MADXSTER
09-19-2008, 09:14 AM
Article on one of our opponents Butler U.
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/09/19/BUTLER_MAINTAINS_PHILOSOPHY
Sep 19, 2008 | 6:17AM | report this
There were, by my count, eight teams that finished in the Top 15 each of the past two years. Just one was a legitimate mid-major program.
No, not Gonzaga.
The Butler Bulldogs are coming off an incredible two-year run that resulted in 59 victories. It also included a school-record 30-4 mark last season under first-year head coach Brad Stevens.
However, Stevens knows it’ll be difficult and highly unlikely that the Bulldogs will once again be the fixture in the Top 25.
Butler lost five seniors – guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green, forwards Pete Campbell, Julian Betko and Drew Streicher.
``I love our team,” Stevens said. “We’re very young.”
In fact, Stevens has just two juniors and not a single senior on the roster.
He has just one starter back in talented sophomore big man Matt Howard, but will also rely heavily on junior wing Willie Veasley.
Stevens said he isn’t going to tinker with the philosophy previously employed by Todd Lickliter (now at Iowa) because, well, it worked.
``The guys who left fit well together, were hear teammates and worked their butts off,” Stevens said. “That was the neat part. We’re hoping there’s a culture and tradition that our guys embrace even though they’re young.”
``We’ve been consistent,” he added. “It hasn’t always been perfect, but we’ve been consistent. We don’t really pay much attention to outside expectations and I think our guys were focused last year and didn’t get caught up in a lot of things.”
Graves and Green may be gone. So, too, are three more players who helped turn Butler into a household name over the past two years.
``The names may be different,” Stevens said. “But the approach remains the same.”
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/09/19/BUTLER_MAINTAINS_PHILOSOPHY
Sep 19, 2008 | 6:17AM | report this
There were, by my count, eight teams that finished in the Top 15 each of the past two years. Just one was a legitimate mid-major program.
No, not Gonzaga.
The Butler Bulldogs are coming off an incredible two-year run that resulted in 59 victories. It also included a school-record 30-4 mark last season under first-year head coach Brad Stevens.
However, Stevens knows it’ll be difficult and highly unlikely that the Bulldogs will once again be the fixture in the Top 25.
Butler lost five seniors – guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green, forwards Pete Campbell, Julian Betko and Drew Streicher.
``I love our team,” Stevens said. “We’re very young.”
In fact, Stevens has just two juniors and not a single senior on the roster.
He has just one starter back in talented sophomore big man Matt Howard, but will also rely heavily on junior wing Willie Veasley.
Stevens said he isn’t going to tinker with the philosophy previously employed by Todd Lickliter (now at Iowa) because, well, it worked.
``The guys who left fit well together, were hear teammates and worked their butts off,” Stevens said. “That was the neat part. We’re hoping there’s a culture and tradition that our guys embrace even though they’re young.”
``We’ve been consistent,” he added. “It hasn’t always been perfect, but we’ve been consistent. We don’t really pay much attention to outside expectations and I think our guys were focused last year and didn’t get caught up in a lot of things.”
Graves and Green may be gone. So, too, are three more players who helped turn Butler into a household name over the past two years.
``The names may be different,” Stevens said. “But the approach remains the same.”