Grades on Butler

[YODA]

Charley Rosen Wrote an atricle on grades of acqisitions. Heres what he wrote on our notorious jackie Butler. Prety much what I thought about him.


Jackie Butler — Houston
Butler will be a good fit in Houston, but only if he takes his form-fitted bench seat with him. Sloppy, defenseless, and minimally talented, Butler is strictly a third-stringer.
Grade: D-


Yoda

[whottt]

Charley Rosen Wrote an atricle on grades of acqisitions. Heres what he wrote on our notorious jackie Butler. Prety much what I thought about him.


Jackie Butler — Houston
Butler will be a good fit in Houston, but only if he takes his form-fitted bench seat with him. Sloppy, defenseless, and minimally talented, Butler is strictly a third-stringer.
Grade: D-


Yoda



He's not minimally talented on offense, he's got skills on O...it's just everywheree else, including coachability and desire to improve and contribute to the team that just put a championship ring on his finger.

[SpursFanFirst]

Charley Rosen Wrote an atricle on grades of acqisitions. Heres what he wrote on our notorious jackie Butler. Prety much what I thought about him.


Jackie Butler — Houston
Butler will be a good fit in Houston, but only if he takes his form-fitted bench seat with him. Sloppy, defenseless, and minimally talented, Butler is strictly a third-stringer.
Grade: D-


Yoda

Do you have a link? I'd like to read the rest of the article.

Edit: Nevermind. I found it.

[AFBlue]

Kid is 22 years old and has been in the coach's doghouse from day one...since showing up out of shape.

It was totally his fault that he showed up out of shape and seemed unmotivated at times, but this kid is very talented offensively and has the potential to be a starting F/C down the road.

He might not have survived in this system, but I think he can/will be more than a third-string center in another situation (Houston?).

Bottom Line: I completely disagree with the above assessment.

[timvp]

Rosen looks like he got that "scouting report" by reading a Ludden article.

[mowgli]

Yeah, I wish he had gotten more playing time. It's tough to say goodbye to him without knowing what exactly the Spurs are giving away.

Man, I was so excited that summer when he was signed. Now we get to see what he is really capable of in Houston.

[ploto]

I liked to give Butler a hard time, but he is not minimally talented.

[Obstructed_View]

I agree. He may be lacking some things, but talent ain't one of them.

[GrandeDavid]

Sounds like another team praying that some Spurs scraps will pay off.

[ThomasGranger]

Butler's game will probably turn out to be a far cry from Hollinger's highly optimistic PER based assessment when the Spurs first signed him but not nearly as bad as Rosen's "third stringer" take. I see him serving as the seventh or eighth man in Houston's rotation if he can get/stay in shape.

[tmtcsc]

C'mon man ! I wanted to see the guy do well too, but he was horrible. He has talent but that doesn't mean jack if you don't have basketball sense. And he doesn't have it. No smarts or significant desire.

[Peter]

It took a while, but now Rosen is a Spurs homer.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Kid is 22 years old and has been in the coach's doghouse from day one...since showing up out of shape.

It was totally his fault that he showed up out of shape and seemed unmotivated at times, but this kid is very talented offensively and has the potential to be a starting F/C down the road.

He might not have survived in this system, but I think he can/will be more than a third-string center in another situation (Houston?).

Bottom Line: I completely disagree with the above assessment.

That's what I've been saying, too.

Why did they sign him to a 3 year contract if they didn't expect his development to take some time?

I think it's a pity we dumped him like that. I was looking forward to him playing some meaningful backup minutes early this season to see if he has potential in our system, but that's gone out the window.

Very short-sighted move, IMHO. Butler will be a 12/8 guy for some team in 2 years.

[justanotherspursfan]

Why did they sign him to a 3 year contract if they didn't expect his development to take some time?
It's one thing to take a while to refine your game. It's quite another to enroll in the Jerome James Diet Plan.

Mailing it in as soon as he gets paid is a sign of a guy you don't want to mess with, no matter how much potential he has. It's the exact opposite of Bruce Bowen, or even Stephen Jackson.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

It's one thing to take a while to refine your game. It's quite another to enroll in the Jerome James Diet Plan.

Mailing it in as soon as he gets paid is a sign of a guy you don't want to mess with, no matter how much potential he has. It's the exact opposite of Bruce Bowen, or even Stephen Jackson.

