Saw Mack twice last year; both games against Mason County. A guy you would love to have in a foxhole with you; no quit in him. Presented a very tough matchup in HS; deceptively quick, but on the off chance that whoever was guarding him was just as quick, he would out-muscle him all night long. I'm glad to see that he is proving out at the college level.

Saw Mack twice last year; both games against Mason County. A guy you would love to have in a foxhole with you; no quit in him. Presented a very tough matchup in HS; deceptively quick, but on the off chance that whoever was guarding him was just as quick, he would out-muscle him all night long. I'm glad to see that he is proving out at the college level.

I saw those games.......good assessment.

I agree with you on Shelvin Mack. He is the consummate point guard with a pass first/shoot second mentality. Because Butler is committed to him playing the point, he will develop much quicker than he would have had he gone to UK. In three or four years, Kentucky fans will be looking at Shelvin Mack and wishing UK would have gotten him. He will have a very productive and successful career at Butler.

 

In fact, I think that someday Shelvin Mack will be included in the same conversation as Chris Lofton as one of the great Kentucky kids that got away!

 

Check out the date of this post.

 

I am still sticking to my prediction!

Mack is definately a talented player, however, the teams Butler played week in and week out do not compare with major D1 opponents that even the SEC plays. He was able to contribute and command the game much differently at Butler than he would've been able to at UK or UofL.

Being at Butler has definately showed that with playing time he was able to develop into a fine player, something that he may not have been able to do at UK, etc.

Mack is definately a talented player, however, the teams Butler played week in and week out do not compare with major D1 opponents that even the SEC plays. He was able to contribute and command the game much differently at Butler than he would've been able to at UK or UofL.

Being at Butler has definately showed that with playing time he was able to develop into a fine player, something that he may not have been able to do at UK, etc.

 

 

That argument to me is a cop out.

 

 

If a kid can play, they can play anywhere...............

He seemed to do just fine in the tourney against top notch competition in my eyes.

That argument to me is a cop out.

 

 

If a kid can play, they can play anywhere...............

I am with you!

 

Am I the only one who thought the SEC this season was only fair competition?

 

UK played no tougher a schedule this season than did Butler.

He seemed to do just fine in the tourney against top notch competition in my eyes.

 

Duke face-guarded him much of the game and tried to do everything they could to keep the ball out of his hands. I noticed Smith didn't help much off of him. THe game plan was definitly not to let Mack beat them down the stretch.

He more than proved he is one of the best guards in the country in the NCAA tournament. How many times did we hear that Butler is not a Cinderella story? They have been ranked all year. Shelvin Mack was one of their key players. They will be at the top again next year. He can play. Now did he get more playing time and opportunities to develop at Butler that he would not have at UK or UL, probably so. Not sure, but did he come out of High School the year Tubby was leaving and that probably hurt his recruitment by UK?

I am with you!

 

Am I the only one who thought the SEC this season was only fair competition?

 

UK played no tougher a schedule this season than did Butler.

 

I'm not just basing it on the SEC. But no way was their schedule harder than UK's.

 

I was also not just speaking of this years schedule. This thread was started 2 years ago, so go back and see how many minutes Mack would've got at UK versus Butler in 2008.

 

I felt like Butler was a perfect fit for him, because at UK he would not have had the chance to lead so early.

That argument to me is a cop out.

 

 

If a kid can play, they can play anywhere...............

 

That is your opinion.

 

I agree they could play anywhere if good enough, but they would not excel as nicely as Mack has and not benefited as much as he has playing much weaker competition.

 

I don't care who you are, you cannot honestly say that teams like Valpo, Youngstown St. x 2, Wright State x 2, Detroit x 2, Sienna x 2, Milwaukee x 2, Cleveland St. x 2, Green Bay x 2, Loyola and UIC compare to:

 

Miss St., Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, LSU.

 

Even with the SEC being down, that is a no brainer.

 

Butler did have a good early season schedule with Ohio St., Georgetown, Minnesota, Xavier and UCLA, where they mostly took care of business.

 

The fact that they were good enough to take it to those top ranked teams and win most of them, just helps my philosophy of thinking that they really didn't even have to bring it game in and game out every week to beat some of those teams in the Horizon League like a Green Bay twice.

 

Believe it or not but Butler was a great team playing in a bad conference and their players, like Mack were benefited by a weaker schedule and putting up great numbers and hoisting a 25 game win streak. They got hot when they needed to and won their games by the slimmest of margins and that is all that counts.