Butler is no longer Cinderella, but the Bulldogs are still looking good.
Will Butler join Houston as the only teams to lose consecutive national championships when it faces Connecticut on Monday? Or will Butler join Kentucky as the sole teams to rebound from a finals loss by taking the title the following year?
Butler even could follow the path of Milan High, the school that inspired “Hoosiers.” Milan lost in the 1953 Indiana prep final four before taking the state title in ’54.
History is there for the Bulldogs. The only problem is Connecticut, the modern pro version of a college basketball team. The Huskies are seeking their third championship while their coach awaits a three-game sanction next season with reports of more NCAA investigations coming.
Connecticut is the rich kid. Butler is a “Bad News Bears” sequel.
The Huskies are 3 1/2-point favorites, but nobody’s buying the Bulldogs as underdogs anymore. Not after nearly winning the title last year and returning to the final again. Virginia Commonwealth was the Final Four’s Cinderella, not Butler.
Sure, Butler was 14-9 and lost to Youngstown State before winning its last 14 games. The Bulldogs have a coach who looks like a grad student from the math department and makes Huskies counterpart Jim Calhoun look like Boss Tweed in comparison.
But this isn’t some mid-major team getting its one chance. That was last year. Butler is suddenly a major player. That is, if another major player doesn’t hire away coach Brad Stevens soon.
“It’s about the players and their system,” Butler forward Matt Howard told reporters. “There are a lot of teams that are really good that are not from a power conference.”
Said Calhoun: “Butler’s no mid-major to me. … If you had told me a year ago that Butler would be back, I would say, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ They have an unusual blend of kids.”
Connecticut has a budding pro lineup. Guard Kemba Walker will earn millions of dollars soon. Butler’s Shelvin Mack is the Bulldogs’ best chance for future NBA star.
Indeed, this game may be decided by Walker and Mack. Butler’s offense flows through Mack, who scored 24 points in the victory over VCU on Saturday.
“If I miss 10 straight shots or make 10 straight shots, they just give me the ball and say, ‘Make a play,’?” Mack said.
Said Stevens: “I always feel like the next one’s going in when he shoots.”
Coincidentally, Walker and Mack are good friends. Walker even congratulated Mack in the tunnel after Butler beat Pitt in the third round at Verizon Center.
“We text each other regularly after games,” Walker said. “Tell each other good game and that. We gained a good friendship.”
But that friendship is certainly suspended for one night. The pressure is on Connecticut, but Butler doesn’t want to lose two straight title games.
“We’ve just got to be one shot better than last year,” Stevens said.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
