Its crazy the difference that one year can make.
One year ago at the Final Four, I was a paying customer. I was sitting up the nose bleed section along with the guys from Rush the Court. After the game, we sat on the patio of the Residence Inn as we tried to figure out just what we were going to do to fill the void left in our lives without college hoops. The legendary John Stevens, aka #jstevrtc, had managed to smuggle a 12 pack of Miller Lite cans out of some bar in Indianapolis. It was 5:00 am, and while we were finishing up that now-warm, slightly skunked 12 pack of triple frost-brewed refreshment, we made a decision.
Well, it was more of a drunken toast, but that didn't change the sentiment.
"Next year, we'll be sitting court side."
Fifteen minutes before tip-off of the championship game, I stood with Randy McClure, the fearless leader of RTC, and just marveled. We had made it. It came true. We were sitting court side at the Final Four, covering the biggest game of the year in the sport we both love.
It was humbling.
One of the greatest experiences of my life was watching this year's One Shining Moment from the court at Reliant Stadium amongst the confetti on the court and the former UConn stars and reporters milling about the floor of the arena.
It was surreal. And everything that I hoped it would be.
Hit the jump to see some of our photos from the Final Four:
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Tuesday, April 5, 2011
2011 One Shining Moment and our pictures from the Final Four |
Former UConn assistant Pat Sellers, who resigned in May: "I'm so happy for them" |
HOUSTON - Odds are that you don't know the name Pat Sellers, and why should you? He spent this past season as the assistant coach for the Shanxi Dragons in China.
Sellers, however, was one of the architects of this UConn national title team. He was the guy that recruited the crop of youngsters that served as Kemba Walker's support staff this season.
He was also one of the preliminary casualties to the NCAA sanctions that UConn was hit with regarding the recruitment of Nate Miles. When UConn received the NCAA's Notice of Allegations, Sellers was accused of lying to and misleading NCAA investigators. He resigned from his position -- back in February, he was cleared of the allegations by the NCAA -- but he holds no ill will against the Huskies.
In fact, he was in Houston, cheering on the Huskies and celebrating on the court as if he was still a member of the coaching staff.
"Its great, man. I'm so happy for them," Sellers said amid the falling confetti as he watched Jim Calhoun cut down the nets. "The thing is, over there are [the players] families. I did a lot of work with them, and when you see their families so happy you feel great."
It wasn't all bad for Sellers, however.
For the first time in a long time, he didn't have to worry about breaking down game tape. He didn't have to worry about half time adjustments. He could just sit back, relax, and enjoy watching the team he helped build win a national title.
"It was weird, I haven't been a fan for 15 years I've been coaching for so long," Sellers said. "Just to be up there amongst a lot of the former players. Its a good feeling."
That doesn't mean that Sellers isn't still a coach at heart.
"I'm up their coaching them, and everyone's laughing at me. 'Oh, pass there, move here, do this'," Sellers said.
"Its fun. Its just a lot of fun."
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Hard work turned UConn from a one-man show into a championship team |
HOUSTON - March 6th.
It was a Sunday.
The previous afternoon, UConn had blown a late lead to Notre Dame despite carrying all the momentum into the final five minutes while Ben Hansbrough sat on the bench with five fouls. It ended an ugly finish to the regular season for the Huskies. The same team that had won the Maui Invitational and beat Texas at Texas had just lost four of their last five games. They had fallen to 9-9 in Big East play -- 4-9 against teams from the league that made the NCAA Tournament -- which was good for ninth place and a Tuesday game in the Big East Tournament.
But on that Sunday, Selection Sunday, UConn had their best practice of the year. It was a practice that would change the trajectory of the Huskies' season drastically.
"After our loss to Notre Dame, we had a great practice after that," Kemba Walker said during the Big East Tournament. "Everybody showed up ready to work and we knew it was a new season."
"Everybody stayed together and our coaching staff did a great job of keeping us positive."
UConn's run through March, their five wins in five days in the Big East Tournament and the program's third national title in 12 years, seemingly came completely out of the blue. UConn was losing games. Their superstar was no longer superhuman. Their supporting cast was about as supportive as a pair of boxers that are one size too big. Something changed with this team heading into March.
And to a man, every player I asked mentioned the March 6th practice as the season's turning point. What was so great about one practice that turned a team that had lost four of their last five games into the winner of the Big East Tournament and national title?
"Its hard to explain because you had to actually be there," Shabazz Napier said after the game. "Guys were just playing great defense, guys were just rebounding the ball. I don't think coach yelled at anybody that practice, and for him not to yell at anyone in practice? Wow."
"When you lose a regular season game, you come into practice like 'Man, I don't want to practice', but we all wanted to practice. We knew what we had ahead of us."
The luster on this UConn team had faded.
What was once a 17-2 start ended up being a 21-9 finish. Much was made about the fact that the team that was predicted to finish 10th in the Big East had knocked off teams like Kentucky and Michigan State and Texas during the non-conference portion of their schedule, but by the time the regular season had ended the Huskies were sitting at 9-9 in league play.
A ninth place finish. That prediction didn't look so bad anymore.
The problems that were facing UConn had to do with the load that was being shouldered by their superstar. Kemba Walker spent the first month of the season wowing everyone in the country with his ability to dominate a game while only cracking six feet thanks to the rubber soles on the bottom of his basketball shoes.
