Butler article

[egib52]

There is a good article in the Chicago Tribune by John Mullins and their success:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-09-butlermar09,0,2538588.story

I think the most telling part is in the discussion of their style of play:

"The problem was an up-tempo style, which was a disaster. Collier made changes, and in the mid-1990s he joined several coaching colleagues for a visit to Wisconsin and newly hired Dick Bennett. The resulting change of philosophy was the turning point for Butler.

"I would give Dick a lot of credit for the paradigm shift," Collier said. "When we played fast, we'd beat the teams we were supposed to, but we couldn't beat the better teams on our schedule.

"We strive to take care of the basketball, but it wasn't a deliberate slow-down by any measure. And if the other team wants to take a bad shot early, we're all for it.""

I have always felt its the commitment to defense and taking care of the basketball is what makes teams, especially mid-majors successful. I would like the coaching staff to renew this emphasis. I think we have and will continue to draw the athletes necessary we just need to become the time of team that wins the TO margin and gets plenty of points off TOs every game.

[lake Camelot]

I agree with you that defense is very important. I don't think it has to be a slow down style though. I think any style that is different can be successful. So up tempo is fine also. It can be done with good defense also. I remember the UNLV teams from years ago as a great example of uptempo that played D.