Underdogs As Usual The Bulldogs Will Be Top-Dogs On Monday

It’s David VS Goliath all over again, two teams, near opposites in every way battling it out to be national champions. For Butler, another chance avenge their loss in last years national championship game, for UConn, a chance to ride their star player all the way to the top. The grizzled coaching veteran with violations hanging over his head vs. the baby faced 33 year old coaching his second Final Four. Kemba vs. the physical Butler defense. It’s no easy decision picking a winner in this one, but here’s why Butler will be cutting down the nets on Monday Night.

Butler Wins Close Games

There average margin of victory if only 4.2 points and this Butler team knows how to get it done in the closing seconds. Their 2 point win over Old Dominion, 1 point win over Pitt, and 3 point win over Florida make last nights 8 point win over VCU look like a blowout. The Bulldogs keep their cool late in games and can get quick buckets from Howard and Mack if necessary. The Bulldogs have a ton of experience in late game situations in the tourney, which helps prevent them from making boneheaded plays a la Texas in late game situations. The Huskies have only been involved in two real close games, against Arizona and Kentucky, while the Bulldogs have multiple options down the stretch that should help them out late in Monday’s game.

Their Physical Team D Can Stop The Huskies

Tom Izzo said last year after the national semi-final that Butler was the most physical team the Spartans had played and that style has been on display throughout the tournament. Brad Stevens’s intense defense has played a huge role in getting Butler to the national championship game. Their rotations at the end of the VCU game were things of beauty, as the guards clamped down on Joey Rodriguez in the paint and won the game convincingly. While Kemba is certainly is a step up, Butlers team D can contain Walker. Their man defense is strong and you can bet Brad Stevens won’t be playing a lot of zone and letting Walker stroll around the three point line. Butler can force Walker to take tough long jump shots, which he isn’t as strong at as his running drives to the lane. If they can keep Walker on the perimeter Butler should be able to win on Monday.

They Too Have A Star

While he’s no Kemba, Matt Howard is also a dominant offensive player, and his physicality on the defensive end has made him one of the best players in the tournament. Howard leads the team in points and rebounds, and gives Butler a great chance in beating the Huskies. He can make big shots (Old Dominion) and timely buckets (The rebound put back that helped seal the deal against VCU). He’ll probably be guarded early on by Roscoe Smith, who is 6-8 but certainly lacks the speed to keep up with Howard. Howard gets rebounds and scores, and butler should win if he goes off for a big game.

Brad Stevens Will Lead The Way

While Jim Calhoun has the luxury of having Kemba Walker, Butler relies way more on strategy and set plays to win which should bode well for them in the championship game. If Walker is contained Calhoun doesn’t have a lot of options while Butler is well prepared for basically any scenario. Stevens is certainly a big game coach, and Monday should be a shining moment for one of the games best coaches.

5-for-5: Ten Thoughts On UConn's Record-Setting Big East Championship Win

UConn Huskies = 2011 Big East Champs (Credit: Hartford Courant)

A few hours ago, the Selection Committee announced that Connecticut will be the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the 2011 NCAA tournament, matching up with No. 14 Bucknell in Washington, D.C. during Thursday's first round.  Historically, UConn has fared well out West, winning the national championship in both 1999 and 2004.  Jay Bilas likes them in 2011 as well -- he recently picked UConn to be a Final Four team this year.

A fundamental law of nature is that controversy must surround Selection Sunday.  This year is no exception.  Bubble teams such as Colorado (six RPI Top-50 wins) and Virginia Tech (defeated then-No. 1 Duke in February, advanced to ACC semis this week) were left out, while unheralded UAB (one RPI Top-50 win) and VCU (finished 4th in CAA, lost their last 5 of 8, 11 losses overall, bad L's to Georgia State and Northeastern) somehow squeaked in.  At least UConn snagged a No. 3 seed.

Kemba Walker & Roscoe Smith
(credit Hartford Courant)

Some could argue that Florida, which finished first in the SEC but lost (decisively) for the second time to Kentucky in today's SEC championship, should not have received a No. 2 while UConn, which reeled off a magical five-game run to win the Big East championship, got stuck with a No. 3.  You could also argue that Pitt's one-and-done in the Big East should have dropped them from No. 1 to No. 2.  And so on.  But I think that the top of the bracket, for the most part, is pretty reasonable.  The only question mark is the absence of certain bubble teams, and why the East and West regions are so damn tough.