But once Big East play started, teams had figured out how to stop the Huskies. They learned that UConn was beatable when you forced Kemba into taking tough shots by playing sloughing man-to-man defenses or compacted zones. Keep Kemba from going crazy and take your chances that the young players won't beat you. That was the blueprint. Those adjustments were what you needed to do to beat the Huskies.
Jim Calhoun had a couple of adjustments of his own, however.
"We thought the way to disguise our youth was get better at defense every day," Calhoun said. "Down the stretch, we would take literally 50% of practice on nothing but defense. Two-on-two, three-on-three, shell, five-on-five, retreat. That's much more than almost any other team I've done."
"You need to understand that defense is going to really take you and hold you in any game till your offense gets going. I think that's what happened tonight."
That hard work paid off.
UConn's defense was legendary on Monday night. Record-breaking. The Huskies held Butler to just 18.8% shooting on the night. Seriously. 18.8%. It broke a record for the worst shooting performance in a national title game, a record that had stood since 1941, when Wisconsin held Washington State to 21.5% shooting from the floor.
Butler made just 12 field goals the entire game. They were 6-37 in the second half, at one point missing 22 of 23 shots. Their 9-33 performance from beyond the arc looks terrific compared to the 3-31 that the Bulldogs shot from two point range. Butler even threw in an 8-14 showing from the free throw line for good measure.
"From a purist's standpoint, you want to teach defense? Take a clip of both teams, you'd see some terrific defense," Calhoun said.
In an overwhelming defensive performance like this, its tough to label anyone the hero. There wasn't one person that shut down the Bulldogs. It was a team effort. Butler didn't have a single player on their roster shoot better than 27.3% from the floor Monday night. One person cannot do that to a team.
But there were notable performances. Like the job that Jeremy Lamb did on Shelvin Mack. Mack managed just 13 points on 4-15 shooting. All four of his field goals came from beyond the arc. Two of those -- his first field goal of the game with 4:00 left in the first half and the three he hit at the first half buzzer -- came when Donnell Beverly was guarding Mack late in the first half when Lamb was on the bench with two fouls. In the other 31 minutes, Lamb allowed Mack to make just two shots from the floor.
Then there was Alex Oriakhi. The 6'9" sophomore was once again a monster in the paint, living up to his "Warriakhi" nickname with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. He helped hold Matt Howard to just seven points on 1-13 shooting and Andrew Smith to five points on 2-9 shooting. All told, those two managed to score just two points in the paint.
"To me that's beauty," Calhoun said. "That's what this game should be about."
Back in November and December, the running joke was that UConn was the "Fighting Kembas", alluding to the fact that the Huskies were nothing more than what Kemba Walker could provide.
And while that theory looks silly after watching Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi carry the Huskies to a national title, back then the theory was anything but. They were young, freshmen and sophomores that not only had potential, but a ways to go to reach that potential.
There was plenty of criticism to go around. But it all came back to one thing -- the Huskies did not have the talent to compete with the best in the country all season long. Eventually, the thinking went, UConn's Kemba-well would dry up, and that is when the Huskies would struggle.
Lamb and Oriakhi both took what the national media was saying to heart. Their response? Hard work.
"People kept saying it was a one-man team, but we had confidence in ourselves," Oriakhi said in the locker room after the game. "We knew how good we could be. We definitely worked our tails off."
Oriakhi had developed the reputation of gym rat over the summer, lifting and working on his game every chance he got. There were two-a-day trips to the weight room in the summer, complimented by on-court workouts improving his back-to-the-basket game and jumper. Eventually, Oriakhi started to bring Lamb with him to these workout sessions, and before long the two budding UConn stars were spending every waking moment in the gym.
"I started getting Jeremy in there as well, and we just got addicted," Oriakhi said. "We really got addicted to it. The addiction got so crazy that we would go after games. Even if we had a good game, bad game, we'd still go after games."
"When I'm in the gym I don't like to waste my time."
Lamb may have been the biggest beneficiary of the late-night workouts.
Early in the season, it was difficult to see just how good Lamb could have been. He's a passive kid by nature. That laid back demeanor carried on to the court, when Lamb was satisfied with simply being a guy that tossed the ball around the perimeter. But as he gained confidence in his ability to make shots when he attacked, Lamb developed into a serious scoring threat at the end of the season. It was his 12 point second half outburst that will be credited with buoying the Huskies.
He was the difference maker for UConn.
"Jeremy, he's a hard worker. He's in the gym every night," Kemba said. "Coach would tell him, 'Jeremy, don't shoot. [Get rest]'. Jeremy would still go shoot. Jeremy would have a bad game and go straight to the gym after that. He's just a hard worker. All his hard work pays off."
The same can be said for Oriakhi. Early in the game, UConn was feeding him the ball in the paint. With Kemba Walker off target, the two early buckets that Oriakhi had helped to settle down the Huskies. The 6'9", 240 lb sophomore missed much of the first half due to foul trouble, but when he returned in the second half, he scored another early bucket in the post, and knocked down a pair of jumpers late in the game that helped extend UConn's lead.
"The hard work has definitely paid off," Oriakhi said. "That's definitely the best feeling. Going after practice when you don't feel like it, you're exhausted but you push through it, that's the best feeling."
