PDA

View Full Version : Huge props to Butler



moonpie23
04-05-2010, 11:44 PM
geez, guys......y'all were amazing.....and to have that shot.....WITH the chance to go in.....

man.....what a year you've had

91devil
04-05-2010, 11:46 PM
Best championship game in the modern era?

Butler, you were terrific. It was an honor to play you in this game.

somf4eva
04-05-2010, 11:48 PM
i really cannot comprehend what I just saw. Butler won me over with their play. I still would have cheered if that last shot would have gone in. I still am in disbelief.

NYC Duke Fan
04-05-2010, 11:51 PM
I could not have said it any better than the previous posts. Neither team deserved to lose.

If everyone returns to Butler they could be back again next year. And so could we.

Welcome2DaSlopes
04-05-2010, 11:51 PM
Great game, guys

fisheyes
04-05-2010, 11:52 PM
They were a mirror image of us...that's why we liked them. What a great team.

What a game!

#4!!!!!

GO DUKE!!!

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-05-2010, 11:54 PM
This game has the substance legends are built on. Exciting from beginning to end! Perhaps the most worthy opponent for the entire season.

ChrisP
04-05-2010, 11:58 PM
Butler, you guys are awesome! What a great TEAM to watch. You made your fans and fans of college basketball proud to watch you throughout this tourney. Ya'll deserve a trophy for heart and effort!

superdave
04-05-2010, 11:59 PM
They moved us out of most everything we wanted to do. They dug in big time all game. Wow.

4decadedukie
04-06-2010, 12:05 AM
Unlimited respect and friendship to Butler, a worthy Final Four opponent with great kids and coaching. Congratulations to the Bulldog's for a wonderful season and game.

mgtr
04-06-2010, 12:06 AM
Halfway through the second half, I told my that while I wanted to win, I wouldn't feel all that badly losing to Butler. They were superb!

cbfx3
04-06-2010, 12:09 AM
I could have lived with it if one of those shots fell... Butler was awesome

gumbomoop
04-06-2010, 12:12 AM
As close to co-champs as possible.

If all the Butler guys return - and I hope they do - they will be, and will deserve to be, top 5-6 preseason next year. They are for absolute real. They are real. They are fierce.

Merlindevildog91
04-06-2010, 12:13 AM
Certainly they played very, very hard. A great group of players. One of the best games ever.

BleedsP287
04-06-2010, 12:13 AM
Congrats to Butler, they played a great game and represented their school and city with class.

mgtr
04-06-2010, 12:14 AM
And they have an excellent coach. If we couldn't have Coach K, I would be happy to have him. I expect he will be making waves for a number of years.

dukelifer
04-06-2010, 12:15 AM
This is a classy program and a classy coach. This team is as tough as nails- and will likely be even a tougher out next year. Congrats to them for a great season and great game. They were deserving to be in that final game.

camion
04-06-2010, 12:16 AM
Absolutely, props to Butler. The played a wonderful game for a forty full minutes. If that last shot had fallen I would have been disappointed, but would have considered them a worthy champion. Butlers players, coaches and fans should be proud just as I would have been proud of Duke, win or lose in the championship game.

Capn Poptart
04-06-2010, 01:03 AM
At some point in the second half, I realized that I was proud to be playing Butler. I've never felt that way about any Duke opponent that I can recall.

This Duke alumnus offers major kudos to your team, your coach, your university. You've got a lot of new fans.

gadzooks
04-06-2010, 01:08 AM
If that last shot had fallen I would have been disappointed, but would have considered them a worthy champion.That's almost exactly what I said at the end of the game. Butler played an amazing game, and I know they feel deeply disappointed, but they should feel no shame, because they really brought it. I will be looking for really good things from them next year.

SharkD
04-06-2010, 01:08 AM
Were they not playing Duke, I would have been behind Butler, 100%.

I hope that Brad Stevens takes the opportunity to stay at Butler and build a legacy of greatness, much the same way that a little-known Army grad was able to build a dynasty at a relatively small private school, starting thirty years ago.

A-Tex Devil
04-06-2010, 01:11 AM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

RoyalBlue08
04-06-2010, 01:13 AM
I think it would not be much of a stretch to say that was the best coached team we played all year. And those players played hard and never let up. I hope Butler's fans are proud of their guys and their coach.

blue post
04-06-2010, 01:15 AM
Butler, y'all played an amazing game. I was really impressed by their resolve and toughness in this game. There were several instances where it seemed like Duke might go on a run to put together a substantial lead but Butler fought back to close the gap each and every time. This could have easily been a loss.

I think Butler can join the nation's elite with this kind of momentum, and if Hayward stays they should certainly start next year in the top 5. I'm going to be really interested in who offers Brad Stevens a monster contract (perhaps Oregon?) and whether or not he can turn it down to build something great at Butler.

bluedevil007
04-06-2010, 01:16 AM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

I was actually thinking the exact same thing. Very well coached. Great game plan. Well prepared. I was very impressed.

