Sports Sense

The game played out like the Hollywood script it was meant to emulate. Monday night’s dramatic championship game ended with Duke edging Butler 61-59. But that was only the score. It was not the full story. Duke’s 4th national championship was earned the hard way. Neither team ever led by more than six points. It was back and forth all night. Tight defense, missed shots. Clutch baskets. Mistakes. There was suspense throughout.

Then there was the end. Butler with the ball, down by one, 60 – 59. The shot clock is off. All I know is one shot wins the game. A Butler shot. Isn’t that what the script called for?

My heart raced at least 20 beats faster. Could it really happen? Butler’s Gordon Hayward, the Brownsburg, Indiana kid who appears destined to become the next Hoosier legend, has the ball, he drives right. Hayward stops. He arcs the ball ever so slightly over long out-stretched arms. Long enough it seems to throw off the shot. Duke rebound. Butler quickly fouls. Two shots. The first one hits. The second looks like it was deliberately missed. Butler rebound. Less than 4 seconds on the clock. Ball quickly to Hayward.

Hayward takes a couple of dribbles then heaves a half-court desperation shot which finds the mark circles the rim and spins away. If it falls Butler wins. It doesn’t.

Then the stunning realization that there would be no shining moment for Butler. And the “Hoosiers” sequel had ended with a loss.

There are no excuses, but there are facts. When Butler could have taken control of the game, guys missed point blank layups. Hayward missed 9 of 11 shots throughout the game. Butler also missed critical free-throws down the stretch. And Butler’s normally impenetrable defense failed to stop a couple of inbounds passes which turned into easy Duke points. Add up those lapses and you can make a case for Butler comfortably winning the game.

But that is woulda, coulda, shoulda. The fact is, Duke, the long acknowledged masters of college basketball won another title the way the team always does – by being just a little bit more precise. By hitting a few more clutch baskets. By listening to their coach.

I’m still a little numb right now. I was all-in for the magical ending. I really thought Butler would pull it off. And here at the end I thought fate could not have crafted a better ending. But it didn’t happen.

History tells us Duke will more than likely play for another title in the near future. But fairy tales, like the one that Butler just played the starring role in, suggest that the Bulldogs may have been to their first and last Final Four.

While Butler’s magical cinderella season is over, the talent remains. Butler is NOT George Mason. They are not one-season wonders. Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard return next season as do most of the team’s supporting cast. And in the wings there is an excellent recruiting class.

If pollsters are fair, the Bulldogs will enter next season ranked no worse than fifth. Some might even rank them number one.

But before we get too excited Butler needs to do a couple of things first, if the school wants this success to sustain itself and grow.

Capitalize on the exposure and grow the program. The dollar value of the exposure Butler got from this unique run to the Final Four is in the many millions. The team will never be more popular or more valuable than it is now.

Pay the coach a competitive salary and increase the basketball budget. This team can go all the way again next year. And Butler has a lot of good players waiting in the queue. So you can’t let Brad Stevens go now. Find the money to pay him more. Ask Indy’s drug company, Eli Lilly, Stevens’ former employer, to help pay him if you need to.

Sell-out Hinkle Fieldhouse. There should be no more empty seats. Not for this team. Not for future teams. Having a big-time program means you must fill the arena at home.

Butler has arrived as a national power. How powerful is up to the university. But one thing is clear. With all the talent at Butler right now, there is no reason to think they cannot return to the final game. With one more year of experience the team’s core players should be even better next season.

Losing to Duke is not the end for Butler, but a beginning. It is though the end of of Butler’s Cinderella story. The Bulldogs are no longer a secret and will no longer be taken lightly by anyone.

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With Saturday’s semi-final games completed, college basketball’s best ever storybook has just one more chapter to complete. The final game. And Butler, the ultimate Cinderella could not have a more appropriate opponent than Duke – college basketball’s most envied and reviled program.