"You know that all the paid has paid off."
UConn's season had come full circle.
It started as the Kemba show. It started as a one-man army. It started with Walker etching his name into the Maui Invitational record books while carrying this team and program on his diminutive shoulders. It ended with one of Kemba's worst performances of the season. He finished with just 16 points on 5-19 shooting. He had two turnovers and not a single assist. As Jim Calhoun would have put it, Kemba had an expensive 16 points.
But the season also ended with UConn being a team. It ended with 11 points, 11 boards, and four blocks from Alex Oriakhi. It ended with 12 second half points from Jeremy Lamb. It ended with 10 guys getting into the score book, and all ten making their impact on the game felt.
Who could have predicted that four months ago? Who thought that UConn could win a national title on a night where the only noteworthy comment to make on Kemba Walker's play is that is wasn't noteworthy?
"From last season, the loss to Virginia Tech, coach, he gave me the keys," Kemba said. "From that point on, I just drove. I called these guys, told them that we gonna work hard. Just be ready to come and work hard."
"That's what they did."
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The loss hurts, but Butler still accomplished the incredible |
This post can also be found at Beyond the Arc.
HOUSTON - The ending was far from story book.
If life were a movie, if the 2011 Final Four were to have happened in a Hollywood screenplay, the ending would have been quite different. Just one year removed from nearly taking down college basketball's villainous empire and playing without quite possibly the only lottery pick that Brad Stevens will ever suit up in a Butler jersey in Hinkle Fieldhouse, the Bulldogs would have taken down the UConn Huskies and their superstar point guard and their sanction-riddled head coach.
It was perfect.
After nearly pulling off one of the greatest postseason runs in the history of the sport, Butler struggled through much of the season before hitting their stride in February, winning nail-biter after nail-biter in March, and cutting down the nets in April.
But Hollywood just wasn't in the cards. 
For the second straight year, Butler's season came to a disappointing conclusion as the Bulldogs were once again the national runner-up, falling to UConn 53-41.
The disappointment in the Butler locker room was palpable. It was full of hung heads and reddened, swollen eyes that had recently been wiped clean of tears. Last year, the Bulldogs were disappointed, but they were playing with house money. They were the loveable underdog, a team from the Horizon League leaving a trail of destruction through the big boys en route to the national title game.
This season?
Butler truly believed they belonged. This was no longer a mid-major with a feel-good story. This was a powerhouse program that plays the game the right way while being led by one of the country's best coaches, regardless of age. This was a team with a different swagger. In their eyes, they were a national championship program. Its why last season's disappointment became this season's devastation. Butler was, legitimately, crushed.
"We're just coming out of a locker room that's hurting, a locker room that's got a lot of pride because of the way our kids carried us this year and the way our five seniors have acted their entire career, what they've done for Butler," Butler head coach Brad Stevens said after the game. "It's hard to talk about the game and really care about the intricacies of the game when you're talking about the personal relationships and the things that you develop as a team over time."
The Bulldogs have every right to be disappointed. They should be devastated. You aren't a true competitor if you can lose a national title two years in a row and not be upset. Hell, I was hurting just being in that locker room.
But the Bulldogs have no reason to be ashamed. Once the hurt wears off, once the pain of the loss begins to subside, one can only hope that the Bulldogs can look back and understand what they accomplished. They played for a national title two seasons in a row. That's an impressive accomplishment for anyone. For a team from the Horizon League, where getting into the tournament is usually considered a great season, its a truly remarkable and legendary feat.
"Its been really fun to be a part of these last two teams," Butler's junior leader Ronald Nored said after the game. "To be a part of a program that doesn't even necessarily care about the result of a game but more about each other? We can talk about what happened in the basketball game, but the thing in this locker room is all about the seniors. We're just upset that they have to go."
This was a team that accomplished something that no one thought possible. This was a team that showed that you don't need the budget of a power conference school to compete. This is a program that proved its not necessary to have a roster full of McDonald's all-americans to play for a national title. More than anything Butler showed the college basketball world that deep tournament runs are possible for teams that do things the right way.
The Butler way.
"Being such a competitor, [this loss] hurts a lot," Shelvin Mack said, just minutes after going 4-15 from the floor against a smothering UConn defense. "You work so hard to get to this stage and you're not able to get over the hump, its a very humbling experience."
"It's really hard to put that into words right now because, you know, we wanted a little bit more," Matt Howard said.
"Maybe at some point I can look back and be proud of what this group has accomplished."
There should be no maybe in that sentence.
It may take a day. It may take a month. It may take a year. But eventually, every single member of this Butler program should hold their head high.
Because the Bulldogs' two year run is one of the most incredible feats in college basketball history.
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UConn's length was the difference tonight |
HOUSTON - UConn's 53-41 win over Butler on Monday night will go down as one of the ugliest national title games in the history of the sport. For the first time in 50 years, a team failed to break the 50 point barrier in the championship game.
Its easy to figure out why.
Butler shot 12-64 from the floor. For the game. That's 18.8%. They were 9-33 from beyond the arc, which was actually a marked improvement from the 3-31 that the Bulldogs shot from inside the arc. Throw in the 8-14 that the Bulldogs shot from the foul line, and its pretty evident that what cost the Bulldogs tonight was their inability to put the ball in the basket. We can use all the advance statistics and tempo-free analysis to break down what happened in a game, but at the end of the day the team that wins is the one that scores more points.
