Butler Continues To Impress

By Mark Barnes
for HOOPSADDICT.com

Published: December 13, 2008

Someone in the Horizon League should tell head coach Brad Stevens that his Butler Bulldogs are not supposed to be this good. Maybe someone in the Top 20 should tell him, before Butler sneaks up on college basketball’s elite teams and wipes them aside, much as the Bulldogs have cleaned up their opponents so far in the young 2008-09 campaign.

Butler simply should not be this good. Hell, Stevens shouldn’t be so amazingly successful, especially considering that Stevens isn’t too much older than his baby-faced Bulldogs. At just 31, Stevens has already built an astonishing resume. Last year, his first season as head coach, he led Butler to a Horizon League record 30-4 mark and a top 10 ranking.

This year, in spite of losing his three best players and playing mostly freshmen and sophomores, Stevens has his Bulldogs off to a stellar 8-1 start, after a narrow three-point loss at number 21 Ohio State on Saturday.

Although he’d never admit it, Buckeye head coach Thad Matta, who gave Stevens his first coaching job at Butler, likely thought the Bulldogs shouldn’t be so good. After all, Ohio State is bigger, stronger and faster and plays in the powerful Big Ten Conference.

None of this mattered, though, as Matta agonized while watching Butler freshman Gordon Hayward sink seven three-pointers, the last of which tied the game with under two minutes to play, eliminating a 13-point OSU advantage.

It was only when Hayward’s buzzer-beating bomb rattled out that Matta realized that he and his Buckeyes had narrowly escaped Butler’s clutches and that the Bulldogs are, in fact, very good.

This bunch of diminutive youngsters, though, should be struggling to stay afloat in the Horizon League, where they were predicted by the conferences coaches, who certainly believed Butler wouldn’t be good, to finish fifth, well behind projected winner Cleveland State, which Butler defeated earlier this year in Cleveland. Stevens and his Bulldogs are, without question, a college hoops enigma.

For his part Stevens, who looks more like he should be blowing bubbles at a junior high school game than winning nearly 90 percent of his games as a Division I college basketball coach, isn’t surprised by his team or by his own staggering success.

“I really like this team,” Stevens told Hoops Addict. “Everyone can move, handle, pass and shoot.

“You’re only as good as the people that you are surrounded by, and at Butler I’ve been surrounded by and taught by great people.”

Matta is one of those people, but this may be a case where the student has surpassed the teacher. Although his career is only beginning, Stevens looks as comfortable on the sidelines as Hayward looks stroking a 22-foot J. And Stevens appears as cunning as Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith, all rolled into one computer-like basketball mind.

Unlike many young coaches, who scream at referees and panic when worthy opponents take a double-digit lead, Stevens and his Bulldogs are always cool. Saturday’s game in Columbus was perfect evidence, as every timeout had a purpose, while Butler carved into the Buckeyes’ lead with machine-like precision.

In the end, the game was a loss, but the experience was a victory for the even-keeled Stevens.

“I’m not a big believer in hype or external expectations,” Stevens says. “My expectations are (always) the same – get better today.”

If Stevens’ Bulldogs get too much better, they may return to the NCAA Tournament in March and make an even deeper run than last year’s team, which lost in the second round.

The success of Butler’s tourney trek is predicated on solid performances from Hayward and freshmen point guard Shelvin Mack, who are continuing Butler’s tradition of excellent backcourt play.

Again, this shouldn’t be. With the loss of super guards, A.J. Graves and Mike Green, guard play should be a dilemma for Stevens. Instead, Hayward and Mack may be even better than their predecessors, making analysts wonder how Stevens does it.

“I don’t think it’s unique,” he says, when asked how Butler constantly gets wonderful guards, “but I really like guys that play with great poise and savvy.”

Throw in sophomore sharpshooter Zach Hahn, who beat Cleveland State with a game-winning three-pointer and 6-8 strong man Matt Howard, who holds his own against much bigger centers, and Coach Stevens has his own special recipe for winning another league championship, despite an outward appearance that indicates otherwise.

“Obviously, we have good players that, right now, are playing to win,” says Stevens. “Hopefully, we will continue to play with that focus.”

For opponents focusing on the notion that Butler shouldn’t be this good, Stevens and his Bulldogs have them right where they want them.

Photo Credit: ICON Sports Media

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Butler Continues To Impress

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