Butler basketball is the equivalent of Boise State football. The two are extremely successful “mid-major” schools which have fought years for respect. The difference though is that unlike Boise State’s football team, on Monday night Butler gets a chance to prove its worthiness in the championship game. Even better, Butler gets to play it at home in Indianapolis.

But get one thing straight; this is no gladiator mismatch. Butler earned its way into the final game against Duke. The Bulldogs have won 5-straight tournament games. And have held every opponent under 60 points. Importantly too, since December, the Bulldogs have won 25 games in a row.

Still, Duke represents the biggest hurdle yet for Butler basketball. On it’s side Duke has legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is far and away college basketball’s best coach. And as usual Duke has a collection of some of the best players in the nation. Duke basketball is America’s most successful college sports program over the last 25 years.

But the rub is that Duke gets under your skin. First of all they win too much. Three national championships and 12 Final Four appearances. And to make matters worse, too often Duke teams come off as just a little too smart and entitled, with the referees seemingly always calling it the Blue Devils way.

But rest assured Duke’s game against Butler will be a fight. To those who don’t know or who haven’t been paying attention, Butler has been planning on going to this Monday night party for at least 15 years. The school has been steadily building a basketball program that can compete with anyone.

Butler has won more games than any college basketball team in the state of Indiana over the last decade. More games than Indiana, more than Purdue, more than Notre Dame. But few noticed, and it seems, even fewer cared. The name on the jersey said Butler, which simply meant to the uninformed that these guys can’t really be that good.

But if you believe in the magic of sports, and what your own eyes have actually seen, then keep an open mind about how the Butler/Duke championship game plays out.

One of basketball’s biggest ever stories happened in the city of Indianapolis more than 50 years ago. An even bigger and better story will happen Monday night should Butler beat Duke.

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I have at times been pretty critical of women’s basketball, particularly this year with the University of Connecticut’s mind-numbingly boring winning streak of 76 straight. But be assured, there is at least one UConn game that I am looking forward to watching.

I want to see how Baylor University’s Brittney Griner, matches up against the powerful Lady Huskies this Sunday night in the women’s Final Four.

Will the long-armed 6’8“ Griner be able to block the shots of UConn’s All-American tandem of Tina Charles and Maya Moore? Can she smackdown college basketball’s best women’s team, or will she be intimidated or frustrated?

Griner who now holds the all-time record for blocked shots, controls the paint like no other female I’ve ever seen. And while she is a load on the defensive end, its her slam dunks that have been her calling card.

She can dunk like the guys. I mean really jam it – not those – “just barely dunks”, like the few other women who’ve done it. Brittney Griner in a word is a phenom. She is the female Wilt Chamberlain – a transformational player for the women’s game.

Still, Griner will likely have to play the game of her life if Baylor has any chance to be competitive against UConn. Notice I did not say that Baylor and Griner will beat UConn. Right now I’m just hoping Baylor can give UConn a decent game and that Griner plays well.
But that will be hard. UConn does not just beat teams they humiliate them. To get to the Final Four, the Lady Huskies outscored Florida State by 40 points. UConn’s wins during this streak have all come by a margin of at least 10 points. And each of UConn’s tournament victories this season have been won by no less than 30 points. It’s almost unfair. UConn could probably win the WNBA title let alone the college national championship. Really.

While I am not a fan of the women’s game, I have admired a number of outstanding female players over the years. Cheryl Miller, now in her late 40’s and long retired from the game, will always be for my money the best all around lady ballplayer. She truly had game. So too did former WNBA superstar Cynthia Cooper who is also retired. Current pros Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi and the soon to be retired Lisa Leslie are pretty good as well.

Yet none of those women approached the potential that Brittney Griner has.

But while I salute Griner, many others think she shouldn’t be playing in the Final Four. Four weeks ago she sucker-punched and broke the nose of a Texas Tech player who she said was taunting her. Griner was suspended for a couple of games for her actions. Many believe the punishment was not nearly long enough. But I’m not one of them.
That would have deprived us of the only possible suspense this tournament has.