And if you ain't scoring, you ain't winning.
"Without question, you know, 41 points, 12 of 64 is not good enough to win any game, let alone the national championship game," Butler head coach Brad Stevens said after the game.
"I thought we got decent looks in the second half. We just missed quite a few. Credit UConn for defending the way they do because I thought they challenged shots better than any team we've played all year."
That right there was the difference.
Butler actually did not execute terribly on the offensive end of the floor. They were getting shots in and around the rim. They were getting pretty good looks from the perimeter. They turned the ball over just six times. They managed to corral 20 of their misses.
So why were the Bulldogs missing?
Some of it was mental. It isn't humanly possible for a college kid on a stage this big to miss a couple of shots and not have it the pressure creep into the back of his head. And its tough to fault them for that.
But much of the blame -- or credit -- falls on UConn. The Huskies were, simply, longer and more athletic than Butler. They blocked 10 shots and changed countless other. I'd be willing to bet that Butler missed more layups than the number of field goals they made (12). Matt Howard finished the game 1-13 from the floor, and that one was a three pointer. Andrew Smith was just 2-9 from the field. As a team, Butler managed just two points in the paint, and those came on a layup from Andrew Smith off of an offensive rebound with 6:43 left in the game.
"I definitely think our length bothered them a lot," Alex Oriakhi told reporters after the game. "Roscoe [Smith], myself and Charles [Okwandu] are pretty good shot blockers. Anytime they was able to drive into the lane, we tried to alter a shot or block it. I definitely think we was able to do that. That affected them throughout the whole game."
But it was more than just changing shots around the rim.
What made UConn's defense so difficult to score against is how well they recovered on the perimeter.
It may have been difficult to see on television, but the Huskies were able to challenge seemingly every jumper that Butler had on the perimeter. Guys like Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, and Kemba were terrific closing out on shooters.
Lamb, in particular, deserves praise for the performance he had against Shelvin Mack. The lanky, 6'5" freshman isn't exactly known as defensive stopper. Yes, he uses his length, quickness, and anticipation to make plays in the passing lanes. But when you are talking about one-on-one, on the ball defense, Napier is generally the best on the UConn team, with Kemba falling close behind.
But it was Lamb that got the ball against Mack. And it was Lamb that delivered. Mack finished the game with just 13 points on 4-15 shooting. All four of those field goals came from beyond the arc. Two of those threes -- the first field goal that Mack had with 4:00 left in the first half and the second field goal he hit, at the halftime buzzer -- came when Donnell Beverly was guarding Mack because Lamb was on the bench in foul trouble.
That was the difference tonight.
Butler never got comfortable on the offensive end of the floor due to UConn's length.
And it won UConn the national title.
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Monday, April 4, 2011
Its been real, folks |
Its here.
The college basketball season ends tonight, and either the Butler Bulldogs or the UConn Huskies will walk away champions. It was a fun season, the best this site has ever had. We've made a lot of new memories this year. Hopefully, we'll get at least one more tonight.
This may not be the ideal Final Four for many folks, but it is was it is. If you can't get pumped for this game, then you aren't a college hoops fan:
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National title game x-factors |
Everyone knows about Kemba Walker. Everyone should know about Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard. They are the three most important players tonight. But they are also just three of the ten players that will be on the court tonight.
Here are the five most important role players tonight:
Shabazz Napier, UConn: Napier plays a vital role for the Huskies in that he is the guy that allows Kemba Walker to move off the ball. The advantages to that are two-fold. Kemba is, at times, a more effective scorer when he is able to run off of screens. The star guard also gets his rest on the offensive end of the floor on the possessions that Napier brings the ball up. Napier is also UConn's best on-ball defender on the perimeter, meaning he will likely be spending quite a bit of time defending Shelvin Mack.
Jeremy Lamb, UConn: Butler does not have many big perimeter players. With the exception of Chase Stigall, who is about 6'3", all of Butler's back court players are right around six-feet tall. Lamb, on the other hand, is 6'5" with a big time wingspan. He's going to be a very difficult matchup for Butler. Lamb's biggest issue throughout the season was his aggressiveness and assertiveness. He's always had the talent, its been an issue of taking advantage of that talent. If he attacks the basket tonight, he can be a very effective weapon.
Alex Oriakhi, UConn: Oriakhi is probably going to end up being matched up with Matt Howard tonight, which is going to be a tough matchup for him. Howard is not the athlete that Derrick Williams is, but he has a similar skill set, and Williams played very well in the second half of the Elite 8 against UConn. Oriakhi is also a matchup problem for Butler thanks to his sheer size and strength in the paint. He will need to be on the floor, because the drop off after Oriakhi in UConn's front court is pretty big. This game may end up coming down to fouls. Will Oriakhi or Howard be forced to sit out with foul trouble?
Ronald Nored, Butler: Nored will be the designated Kemba-stopper for Butler. As Brad Stevens said in the press conferences, you cannot guard Kemba Walker with just one player. It has to be a team effort. But Nored will be the guy on the front line, chasing Kemba off of screens and guarding him one-on-one when he has the ball on the perimeter. UConn has other weapons, but containing Kemba is the first step towards beating the Huskies.
