From one great Butler point guard to the next? Shelvin Mack likes what he sees in freshman
Hard-nosed, heady, pass-first floor generals who excelled at doing all the little things on the court. Players who led by example and could always be counted on to make the right play at the right time.
Former Lawrence North star Azavier "Stink" Robinson could be next in Butler basketball's storied line of point guards, but his brand of basketball is different from players of the past. Robinson brings elite athleticism to the point guard position.
He led the 2025-26 Butler against its alumni team, All Good Dawgs, who were preparing for The Basketball Tournament.
Robinson, one of five freshmen, did not look out of place among former NBA players and overseas pros. He used his speed to navigate full-court pressure from a much stronger Mack. In transition, Robinson is a blur. In the half-court, his first-step quickness allows him to blow by defenders, and he has the explosiveness to finish above the rim despite his 6-foot stature.
"He looked good," Mack said of Robinson. "He shoots the ball extremely well and is making the right decisions. He did a good job of taking care of the ball, there wasn't a lot of turnovers. Then Finley (Bizjack) came in and knocked down some jumpers, that kind of balances the backcourt out."
Butler's point guard position has been in flux since Alexander left for Dayton after the 2023-24 season. Bizjack got the first shot at taking over the position, but he experienced some ups and downs transitioning to a more on-ball role. Coach Thad Matta brought in transfers Jalen Jackson (Purdue Fort Wayne) and Yame Butler (Drexel) to shoulder some of the playmaking duties. Jackson has experience playing a true point guard role dating back to his freshman season at UIC. Butler is more of a combo guard, but his tight handle and passing ability should allow him to make plays with the ball in his hands.
Both Jackson and Butler have one year of eligibility remaining. In a perfect world, Robinson takes over as Butler's point guard for the 2026-27 season. If the display of talent he showed against All Good Dawgs is any indication, Robinson's future is bright, and a meaningful role could be in the cards this season.
"It was a great experience, especially going against pros and former players here," Robinson said. "I'm just extremely blessed for the opportunity. It feels good to be playing against other people besides ourselves.
"Getting up and down the court, picking up full court. Our strength and conditioning coach (Tyler Watson) is amazing. He does a good job getting us in condition and getting us ready for the fall."
Robinson's speed is his best attribute but learning when to utilize it will help him become a more efficient player. The freshman has to learn when to take his foot off the gas and play at a slower pace. Playing against Mack helped Robinson see how to play under control, how to get to his spots and how to run the show from the point guard position.
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WIRED
4 hours ago
- WIRED
This Smart Basketball Tracks Data About Every Shot. It Could Be Headed to the NBA
The league is considering adopting the tech for in-game use. Since the sensor is in the valve stem, the ball dribbles, shoots, and rebounds nearly the same as always. Courtesy of David Dow/NBA During a late June workout, Duncan Robinson was focused on the speed of his shot release. As a veteran NBA sharpshooter, the ability to get his jumper off quickly is vital for Robinson. Before he could stop this particular workout, he had to make three consecutive corner three-pointers without holding the ball for more than 0.4 seconds on any one shot. But how to track that sort of thing? The answer lay inside the Spalding TF DNA ball Robinson was using. Produced by a company called Sport IQ, the ball contains a 'smart valve,' a replacement for a traditional inflation valve that's outfitted with tracking technology. The sensor captures everything from simple makes and misses to metrics like the arc of each shot, the spin rate of the ball, and—vitally for Robinson—release time. Robinson tells me he's been using versions of SIQ connected balls for around five years, the bulk of his NBA career. 'I haven't come across anything quite like it,' he says. And before long, the same tracking technology Robinson uses in workouts could make its way inside every NBA game ball. Largely unbeknownst to players on the court during 2025 NBA Summer League play in mid-July in Las Vegas, roughly half their games were played using a ball outfitted with a modified version of SIQ's smart valve. The ball was engineered by league partner Wilson into its regulation NBA ball. If these test runs in Vegas prove successful, the NBA will have a new data-gathering tool at its disposal to both improve and speed up certain officiating decisions. Down the line, the adoption of the tech could potentially lead to big leaps in other areas like fan engagement, stat tracking, and analytics, thanks to the system's ability to precisely track the basketball during play. This isn't the first time the NBA has tested a connected ball at Summer League, though; initial attempts half a decade ago fell flat. And while the