Butch is going to have the opportunity to step up in a major way and assume the role he was recruited to fill.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brian-Butch-170/

Undrafted rookies like Wisconsin's Brian Butch and Detroit Mercy's Ryvon Covile also were in Boston for a workout.

[TheCelticTruth]

and he is still unimpressive

[ARB729]

IMO, it's one thing to not meet your expectations going from college to pros. But when you don't meet them from high school to college, you're probably not that good.

[TheCelticTruth]

IMO, it's one thing to not meet your expectations going from college to pros. But when you don't meet them from high school to college, you're probably not that good.

QFT

adam morrison syndrome as well.

i cant recall a time where watching brian butch and hearing about the kind of player he was "supposed to be" didnt raise a feelin of compulsion to retch for the disparity

[campybatman]

Damn. Are all of these young centers, Butch, P. Bryant, Morris, Butler and Harrison, all scrubs?

Then it'll be Andersen's job to lose if he's deem by Ainge as the top target to back up Perkins and not anyone of these "array of big men" brought in to workout for Boston.

[TheCelticTruth]

my personal feeling is that morris and butler have the most potential to be non scrubs, but its a reach for any of them.

yes birdman is a far better player than the "array" of near washouts

[campybatman]

Morris reads like P.Bryant as the typical underachiever who others expected more from at the collegiate and professional levels. Perhaps, taking on one of them as a project is going down the Gerald Green road again. That light inside never goes off for these young centers. Too bad. Perkins needs help who aren't just Powe or Davis. Bigger help. That big needs to be P. Bryant among these players being worked out. The talent's there to be more than a marginal reserve.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm7zNa5aCy4

[sully00]

Big men are like left handed pitchers. If you are talking about picking them up off the street you have to accept that you are doing it with a pooper scooper. That said take the most skilled guy, and assume they are all fat, lazy, underachievers.

[TheCelticTruth]

Morris reads like P.Bryant as the typical underachiever who others expected more from at the collegiate and professional levels. Perhaps, taking on one of them as a project is going down the Gerald Green road again. That light inside never goes off for these young centers. Too bad. Perkins needs help who aren't just Powe or Davis. Bigger help. That big needs to be P. Bryant among these players being worked out. The talent's there to be more than a marginal reserve.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm7zNa5aCy4

the thing that concerns me is if youre too soft for don nelson, what team are you tough enough for?

[CCBC]

I saw O'Bryant play in college quite often, and I was always impressed.

He came out too early. I think we should give him a shot.

[avi623]

I went to Wisco. He lived in my dorm when we were freshmen. Besides being a total loser, he is a horrible basketball player. Probably the worst McD's High School All-American EVER. He can hit the outside shot with decent regularity. Otherwise, he doesn't score in the post, doesn't rebound, doesn't defend, and his athleticism reminds of the special olympics. He is NOT an NBA player at an level. He will play in Europe, end of story.

[campybatman]

If you're young... You can still be molded or you've more room to grow. If you're older... You'll be set in your ways. Stubborn and content. I'll like to think that P. Bryant needs someone to believe in him. The Celtics have C. Ray and Garnett won't hesitate to put his foot firm in his rear end and leave it there. If P. Bryant doesn't want it there. Then he'll have to move it himself and it'll take effort and determination to move Garnett from your rear end.

Also, P. Bryant only was in school for two years and apparently wasn't heavily recruited in high school.

From reading, the biggest areas of "fixing" from him are strength and conditioning, sustaining his intensity and keeping it for a full game and footwork, rotations and holding his position against more stocky and athletic opponents. Lacks a back to the basket game and doesn't possess much of a perimeter game or the range outside other than a promising hook shot in his limited arsenal. His slow development of an offensive game isn't as concerning as most would point out. On a team such as the Celtics, you'll ask of him what you would ask from Perkins. Just do the "other" things we need from you. Defend your man, box him out for offensive and defensive rebounds, read defenses, rotate, pass, pitch in with scoring if the opportunity presents itself. Have a positive attitude, be a team player and leader, be in shape and prepared to go always and be clutch. Play within yourself but don't be afraid to take the initiate. And above all, do your best not to hurt the team.