Khyle Marshall, Butler: There are things that Butler does very well, but offensive rebounding is necessarily one of them. That's where Marshall comes into play. He's an athletic, 6'7" freshman forward that is a terrific change of pace for what Matt Howard and Andrew Smith give the Bulldogs. UConn's defensive rebounding can be exploited, and Marshall is the guy that will be expected to take advantage of that.
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Kemba Walker is showing now that he is the best player in the country |
On Sunday afternoon, Jimmer Fredette was announced as the Naismith Award winner, one of the six National Player of the Year awards that get handed out.
As of the end of the regular season, that choice looked correct.
As of now?
Well, frankly, not having Kemba Walker as the Player of the Year just seems silly.
If you couldn't tell, the difference has been what Kemba Walker has done during the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. He's been sensational. He's averaged 26.3 ppg, 5.0 apg, and 5.4 rpg. He's thrown his team on his back and carried them from ninth place in the Big East to the Big East tournament title and, quite possibly, the national title come Monday night.
There has been no one in the country better than Kemba over the last month. But does that mean he was the best player in the country this season?
No, it doesn't. What people are forgetting right now is just how average Walker was during the middle of the Big East schedule. Not all of that was his fault, however. The Big East is a grind. While the league as a whole underperformed in the NCAA Tournament, that doesn't change just how tough it is to go through a Big East regular season. Its been said many times over, but there was a lot of good in the Big East, but not a lot of great.
It may be more difficult to play a schedule that is loaded with a lot of good. Nights off in Big East play were few and far between. Five teams didn't make the NCAA Tournament. One of them was Seton Hall, who had as much talent on their roster as anyone in the middle of the Big East's pack. Another was Rutgers, a tough, physical group that played as hard as their head coach Mike Rice is emotional. Providence had an all-american on their team in Marshon Brooks. Hell, even DePaul played a pressing style under Oliver Purnell that put quite a bit of wear and tear on the legs of their opponents.
The Big East schedule wore on UConn's youngsters. Alex Oriakhi, Jeremy Lamb, and Shabazz Napier were incredibly inconsistent during that stretch. It put all kinds of pressure on Walker to make every play. It forced him to become over aggressive at times, as he was playing selfishly at times.
That hurt his numbers. But it also prepared the youngsters for the bright lights and pressure and physicality of the tournaments.
Kemba is not a different player than he was during February. If you think he is the best player in the country right now, than he was probably still the best player in the country during the regular season. Guys like Nolan Smith and Jimmer Fredette simply had better, and probably more consistent, seasons than him.
Kemba Walker is playing his best basketball right now, but that is a result of his supporting cast playing as well and as consistently as they have all season long.
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National Title game preview: No. 3 UConn vs. No. 8 Butler |
Tonight, Butler and UConn will square off for the right to be named 2011 college basketball national champions.
One of them returns a roster full of players that have national title game experience, the other missed the 2010 NCAA Tournament. One of those two teams was ranked coming into the season. One of them has had a player picked in the lottery in the 2010 NBA Draft. One of them was actually expected to make the NCAA Tournament this season.
The one is Butler. The other is UConn.
And who is the underdog?
That is only part of what makes this Final Four so intriguing.
The Details: Butler is the small school. Coming out of the Horizon League, the Bulldog's back to back trips to the national title game are one of the most impressive feats in the history of college basketball. On the other hand, you have UConn, a team that has won two national title and been to three Final Fours in the last twelve years. The Huskies have earned the right to be labeled one of the best programs in all of college hoops.
Perhaps the most interesting -- or easiest -- storyline heading into the title game is the difference in perception of these two schools. The Bulldogs are the Golden Boys. They are headed up by the next great head coach in Brad Stevens, a guy that will be in the conversation as greatest ever by the time he is all said and done in this profession. They are the mid-major that has a roster full of upper-classmen playing for their degree, and not a higher ranking on the NBA Draft boards.
UConn, on the other hand, will be cast as the bad guy, as the team that embodies everything wrong with college sports. They have an old, curmudgeonly head coach that doesn't care for the NCAA's rules. They just had a punishment handed out for NCAA violations committed during the recruitment of Nate Miles, and with Miles opting to speak to the media and the NCAA now, more hammers may end up dropping.
Key Matchup: Kemba Walker vs. Shelvin Mack
There are two things that are ironic about this matchup. On the one hand, Mack and Walker are friends. They played and worked out together the past two summers in Vegas with Team USA. They texted throughout the season, congratulating each other on big games, and things of that ilk. The only ironic part is that, while both players are excellent defenders and both play the same position, it is unlikely that they will actually be guarding each other tomorrow night.
Butler's best perimeter defender is Ronald Nored, with Shawn Vanzant following closely behind him. In his Sunday press conference, Brad Stevens said that he wouldn't be defending Kemba with "just one guy", but it will be Nored that does the heavy lifting trying to slow down Walker. Walker struggled a bit last night dealing with the length and athleticism of DeAndre Liggins, and Nored is a much different kind of defender. He's got terrific feet and really understands the intricacies of one-on-one defense, things like positioning, how to get around screens, and the like.
As far as UConn is concerned, they will likely have Shabazz Napier guarding Mack. Napier is a bit like Nored in that he's not all that big and not all that strong, but he understands how to defend and how to avoid getting out of position. He did a terrific job slowing down Brandon Knight last night, but Knight and Mack play a different style of basketball.