technology has improved significantly since then, big hurdles remain when it comes to convincing the full body of NBA players—a notably persnickety group—that a basketball with a sensor in it won't behave any differently than the basketballs they're used to. I went to Sin City and talked with stakeholders around the NBA, from teams and players to league staff and SIQ's brain trust, to get some exclusive info about how this technology works, how testing went, and whether we should realistically expect a 'smart basketball' to debut in the NBA sometime soon. Design Evolution While a number of nuances and variations exist within this large market, the basic construction of a basketball has remained unchanged for decades. A combination of rounded surfaces and precisely placed grooves, the basketball is meant to bounce uniformly with a single minor exception: a small 'dead' spot at the point where the ball's air valve is inserted to maintain airtightness. When the ball is dribbled directly on that valve spot, it slightly changes the way the ball rebounds. Across decades, players at every level of the sport have simply accepted this slight imperfection as part of the game. When the NBA first tested connected balls from multiple vendors at Summer League back in 2019, even the minuscule tweaks they made caused some issues. For starters, connecting sensors to the interior wall of the ball created dribbling concerns. 'If you position the sensor on the inner surface of the cascade of the basketball, then you are creating a [second] dead spot like you already do with the valve,' says Maximillian Schmidt, cofounder and managing director of Kinexon, a sports data and sensor company that was among the vendors the NBA tested in 2019. 'And as that was the preferred option by the corresponding ball manufacturers, the result was that there was always some kind of [additional] dead spot. It's not preventable, no matter how small you make it.' The sensors also simply weighed too much, largely due to both tech limitations at the time and the NBA's initial ask that the sensors capture both ball location and ball 'touch' events—a combination that required multiple sensor types built into the same setup. Players noticed both the dead spot and the added weight. Even so, multiple parties involved in those blind 2019 tests say they actually went relatively well. 'People said there were sensors in the ball when there weren't, and people said that there were not sensors in the ball when there were,' says Dayveon Ross, cofounder and CEO of ShotTracker, another vendor the NBA tested in 2019. ShotTracker's product, which includes both ball sensors and other features, has been used extensively at the college level, including across the Big 12 conference in recent years. 'So it was kinda 50-50, which is exactly what you want.' But those 2019 tests did not ultimately result in any permanent NBA adoption of a connected ball. The issue of the ball's feel was part of that; so, too, was the league's desire to invest more of its resources at the time into computer vision programs, which could glean much of the same location data as a connected ball without the physical hassle. 'It got to a point where we said, the design's just not there,' Tom Ryan, senior VP of basketball strategy and growth at the NBA, told me during a sit-down interview in Las Vegas. 'These sensors are too big, they're too noticeable. So we kinda said, pencils down on this approach for now, until it gets significantly smaller. And that's where we are now.' Enter SIQ and a new approach: replacing the existing ball valve with its 'smart valve' technology. The tech purports to solve both the NBA's prior issues. As essentially a valve replacement, it creates no additional dead spot in the ball. Plus, it only adds a negligible amount of weight, per CEO Erik Anderson. 'On an approximately 600-gram basketball, we add less than 1 gram of weight,' Anderson says. Courtesy of Logan Riely/NBA The NBA is also simplifying its requirements this time around. Rather than attempting to track both location-based data and touch data, as it did in 2019, the league is simply interested in the latter for these 2025 tests. During Anderson's presentation to team staffers and various assembled media at the NBA's yearly Launchpad event in Vegas on July 14, he showed a side-by-side video. On one side, players were shown dribbling and shooting an SIQ connected ball. On the other side, we saw SIQ's internal system display a green light whenever the ball was in free flight and a red light whenever it was being touched by a player, the floor, or the hoop. The setup can be slowed down to isolate each frame of the video, allowing any viewer to determine if the ball is actively being touched during any captured frame. The league hopes this data will soon be helpful for various 'last touch' officiating decisions like out of bounds, goaltending, or basket interference calls. While SIQ's sensor can't detect the identity of the player touching the ball, the eventual goal is to pair this system with the NBA's existing Hawk-Eye optical tracking data. 'You synchronize the time stamp of the ball sensor technology with the time stamp of the video solution, by millisecond,' Schmidt explains. 