May 23, 2007

Hornets.com continues its look back at 2006-07 with player-by-player analysis of the team:

Rasual Butler celebrates his game-deciding basket during the Hornets’ win over the Clippers in the finale of the 2006-07 regular season.

Rasual Butler
NBA experience: Five seasons (three with Heat, two with Hornets).
Age: 28.
Games played (starts): 81 (38).
Key statistical averages: 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds.
What we expected: The Hornets used three players at the shooting-guard position in 2005-06, including Butler, J.R. Smith and Kirk Snyder. Butler proved to be the most reliable of the trio, which in part prompted the Hornets to trade both Smith and Snyder, while re-signing Butler to a four-year contract. The La Salle product was projected to be one of the Hornets’ key reserves and their most dangerous three-point threat among the second unit. He wasn’t supposed to be a first-stringer, but a stream of injuries led to Butler making 38 starts. Throughout his NBA career, including consecutive playoff appearances with Miami in 2004 and 2005, the Philadelphia native has ideally served a role as a seventh or eighth man.

What went right: Given the way the Hornets’ season unfolded, it was no small feat for anyone to appear in 81 games, as Butler did. He remained healthy throughout the season, missing only the March 4 game vs. Utah due to coach’s decision. The 6-foot-7 swingman also did a commendable job when pressed into starting duty, averaging 14.9 points over the 30 starts he made in December and January. Following another string of injuries, he moved back into the starting lineup in April and put up 11.9 points per night in nine total games. Butler also compiled one of the hottest shooting stretches of any Hornet in 2006-07 – over a four-game span in March, he went 21-for-37 from the field, including 16-for-23 from three-point range (70 percent). Butler capped the season by draining a game-winning three-point play with 1.5 seconds left to beat the Clippers.

What went wrong: Butler’s shooting touch was up and down all season and caused his playing time to be cut in late February and early March, when he had a stretch of nine out of 10 games in which he was on the floor for less than 20 minutes. Over the other 71 games he appeared in, he played 20 minutes or more 56 times, including doing so 31 times out of 32 games from Nov. 25 through Jan. 31. Byron Scott was also critical at times of Butler’s individual defensive performance. For the season, Butler finished with a field-goal percentage of just 39.8, his lowest rate since his rookie NBA season of 2002-03.

The future: Butler is under contract for three more seasons, with his current deal expiring after the 2009-10 campaign. He is one of four Hornets who are locked into contracts through that season (Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic and David West are the others). Ideally, Butler will be able to settle back into a consistent role next season as a key reserve who provides an offensive boost and stretches defenses with his perimeter touch. After two consecutive years of extremely streaky shooting, a short-term objective for Butler would be to have a more even-keeled season from start to finish.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
Here’s what Hornets.com heard about Butler in 2006-07:
ESPN analyst Tim Legler, a fellow Philadelphian:
“Rasual is very versatile and long. He’s a guy I saw a lot in college, and I knew then that he was going to be an NBA player and be able to make an impact on a good team.”