C'mon, he was never going to get any pt in his first year with us, and during that year he lost about 30lbs and became a solid chunk of muscle while he learned the system. I saw him up close when I was over there in Jan and he was all muscle, not much baby fat left.

This season coming up was going to be the one that tested him, now he's gone. Waste IMHO.

[IronheadSpur]

Butler will be a 12/8 guy for some team in 2 years.

Unfortunately for Jackie, that team will be the Albany Patroons. :lol

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I'll dig up this thread in 2009 when Jackie is a solid starting centre somewhere in the NBA.

[AFBlue]

It's one thing to take a while to refine your game. It's quite another to enroll in the Jerome James Diet Plan.

Mailing it in as soon as he gets paid is a sign of a guy you don't want to mess with, no matter how much potential he has. It's the exact opposite of Bruce Bowen, or even Stephen Jackson.

I'm sorry...did you miss the part where he lost 30lbs over the course of the season?

He may have SHOWN UP out of shape, but he worked his ass off to get back into shape.

Besides....I don't think Jackie is meant to be Tim Duncan or David Robinson.

Jackie needed time on the court actually playing basketball to prove what he was worth and unfortunately he never got that time on a championship-winning, veteran-laden team. But that doesn't mean he'll never get his chance....

Agree with Ruff, he'll be a solid....possibly starting....player for some NBA squad in two years.

[The Truth #6]

Everyone rips on him for being heavy, but his weight and the willingness to throw it around on the low block is exactly what makes him effective. I can't say if he has good, bad, or no basketball IQ for sure, but from the little I did see, I feel safe in saying he understands the game better than Elson. That guy is always lost out there and he's been able to maintain a career so I think it's quite possible Butler will be able to do the same.

[BeerIsGood!]

Much ado about nothing. He'll never be a difference maker in Houston IMO. More than likely he wouldn't have been one here. It' giving up Scola for cash that makes me cringe.

[exstatic]

Ruff - There are guys who are Spurs, and guys who aren't. I knew from the minute Bonner went down, and Tim had to bark at Butler to get off his fat ass and help him to the locker room that his days in black and silver were numbered.

I think we all knew he was scheduled to sit for a season, but either he hadn't followed Spurs history, or thought he was a lot better than he really was, because he didn't seem to know that he was going to sit.

[Extra Stout]

Butler's biggest problem is that he has an IQ of around 75. Sure, he may be talented, but you can't take somebody that stupid and make an NBA player out of him.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Ruff - There are guys who are Spurs, and guys who aren't. I knew from the minute Bonner went down, and Tim had to bark at Butler to get off his fat ass and help him to the locker room that his days in black and silver were numbered.

I think we all knew he was scheduled to sit for a season, but either he hadn't followed Spurs history, or thought he was a lot better than he really was, because he didn't seem to know that he was going to sit.

Good take.

I still think he will go on to be a decent NBA player, but you're probably right that he didn't fit here. Odd for them to be so wrong about him when they offered him 3 years though...

[mullet]

Butler's biggest problem is that he has an IQ of around 75. Sure, he may be talented, but you can't take somebody that stupid and make an NBA player out of him.

ahem... Amare Stoudemire

[Twisted_Dawg]

Jackie Butler=Kevin Duckworth (before SA traded him)?

[AFBlue]

Butler's biggest problem is that he has an IQ of around 75. Sure, he may be talented, but you can't take somebody that stupid and make an NBA player out of him.

I'd say Butler's intelligence is at least on par with Francisco Elson and I'd be willing to say that his BASKETBALL IQ is much better than Elson's.

I agree with Exstatic that Butler may not be a "Spurs" player....but I think he's NBA calibur, which is where Charlie Rosen and I differ.

Bottom Line: You can be big and dumb, and still have a productive NBA career.

Examples....Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph

[wildbill2u]

Butler is going to a team whose coach is promising a more up tempo running game and an offense using the center(s) in the high post.

Maybe Butler has the talent to get off the bench for some meaningful minutes somewhere in the NBA, but I don't see how Butler fits into that game plan.

[AFBlue]

Butler is going to a team whose coach is promising a more up tempo running game and an offense using the center(s) in the high post.

Maybe Butler has the talent to get off the bench for some meaningful minutes somewhere in the NBA, but I don't see how Butler fits into that game plan.

Butler's face up game may not be nearly as far along as his post game....but if you were watching the summer league, he showed the ability to step out and hit shots. For a big man, he has a suprisingly soft touch.

