And to think....Butler went to Waco last season and almost beat this Baylor team. Makes it sting to think what could have happened if there were a tournament last year. Happy for Scott Drew - disappointed for Gonzaga. I hope Chet Holmgren commits to Few and they have another deep run.
I guarantee that if that were Butler on that floor against the Zags you’d all be saying how refreshing it was for the refs to “let them play” and this is how we defend. Sent from my iPad using Butler Hoops mobile app
I’ll say one thing; if anyone decides to draft Jalen Suggs 1-1 they won’t be making a mistake. You can only hope to get a guy that cares half as much as he does. Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops
Has another losing finalist shot over 50% ?? Not us certainly... a mere 40% could've beaten UConn....hate to torture myself again over that.
What was that incredible stat earlier in the game? All 5 (now 6) times preseason 1 & 2 played in the title game, 2 has won them all - correct me if I’m wrong.
Congratulations to Scott Drew. He’s done a great job building that program. Nice to see a Dawg win! Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops mobile app
Championships begin and end with defense. Baylor has shooters who are willing to play D. Mitchell set the tone early. Gonzaga looked mentally and physically exhausted from the outset.
Baylor is a good example of why you really can’t have too many ball handlers—playing 3-4 guards—none of which are taller than 6’4”—at the same time is just fine when they can create shots for themselves and others and put pressure defensively Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops mobile app
Not only that, but they took the 3&D categorization of guys to the max. Same thing Villanova does, though they aren't as defensive minded. It seems as though that's the way our roster (and frankly a lot of college basketball) is headed too, but obviously there's some skill work that needs to happen if they hope to get to that level. There aren't that many bigs that a school like Butler is going to be able to get, but I can at least see the thought process or strategy for the current roster construction. They just need to get better at executing the vision on the floor.
Another important feature of Baylor's team is that they flexible enough to adapt to any style of play. Fast paced or slower pace, it made little difference. Gonzaga was not.
I don’t think this is wrong, but I think they got Gonzaga very much to play the game that Baylor wanted them to play. Immediately after the game started Gonzaga was looking to play through Timme as they had before, and Baylor was ready for it and immediately made it clear that would not be happening. Gonzaga was very rattled early by not being able to get what they want, and I I don’t think they ever truly recovered. Baylor was fearless, offensively and defensively. They were aggressive, they attacked, they were clearly better last night. It’s amazing that only one team got within single digits of them in the tourney. Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops
No doubt Baylor dictated the pace, but as I recall they did manage a win scoring only 53 points against BU last season.
Yeah but they’re a slow tempo team as are we. They averaged 66 possessions per game (277 nationally) and there were 61 in that game. It wasn’t anything they or we were uncomfortable with. I think that yeah they probably can adapt, but that’s not as good as not having to. Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops
