Hoopraker

Though there were tornadoes and lightning on the outside, the Horizon League contest in the Gentile Center on the Loyola University campus in Chicago, was a calm and well-contested game between Loyola and Butler. Nationally ranked No. 14, the Butler Bulldogs demonstrated their signature style in playing aggressive defense and executing an offense that features crisp cuts and passes, impressive spacing, and sharp shooting both from the outside and inside. There was no reason on this night to doubt the Bulldog’s favorite status, having just come off a victory over the weekend over their chief rival in the League’s race, Valparaiso. On this damp and spring-like night, yes on the same night as the BCS National Championship game, a crowd of loyal Butler Bulldog fans watched their team put on a clinic of good sound basketball fundamentals in beating an athletic, well coached Loyola team 66 to 55.No Junk Food HereIf you are a basketball junkie, the Bulldogs are more than worth the price of admission. Their aggressive defense forced the Ramblers into turnovers, and it did not yield very few easy shots for the Ramblers who struggled to put the ball into the hoop even though they were able to penetrate the wall around the basket frequently. But the aggressive Bulldog defenders forced the Rambler shooters to miss numerous close-in floaters, offensive rebound put-backs, and a lay-ups. Loyola is not a strong outside shooting team so the Bulldogs were able to pack their gritty defenders around the basket.Butler’s emphasis on basketball fundamentals was demonstrated by near flawless passing, motion without the ball, ball reversals, good three-point shooting when the open shots presented themselves, and several picture perfect passes from the wings to a wide open Matt Howard under the basket.Units Of A TeamNear the end of the game, Mike Green, their marvelous and very athletic point guard, fired a pass to one of his team mates on the sidelines, but it turns out this mate was going to the substitution table to enter the game. Green could be forgiven since he played all 40 minutes, hounded physically and verbally by J.R. Blount throughout the game.A.J. Graves had an off night from the field, but he is so dangerous either with the ball or without the ball. Along with Green, he helped create many opportunities for open threes or easy lay-ups for Howard down low. Their new, boyish looking coach, Brad Stevens is a master at substituting with what seemed to be a steady inflow of fresh legs. In the last five minutes of the game, he was substituting a tandem of two players- one for defense and the second for offense. Stevens relies on a rotation of 7 to 8 players with Graves and Green logging more than an average 35 minutes per game, but 5 other players log between 15 and 27 minutes per game. And freshman Zach Hahn is not far behind with 10 minutes per game.One of my favorites on this senior laden team is Drew Streicker, a slender 6′7″ defender from Washington, Indiana. As an average high school player who established a reputation as an aggressive defender, he walked on at Butler, and earned a scholarship after a lot of hard work in practices and a steady increase game minutes. In addition to his basketball achievements, he excels in the classroom and has been named to a number of All Academic teams. Stevens recognized his defensive powess by substituting him with Betko for defensive play during the last 5 minutes of Monday night’s game.Another Butler player who stood out in Monday’s game was Matt Howard, a freshman from Connersville, Indiana. At 6′8″ and 220, it is easy to see why both Matt Painter and Kelvin Sampson tried to lure him into their programs. After seeing him play, it would have been a perfect addition to the fine recruits Painter has assembled at Purdue. And I would observe that this freshman demonstrated power and physicalilty down low that has been missing in the Northwestern line-ups in recent years.A Balanced OffenseOn this particular night, the Bulldogs shoot 9 for 20 from the 3-point circle, but the threat of the three-point shot constantly pulled the Loyola defenders away from Howard down low. He converted 6 of 10 shots, made some free-throws, grabbed rebounds, and blocked a shot. Howard has the potential to be another very strong player for the Butler program. They will lose a strong group of seniors, but Howard and Hahn provide a strong core around which rebuilding will occur.One of the impressions from this game was the fact that the shoot clock for Butler was seldom a factor. As a fan, I was not constantly worrying that they would not get off a good shot before the 35 seconds expired. This efficiency with constant motion and crisp passing yields good, open shots well before time expires.My only surprise on this night was the fact that a Big Ten ref crew officiated the game. I probably need to learn more about how the refereeing profession works as I may have been wrong to think that there are dedicated Horizon League refs. This crew did a decent job and is in fact one of the better Big Ten crews.In summary, this was a big win for the Bulldogs but against Loyola last year, they lost one and were matched closely in two overtime wins, one being the semi-championship gaem in the Horizon League tournament. The Bulldogs lost in overtime to UIC at the Pavilion last year. Winning on the road in the Horizon League is difficult as it is in any conference. Butler’s only loss this season was on the road with League rival, Wright State. Perhaps the loyal Bulldog fans who live in the Chicago metropolitan area realized that some friendly faces can make a big difference, and it did on this stormy night.

Posted by Jim Elsass on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 10:55 am.