'So in the end you can synchronize the video frame with the data feed, and you look at the data of which player had what limb closest to the ball, to identify who could have touched it.' I've recently had a chance to demo the same SIQ tech Robinson used in his workout, which uses the same smart valve but is a bit different from the NBA ball. (SIQ provided me with this ball so I could test it out.) It's produced by Spalding, for starters, as opposed to Wilson; the league switched its official ball vendor from Spalding to Wilson starting in the 2021-22 season. Plus, the ball I handled tracks those additional metrics like make/miss, spin rate, and other data points the NBA currently isn't utilizing. With the caveat that I'm a miserable basketball player, I can report that the consumer ball feels no different than any other I've played with. I forgot it had a sensor in it at times—until I checked my phone and saw my godawful stats on SIQ's connected app. My opinion hardly matters compared to a pro like Robinson's, but as it happens, he agrees. 'The integration is impressively seamless,' Robinson says. 'It feels like a regular basketball. There's no weight discrepancy or anything that really feels abnormal. That's part of the magic, you feel like you're playing with a regular ball—and then all of a sudden you connect it to your phone and you're getting this live-time feedback.' But will enough of Robinson's NBA peers agree? Testing in the Paint The NBA Players Association is arguably the most powerful player's union in North American pro sports. Its members are also, shall we say, quite particular. 'There's no other league that I'm aware of where the perception and the approval of the players is as important for something like that as in the NBA,' Schmidt says. In other words, the ball had better feel truly identical, or these guys are going to notice. And if the players aren't in, getting a connected ball approved for official play via collective bargaining is all but impossible. Schmidt's company, Kinexon, has recent experience with this player approval process in another major sport. Alongside Adidas, the company was centrally involved in creating a connected soccer ball used for offside and other officiating decisions starting with the 2022 FIFA World Cup. That testing process included months of blind trials across several major European soccer leagues, plus a variety of mechanical and ground truth tests. The NBA is taking a similar approach here. Per multiple sources, initial tests of the SIQ Wilson ball at the G League Winter Showcase in December 2024 were largely mechanical in nature. Officials confirmed ball connectivity, ensured there was no significant data loss, optimized the sensors, and that sort of thing. Summer League was the first instance of blind player testing. Sources tell me that roughly half the games played in Vegas between July 10 and 20 utilized the SIQ ball, which was connected to and tracked by sensors set up around both arenas on the UNLV campus. Players were surveyed after each game, both on ball-related topics and unrelated ones (to maintain the blindness of the trial by avoiding any obvious tip-offs). Sources say the NBA prioritized tests in games featuring players who have spent time in the NBA in the past, plus for guards and others who tend to handle the ball most often. 'The testing now is going much smoother [than in 2019],' Ryan says. Test results provided to WIRED by the NBA back up that assertion. SIQ's connected balls were tested in 58 Summer League games, with roughly 550 postgame player surveys conducted. The NBA received zero comments about ball changes or playability issues on any of these surveys. For his part, Robinson also doesn't think the change should cause any playability issues. 'I don't foresee that being an issue,' he says. 'I'm somebody who's pretty particular about the ball that I shoot and the feel that it has and all that sort of stuff. I was actually on record as noting a material difference when we shifted from Spalding to Wilson [in 2021], as a lot of players were.' More testing is needed, including in settings where more veteran NBA players can get their hands on the SIQ ball. Ryan tells me the league would love to collect at least a full season of data while using the ball in the G League (essentially the minor leagues for the NBA), another common testing ground for possible future NBA tech. A connected basketball is likely coming to the NBA sooner rather than later. And while officiating is the current focus, it's easy to envision other uses in areas like stats collection, broadcast graphics, and fan engagement. 'Do they want to do it from a rule basis, where it's who touched the ball last,' Robinson muses. 'Or do they maybe want to take more of a marketing approach and say, 'Oh, that last 3 by Steph Curry, he released it in 0.3 seconds and his arc was this.'' If SIQ's ball can survive the rigors of NBA player testing—and as long as details like player data usage and rights can be worked out in agreement with the player's union—don't be surprised if that sort of data is showing up in broadcasts fairly quickly. 'I hope that we get there soon,' Schmidt says. 'The only thing we need is the approval from the players.'