Mack and Walker are both so important to what their teams do offensively. If either can be somewhat contained, it will be a huge advantage.
X-factors: Matt Howard and Jeremy Lamb
It sounds weird calling the second best player on these two teams the x-factor, but they could very well end up determining who wins the national title.
Jeremy Lamb is going to be a very difficult cover for the Bulldogs. At 6'5" with a ridiculous wingspan, Lamb is going to have a size advantage over whoever ends up guarding him. As good as Butler is, they don't have a small forward on their roster this season. Lamb will be able to shoot over any of butler's back court players, and if he puts the ball not the floor, he should be able to get into the paint at will.
Howard is going to e a difficult cover for the Huskies. While Howard is not the athlete -- and, frankly, not the player -- that Derrick Williams is, they have similar skill sets. Both can score in the post, both have perimeter skills, and both are very good three point shooters. Howard is too strong and crafty for Roscoe Smith on the block, but putting Alex Oriakhi or Charles Okwandu on him on the perimeter is a just as much of a mismatch.
Key Stat: Fast break points and offensive rebounds
In terms of half court execution, UConn is not a great team. There is a reason that they ranked in the 200's in effective field goal percentage. The reason that UConn is able to be a top 15 team in offensive efficiency is that they get themselves easy looks at the rim.
UConn is terrific on the offensive glass. Alex Oriakhi is a beast in the paint, carving up space and earning extra possessions. He not only grabs offensive rebounds, but he is able to tip them out to UConn's guards. The Huskies back court is also very good on the glass. Combine the offensive rebounding with UConn's ability to protect the ball, and the Huskies make up for their lack of efficiency with more opportunities and shots at the rim.
The other thing UConn does is score in transition. Their pace on Kenpom's site is going to look slow, but UConn really does like to get out in transition. But if they don't end up getting an easy basket, the Huskies are terrific at pulling the ball out and running their offense. I hate to sounds like Jimmy Dykes here, but UConn is either going to score in the first five seconds of the shot clock or the last 10. They look for quick points, and if that isn't there, they are a very patient team.
If Butler is going to win the national title, they need to limit UConn's easy baskets. The Bulldogs are much better than the Huskies at executing in the half court, so if they can make every UConn basket tough to earn, they will win this game.
And the winner is?: UConn Huskies
Kemba Walker is not going to be stopped right now. The kid is playing with the look and the determination of a champion. Believe me, I love Shelvin Mack. I love his game, I love his toughness, and I love his "intestinal fortitude" when it comes to big shots late in a game. But there is no one in the country who I would rather see with the ball in his hands late in the game.
The other issue is that I think Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb will be too much for Butler. Oriakhi is a warrior on the block, and I'm not sure Butler has anyone with the strength to keep him off of the offensive glass. Lamb is going to be a difficult matchup for Butler's small guards.
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Sunday, April 3, 2011
Final Four Crowd Control |
You would be hard pressed to find a more diverse pairing of Final Four teams this season. From talent level, to head coaches, to team profile, to school size, athletic funding, program prestige, and tournament experience. Everything about these four teams is completely different.
The uniqueness of the teams and their fan bases was on full display at Reliant Stadium on Saturday afternoon. For VCU alumni and fans, there is no telling if or when the Rams will make a return trip to the Final Four. For members of Big Blue Nation, this was just another chance to remind the country that they are the most powerful fan base in college basketball. For people like myself, with no dog in the fight, mingling amongst the masses, it was a chance to take in the varying fan support from the four remaining teams in the country.
There was no denying fans of Virginia Commonwealth the opportunity to wear their school's colors on their sleeves in Houston. Of the four schools being represented at Reliant Stadium, VCU was the only one not wearing blue.
There was no ignoring the large section of bright yellow Ram supporters, not even if you had tried. On the concourse, small hoards of VCU fans walked with a slight bounce in their step.
They were smiling, they were cheering, they were goading other fans into shouting matches, basically anything they could do to acknowledge that their team had made it, and at least for the moment, there was nothing we could do about it.
During the contest, the VCU faithful cheered with an unadulterated ferocity. You could hear every word of every cheer they recited. It was almost like the fans knew this might be their only chance to support a Final Four team. If any of the supporters were to have bled, I am more than certain that their blood would have been yellow.
But it wasn't just the alumni and fans. The Ram's pep band hit their strokes with a combination of passion and soul. They weren't just playing music, they were setting the tone. The conductor did more than just conduct, he flailed his arms, thrust his hips, and perspired enough to necessitate multiple wardrobe changes. The student section was more mosh pit than anything else. They were provided with more than enough space to fit their faithful followers, but the co-eds clearly are not fans of "personal space".
Overall, watching the VCU fans express themselves was refreshing. There wasn't the feeling of a routine, like they had been there before. It was off-the-cuff, make-it-up-as-you-go, and displayed with a sense of reckless abandon.
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Of the four fan bases being represented, the Butler support group provided arguably the most realistic view of their program and school. Their entourage was not overwhelmingly large, but it was prominent. They were loud and proud, but never with the slight tinge of hysteria that the VCU fans provided.
