Butler finding defensive identity at right moment
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Another indication of a late-season apex arrived Thursday, when Brad Stevens dropped a not-so-subtle hint to those of us gathered in the bowels of Rupp Arena 20 minutes after Butler’s 68-56 victory over Bucknell gave the Bulldogs another berth in the NCAA tournament’s round of 32.
This truly is a Butler team, the sixth-year coach said.
They’re doing what they’ve done before.
Perhaps they are who they were before.
The Bulldogs do not engage scoreboard arcade in the biggest games, they defend. They iron out whatever creases exist and start guarding with fervent intensity. They dispense with inconsistency and revert to what they’ve been for four years – a postseason terror, a team that locks down opposing offenses.
The Bulldogs who showed up yesterday in Lexington were the Bulldogs who went periodically into hibernation this year. Remember that all-world toughness on the defensive end of the floor, the manic activity, the few but carefully chosen gambles, the pesky help, the insistence that teams beat them with half-court execution, the suffocation of anything easy?
Though Butler certainly was good on defense over the past four months, it allowed at least 47 percent shooting on eight occasions, losing five of those games, and lost control of the pace in a few others. Genuine defensive excellence carried the Bulldogs throughout their 2010 and 2011 tournament runs.
It resurfaced just in time to extend this season at least one game, and maybe more.
We were really good, Butler forward Roosevelt Jones said. I always tell people that if we aren’t playing well on offense, and we play good defense, we can still win every game. (Against Bucknell) we didn’t shoot so well, but our defense bailed us out.
No one who has watched the Bulldogs in March the past three seasons should be surprised they summoned as many stops as necessary to survive. It happened two years ago in the first round against Old Dominion and twice more in 2010 when Butler couldn’t buy a basket against Murray State or in the national semifinals against Michigan State.
The task is harder this time because the Bulldogs aren’t quite as athletic and feature a weak link in Rotnei Clarke that teams can attack – he concedes that he is not the greatest defensive player – but it only took one game to prove they are capable of shutdown defense in this year’s Big Dance.
It takes a lot of time to get good at it, Stevens said. There were plenty of days where I said, ˜Man, there are probably easier ways to do this.’ But if you can get into March and you start to understand things, then you can become pretty good defensively.
Whatever avenues of escape the Bison had, if any, evaporated when they failed to reach the foul line (Bucknell made 5 of 8 attempts, all in the second half) or lost a pass or dribble – and consequently, possession – to Butler’s quick, prying hands. The Bulldogs were able to keep Mike Muscala from scoring by constantly switching strategies, whether it was guarding him with quickness one time and strength another or simply sending a second defender at him, and they also benefitted from Bryson Johnson’s inability to find clean looks from the perimeter – often because of Alex Barlow’s defensive energy and concentration.
In a tight contest full of challenged shots and defensive execution, the Bulldogs maintained theirs for 40 minutes, while Bucknell allowed 25 points from the 10-minute mark of the second half until 1:42 remained. When the Bison wilted, they did so to the tune of a 125-point pace for a full game.
Our defensive focus was at as high a level as it’s been for a long time, Stevens said. Guys did a great job on that side of the ball. They have some mettle. They have some intestinal fortitude that has been built up over time and is hopefully a core part of our program.
And so, for a team that won a lot of games in a variety of ways this season, the question becomes: Has Butler developed a new identity that is, in fact, an old identity? And will it be there Saturday night when the Bulldogs face an opponent in Marquette who succeeded offensively against them in November?
Sure, even robust D won’t be enough to catapult Butler back to the Final Four – unless concerns about Kellen Dunham’s icy 20-for-70 shooting slump and the absence of a true point guard prove to be overblown.
As the tournament goes along, Butler obviously will need more exceptional outings from Jones, who scored 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting in the opener and chipped in five rebounds and four assists, but the Bulldogs are going to need better offensive efforts from Andrew Smith, who scored seven of his 14 points from the line and shot just 3-for-8 from the field, only slightly better percentagewise than Clarke’s 5-for-14. Smith has been held under 40 percent in nine of his last 14 games.
Don’t bet on Clarke being held to four points in the first half Saturday night as he was Thursday, and don’t expect the Bulldogs to let up their defensive intensity against a school they were fortunate to beat in Hawaii.
Against Marquette or anyone else, peaking as a top-notch defensive squad would be a big item in the Bulldogs’ favor. They’ve done it before because it’s what the program is about. That’s why there are two national runner-up banners hanging in Hinkle Fieldhouse, and it might also be why Butler advances a lot further than many analysts thought possible just 36 hours ago.
No one ever expects us to win, Jones said. Once they see us in person or on TV, they see how physical we are on defense. We’re real close. Every day we get better and better. Going into the tournament, we got better than we were the day before. We’re almost there, and we want to show that during tournament time. Coach Stevens wants us to focus on defense and so that is what we do.
And that is why they are who they are – as Stevens said, a true Butler team.