Indianapolis Star
6 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Forecasting Butler basketball lineups: How much will freshmen play? Which transfers step up?
INDIANAPOLIS — It's impossible and frankly foolish to glean too much from summer workouts, but one thing is evident about the 2025-26 Butler basketball team: There's a different vibe around the program. The intrasquad workout I watched was intense. A scrimmage against former Butler players including Shelvin Mack, Tyler Wideman and Sean McDermott was competitive and lively. Returning players Finley Bizjack, Evan Haywood, Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Ethan McComb have spoken about changing the culture within the program and the 10 newcomers seem to be embracing the change so far. Talent was never the issue for a Butler program with just one winning season and no NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons during Thad Matta's second stint as coach. The Bulldogs entered last season with two All-Big East performers in Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II. Add in stretch big Patrick McCaffery and an experienced supporting cast and the Bulldogs looked poised for at least a mid-tier finish in the Big East. Instead of fighting for a tournament berth, the Dawgs limped to a 20-loss season and the program hit the reset button for the second time in three years. Butler's senior leaders were largely one-dimensional players players, and none were high-level athletes or strong defenders. All four players, adding Andre Screen, looked like surefire pros when they were scoring, but if they weren't scoring their contributions to the game were minimal. The roster rebuild appears to have addressed that with high-level athletes who can impact the game on both ends of the floor. The newcomer play with an edge. Michael Ajayi isn't afraid to mix it up and get physical. Jones plays with a chip on his shoulder. Yame Butler has overcome great adversity to get to Butler and certainly isn't someone I'd bet against making an impact this season. Of course, there has to be a balance. If every player on the team ran hot and played with his hair on fire, things could become combustible. I think come January and February when the grind of the season begins to weigh on the team, having high-energy players could prevent the prolonged skids the Dawgs have been prone to during Matta's tenure. After a couple of peaks at how the 2025-26 Butler team is coming together, here are potential lineups. Insider: Hard reset on Butler basketball roster begs question: Can Thad Matta's roster structure work? The only player I have not seen play live is Purdue Fort Wayne transfer Jalen Jackson who is nursing an injury. He's not expected to miss time during the season. He has the inside track on a starting spot in the backcourt. I say backcourt and not point guard, because I think Bizjack and Jackson will share ball-handler duties. One of the main things Jackson is hoping to bring (aside from scoring and assists) is leadership. "I can pass, I can score, I can guard. But the main thing is, (point guard's) a leadership role," Jackson told IndyStar. "My personality fits a leadership role. I'm super outgoing. I'm an everyday guy. I can lead the team by voice and example." Jackson is listed at 6 foot 2, but he has a strong lower body. He played in the post as an underclassman in high school and should have the strength to switch onto positions 1 through 3 defensively. Bizjack is not the strongest defender, but Kaiser's length at 6-6 gives Butler more switchability. Kaiser had a reputation as a knock down shooter entering college, but he shot just 26.5% from 3 as a freshman at Maryland. If he gets his percentage up to 36% or higher, Butler will have a deadly three-guard lineup with Kaiser and Bizjack firing away from deep, and Jackson getting downhill and creating for others. Both Ajayi and Drayton Jones are high-energy players with non-stop motors. Ajayi has a chance to be an X-Factor defensively, with the athleticism, strength and speed to erase mistakes as a weakside defender. Jones is still a bit raw, and the jump from South Carolina State to the Big East will take time, but the tools for a two-way post player who can step out and hit a mid-range jumper are there. Jones may never be an elite rebounder, but Ajayi is, so Jones can focus on running the floor, which he does very well for his size. Insider: 3 things that stood out during Butler basketball's summer practice Ajayi and Jones represent the biggest shift in personnel from last year. Jones is more of a modern big than Screen with much more mobility, but without the scoring polish inside. Not having to play through a big in the post isn't a big problem, but if Jones can establish an inside game it will open up perimeter opportunities for his teammates. Ajayi shot just 18% from 3 last season at Gonzaga. He shot 47% on 2.5 attempts per game at Pepperdine during the 2023-24 season. He doesn't need to shoot 47% from 3 to be effective, but he has to show that last season's slump was a mirage. Both players should