Jackson
04-06-2010, 01:17 AM
Ya know what? It was an amazing win, a game that will be seen as a classic and a historical match-up. IF that last shot had gone in, however, my take would be so much different, simply because of that moving screen hard pick, cheap shot that Howard gave Singler to keep Kyle from contesting the shot. Just my 2 cents.

blue post
04-06-2010, 01:17 AM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

While it's easy to make this type of statement right after an emotional night, I don't necessarily disagree. If he continues to coach at this level, whether it be at Butler or elsewhere, I think he would be a front-runner in my mind as well.

DevilHorns
04-06-2010, 01:21 AM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

In the press conference, K responded to the question of how does it feel to surpass Bobby Knight and tie Rupp in Championships and he said something to the extent of "Thats something Ill think about in 10 years from now"

That sounds like a decade more of coaching. :)

cptnflash
04-06-2010, 01:23 AM
Here's another vote for Brad Stevens to eventually coach the Devils when K retires. In about 20 years. Great season by a great program, congrats Butler!

A-Tex Devil
04-06-2010, 01:24 AM
While it's easy to make this type of statement right after an emotional night, I don't necessarily disagree. If he continues to coach at this level, whether it be at Butler or elsewhere, I think he would be a front-runner in my mind as well.

First. It's clear he knows his X's and O's. Second it's the way he has handled himself. Example = he could have looked down on the "Hoosiers" comparison. Instead, he knew his constituency and embraced it. It wasn't an apt comparison, but it didn't matter.

Anyway, I want to have a beer or 3 with him. He's my age and is just an impressive dude.

DevilHorns
04-06-2010, 01:26 AM
Here's another vote for Brad Stevens to eventually coach the Devils when K retires. In about 20 years. Great season by a great program, congrats Butler!

Only negative I have is that he didn't speak at all to Duke's effort on the floor (please don't misread, I'm not asking for him to have to praise us).

One thing I love about K is that he never lets emotions get the best of him to a degree that interrupts the "right" thing to do. And the "right" thing to do is to give respect to your opponent after a game. That takes priority. Celebration or mulling over the agony of defeat can come later.

TampaDukie
04-06-2010, 01:27 AM
I hope that Brad Stevens takes the opportunity to stay at Butler and build a legacy of greatness, much the same way that a little-known Army grad was able to build a dynasty at a relatively small private school, starting thirty years ago.
Coach K said almost exactly the same thing in the post-game press conference. He encourage Brad Stevens to stay at Butler, and then said that Butler should pay him a lot more. LOL!

blazindw
04-06-2010, 01:34 AM
I cannot say anything but great things about Butler and how they played tonight. This was a game for the ages, and they have nothing to hang their heads about. I'm glad we won, but they were definitely deserving of all the accolades they have received.

soccerstud2210
04-06-2010, 01:42 AM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

seriously! i love this guy

what a game. unreal! if it had been any other team other than duke i would have been going for butler. love stevens. what composure and calmness.

i hope when k retires we go after this guy and he is on our list!

thanks butler! class acts!

bjornolf
04-06-2010, 01:45 AM
Does Butler 2010 = Duke 1986?

Young coach gets a few marquis players (Howard, Hayward, Mack) and takes a small school on the upswing to the national title game. This vaults them into the national limelight and helps recruiting.

Is this a sign of things to come from Butler? I hope so. I think they deserve it.

tommy
04-06-2010, 01:56 AM
This game just brought to mind the words spoken at the clinch at the end of the fight in Rocky I, with obviously Duke as Apollo Creed and Butler as Rocky.

Apollo: Ain't gonna be no rematch.
Rocky: Don't want one.

Both teams left everything on the floor in a fabulous display of skill, strength, talent, smarts, basketball IQ, and, most of all, heart. Had Butler won it, they would have been a worthy champion indeed.

hurley1
04-06-2010, 10:44 AM
coach k threw everything including the kitchen sink at stevens and nothing rattled him........there are very few coaches out there who can coach nose to nose with k in a situation like last night.........stevens is special........very special........

pamtar
04-06-2010, 10:47 AM
Drop by and show em some love http://buhoops.yuku.com/forums/1/t/Butler-Basketball.html

gumbomoop
04-06-2010, 10:59 AM
Does Butler 2010 = Duke 1986?

Young coach gets a few marquis players (Howard, Hayward, Mack) and takes a small school on the upswing to the national title game. This vaults them into the national limelight and helps recruiting.

Is this a sign of things to come from Butler? I hope so. I think they deserve it.

Helps recruiting big, big time. Crean, Brey, and Painter, not to mention Big Ten coaches generally, have some new competition. Stevens won lots of parents the last few weeks.

