Butler’s inexperienced team looking up
By Micah McVicker | Staff Writer
Brad Stevens’ work is cut out for him this year. The Butler head coach will be earning every dollar of his seven-year contract terms by coaching the youngest team in the recent history of the program; no team archives exist where such an inexperienced team called Hinkle Fieldhouse home.
The Butler men’s basketball coach features a team with six freshmen. The team is devoid of seniors. In contrast from last year, when the team was loaded with seniors: Mike Green, AJ Graves, Julian Betko, Pete Campbell and Drew Streicher.
The experienced Butler went 30-3 and earned the 14th spot in the final ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. The team’s run came to an end with a 76-71 loss in overtime to the Tennessee Volunteers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Butler earned a top 10 ranking at the end of the regular season and compiled 30 wins, the first mid-major program to do so since Larry Bird at Indiana State in 1979.
The result was not what the Bulldogs wanted, but their style of play received great praise from some great coaches. “It seems like they have five seniors every year,” said Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl.
The General, Bob Knight, said “I wish we played as smart as they did.” He is the coach with the most wins in Division I men’s basketball history.
Now the team features six freshmen, including local hero Gordon Hayward, who led Brownsburg high school to a state championship last year. The lone major returning contributor is sophomore center Matt Howard.
In addition to Butler losing all their senior leadership, the three-point line now resides a foot further from the basket. For a team that was so reliant on the three-point shot last season, this is an adjustment that the team must make in order to continue the success the program has enjoyed the past half-decade.
“That’s why you have to do the other things,” Stevens said.
The three-point line may change, but defense, rebounding and ball control will always be there, teams can rely on these aspects of the game when said aspects are well-executed.
“If he’s open behind the three-point line, I want him to shoot it,” said Stevens.
Despite their youth, Butler started their season Nov. 15 with a win at Drake, a rematch of last year’s Bracket Busters game at Hinkle.
The rest of the Bulldogs’ non-Horizon League schedule includes University of Alabama-Birmingham, Ball State, Evansville and Florida Gulf Coast at home, and Ohio State, Xavier and Bradley on the road.
With a schedule like that, the Bulldogs will face challenges. But playing such a schedule should help the team as the season progresses, into the season.
“It may be tough in the beginning, just finding that leadership, who takes the ball when it’s at the end of the shot clock,” said Howard, the leading returning scorer at 12.3, and the only returner to average more than 5.0. “Those things will be a little tough to sort out. But I think we’ll be all right.”