And Adelman also appreciates the Centers who can pass. One of the biggest suprises not on any scouting reports that was displayed by Butler in the Summer League.....his passing ability.

If this kid gets an opportunity to get on the court in Houston, he'll do just fine.

[wildbill2u]

Butler's face up game may not be nearly as far along as his post game....but if you were watching the summer league, he showed the ability to step out and hit shots. For a big man, he has a suprisingly soft touch.

And Adelman also appreciates the Centers who can pass. One of the biggest suprises not on any scouting reports that was displayed by Butler in the Summer League.....his passing ability.

If this kid gets an opportunity to get on the court in Houston, he'll do just fine.
If is the key word. Didn't he appear to be either out of shape or dogging it in SL? I remember at one point someone wrote he took 18 seconds to get down court.

Shaq can get away with that, but a SL player....? Maybe that's why he's no longer around.

[AFBlue]

If is the key word. Didn't he appear to be either out of shape or dogging it in SL? I remember at one point someone wrote he took 18 seconds to get down court.

Shaq can get away with that, but a SL player....? Maybe that's why he's no longer around.

If by "dogging it" you mean that he was clearly the best player on the Spurs SL team and was flat-out dominant at times doing everything from scoring to distributing to rebounding....then yes, he was "dogging it".

The "18 second" comment you read was probably another Ludden dish, who has about as much love for Butler as I do for the Opera.

On his "stamina", I'm sure he could do better. But you also have to remember that this kid hadn't played a lick of competitive basketball in months, and his game experience was limited at that. Then he got thrown a bunch of minutes on back-to-back games. Needless to say, I cut him slack.

I do agree that his lack of stamina, and lack of motivation/spirit during the regular season probably got him bounced from the team. That's what made him less of a "Spur".

I think it was assistant coach Don Newman that said it best....


I think the next thing for him is to obviously get in a situation where he can play some minutes. I think if he was ever in a situation where he could play and knew his minutes were coming, I think you would see a guy who would certainly improve.

So he's not motivated to perform by endless practice and mentoring from veterans....so what? He doesn't have "Spur" quality, but that doesn't mean he can't play.

Bottom Line: If Butler gets time/opportunity to prove himself on court, he'll be a very productive player....book it.

[wildbill2u]

If by "dogging it" you mean that he was clearly the best player on the Spurs SL team and was flat-out dominant at times doing everything from scoring to distributing to rebounding....then yes, he was "dogging it".

The "18 second" comment you read was probably another Ludden dish, who has about as much love for Butler as I do for the Opera.

I do agree that his lack of stamina, and lack of motivation/spirit during the regular season probably got him bounced from the team. That's what made him less of a "Spur". ...
No the comment was from our game blog describing the action as I remember. Anyway, the young man may go on to have a NBA career and good luck to him.

[mbass]

ahem... Amare Stoudemire


My thought exactly while reading the comments about Butler's IQ - reminded me of Stoudemire. Sad.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Jackie Butler is mentally retarded? Link?

[cholo]

dumbest players? (http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index.php?qid=20070722133806AA0xnHZ)

[remingtonbo2001]

Really, Houston might want to have Deikembe, or Yao to cover the paint. Maybe what Bulter needs is a MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER. They have a translator for Yao, why not a motivational speaker for Jackie. Hell, BENO needs a motivational speaker. We don't need Udoka! WE NEED TO SIGN A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER FOR BENO.

[remingtonbo2001]

Really, Houston might want to have Deikembe, or Yao to cover the paint. Maybe what Bulter needs is a MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER. They have a translator for Yao, why not a motivational speaker for Jackie. Hell, BENO needs a motivational speaker. We don't need Udoka! WE NEED TO SIGN A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER FOR BENO. :lol

[wildchild]

Jackie Butler is mentally retarded? Link?

No, but the Spurs always questioned whether he would ever be successful playing in our defensive system, which requires our big men to make reads and communicate with teammates. This's a reason for Jackie rarely played. His talent? His showed good moves in the post but without tecnical and not played good D.
He wants to prove he deserves to play in the NBA.

[Vito Corleone]

I'm sick of hearing how talented this guy was. He was not very valuable as a player. Value being based on production vs. contract size. His production level was zero and his contract was high even for that level of production. What good is being talented if you don't care enough to get in shape.