provide marked improvements defensively, and that was Butler's biggest need. Offensively, both players have size and strength but will still allow the Dawgs to get out and run in transition. I don't expect the Bulldogs to play many minutes with all five starters on the bench, but if they do, this second unit should be able to hold up for spurts. Butler is an experienced, strong guard with versatility. He can get downhill and create, but he has to prove he can consistently connect from 3 to keep defenses honest. He shot 36.5% from 3 last season, but 27.1% the season before. Haywood operated as a designated shooter at times last season. I've seen him play with more aggression during the summer, attacking the basket and trying to finish through contact, but his strength will always be outside shooting. Having a player who can come off the bench and make 3-pointers is a great asset to have. I'd expect freshman Jackson Keith and Butler to be the first men off the bench. Keith has the potential to be an All-Big East performer later in his career. There may be games where he plays a significant role, but I expect him to serve as a part-time player in his first season with the Dawgs. Former five-star recruit Yohan Traore is another player who can play starter minutes. As a senior, he may even get the starting center nod over Jones to begin the season, but I think he settles in as Jones' backup as the season progresses. At 6-11, Traore gives Butler a second true center, something it desperately needed last season. The former SMU Mustang can anchor the post defensively for the second unit. He can score on rolls to the basket and offensive rebounds, but he doesn't necessarily need touches in the paint to contribute offensively. Jack McCaffery is somewhat of a wildcard. He has the skill to play in the Big East and on the second unit, he should be able to share ballhandling duties with Butler. The question he needs to answer is how he'll fit defensively. I think the Bulldogs have enough strong defenders to negate any deficiencies McCaffery has on the perimeter. Will he have the strength to hold up inside if he has to switch onto a big? Or is that an area teams can attack him when he's in the game? I have no question he can score at a high level right now. Developing into a two-way player will be key for the youngest McCaffery brother. These players will still play, but more consistent playing time will likely come next season for Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor and Azavier "Stink" Robinson. I think Robinson is Butler's point guard of the future. He can use this season to master Butler's offense and hit the ground running as a sophomore. Oliogu-Elabor may be the most athletic player on the team. He's a highlight waiting to happen in transition, and his length at 6-6 and high motor should make him a strong defender. The biggest question about him is his outside shot. He struggled with his shot during the FIBA U19 tournament, and during Butler's scrimmage with All Good Dawgs, defenders left him open, forcing him to make them pay from deep. Insider: Butler basketball freshman was 'putting on a show' before he got to campus, shows glimpse of what's next Until Oliogu-Elabor develops a consistent jump shot, his role may be in flux. I could see him developing into a high-energy undersized 4. But taking the time to iron out his outside shot would be beneficial for the Ontario native.
Fox Sports
15 hours ago
- Fox Sports
TBT 2025 Quarterfinals Recap: Best Virginia Beats Shell Shock to Advance
The field has narrowed for The Basketball Tournament's $1 million prize, with the final two quarterfinal games taking place on Monday evening. First, Best Virginia (West Virginia alum) defeated Shell Shock (Maryland alum) to punch its ticket to the semifinals on July 31. Up next, Eberlein Drive and Sideline Cancer will face off in the final game of the quarterfinal round. The winners will go up against We Are D3, which defeated Fail Harder on Sunday night, and Aftershocks, a team loaded with Wichita State alumni that came out with a statement win over Heartfire to advance. Here's a recap of Monday night's TBT action! Best Virginia 74, Shell Shock 61 Best Virginia jumped out to a strong 19-9 lead in the first quarter, but Shell Shock found its footing in the second quarter and made it an eight-point game, 32-24, at halftime. Both teams were neck and neck in the second half. Heading into the Elam Ending — the tournament's alternate ending, in which the game clock is shut off in the fourth quarter and a target score is set — Best Virginia held a double-digit advantage, 65-54, and kept the momentum going. The target score was set for 73, but Shell Shock wasn't able to find a rhythm. Best Virginia finished things off in style. Andre Fox led Shell Shock with 13 points off the bench. Best Virginia's James Reese V led all players with 24 points. Stay tuned for updates. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! recommended Item 1 of 3 Get more from the The Basketball Tournament Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