It seemed like, after having been here once before, the Bulldog fans knew the routine. It wasn't cut-and-dry, but it wasn't over-the-top. Their support was very well, blue-collar. Every Butler fan could be identified, but none made themselves an eyesore. Their band was loud, and energetic, but their musical selection seemed to draw inspiration from the classic standard-issue band numbers. This is not to say that they were boring, just that their creativity was limited. But their passion was most certainly not.
On a somewhat-unrelated note, I had made it a personal goal of mine before this adventure began that I would seek out Butler's Blue II for a photo-op. I circled the lower level of the stadium numerous times in hopes that he would be out greeting the fans on the concourse level, but came up empty. Monday night will be different.
Back to the topic at hand, Butler's crowd support was a perfect representation of what school's public opinion: bigger and better than you would expect for a school of that size, but with a traditional style lacking the feathers, ruffles, bells and whistles.
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Only 847 miles separate Lexington Kentucky and Houston Texas. But based on the number of royal blue shirts roaming the grounds and the percentage of seats filled by "Big Blue" it would be understandable if you believed this game was being played in Kentucky.
Big Blue Nation's presence is and was overbearing. They were everywhere. T-shirts, hats, signs, pom-poms, costumes, face paint, and body paint. There were blue-and-white versions of Darth Vader and Ironman’s headgear. I saw an elderly lady donning a personalized #33 blue Kentucky jersey with the name "Shea Butta". As long as you were in blue, anything was allowed. The t-shirt selections we all over the place: "Free Enes", "UK2K", "Got Jorts?", "Calipari is my Homeboy", and even an "I Hate Louisville".
The announced attendance for Kentucky/UConn semifinal was said to have been a record of 75,421. OF these 75-thousand people, 25-thousand of them must have been Kentucky fans. They were loud, really really loud. But if there would have been the same number of VCU or Butler fans, Big Blue Nation would have been drowned out.
Yes, BBN had power in numbers, but nothing about their crowd presence was overwhelming, other than the sheer size and well, the noise level. It's interesting, because that is the perception of the Big Blue fan base. Yes it's the largest fan base in college basketball, but nothing about their presence during the game was unique, or original.
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No team or fan base had to travel further this week than UConn. 1530 miles separate the small New England town and the massive southwestern metropolis.
Less than a month ago, UConn fans took over Madison Square Garden for the Big East Tournament. Chants of "UCONN...HUSKIES" echoed through the arena and drowned out other cheering sections. Even against Syracuse, who travels as well as UConn on the East Coast, was no match for the UConn support group.
But in Houston, Husky fans were few and far between. By the end of Saturday, there were as many lingering VCU fans in the student section as there were UConn fans.
So, with the seemingly non-existent student section, and only one un-color coordinated section of the stadium, you would not expect them to have been drowned out by Big Blue Nation. And this could have not been further from the truth.
Led by "Big Red", UConn's cult-icon, Husky fans were as loud and as supportive as Big Blue Nation was. The student section could not have had more than 60 members in attendance, but based on noise level, you would have never noticed.
Visually, everything about UConn was unassuming. They lacked size and had little-to-no color coordination. But what they lacked in size they made up for in school spirit.
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Disappointing finish, but Kentucky had a helluva season |
The season did not exactly end the way that the thousands and thousands of Kentucky fans that descended upon Houston this week had hoped.
Wildcat fans didn't want to see their team go home early. They didn't fly or train or drive the 1,000 miles from Lexington to see their team lose on Saturday night. Kentucky fans wanted -- no, expected -- to win. And there is no shame in being disappointed.
But what I hope Big Blue Nation realizes is that this team probably wasn't supposed to be here. 
This wasn't the year the Wildcats were supposed to be in the Final Four. They were supposed to be playing for a national title last season, when they had five players go in the first round of the NBA Draft. Once Enes Kanter was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA, most Kentucky fans began looking forward to next season. Because before this Final Four even began, before we even know which of Kentucky's talented freshman would be bolting for the NBA, the talk about the Wildcats being the No. 1 team in the country in 2011-2012 had already begun.
That's what tends to happen when the recruiting class you bring in is full of names like Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, Mike Gilchrist, and Kyle Wiltjer. Throw in the likes of DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller returning for another season, and John Calipari will once again have a roster that is stocked to the gills with talent.
What shouldn't fall by the wayside in the disappointment of Kentucky's loss on Saturday night is just how incredible of a run the Wildcats had in the tournament.
Josh Harrellson became this season's Omar Samhan, a big, goofy looking, slow-footed center than took the NCAA's media contingent by storm. Harrellson wasn't known outside of the state of Kentucky coming into this season. The only reason he saw time during the year was a result of Enes Kanter being ruled ineligible. Even then, Harrellson was nearly kicked off the team early in the season because of an ill-advised tweet he sent out. Even in the basketball-mad state of Kentucky, Harrellson was better known for the jorts he wore off the court than his performance on the court.
Never the less, the kid that was considered Kentucky's weak link coming into the season will leave with a professional basketball career staring him in the face.
DeAndre Liggins was a top 50 recruit coming out of high school, but attitude problems stemming from how he dealt with the death of his brother back in high school never allowed him to find any kind of consistency on the court. But the athletic, 6'6" Liggins became a defensive stopper this season, building Coach Cal's confidence in him on the offensive end to the point that he actually became a weapon this season. The same can probably be said about Darius Miller, another versatile small forward that came into is own this year.