Wonder whether, in the wacky world of college ball, Butler is a candidate for BCS-dom? I guess not, but they have joined Gonzaga as major player.

roywhite
04-06-2010, 11:38 AM
Great job by Butler and Coach Stevens.

Think how good they'll be when they learn to defend the in-bounds play. :)

jaredv23
04-06-2010, 11:46 AM
Wow is all I have to say. What a tremendous job Butler did against Duke. They deserve all the praise for playing their hearts out. Brad Stevens is an awesome coach. I hope not one of those guys are hanging their heads low, because they should be proud of what they accomplished.

Mal
04-06-2010, 01:41 PM
I will be completely frank. When K retires sometimes this decade, which I imagine he will, barring a great showing at Stanford by Johnny, or Chris or Wojo showing some promise wherever they might go, I want Brad Stevens to be our coach.

That's funny - it doesn't happen often, but twice in the last ten days now, I've come out of a game against an opponent and thought of their coach: "If we decide to go outside the family when K retires, I think we should seriously consider this guy." I can't recall the last tourney where I became such a big fan of not one, but two of our opponents' programs, and their head coaches.

Lest there be any confusion, the other coach about whom I thought that was not Bob Huggins. ;)

MChambers
04-06-2010, 01:53 PM
I was incredibly impressed by Stevens. I had the feeling I was watching a young coach K. I really hope he stays at Butler for a while. I wonder if his predecessor's experience at Iowa will make him realize what he has at Butler.

Only downside to staying with Butler is that you don't get the conference competition. Of course, Mark Few has coped with that pretty well at Gonzaga.

Dr. Tina
04-06-2010, 02:01 PM
Butler was impressive the whole tournament and they didn't disappoint in the title game. Brad Stevens has a bright future and I can easily see them coming back again next year. What an amazing team! Also, I love their English bulldog mascot...Blue II!

I gotta say, though...it's a GREAT feeling to know that our Duke boys did what the other teams couldn't do in the last 25 Butler games.....BEAT THEM!!!

Tjenkins
04-06-2010, 02:15 PM
Yes, huge props to Butler.

I was certainly glad(and relieved!) to see Duke win last night, but it would've felt better if it wasn't at Butler's expense.

Stevens has a great program, I hope he stays there and keeps making deep runs in the tournament. If someone had told me a few years ago that Butler would be the best basketball program in Indiana, I would've laughed in their face, but Stevens,Heyward,Howard,Mack,Jukes,etc, have made it that way.

Tjenkins
04-06-2010, 02:18 PM
I hope it's okay to copy-and-paste from other boards, saw this on the Butler board, thought I'd share it:
http://buhoops.yuku.com/topic/5920/t/PLEASE-READ-BUTLER-PROUD.html?page=2

"I salute Duke and maybe now we will hear comparisons such as "Duke of the Midwest'. For now I'll take that as a compliment as I would love to have four national titles."

Lippl
04-06-2010, 02:45 PM
Stevens clearly watched a metric ton of tape and had his players ready for our tendencies.

1) Whenever we got an offensive rebound, all the defenders IMMEDIATELY went back out to cover their assignments, while the defender closest to the rebounder harassed the kickout pass (causing an over and back once). By the second half I wanted Z to pump fake a pass and take it the rack because the kickout wasn't there. Even the big tipout Z got late to Singler, the defender was right in Singler's face 35 feet from the basket.

2) Many times this year, when we've had someone drive baseline, if the defense collapses the ballhandler has whipped the ball along the baseline to the opposite corner for an open 3. Normally it works great and is hard to defend. However, in the 2nd half Singler tried it, however Nored was sitting on the pass and picked it off. He clearly knew exactly what was coming.

It's rare you see a coach who is a good motivator, team builder, game planner, and in-game tactician. If Stevens also proves he can consistently recruit, he's going to win some championships.

hurleyfor3
04-06-2010, 02:52 PM
Boy did they ever bring it.

They were hitting shots we couldn't defend against. They gave us virtually no open looks. They outrebounded us, at least offensively, for most of the game despite being smaller than us (MUCH smaller) at every position.

They were no worse than college basketball's second best team this year. And almost certainly well within the standard error of being the first. If we had needed a basket to win with :33 to go instead of them... I don't want to think about it.

hurleyfor3
04-06-2010, 02:54 PM
Stevens clearly watched a metric ton of tape and had his players ready for our tendencies.


Also: Our guys, especially Scheyer, love to go to their right. IIRC they shut that off completely. Just about all the successful drives I can think of were to player's left.

chuckywang
04-07-2010, 03:41 AM
So, Butler .... same time next year?

gumbomoop
04-07-2010, 03:53 AM
So, Butler .... same time next year?

Absolutely.

After Butler beats Purdue and Duke beats Baylor in the Semis.