My impression is P. Bryant has talent but the mental side of basketball is where he's slow to grasp. The physical part of the game he's walking a long road but as long as he's walking is what matters to that team. I think he's capable of improving his overall game but he and that team must keep their expectations reasonable. Forget about his draft selection and get through to him that it'll be a starting over process.

This can fall on deaf ears. Shame. But if he's for real. He needs to impress and give you the reasons to believe that he belongs in games and in this league. However, it doesn't help you if you're showing exactly what you were criticized for before entering the NBA. Conditioning seems like a big issue with him. Fortunately, this can be changed if he wants to change it in himself.

I haven't said much about Butch. Not sure where to start with him. I guess he and every big that was invited simply must make an impression. The idea and purpose for you is to convince everyone who concerns you for a job that you belong and can help the Celtics. Because they don't need you. You've to change their minds. Spots are limited, minutes are earned.

P. Bryant hands down has the size and length and shot blocking capability you desire from a true center. You wish he could put it altogether and become a more polished player for you. He intrigues me for the reason that I feel maybe he could be the one of all of these workout names to actual contribute beyond a back up and not just fit a role of a back up. That is, if Perkins goes down... There won't be much of a drop off in terms of energy and consistency when you come in. But, Perkins isn't always consistent so that shouldn't be tough to do if we're talking about Andersen or who ever is signed at center this summer. Boston needs to find the player who can add a presence (primarily defensively speaking) in the middle. You saw that when Perkins was out during the playoffs this season. You shouldn't have to be placed in a situation where you're relying on a single player like that. It can affect your confidence and what you normally do as a team when he's absent. So, it's good that Perkins didn't further injure himself coming make during the playoffs.

[threrf23]

IMO, it's one thing to not meet your expectations going from college to pros. But when you don't meet them from high school to college, you're probably not that good.

I'm not one hundred percent sure. If you end up in a situation in college, perhaps you end up in a situation where you are so much better than the players around you, you lack a little motivation, and if you are long-term oriented, you are likely to be focused on working on fundamentals and strengthening weaknesses. IMO Brandon Rush and maybe Thad Yound falls in that category.

The fact Butch was heralded so high coming out of prep school is enough to make me say we should be giving him a look, but:

1.) From what I read on him it doesn't appear there is any area of his game where he was truly able to excel in college.

2.) Regardless of where he was supposedly ranked after high school, if he had the talent of a JO or Al Jefferson or Andray Blatche, IMO he probably would have been projected as a first round pick, or maybe an early second, and even if he fell IMO his projections would have been high enough so that people would have spoke of him as a guy who might declare and might make a worthy pick in those spots. I never recall hearing any talk of that in the past.

3.) Post high school projections for big men need to be taken with a grain of salt relative to wings and such, because scouts get overexcited about height and size when looking at younger players. You have to figure out if a player is ranked so high strictly because of his build, or if he is truly talented enough to justify the ranking. Given bullet #2 above, my guess is Brian Butch was overrated due to his build.

[campybatman]

3.) Post high school projections for big men need to be taken with a grain of salt relative to wings and such, because scouts get overexcited about height and size when looking at younger players. You have to figure out if a player is ranked so high strictly because of his build, or if he is truly talented enough to justify the ranking. Given bullet #2 above, my guess is Brian Butch was overrated due to his build.

I thought of BJ Mullens as I'd read your number three.

[sully00]

One thing about O'Bryant, is that beyond being young with a track record of being a late bloomer at a position known for late development, but he was also playing for the worst possible coach. He doesn't want to even use a center because it slows down his offense, Nellie screwed up Patrick Ewing.

I would like to see us take a shot on him because he is huge and he can score even though he may be more Kandiman than anything else.

[campybatman]

Found an interesting read on Butch. I quoted the familiar names but click on the link to read all the players he'd listed. Note: The writer seems like he has this "thing" with Perkins. Indifference.

If he was just some nondescript guy from Appleton, most people would be talking about what a solid career Butch had, and what a good contributor he was.