These Wildcats were a fantastic story. They were the underdog. Calipari shed his reputation of being a recruiter, not a coach, and blended a cinderella story out of a concoction of talented newcomers and returning misfits.
This group became eminently likeable.
That's not something easily said about a Kentucky team, especially one coach by John Calipari.
And that's not something that Kentucky fans should forget.
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Shelvin Mack will be UConn's first priority on Monday |
There are a litany of factors that you can point to and say "this was why UConn beat Kentucky."
DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller combined to shoot 2-14. Terrence Jones never got into a rhythm offensively. The Wildcats have just five second chance points despite getting 15 offensive rebounds. Josh Harrellson looked like Josh Harrellson from the past three years, not the past three weeks. All of those assertions would be correct.
But the biggest problem Kentucky had was that Brandon Knight, the guy that had been the Wildcat's sparkplug all season long, struggled. He was 6-23 from the floor and 3-11 from deep. He finished with 17 points, but as Calhoun put it last night, those were "expensive points". 
The credit -- or blame, depending on your perspective -- for that 6-23 performance lands squarely on the shoulders of Shabazz Napier and Kemba Walker. Those two did a terrific job of keeping Knight in check. They hounded him when he had the ball in his hands and made coming off of every screen difficult. They gave him no room to breathe offensively, cutting down driving lanes and forcing him to take tough, contested shots all night long.
And that is exactly what the Huskies are going to need Walker and Napier to do against Shelvin Mack on Monday night.
Mack plays almost the same role for the Bulldogs that Knight plays for Kentucky. He's technically their point guard, but he's more of a scorer that handles then ball than anything. He's the guy who has the ball in his hands when Butler really needs a back or at the end of a clock. He's Butler's play maker. He's the guy they rely on to take, and make, big shots.
He's also going to be a much more difficult matchup for Walker and Napier.
Brandon Knight is quick and agile. He's tough, but he's not all that strong. When he is playing well, he is beating defenders off of the dribble. Mack is a much stronger player. He can bull his way to the rim and keep a defender on his hip. As good as Walker and Napier are defensively, their real strength on the defensive end of the floor comes in their quickness and agility.
Mack will be a tough matchup for the UConn guards.
Then again, Mack is a tough matchup for anyone. That's generally the case when you are an all-american.
And slowing down Mack, keeping him from having the kind of performance he had against Kentucky, Pitt, and Florida, will be UConn's first priority on Monday night.
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Butler's unsung heroes have been the difference makers |
HOUSTON - Butler may be the team playing in the second consecutive national title game, but I don't think anyone would disagree with the fact that the UConn Huskies are far and away the more talented basketball team.
And I don't say that as a diss to Butler. Truly.
UConn has three guys in their starting lineup that will likely play in the NBA in Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, and Alex Oriakhi. They have kids getting minutes off of their bench that were top 50 or top 100 recruits coming out of high school. Butler? For as good as Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard, and company are, they rely on much more than natural ability to survive.
Matt Howard is a relentless worker around the basket. He's one of those guys whose engine is always running, who is always trying to get better position. He's a blue collar glue guy that just so happens to be a 42.6% three point shooter with an excellent post game.
Shelvin Mack has what I would term as old man game. He's not going to jump over or blow by you. But he's strong with his dribble and understands how to use that strength to bully defenders. The best aspect of his game, however, is his jumper. He doesn't need much space to get it off, he has range out to about 28 feet, and he seems to shoot better and better when there is more riding on the shot.
But what makes Butler so dangerous is that the rest of their guys, the players that should be intimidated by the moment and opponent, play like they are all-americans as well. The last two games, the most important run of the game has been sparked by unlikely sources.
Last weekend, with Butler down 51-40 to Florida midway through the second half, seldom-used freshman Chrishawn Hopkins -- he had played just seven minutes in four games since mid-January -- came in and had an assist and a three in the span of about 30 seconds. Those two plays changed the momentum of the game and allowed Butler to make a run that forced overtime.
Last night against VCU, the Rams had erased Butler's six point halftime lead with an 11-2 run. But senior sharpshooter Zach Hahn -- who had scored all nine points and made all of four field goals in four tournament games -- buried back-to-back threes and then gave Butler the lead for good with a crafty, up-and-under layup. The efforts of Khyle Marshall, an athletic 6'7" freshman forward, in the first half should not go unnoticed either. VCU was on fire early, and Marshall's work on the offensive glass and in the paint early in the first half kept VCU at arm's length.
Butler probably doesn't make the Final Four without those two plays from Hopkins. They may not have made the title game without eight straight points from Zach Hahn or that early hustle from Marshall.
None of those three players would be labeled a hero after their performance. That moniker goes to Mack, who put Butler up seven late in the second half with 10 straight points, and Howard, who followed up a miss with an offensive rebound and putback with less than a minute left. The post game press conferences still featured the team's stars. But Butler's unsung heroes are who have gotten them to this point in the season.
That is part of the luxury of having made back-to-back national title games. The Bulldogs won't be tight on Monday night. They've been here before. They came up two points short of a national title just one year ago. Butler will not be nervous. Their role players will not be blinded by the bright lights in Houston.
That's a dangerous quality for a team like Butler to have.
So who steps up against UConn on Monday night?
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