My friend Rick, a UConn professor, and obviously biased, thinks Brittney Griner and her Baylor teammates will be taught a lesson. But I think there is a chance Brittney Griner will be doing the teaching, win or lose.

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Tourney time again. Have you made your picks? Not being a college basketball fanatic, it is hard for me to know much beyond what the polls and my weekly channel surfing tell me.

On this March Madness there are two co-favorites to win the championship and they will face each other in the championship game.

And I am rooting for the local school to make it to the Final Four.

Three-time national champion, University of Kansas Jayhawks will be one of the finalists. Kansas last won the championship two years ago, beating Memphis in the final game. The Jayhawks have a solid, experienced team led by Cole Aldrich, and Sherron Collins. Kansas the overall number one seed in the tournament will be hard to beat.

I also like the University of Kentucky Wildcats. They’ve got one of college basketball’s best coaches to never win the big one in John Calipari, who in just his first year at Kentucky has taken the Wildcats to the top faster than anyone expected. But any great team has got to have the players and Kentucky has a one of a kind freshman tandem in John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. Their skill level insures they are, one and done players, who barring injury will go on to starring roles someday in the NBA – starting next season.

My Cinderella, sentimental favorite, is Butler. As an Indianapolis native I am pulling for Butler to ultimately defend its “home court” in the Final Four in Lucas Oil Stadium, which is located about four miles from the Bulldogs’ campus. Butler has won 20 – straight games and finished the regular season 28 – 4.

A local winner would be a great consolation prize in Indianapolis after the disappointing loss by the city’s beloved Colts in the Super Bowl.

Oh, I almost forgot to pick the winner.

I believe Kentucky wins its 8th national title and the first championship for John Calipari. I also believe that the postscript to Kentucky’s victory will unfortunately not be a happy one.

Based on Calipari’s history with both Memphis and Massachusetts – his Kentucky team will have to surrender the title in a couple of years, when it is discovered that Kentucky violated some NCAA rule.

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I forced myself to watch the UConn women last night. I didn’t really want to waste my time on what I knew would be a blowout against West Virginia, but it was for the Big East championship. Okay, that wasn’t the main reason. I was mostly curious. I had been reading about the UConn winning streak. I had to see for myself.

The game was boring. And to my surprise, defending national champion, UConn wasn’t nearly as good as I thought they might be. But they were a lot better than West Virginia. What went through my mind was: Is this is the best women’s basketball has to offer? In the end, in the most methodical, (utterly mind-numbing) way possible, the Lady Huskies imposed a suffocating defense on their over-matched opponents, and held the nation’s 9th ranked team, West Virginia, to just 32 points – for the entire game. Final score: 60 – 32, another Connecticut victory.

Great game, yeah right.

I didn’t really know the players, but I somehow had heard of UConn’s Tina Charles and Maya Moore, each averaging about 18 points per game. All-Americans, Tina Charles? Maya Moore? Who? You haven’t heard of them? That’s the real problem with ladies basketball.

What makes it even worse is the fact that the ladies game is a tough brand of basketball to enjoy. I know it isn’t politically correct to say, but this much slower-paced, much less athletic game is at times almost unwatchable.

The fact is – whether we say it out loud or not, basketball is better when it is flashy, acrobatic and above the rim. I don’t care what the so-called basketball purists say, because if they were really true to their alleged principles, then they’d embrace ladies basketball and all other forms of ground-based hoops. Most people, purists included, do not like to see guys or gals who can’t run or jump. They say they do, but the attendance figures and the ratings don’t back that up.

Even at their best, even with an all-time winning streak (now 72 in a row), the reality is, I barely care what happens with UConn and neither do you. And I don’t feel too bad about that. It’s just the way it is. Maybe one day that will change.

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He just helped lead his team to a national championship.  He is a four-time All-American.  He was once the national college player of the year.   But really, seriously, honestly, just how good is Tyler Hansbrough?  Why is he yet another lightening rod for debate about an NBA future when we’ve barely had time to take in his recent accomplishments?  