But the fact is, Brian Butch wasn’t a nondescript guy from Appleton. He was a high school all-American who graced the pages of USA Today next to LeBron James. So he’s judged on a different scale than the Dave Maders of the world. In light of this, the question that still lingers in my head is whether, even with the solid numbers he put up at Wisconsin, is Brian Butch the bust that so many say he is?

Because Butch could be considered neither spectacular or awful as a player, it's tough to answer that question. However, with Butch’s college career over, I thought it might be interesting to examine how he stacks up now against some of his high school all-American peers. Seeing as it is the most widely publicized all-American team out there, I looked at the McDonald’s All-American team from Butch’s senior year in high school, 2003. Was Butch unfairly expected to live up to the standards of LeBron James, or is he actually underrated because there are tons of guys that we never hear from again on teams like this? What I found is that, as usual, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Below I’ve listed all participants of the 2003 McDonald’s All-American game, and a few brief notes about them, along with their stats from their final year of college (as listed by Yahoo Sports), if they played in college. I’ve attempted to list them from most successful to least successful, despite the fact that it is essentially impossible to do such a thing. The two things that cause me the most trouble in this analysis are:

Leon Powe (California): Started off his career at Cal in dominant fashion in 2003-4, being named Pac-10 freshman of the year, earning all-Pac-10 first honors, and becoming the first freshman ever to lead the Pac-10 in rebounding. Sat out 2004-5 with a knee injury, but returned to form in 2005-6, again earning a place on the all-Pac-10 team, and 2nd team all-American honors. Taken 49th overall (2nd round) by the Denver Nuggets in the 2006 NBA draft, Powe was immediately traded to the Boston Celtics, where he has occasionally had the chance to shine (most notably in game 2 of this year’s NBA finals) as a backup forward. (2006: 20.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 1.4 apg)

Kendrick Perkins (NBA): Skipped college and was chosen 27th overall by Memphis in the 2003 NBA draft and immediately traded to Boston. After a slow first few years, Perkins is now a solid, but unspectacular starting center for the NBA Champion Boston Celtics.

J.R. Giddens (Kansas, New Mexico): Started off his college career with two strong seasons at Kansas, earning all-Big 12 freshman team and honorable mention all-Big 12 honors during his first year with the Jayhawks. Transferred to New Mexico after his sophomore year amid off-the-court issues, including a bar fight and conflicts with teammates. Giddens thrived as a Lobo, earning honorable Mention all-Mountain West honors in the 2006-7 season and being named Mountain West co-player of the year, and an honorable mention all-American in 2007-8. (2008: 16.3 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.1 apg)

Brian Butch (Wisconsin): Made the unusual choice for a high school all-American to redshirt his freshman year and change his slight build for the rigors of college basketball. Injuries and illnesses plagued Butch throughout his career, but he nonetheless played a major role for Wisconsin during his final three seasons. Named all-Big Ten honorable mention in 2006-7 and all-Big Ten first team in 2007-8. (2008: 12.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.8 apg)

Jackie Butler (NBA): Butler failed to qualify academically to attend Mississippi State, and then decided to attend prep school for a year before turning pro. He went undrafted, and split time between the CBA and the New York Knicks during his first professional year. To date, has played in 69 total NBA games with the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, with his most recent NBA game coming at the end of the 2006-7 season.

http://chriswesthoops.blogspot.com/2008 ... later.html

[Rocky5000]

Damn. Are all of these young centers, Butch, P. Bryant, Morris, Butler and Harrison, all scrubs?

Then it'll be Andersen's job to lose if he's deem by Ainge as the top target to back up Perkins and not anyone of these "array of big men" brought in to workout for Boston.

Andersen is a scrub. These other guys we've brought in to work out are sub-scrub level. If the people Danny's been looking at make up our options at backup center, you might want to prepare yourself for a lot of small ball. Big Baby and Powe will definitely see a lot of time.

[mr_sunshine]

Butch is HORRIBLE.

[sox839]

I think butch can be an nba player not a superstar but he has some skill, anyone who can shoot outside can be a role player in the nba look at steve kerr. My best comparision I can think of is matt bonner. Maybe brian butch can b e the player that we all thought scal was supposed to be which is matt bonner.

[campybatman]

So, you see Butch not as a NBA center but maybe a forward?