But let's forget about the bracket for a moment.  There is plenty of time between now and Thursday's tipoff to hack it apart.  Let's just focus on 10 thoughts about UConn's incredible feat of winning 5 games in 5 days to become Big East champs...

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Why Don't Teams Up By 3 Foul?

I need to figure something out. And I've needed to figure it out for a while. But this blog finally gave me the forum to ask the question. Why don't teams, when they're up by 3 points and only time left for one shot foul? Why do they give the other team a chance to hit a 3 and tie it up rather than foul and make it almost impossible for the other team to tie it up?

This happened in the Siena win over Ohio State. Ohio State was up by 3 points with time for one shot for Siena at the end of the first overtime. Instead of fouling on the Siena players, Ohio State allowed Ronald Moore to tie the game with a three (they would later also allow him to beat them with a three in the following OT which is a problem in and of itself).

So how could have this been avoided? Ohio State should have fouled Siena before they coucould attempt a shot. This way, the maximum amount of points they could have scored was two points. The chance they would have gotten another shot at the ball is minimum. They would have to make the first, miss the second, grab the rebound and score. The degree of difficulty of this is MUCH higher than making a three pointer.

Although it makes all the sense in the world, this doesn't seem to happen many times if ever. I'm not sure if Thad Matta sent his Buckeyes out there to foul, be he should have. Coaches are always worried about criticism that their methods will make the game boring or criticism that they're stopping the clock. But the point is not to avoid criticism, but to win, so I think more teams should think about fouling at the end of the game to preserve their leads.

March Madness Day 1 Links

Big evening of sitting front of the TV watching college basketball (when, in fact, I could easily have gone to the gym and done the same thing...oh well)

-Coach K says the President should worry about the economy and not the tournament -- AKA as Barack-etology (H/T Deadspin on that name). In other news, Coach K is a HUGE Republican. In other, other news, I now have even more reason to hate Coach K

-Reviews of the new stadiums for the Mets and Yankees from the New Yorker

-One of my favorite baseball subjects is Jewish ballplayers. From Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg to Shawn Green and Kevin Jew-kilis, it makes me proud to be a part of the Tribe. This article from LoHud's Sam Borden looks into just that (H/T Pete Abraham)

-This A-Rod situation keeps on getting wierder and wierder. What Madonna song is he talking about here???

-Matt Mosley puts the Giants on the clock and talks about draft prospects. Even if they think Plax may be out part of the season, they may be better off drafting someone like Nicks if he falls to them.

-Watch With Kristen asks if someone on The Office is pregnant (and other Dundler Mifflin news)

-Her frenemy, Ausiello, has his weekly Ask Ausiello and says this about Big Love:

Question: I am hooked on Big Love. I'm begging for scoop on Sunday's season finale! --Heather
Ausiello: Bill Paxton...revealed that, unlike last season's capper, this one ends with a cliffhanger. And here's a little season 4 scoop: Damages' Zeljko Ivanek, who debuted two weeks ago as a creep who may or may not have fathered a child with Nikki way back when, will be back next season in a major way.

-Next, the New York Times advises to take advantage of the low air fares because they won't last (H/T Sarah). I just saw $399 each way to New Zealand and Australia on Qantas.

-MarketingProfs Daily Fix talks about getting a job through Twitter. Another way to use social networking to get hired.

-A very, very in-depth look at Bernard L. Madoff from Traders Magazine (H/T Wendy)

-Aaron Boone opens up to the New York Times about his upcoming open heart surgery

-Obama/Leno tonight. The battle should be like camping: INTENSE!

-I linked before on the blog about a suggestion to revive the White House "kitchen garden" and Yahoo! reports that it's coming back

-NPR goes over which politicians got the most from AIG donations (*hint* you may have heard of the first guy...but then he got a lot of donations from EVERYONE)

-Another reason for guys to go to hockey games (as if they needed any more!)

-And, lastly, is Marc Savard a bigger vagina than Sidney Crosby? That would be QUITE a feat