Last night's title game was a game for the ages, if you love hand- and body-checking defenses and bricklaying shotwork. Connecticut smothered Butler, 53-41, with a stifling interior defense and its own sluggish offense. For once, Butler faced a team more aggressive than they. As the officials had decided to "let them play" except for the most egregious offenses, Butler's hopes quickly faded. It didn't help that the Bulldogs missed easy layups and open looks, either.
It wasn't going to be easy for Butler to win even if the Bulldogs were hitting their shots, but it was going to be impossible if they weren't. In the first half, Butler scored 22 points, breaking the 20-point barrier thanks to a couple of three-pointers. Fortunately, the Huskies were playing with equal offensive incompetency, winding up with a miniscule 19 at the break.
What could the coaches say at halftime? Both teams had already proven they could score consistently in cavernous Reliant Stadium in Houston in the semifinal games Saturday. So sight lines, depth perception, and unusual backgrounds were not an excuse. Jim Calhoun told his Huskies to "outwork them." Brad Stevens was extremely pleased with the Bulldogs' defensive efforts, including box-out defensive rebounding and aggressive offensive boardwork. Perhaps he was sugarcoating what was painfully apparent to any casual observer: the Bulldogs were denied the paint on offense due to Husky length and athleticism, so they needed to hit the three consistently. If none of their shooters found a groove, it was going to be a long second half. It was an interminable second half.
Perhaps Coach Stevens should have focused more on adjusting his offensive game plan to generate more open looks from higher-percentage distances. Stevens has been lauded for his great game plans in high-stakes games. A great game plan was not apparent last night, although lack of execution made it look worse than it really was. Great halftime adjustments were also not apparent, for the Bulldogs scored even less after the intermission, a paltry 19.
Meanwhile, UConn's Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb led the Huskies to a near-normal 34 second-half points. After two exciting semifinals Saturday, the title game was rather anti-climactic. Sir Charles Barkley called the game "ugly." It was.
Butler made only 12 of 64 field goal attempts, winding up with an all-time title game low of 18.8 shooting percentage. This included an unbelievable 9 of 33 from three-point range. What's unbelievable? They kept launching from outside instead of working inside, even though most shots were bricks.
How bad was it? With the transformation of the Bulldog sharpshooters into myopic gunslingers, the phrase "throwing the game" came to mind. Yes, Las Vegas had said only a VCU title would "hurt the house." Still, a collapse like this had not been seen since the Cardinals drafted Matt Leinert. Was somebody given an offer he couldn't refuse?
Relax. No game was thrown. Instead, legs had become jelly. Butler lost a step. Butler lost loft on jump shots, so the shots lost lift. Therefore, shots banged off front rims. Butler's short bench and both-ends-of-the-floor-all-out-effort game plans had finally caught up with them: the team's first eight were physically fatigued and emotionally drained. Coach Stevens went no deeper on the bench. Putting frosting on the Husky cake, the power conference officials' promotion of aggressive play allowed UConn to outphysical Butler.
How bad was it? The 12 field goal Butler total was the second worst ever recorded. Matt Howard was 1 of 13, Andrew Smith was 2 of 9, and Khyle Marshall was 0 for 2. The guards fared no better, led by Shelvin Mack's 4-for-15 performance. The other guards were a combined 5 for 25. Pathetic.
How bad was it? The Bulldogs were outrebounded, 51 to 40, having no answer for UConn's tall timber and aggressive elbow-flying style. UConn outscored Butler 26-2 in the paint. The Three O's (Okwandu, Oriakhi, and Olander) had 10 blocks for the Huskies.
How bad was it? The only drama in the game's last 10 minutes concerned focusing upon the coaches' futures: would Coach Calhoun retire after a storybook postseason run of eleven consecutive victories and would Coach Stevens follow Shaka Smart's lead at Virginia Commonwealth, signing an extension to remain with Butler? Calhoun says he wants to keep coaching at age 68, but if the NCAA investigation intensifies and sanctions go beyond the three-game coaching suspension, he may decide to throw in the towel.
Stevens, poker face and all, has not given a clue as to what his next move may be. He can afford to wait for an ideal scenario: replacing retiring legends at Duke or UNC, for example. Why would he risk that possibility by taking on a power conference bottom-feeder program like Utah in the interim? (Utah just hired a Montana player and coach who had a spotty record with the Bucks of the NBA.)
Still, recruiting remains an uphill battle at Butler. The Bulldog inside game was dreadfully and brutally exposed by UConn last night. Can Stevens recruit forwards to replace Hayward and Howard, or was he lucky to get two consecutive overachieving shooting stars and power rebounders in a row? Can he recruit a center so Andrew Smith can return to the far end of the bench where he belongs? What are the chances he can recruit another late-blooming shooting guard like Shelvin Mack, presuming Mack skips his senior season?
Here are five bad things about UConn's victory:
1) The two-year Cinderella story of Butler ended poorly.
2) A coach in trouble with the NCAA won his third title.
3) A team from the overhyped Big East conference won another NCAA title (which still does not justify said conference receiving eleven tournament bids).
4) A team from ESPN's backyard won another title: this time it wasn't the women.
5) The BCS college football system dodged another
bullet with this power conference win in basketball.
One good thing about UConn's victory: the tournament is over and all attention can shift to Augusta for golf and the NBA for jockeying of playoff seeding positions.
Congrats to Jimmer Fredette of BYU for adding the Naismith Player of the Year award to his AP Player of the Year. Could the John Wooden Player of the Year honor follow? Time will tell.
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