I want to like Butler. I want very much for this to be awesome and to have been awesome. The concept of a quintessential mid-major team earning its way to the national championship game by knocking off legitimate, major-conference opponents sounds, in the abstract, like the coolest thing ever. As far back as I can remember, I have entertained daydreams of a situation like this and the anarchy that would ensue.But good holy gracious, Butler is setting back college basketball by about 50 years.
The Butler Tournament Run: Is This Awesome?
The average score of their five NCAA tournament games has been 62-55. The pace: exactly 62 possessions per game, which can charitably be described as glacial. Basketball is not fun to watch when the winning team can’t score more than a point per possession. It’s even less fun when the game’s slowed down at the same time.
This isn’t to say Butler should stop playing defense or anything insane like that; it’s their calling card, and it’s the way defense is properly (and rarely) played. Keep that up—but for crissakes, maybe hit some jumpers with more regularity at the same time. Even tonight, as mentioned earlier, Butler went over 10 minutes without converting a field goal. That is not what champions usually do; that is what terrible teams who end up firing their coaches do.
And yet here they are, in the national championship game. This is supposed to be awesome. Why can’t this actually be awesome? Or am I too worried about the “how” to appreciate the big picture here?
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