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Sorry for looking ahead, but Stephen F. Austin just doesn't do it for me. Here is a brief overview of the #10 Butler Bulldogs who the Gophers play next Thursday.
2009-10 Horizon Prediction: 1st
Basketball fans are familiar with a school in a mid-major conference that plays on par with the big boys, reaches the NCAA Tournament almost annually and cracks the Top 25 with regularity. They’re nicknamed the Bulldogs, they schedule nationally and stir up the debate whether a team from a mid-major league can be labeled a major program.
Nope, we’re not talking about Gonzaga.
It is the Butler Bulldogs, who have been making consistent noise over the past decade, and this year’s team could be the best yet. With five starters back from a 26–6 team that was a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Butler has an excellent chance to reach its ninth tourney in 14 years and record its fifth straight 20-win season. This program has developed the consistent success of Gonzaga rather than the flash-in-the-pan burst of George Mason, but coach Brad Stevens is fond of saying his players are just trying to be the best Butler they can be.
“We’re not concerned about labels, but more with how we prepare and play to compete against the very best on the court,” Stevens says. “When you are preparing to play a team and you are looking at film, you are not labeling them. You are looking at what they can do and what they can’t do. We try to be as competitive as we can on a national level.”
Butler is the runaway favorite to win its fourth straight Horizon League title, and it will challenge itself in non-conference play against Georgetown, Ohio State, Xavier, UAB and Davidson, plus three games in a loaded Thanksgiving tournament in Anaheim that includes UCLA, Clemson, West Virginia, Minnesota and Texas A&M.
Frontcourt
Matt Howard was the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and Player of the Year as a sophomore. Will the 6'8" Connersville, Ind., native rest on his laurels after averaging 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 55 percent from the floor? No way, according to Stevens, who says the junior is one of his hardest-working players. Howard will likely try to expand his range this season rather than limit his scoring to the low post.
Senior Willie Veasley is listed as a forward, and he can guard any position on the floor despite his 6'3" frame. Veasley doesn’t ring up gaudy numbers (8.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg last season), but he provides the intangibles that have been key to Butler’s success.
Off the bench, improving sophomore Garrett Butcher will spell Howard, while Avery Jukes, who began his career at Alabama, will provide minutes in his final season.
Backcourt
Three sophomores return to the starting lineup, and two of them played for USA Basketball’s 19-and-under national team over the summer. Gordon Hayward, who was the Horizon Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, reportedly had NBA scouts buzzing during the tryouts in Colorado Springs. Hayward made first-team all-tournament after finishing third in scoring and second in rebounding for the gold medal-winning USA squad. Shelvin Mack, also a member of the ’08-09 Horizon All-Freshman team, averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 boards and 3.5 assists last season.
Hayward stands 6'8" and is a deadly outside shooter. He made 44.8 percent of his threes as a freshman and led Butler in minutes and steals while averaging 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. While Howard remains the Alpha Bulldog, Hayward is right there, especially if he makes any kind of a jump as a sophomore.
Mack and Ronald Nored float back-and-forth between the point and 2-guard slot, versatility that Stevens says was one of the keys to Butler’s success last season. Nored shot just 22.5 percent from three, a number he knows must improve if he wants to hold his starting spot.
Off the bench, Zach Hahn is a 3-point specialist, and Shawn Vanzant is an athletic defender who averaged 4.7 points per game in league play.
Final Analysis
Defense was Butler’s signature during its surprise run to the Horizon title last year as it finished sixth in the nation in scoring defense, and that will not change this year. As the four freshmen in the rotation turn into sophomores, the hope is that the offense will execute at a higher level. Expectations will be very high for a team that essentially will be together two more seasons.
“It is just like the mid-major label — it is not about the talking. It is about getting the job done,” Stevens says. “You have to embrace the details at every turn, and then get after it.”
http://www.athlonsports.com/college-basketball/18012/2009-butler-bulldogs-hoops-preview
2009-10 Horizon Prediction: 1st
Basketball fans are familiar with a school in a mid-major conference that plays on par with the big boys, reaches the NCAA Tournament almost annually and cracks the Top 25 with regularity. They’re nicknamed the Bulldogs, they schedule nationally and stir up the debate whether a team from a mid-major league can be labeled a major program.
Nope, we’re not talking about Gonzaga.
It is the Butler Bulldogs, who have been making consistent noise over the past decade, and this year’s team could be the best yet. With five starters back from a 26–6 team that was a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Butler has an excellent chance to reach its ninth tourney in 14 years and record its fifth straight 20-win season. This program has developed the consistent success of Gonzaga rather than the flash-in-the-pan burst of George Mason, but coach Brad Stevens is fond of saying his players are just trying to be the best Butler they can be.
“We’re not concerned about labels, but more with how we prepare and play to compete against the very best on the court,” Stevens says. “When you are preparing to play a team and you are looking at film, you are not labeling them. You are looking at what they can do and what they can’t do. We try to be as competitive as we can on a national level.”
Butler is the runaway favorite to win its fourth straight Horizon League title, and it will challenge itself in non-conference play against Georgetown, Ohio State, Xavier, UAB and Davidson, plus three games in a loaded Thanksgiving tournament in Anaheim that includes UCLA, Clemson, West Virginia, Minnesota and Texas A&M.
Frontcourt
Matt Howard was the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and Player of the Year as a sophomore. Will the 6'8" Connersville, Ind., native rest on his laurels after averaging 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 55 percent from the floor? No way, according to Stevens, who says the junior is one of his hardest-working players. Howard will likely try to expand his range this season rather than limit his scoring to the low post.
Senior Willie Veasley is listed as a forward, and he can guard any position on the floor despite his 6'3" frame. Veasley doesn’t ring up gaudy numbers (8.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg last season), but he provides the intangibles that have been key to Butler’s success.
Off the bench, improving sophomore Garrett Butcher will spell Howard, while Avery Jukes, who began his career at Alabama, will provide minutes in his final season.
Backcourt
Three sophomores return to the starting lineup, and two of them played for USA Basketball’s 19-and-under national team over the summer. Gordon Hayward, who was the Horizon Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection, reportedly had NBA scouts buzzing during the tryouts in Colorado Springs. Hayward made first-team all-tournament after finishing third in scoring and second in rebounding for the gold medal-winning USA squad. Shelvin Mack, also a member of the ’08-09 Horizon All-Freshman team, averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 boards and 3.5 assists last season.
Hayward stands 6'8" and is a deadly outside shooter. He made 44.8 percent of his threes as a freshman and led Butler in minutes and steals while averaging 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds. While Howard remains the Alpha Bulldog, Hayward is right there, especially if he makes any kind of a jump as a sophomore.
Mack and Ronald Nored float back-and-forth between the point and 2-guard slot, versatility that Stevens says was one of the keys to Butler’s success last season. Nored shot just 22.5 percent from three, a number he knows must improve if he wants to hold his starting spot.
Off the bench, Zach Hahn is a 3-point specialist, and Shawn Vanzant is an athletic defender who averaged 4.7 points per game in league play.
Final Analysis
Defense was Butler’s signature during its surprise run to the Horizon title last year as it finished sixth in the nation in scoring defense, and that will not change this year. As the four freshmen in the rotation turn into sophomores, the hope is that the offense will execute at a higher level. Expectations will be very high for a team that essentially will be together two more seasons.
“It is just like the mid-major label — it is not about the talking. It is about getting the job done,” Stevens says. “You have to embrace the details at every turn, and then get after it.”
http://www.athlonsports.com/college-basketball/18012/2009-butler-bulldogs-hoops-preview