The Hansbrough debate is similar to the discussion about the professional merits of Duke shooting sensation J.J. Reddick a couple of years ago.  As it turned out the critics were right about Reddick.  While Reddick has not been a total NBA bust, he’s made virtually no impression at all as a pro.

But should potential NBA greatness be the key measure of a player’s worth?  Must that player have the ideal physical dimensions to be properly evaluated for a chance to succeed in the NBA?  Does he need long arms?  Or a 40-inch vertical jump?

Just what does make a player great?   How should he be judged?  Today, less than 24 hours after Hansbrough cut down the nets in Detroit, the critics, on radio, TV and the Internet are already forecasting a less than rosy future for  the North Carolina star.  So much so that I almost feel sorry for Hansbrough.   Hansbrough has done as much or more than anyone in recent memory to promote the virtues of college basketball and the value of the near mythical “student-athlete.”   Should that be enough?

I just want to know what is actually wrong with Hansbrough?  Is he too short to be an NBA power forward?   Is he too slow to be a small forward or shooting guard?  Does he lack the range on his jump shots that might make him valuable to teams at the next level? Is Hansbrough the proverbial “tweener” who just doesn’t fit into any known position category?   Someone please tell me what this kid needs to do to get respect today and at least the acknowledgement that he may have a future tomorrow.

When I was a kid, one of my college basketball heroes was not projected for NBA or ABA greatness.  He was considered a step too slow, and without the ability to create his own shot.   But it did not stop me from cheering him on or appreciating him many years later for the joy he gave me when I was too young to “know better”.

The player from my youth who captured my imagination was Purdue’s Rick Mount.   He remains in my memory the best long distance shooter I’ve ever seen.  That includes all players I’ve seen in high school, college or pro.  Mount would shoot a a rainbow fadeaway jumper from NBA 3-point range from any point on the court that would invariably shoot Purdue back into the game or increase the Boilermaker’s lead.  Mount averaged more than 30 points per game for his three-year All-American career at Purdue and led them to an NCAA championship game appearance against mighty UCLA and Lew Alcindor, now known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

The point is, Rick Mount, who went on to play for the home state Indiana Pacers and later the Kentucky Colonels in the ABA, never came close to stardom, but I will always remember him and how good he was at Purdue.  The fact is Purdue has had a number of players go on to the NBA including Glen “Big Dog”  Robinson, but they never had a player like Rick Mount.

Tyler Hansbrough could be today’s Rick Mount, and go from college greatness to NBA non-star.  Or he could prove everyone wrong and maybe even help lead a team to an NBA title.  But maybe he won’t.  Maybe it shouldn’t matter.  Hansbrough has already done a lot so far.  Perhaps we should properly appreciate that.

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Ty Lawson was held out of the NCAA college basketball tournament’s first game on  Thursday to rest his injured right big toe. There is no doubt had Lawson not played on Saturday, North Carolina would be watching the rest of March Madness on television.  The final score an 84 – 70 victory over LSU does not begin to tell the story of just how close number one seed North Carolina came to defeat.

I don’t typically pay close attention to college basketball until February.  So while I had heard about and seen highlights of North Carolina’s star point guard Ty Lawson, I hadn’t really taken a good look at him.   But against LSU Saturday night I saw firsthand just how good and important Lawson really is.  He clearly proved why he is the reigning ACC player of the year.

Lawson, who wound up scoring 23 points and dished out 6 assists, took control on a night when second round opponent LSU surged to take a slim lead midway into the second half, a lead which could have stretched into real trouble for North Carolina.  But then suddenly and decisively Lawson made just the right passes and hit the key shots the Tar Heels needed to grab the lead back and eventually cruise to a victory that moments earlier seemed anything but certain.  Simply put, without Lawson, North Carolina would not have beaten LSU.

Much is made of how valuable Lawson’s teammate Tyler Hansbrough is to the Tar Heels.  But this year Hansbrough is no longer North Carolina’s main man.   This is Ty Lawson’s team.  And North Carolina can only hope that Lawson’s injured toe holds up long enough to carry them through the Sweet Sixteen and the remainder of March Madness.

