Butler Bulldogs Hold an Inter-Squad Scrimmage

The Butler men’s basketball team participated in a closed, inter-squad scrimmage Saturday, in which its expected standouts, well… stood out.

Butler‘s highly touted recruiting class and returning players combined to make quite a show during their scrimmage. The Indianapolis Star’s David Woods highlighted ten takeaways from the bout in an article on Sunday.

Tyler Wideman, the 6-foot-8-inch forward likely to start in the frontcourt alongside junior Andrew Chrabascz, has improved his mid-range jumper and looks leaner than last season, Woods reports.

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The former is good news for Bulldog fans, as Wideman’s shooting was arguably the area he most needed to improve. As for his leanness, while it could boost his quickness and agility, it might also hamper his ability to battle with the large-bodied post players of the Big East.

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NC State transfer Tyler Lewis appears to be a lock at point guard for Butler this season, and scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting during the scrimmage. He also racked up at least four assists, Woods wrote.

Chrabascz continued to prove his value with a 20-point performance on 8-of-9 shooting. This should shock no one, as the Rhode Island native has evolved into one of Butler’s biggest playmakers.

Senior Kellen Dunham, who last week was named to the preseason All-Big East First Team, finished with 16 points, including 12 on four three-pointers.

Woods reports that senior Roosevelt Jones, also a preseason All-Big East First team selection, should be the “de facto backup point guard” this year. No mention was made of graduate transfer Jordan Gathers, who played three years at St. Bonaventure.

While it’s unclear how much playing time Gathers will see, as a guard with NCAA tournament experience, it wouldn’t be surprising if he picked up spare minutes at the point – especially if Lewis and Jones are in foul trouble.

Woods writes that sophomore forward Kelan Martin could be a contender for the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award. Martin, a capable scorer, provided a lift of the bench for the Butler Bulldogs last season, and it looks like he’ll do the same this year as well. Martin scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the scrimmage.

Butler’s two freshmen, 6-foot-10-inch Nate Fowler and 6-foot-6-inch Sean McDermott, most likely won’t see major minutes this year, Woods reports. Woods suggested that McDermott could be red-shirted this season, which doesn’t seem too far off base.

However, if McDermott is asked to sit this year out and one of the Bulldogs’ main scorers comes down with a season-ending injury (knock on wood), Holtmann might be wishing he hadn’t sidelined the freshman.

Next: #HoosierHysteria is on Saturday

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