What Butler will need out of newcomers Treyson Anderson and Eduardo Klafke
If Butler is to surprise in Ronald Nored’s first year at the helm, they’ll very likely require breakout seasons from a pair of shooters flying under the radar this offseason.
Earlier this summer we highlighted Samu Adler, a 6’6, 18 year old guard who won Finals MVP in Finland's top professional league. Adler averaged nearly 20 points per game in the Finnish playoffs and the tape shows a very good pick-and-roll scorer who shoots at a high level off the bounce.
Perhaps the best shooter on this team, however, is Ole Miss transfer Eduardo Klafke — a 6’5 guard from Brazil.
Through two seasons with the Rebels, Klafke shot the ball at a high clip (44% career from three), albeit on limited touches and minutes. He started 12 games as a sophomore last year, but played just 15 minutes a night while averaging 4.6 points per game on a bad Ole Miss club (4-14 in the SEC).
The son of a former Olympic basketball player, Klafke made 48.1% of the jump shots he attempted last year, including nearly 59% shooting on dribble off the bounce (obviously an awesome rate).
The question becomes: How do these numbers look on more attempts (Klafke took 81 jumpers and his Usage Rate ranked in the 15th percentile in the country).
Still, he put up big numbers in some SEC games, including 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists versus LSU, 12 points and nine boards against Alabama, and 16-6-4 versus Texas.
He’s an outstanding mid-range shooter, flashes capability as a passer, and is also good when catching and shooting:
The bigger question for the Bulldogs may come in the frontcourt, where Nored and his staff were able to retain Drayton Jones (a 6’11 center who averaged 6.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in just under 20 minutes per game).
Jones will most likely split center minutes with North Dakota State transfer Treyson Anderson, a solid rebounder who — in a best-case-scenario — can stretch defenses beyond the arc while forcing the action in the paint.
At 6’9, 240 Anderson has good, not great, size for the Big East and he’s coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 10.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 35% from three.
He was used far differently on offense a season ago. He took 106 shots from beyond the arc (38-106) after going just 0-5 from three as a freshman.
North Dakota State was an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, going 27-8 overall and 14-2 in the Summit League. Anderson scored 10 points in a first-round loss to Michigan State.
While Anderson has decent stats from beyond the arc, the numbers (and tape) show a big man who is capable of hitting shots if left open, but not one who is a pure knockdown shooter. He made 45% of his open jumpers, but connected on 30% when being more closely guarded.
There’s some versatility here, as Anderson is capable of facing up from 18 feet and putting the ball on the deck, seems to welcome contact off the bounce or in the post, and ideally for Butler, last season was the first step in him becoming a difference-maker beyond the arc.
Defensively, the numbers are relatively average — 65th percentile in CBB Analytics’ DRAPM metric, 32nd in points per possession against, but third in the Summit in blocked shots.
There are still plenty of questions facing Butler, but the Bulldogs have added some intriguing shooting and offensive versatility. If Klafke and Adler can translate their shooting into bigger roles, and Anderson can provide enough spacing and rebounding inside, Butler has a chance to be a tougher matchup than most are projecting.