Butler - Syracuse game

[ser_solace]

So, any chance we get a mid major final four?

[bigdaddystuck]

Another 1(seed) bites the dust....and another 1's gone and another 1's gone....another 1(seed) bites the dust!!!!!!



GO BU!!!!!

[SFP]

So, any chance we get a mid major final four?

If Xavier beats KSU its 100% guaranteed!

[BUfan14]

Oh their big plays big and is not small at 230 lbs and with Heyward as the other bookend at 6'9" makes a formidable front court. Howard + Heyward is bigger then WE + TB!

WE is 6'9 233 lbs. JW is 6'9 205. TB 6'6 205.

Howard is 6'8 230 lbs. Hayward is 6'9 207 lbs.

Some want a big instead of JW, but if JW WANTS to come here, then we wouldn't be far off from what Butler has if WE continues to get stronger and JW plays similarly to Hayward. JW would be a 3 and TB a 4 probably, but still. People have said all year how Howard doesn't play as good against big centers. He has shown he can, as WE did against Illinois (has bigs at least height wise if not weight wise).

So it can be done without a huge center. WE/JP/AT might be able to get the job done as Howard has shown. So if JW wants to come, I would take him over a big. If we can get a big too great, but I doubt many greats one's are left.

In summary, if we don't get a huge big this year, we can still go far!

[BUfan14]

If Xavier beats KSU its 100% guaranteed!

I thought he meant a whole final four of mid-majors. Hmmm....St. Mary's, Cornell, UNI, and Butler/Xavier? Wouldn't that be something?

[SFP]

The difference is that Howard excels with his back to the basket! That is extremely important in being able to run the ball inside. If WE can develop a big mans game I'd be impressed. He likes to face the basket or shoot a fade-away more times then not. Defensively WE I'm not sure what he can do but get bigger and learn to position himself a bit better. This was only his 2nd year after all and between this year and his Fr. year he did improve a ton.

[BUfan14]

The difference is that Howard excels with his back to the basket! That is extremely important in being able to run the ball inside. If WE can develop a big mans game I'd be impressed. He likes to face the basket or shoot a fade-away more times then not. Defensively WE I'm not sure what he can do but get bigger and learn to position himself a bit better. This was only his 2nd year after all and between this year and his Fr. year he did improve a ton.

As I said in a previous thread, WE is the wild card for next year's team assuming we don't land a talented big who can contribute immediately. You are right about WE, but you are also right that he improved a lot once, he can do it again. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic thinking he will become just that it the post, but I think he can and will improve a lot in that area.

JP is said to be a back to the basket guy and is 6'8 like Howard, maybe he can be that type of guy for us if WE can't. I'm not expecting Matt Howard his first year on the court, but then again I don't think we need Matt Howard. I expect a combination of WE/JP/AT could get the job done, assuming we don't get a big, if they really work on it. Again maybe I'm overly optimistic, but that's what I see.

[ser_solace]

I thought he meant a whole final four of mid-majors. Hmmm....St. Mary's, Cornell, UNI, and Butler/Xavier? Wouldn't that be something?

Heh. Yeah, that's what I meant. An all mid-major final four.

[SFP]

The announcers doing the KSU-Xavier game was basically saying Butler got lucky. Go figure, they could never say that Butler is the better team.

[Bravesfan]

This is why you have to love basketball. It's still about team and playing smart, fundamental basketball.

Not according to some local sports talkers in Chicago, one in particular.

The Score's mid-afternoon personalities Terry Boers and Dan Bernstein are entertaining to listen to and at times very intellectually spot-on with their discussions. At other times they are very silly, Boers in particular. So it is not at all surprising to hear Boers the other day saying that he did not want any of these smaller schools in the Elite Eight and Final Four, thinking that these spots should be reserved only for the teams with the best athletes!

I have news for him. Boers needs to realize that teams with blue chip athletes are not the only ones permitted in the tournament, AND these teams are not the only ones that have a God-given right to win! Teams that play fundamental basketball according to a proven system can overcome shortcomings and beat the more athletic teams on any given night. Granted teams that are stocked with better athletes most certainly have the advantage, but that doesn't mean having great athletes is the only way to win. A team like Cornell has as much right to make the Final Four as Kentucky and Duke, and I find it shallow that someone like Boers can make a stupid statement like that without apparently much thought. And that goes for the Diggers of the world too!

I for one hope the mid-major "uprising" continues. Then maybe one of these days people like Boers and Digger realize that the smaller schools have broken the "code" for good!

[real fan]

The key to winning is getting good players to play together as a team, great players sometimes are more selfish and put themselves first before the team, Butler is a perfect example of how to win with good players that are not selfish and play together as a team.

[Bravesfan]

The key to winning is getting good players to play together as a team, great players sometimes are more selfish and put themselves first before the team, Butler is a perfect example of how to win with good players that are not selfish and play together as a team.

Yup. It's too bad though that more in the media don't seem to understand that, or somehow equate this to "bad" basketball. They could not be more wrong.

[BUSongwriter]

I was thrilled to see Butler win and knock Syracuse out of the tournament. It really irritated me when Syracuse lost its opening round of the Big East tournament and still got a No. 1 seed. How does that happen?

If UNI would have lost in the MVC opening round, how many of the talking heads -- and committee members -- would have said the Panthers should not even make the tournament, or should be dropped to a 12 or 13 seed?

There are many examples of bias toward the power conferences, but this was a glaring one. Bye, bye, Orange!

[DeltaBrave03]

The announcers doing the KSU-Xavier game was basically saying Butler got lucky. Go figure, they could never say that Butler is the better team.

Yeah right after the game when they went to the studio Greg Gumbel turns to one of the other analysts and says "well what happened" basically the only way Butler won is because something happend to the orange. As if there's no way Butler could just be a better team. It just gets so old.

[Grassman]

Yeah right after the game when they went to the studio Greg Gumbel turns to one of the other analysts and says "well what happened" basically the only way Butler won is because something happend to the orange. As if there's no way Butler could just be a better team. It just gets so old.

It was the same when UNI beat Kansas. The announcers acted like Kansas "lost" the game, UNI did not "win" the game.
GO UNI and St. Mary's!