Butler Bulldogs

Good post. Excellent game. Congrats to the Bulldogs!

I think this year's tournament shows how little difference their is between 99% of the teams. Some teams might have more talent but it's amazing how well an underdog can play once they win that first game and get some confidence. They go into these games expecting to compete and usually do.

wow we like college hoops too,

I watched the Butler game and was so happy to see a "team" win. Butler is in Indiana, and its always great to see a hoops team from Indiana do well.

I am a mich state alumni so IM always rooting for the midwest.

Cinderella usually gets sent home during the second weekend. Had Xavier been able to pull off the upset on Kansas State there would have been a guarantee of Cinderella making it to the Final Four. Butler would have played Xavior to advance.

The KSU-Xavier game was unbelievable. Every time Xavier appeared dead they nailed 3's. When an Xavier player had to make all three free throws he did it. KSU held on with their two best defensive players fouled out.

Congrats to the Bulldogs!

The Butler did it all right. My wife is in serious mourning; she was talking about a trip to Indianapolis....

I am pulling for Butler

They are a scrap-py bunch.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
I am pulling for Butler

They are a scrap-py bunch.

Me too CD... for many reasons. Duke appears to have a bit of momentum though with about 10 minutes left. Hopefully they won't start to pull away.

Great game between two well coached teams thus far, Duke can't seem to pull away. Butler has a lot of heart and continues to answer the bell!

quote:

Originally posted by bsbl247:
Great game between two well coached teams thus far, Duke can't seem to pull away. Butler has a lot of heart and continues to answer the bell!

Indeed. Butler has a wonderful young coach who is coaching brilliantly. Classic Game!!!!!!!

Butler down by 1 with 49 seconds to go. go dogs

WOW...What a Great Game!!!

The only way it could have been better is if that last shot went in.

That was a fun game to watch. The refs really let them play.

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
The only way it could have been better is if that last shot went in.

If that last shot would have went in, oh my...

One of the best games I have ever seen. I agree there were no losers in that game.

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
The only way it could have been better is if that last shot went in.

Now, THAT, would have been "one shining moment"!!!

Just an incredible game... that last heave could not have missed by more than a couple of inches... so close...

Gordon Hayward has "IT".

Classy group of young men and a very classy coach. They might have lost this game but they certainly gained a lot of respect around the country.

They play hard!

Those young men certainly represented Butler University quite well. All Butler alumni should be very proud; frankly all basketball fans should be proud of those young men.

Maybe the first Duke game in years that I had trouble pulling for the Blue Devils. Happy with the outcome overall but almost feel Butler players should have been on the podium also.

I wonder how many future NBA players were on the floor last night

There was one that stood out to me and that was Gordon Heyward. He could play on my team anytime.

Singler looks like a good player but I wonder if he is athletic enough. Scheyer looks like an interesting player.

I really enjoyed watching the game on the floor. The intensity was incredible. Personally, I think the center for Duke deserved 3-4 15 yard penalties for holding/throwing guys down that were not called but that did not take away from the overall game.
What I enjoyed as much as the game was the contrast in coaches, one at the true pinnacle of success as contrasted with the tremendous amount of poise, leadership and skill Brad Stevens demonstrated as 33 year old head coach in his first final 4. It does not hurt that he came from the SCAC where he was a standout DIII player at DePauw University.
During their entire run, including after the loss last night, he was composed, thoughtful, gave all the credit to his players, took none for himself and, in my view, was truly a credit to the profession of coaching.
Where I really appreciated he can coach is the results that occurred on the court after they would take a timeout. Those results showed how much he sees, what adjustments he can see will succeed, and how he must be able to coach them in the frantic aspects of a 1 minutes timeout.

quote:

Originally posted by infielddad:
I really enjoyed watching the game on the floor. The intensity was incredible. Personally, I think the center for Duke deserved 3-4 15 yard penalties for holding/throwing guys down that were not called but that did not take away from the overall game.
What I enjoyed as much as the game was the contrast in coaches, one at the true pinnacle of success as contrasted with the tremendous amount of poise, leadership and skill Brad Stevens demonstrated as 33 year old head coach in his first final 4. It does not hurt that he came from the SCAC where he was a standout DIII player at DePauw University.
During their entire run, including after the loss last night, he was composed, thoughtful, gave all the credit to his players, took none for himself and, in my view, was truly a credit to the profession of coaching.
Where I really appreciated he can coach is the results that occurred on the court after they would take a timeout. Those results showed how much he sees, what adjustments he can see will succeed, and how he must be able to coach them in the frantic aspects of a 1 minutes timeout.

Excellent points!

I hope Butler can afford to keep him. He is the best young coach in America imho. Regardless of his age however, he may be one of the best coaches in the country as he appeared to go toe-to-toe with the very best without cracking a sweat. Very, very impressive young coach!

One other interesting thing. Coach K had no voice left after the game last night. In contrast, Coach Stevens sounded like he hadn't lost any vocal capability because it appears he does not yell.

quote:

I hope Butler can afford to keep him.

Yup!! Big, big YUP!.
ESPN is reporting that BC may have hired the Cornell coach and DePaul has hired away the Clemson coach who was being paid $1,700,000.
I would have to think big money offers will be accessible to Coach Stevens and very soon, if he chooses that route.

That game to me is a perfect example of the difference coaching can make. He prepares his players extremely well. He gets them to play as hard as they possibly can. They play as a team. With not one player ranked in the top 100 of their class coming into college. He takes them to the final game of the year and they are one shot , one play away from winning the National Championship.

If I were a college basketball coach I would require everyone of my players to watch that game film. I would then ask them if they thought they played that hard. I would ask them if they thought they played every single possession as hard as Butler does. And then if they didn't I would go out and find some kids like Butler has.

To me they are a breath of fresh air. After watching teams filled with McDonalds All Americans who think they can just out talent the competition. Coach Stevens if he decides to will have many options thats for sure. But if he takes on a big time job at a basketball power will he be able to take those big time recruits and get them to buy into what he is selling? Now he will be recruiting big time talents who many times are concerned more with raising their draft stock than playing like Butler. If he could get those big time talents to play like Butler he would dominate college basketball.

Coach K has been very successful because he is capable of getting very talented players to buy into his system and they also play very hard. And in that game to me their is only one NBA type guy and that was Singler.

Something tells me Coach Stevens is better off staying where he is. But thats just my opinion.

quote:

Coach Stevens if he decides to will have many options thats for sure. But if he takes on a big time job at a basketball power will he be able to take those big time recruits and get them to buy into what he is selling?

Coach May, those are great points.
Wouldn't it be interesting if a coach like Brad Stevens went to a basketball power and recruited the kids he did at Butler and believed he could coach them to win and did it? Would that be refreshing..and likely a pipe dream of mine?

Mike Montgomery did something similar for years at Stanford and now at Cal. Even as good a coach as he is, Coach Montgomery only reached the final 4 one time, and that sure isn't going to cut it at a basketball powerhouse.