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The question touched a raw nerve.  Some argue that it was out of line and out of place at a basketball press conference.  Others are stunned that a non-journalist, activist, law school student did the asking.  How dare he?  Still more wonder why UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun lost his cool and went ballistic.

The question was essentially: Should Calhoun take a pay cut from his multi-million dollar salary as Connecticut’s highest paid government worker, while the state faces a huge budget shortfall during the nation’s worst economic crisis?

Calhoun, doing his best Bob Knight impersonation, answered by telling the “reporter”,  Ken Krayeske, to shut up, and then called him stupid.

A lot of folks in the sports world – including sports journalists – are blaming the messenger.   They say Ken Krayeske didn’t have the proper credentials and shouldn’t have been there in the first place.   Personally, I think that some reporters are angry that Krayeske showed them up, by asking a question they would never dare ask.  Calhoun argued that he brings in millions of dollars in revenue to the University of Connecticut, and won’t give “a dime back” from his salary.  And he has many supporters of this rationale, including journalists who wear the proper credentials.

So no, I don’t think the question is out of line at all.  And now that we’ve had a few days to see Calhoun’s response for ourselves and ponder even more, the reality of a what an economic downturn really means, the tide may be turning.  Yesterday, Connecticut’s governor called Calhoun’s nasty response to the question an “embarrassing display”.

The fact is Calhoun could have answered in a civil manner and acknowledged the seriousness of the times with respect and compassion.  After all Jim Calhoun is not being hurt by the economy, but many who support his team and pay for tickets and tuition are.  As a result he came off as arrogant and out-of-touch.

One thing for certain – the question will be asked again.  Maybe not to Calhoun, but to others in the sports universe.  Maybe it will be phrased like this: What are you willing to sacrifice while millions lose their jobs and others struggle to pay their mortgages?  How will those sports figures respond?  The global economic crisis now has Greg Norman suggesting that golfers take a cut in prize money.

Yes, sports are important, and they offer much needed diversions, escapes from sometimes harsh realities. Sports stars play a significant role in improving the quality of our lives.  But now its time for them to consider how they can do even more.   Sometimes more means taking less.

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Frantic February is the time of year when college basketball teams start making their closing arguments for selection to the NCAA Tournament.  For sheer unpredictability, chaos, nail biting and whining there is nothing like the weeks leading up to March Madness.  

Every year it seems there is a surprising Cinderella.  The unexpected team from nowhere that makes a tantalizing trip through its conference, to the Sweet 16 and sometimes even the Final Four.   Each season a breakout star captures our imagination.  Sometimes its a guy with no shot at the NBA, but with everything it takes to lead his team to a college title.  Further you can count on several top coaches coyly downplaying their talented teams’ prospects, while we also hear others whine about an unfair selection process that kept their schools at home.  But that’s what makes this party great and this time of year incomparable.  

And its already beginning.  In the last week alone, number one U-Conn, which showcases pterodactyl-like center Hasheem Thabeet, gets manhandled by super aggressive Pittsburgh.   Oklahoma, which was poised to take over number one, gets knocked off by Texas when player of the year favorite Blake Griffin suffers a concussion.  And super talented number 3 ranked North Carolina, led by 3-time All America, Tyler Hansbrough is stunned by the over-achieving Terrapins from the University of Maryland.  This is a Maryland team that still might not make it to the NCAA tournament.  But at least now Maryland can make an argument.  That’s how it goes in February as the conference tournaments loom and March Madness beckons.  This is the point in the season when teams often make their most lasting impressions – for better and sometimes for worse.   

Let me close by making this admission – I’m an NBA guy.  I prefer the high quality, skilled basketball that the big boys in the “Association” play.   Still during the final weeks of February and the Madness of March – college basketball always earns my attention.  Unlike the NBA, everything is on the line each and every game.  And just one letdown means its over.  That’s what makes college basketball unique and Frantic February special.

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