Butler got Butler'd

There’s probably approximately 20 000 game recaps of last night’s Butler-UConn championship game last night, so I won’t bore you with another one. Anyone who watched the game knows the basics of it. Butler shot like a bunch of Ben Wallace’s, Jeremy Lamb took control in the second half, and the Bulldogs got bullied down low.

Instead of talking about these obvious facts though, I’m going to talk about something else. With about three minutes remaining in the game, when the Huskies had already pretty much locked up the title, a certain thought came to my mind. Butler was getting Butler’d.

Let’s look at how Butler wins games. The Bulldogs play tenacious defence, make clutch shots, and play strong inside. They surprise you with their toughness, make plays when they need them, and just flat out beat you. No funny business.

On Monday night in Texas, this is exactly what one of the teams in the championship game did. The problem was that it wasn’t Butler.

The Huskies completely shut down the Bulldogs offence in this battle of the canines. Their perimeter defence was suffocating, and the length and strength of their bigs down low really disrupted the Butler forwards. UConn played relentless man to man defence all game, giving Butler a taste of the medicine that propelled the Bulldogs to this very championship game.

An even bigger parallel between the way UConn won and the way Butler wins was the presence inside shown by the Huskies Charles Okwandu, Alex Oreaki and Roscoe Smith. Not only did these guys play huge down low, but in a way, they played surprisingly huge. Butler’s bigs have played strong inside all tournament, but for the most part, this facet of the Bulldogs game is usually overlooked.

All the build-up to this game was about Kemba Walker, UConn’s sublime point guard from NYC. While Kemba definitely merited all this attention with his incredible play all year, the Husky bigs were nonetheless overlooked. Oreaki, Okwandu and Smith were not given nearly enough attention coming into this one, at least by the media. However, when it mattered most, these guys really delivered for the Huskies, in a very Butler-esque way.

UConn also made big shots when it mattered most, especially during their 14-1 in the early part of the second half. This run took control of the game for the Huskies, and it came as a result of some clutch offence and strong defence. Jeremy Lamb was especially clutch, hitting a 22 foot, game breaking three that gave UConn the lead that they would never relinquish.

Just like Butler has always done, every game has a different hero. This game was supposed to be all about Kemba Walker slicing and dicing his way to a championship. Instead, the Huskies relied on a heavy dose of Butler related tactics, and the strong play of Lamb, Oreaki, Okwandu and Smith.

When it boils down to it, winning is what the NCAA tournament is all about. UConn might not have won pretty, and Kemba might not have shined like the star he is, but regardless, the Huskies are going home champions. Butler’s winning recipe clearly works very well; next time however, they should try to be the ones using it.