MBB: Duke vs. Butler for the NCAA Championship

[arydolphin]

Eamonn Brennan makes some good points about the matchup in his preview article:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...k-at-the-final

One quick point: everyone is talking about the Singler vs. Hayward matchup, but looking at the Butler starting lineup from tonight's game, they start 3 guys that are 6'3" or shorter. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Lance Thomas matched up on Hayward when Duke is on defense, and Kyle would guard one of the shorter players on Butler.

Also, Butler's starting center Matt Howard was diagnosed with a "minor concussion" after the game. Depending on the severity of the concussion, he may not be able to play on Monday night, but we should know more on Sunday or early Monday. If he can't play or he's limited, that makes Butler even smaller on the front line, and I like our chances with Z and the Plumlees down low against a smaller front line.

[should_be_working]

shouldn't there be a smiley face on this thread?

[MarkD83]

They're like Purdue but with a better offense.

Why is every team Duke plays "like Purdue"? Why can't they be like UNC?

[BobbyFan]

The few comments I saw from TV analysts last night would suggest that we are a near lock to win on Monday night. That consensus is ridiculous and happens for 2 reasons:

1. Differences between remaining teams become too magnified in late March/April, because people forget about the 300 or so teams whose seasons have ended that the underdog was better than. If Duke were to play a top 10 team in a semi-road game in January, there would be plenty of people that would expect a Duke loss.

2. The Butler name. Had Maryland taken the same route with the same results to the finals, the predictions would be much less certain. And Butler is better than Maryland.

I feel confident in saying we are better than Butler. But I wouldn't be shocked if Butler won, just like we weren't when GT and Maryland beat us earlier in the year. That's the nature of a one and done tournament.

[davekay1971]

I'm sure that our team will come into this game with all the respect in the world for Butler. Let the talking heads blather on, suddenly changing the story line from "Duke is the weakest 1 seed and will be the first to lose" to "Duke is the overwhelming favorite and it will take a monumental upset for Butler to win." Coach K will make sure our guys don't for one second look at themselves as a favorite.

Butler plays absolutely stellar defense. So do we. We probably should have an advantage on the boards, but basically we're going to be looking in the mirror on Monday night.

[northernduke]

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Lance Thomas matched up on Hayward when Duke is on defense, and Kyle would guard one of the shorter players on Butler.

Agree 100%. It will be LT on Heyward most of the game and possibly a combo of Singler and Mason when LT's on the bench (depending on how well Mason plays him). I hope we can work a couple quick fouls on Howard as he's been prone to early foul trouble all tourney. And don't let Nored fool you. He has incredible upper body strength for his size and is tough on the peremeter. But I like our matchups in this game. I see it close early as Butler is smart enough to control the tempo to their liking but I doike our chances.

And have I mentioned how much I love the character of this team?

[ice-9]

Why is every team Duke plays "like Purdue"? Why can't they be like UNC?

How I wish that could be the case!

But Butler plays a very physical, hands on you perimeter defense. Our Big 3 will have to be extra sharp to execute the offense.

One really interesting thing about Butler is how good they are at defensive rebounding -- they're 14th in the nation. To what degree will that offset our offensive rebounding prowess? Will we need a good shooting night to win?

Given Butler shot so poorly against Michigan State, will they regress to the mean and shoot lights out against us? Or will our length bother them?

I'm encouraged by our game against Purdue. We were knocked back a bit in the first half but regrouped in the second. That experience will teach our boys not to take Butler lightly and to expect the worst in terms of defensive physicality.

[Spy]

Howard apparently has a minor concussion, and Mack was dehydrated.

[jipops]

Take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball, take care of the ball!!!!!

Don't turn it over. I guess I feel like this is kind of an important aspect of Monday night's game.

[bluedevil2012]

Pomeroy has us as 7 pt favorites with an 81% chance of winning.

[moonpie23]

this will be a match up on EVERY facet of the game...i am not confident of a win, but i am confident that the staff WILL have the team prepared and that the guys will show up and play hard for their shot at history..


it should be an amazing game...

go duke!!!!

[weezie]

Butler is going to be a tough, tough game.

Don't worry, some genius yapping head will prayerfully pick the bulldogs just because they're so doggone cute, scrappy and lovable.

Duke has switched into their 1991 mode: Terminator-style. Those are men on our team.

I'm ordering a Howard sandwich between two slices of Plumlee with Zoub sauce.

Sounds good?!

[Indoor66]

I don't think Butler can score enough points to win on Monday.

[fisheyes]

this will be a match up on EVERY facet of the game...i am not confident of a win, but i am confident that the staff WILL have the team prepared and that the guys will show up and play hard for their shot at history..


it should be an amazing game...

go duke!!!!

Moonpie...where's the smiley face on this thread?

[ReformedAggie]

I just have to chuckle at how we went from being "alarmingly unathletic" to Goliath.

[moonpie23]

Moonpie...where's the smiley face on this thread?

no smileys...got one more game...

[mgtr]

I don't think Butler can score enough points to win on Monday.

I think that this is the key point -- they are a great defensive team, but not a lot of scoring power.

[GoingFor#5]

We outsize them so we should have a good advantage on the glass. Butler plays smart, though, and I don't expect them to give up the 3 ball so easily so we need our bigs to rebound and go back up and score.

[weezie]

Does anyone know which is the team hotel?
Just in case there's anything "going on" in about 36 hours or so.
PM me if you don't mind please...

[Spam Filter]

The key to the game is our size. If you look at Butler's opponents so far in this tournament, they are all not very big.

In terms of effective height, MSU is 196th in the country, KSU is 136th, Syracuse is 64th, but probably less than that without their center, and Murray State is 270th, only 1st round opponent UTEP was decent at 28th.

Duke is 7th in the country in effective height, and averages 2 inches taller than even UTEP per position.

Butler has been very fortunate in their draw that they haven't had to beat a team with real size.