Running 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament thread

A team that wins a game shooting 30 percent is a team to be reckoned with, but Butler just isn't tall enough to stay close to Duke. This should be a rerun of last year, in which the sentimental favorite is toast by the first TV timeout.

 

I wouldn't have agreed with this a month ago, but I sure do now. I don't know how the big time schools missed out on recruiting this kid, but Hayward is a MAJOR league player.

Every time I see Hayward play he impresses me in new ways, yesterday it was defensively. How many big moment steals and rebounds did he get in that game? Plus, he was scoring all their points. The kid can play every position and do everything on the court, and do it well. Yeah, If I was choosing today, I'd take him over Scheyer or Singlner in a heartbeat.

 

He is one of those players who will become an awesome asset to an NBA team that is already good, if he's lucky enough to land with one. Guys like Heyward tend to get lost on lousy pro teams, where it's every man for himself out there.

 

Turned down Indiana (for obvious reasons) and Purdue (parents' alma mater) to go to Butler.

 

If the Duke team I saw yesterday and the Butler team I saw yesterday both show up on Monday, Duke wins by about 30.

 

Well, yes, if one team shoots 50 percent and the other 30, a 30-point drubbing is inevitable. But those percentages are likely to revert closer to the mean. Doesn't mean Duke won't win, just that Butler isn't likely to shoot so poorly again.

 

Except that Duke team won't show up. Because the best offensive version of EVERY team fails to show up when they face Butler. They always seem to lose their sync, pace and their shot when facing the Bulldogs.

You think Butler's defense might have something to do with that?

 

Duke has three guys who can legitimately score.

Michigan State had, well, um, oh that's right, none. Not one guy who scares you offensively with Kalin Lucas out. If they have him, you think they only score 50 points?

Kansas State is a team that relies a lot on two jump shooters and they had extremely tired legs from playing an emotional and physically draining game less than 40 hours earlier and it was evident in everyone that watched the game who isn't intent on turning Butler into UNLV 1990 just because they like the little guy. Kansas State had tired legs and that played as much into their struggles on offense as anything Butler did.

And you think maybe Syracuse's ability to play inside-outside woiuld have been just a little bit different it Arinze Onuaku would have played?

I'm not trying to take away anything from Butler, I'm trying to inject a little bit of a reality check to some of you who insist on making this team out to be much better than it is.

If just two of Duke's three are on Monday night, they will win by 15. If all three are on it will be more than 20.

 

I'm not sure why there is such a pushback against the "Hoosiers" metaphor, the main argument against it being that: "This isn't 'Hoosiers.' These guys can play!"

I've seen that movie an embarrassing number of times, and I certainly don't think that the idea was that the team couldn't play or wasn't talented. The Jimmy Chitwood character was the best player in the state, for example.

 

Zag, don't get me wrong, I think Duke will win. They are the clear favorite by any rationale measure. But I also think some folks are selling Butler short by acting like everyone just happened to have a bad day against the Bulldogs. That ain't what happened. Offenses always look crappy against Butler for one primary reason: Butler plays some HELLACIOUS perimeter and help side defense.

West Virginia is also a great defensive team, but they are a zone based team that is great, first and foremost of all, at defending the interior and baseline. But they do NOT defend the perimeter as tightly as Butler does. With shooters like Scheyer, Duke was custom made to pick apart that 1-3-1 zone. But Butler ain't gonna be playing that.

Ronald Nored is one of the best perimeter defenders in the country, and he is going to be in Scheyer's grill like no player he's faced in this tourney. And Hayward and Veasley are gonna do the same thing to Singler and Smith. Duke's big 3 are gonna shoot the ball worse because of it and, once again, people are gonna act like they just happened to have an off shooting night.

I still think Duke will probably win. But Butler will make Duke's offense look uglier than it has all tournament. And it will be closer than you think.

 

What I like about Butler's defense is how the passing lanes shrink. If, as one suspects, Duke will be pounding it inside, this is Butler's main slim chance of victory.

 

Zag,

That's where I have to stop you. Syracuse still had Wes Johnson, still had Andy Rautins, still had Rick Jackson. They don't throw the ball inside even WHEN Arinze's playing. Now did Syracuse get hurt when he was gone? Maybe, and I say maybe because they beat Gonzaga by 30 points in the second round and barely missed him. But now when Butler beats them, the excuses come.

I've seen you make excuses after excuse for every single Butler win, call them the most mediocre team in Final Four history, pan the field for being mediocre just because Butler advanced. It's all hogwash.

At some point, you have to give them their props. I was in Salt Lake for the sweet 16, saw them up close. They are hands down without a doubt the best defensive college basketball team I've seen this season. Norad is a flat stopper. He stopped Rautins, he stopped Pullen when nobody had stopped Pullen this season. Butler rebounds the ball, they box out better than any team I've seen this season, they have three guys that can play for any team in the country, they have the one guy who for my money has been one of the three best players in the tournament.

This field is nowhere close to mediocre. Kansas, Kentucky, etc would've all done fine in other years. Maybe, just maybe, it's time you stop hating on Butler and give them their due. It's a damn good team, with damn good players, with a damn good coach beating people because its better than they teams that are in front of them.