Gongrats to Butler....why not Texas?

[WilburWildCat]

Great success by the Butler players and the coaching staff! Why not the Horns and all the NBA stars on the team?

 

[ut1969]

They seem to have a better coach.

 

[TXThorn]

Coaching and flat-out balls to the wall 40 min of hustle and battling every possession. Butler is exhausting yet enjoying to watch they fight so hard.

 

[Bob in Houston]

Final Fours are hard. They are promised to no one. They take skill, good match-ups and sometimes some luck.

 

[ut1969]

All I know is a coach that still doesn't shave has been there one more time that Barnes.

 

[Whiterock Horn]

He's been there more than alot of coaches. That's nothing to hold over Barnes.

 

[blonthang]

Small sample sizes don't work well for statistics.

If Butler is still dancing with 7 other teams left every other year or so for the next 5-10 years, and Texas is not, okay.

The better contrast for Butler isn't Texas; it's Duke, or the other 2 #1 seeds that are sitting home watching the Bulldogs play.

 

[DVPMD]

that kid is a hell of a coach. it is nice to see a team like butler "overachieve." those kids played a great game. just goes to show heart and effort mean a lot more than talent alone.

 

[TXThorn]

I'd say Butler going 9-1 last 10 tourney games is a huge support sample of the elite state of their current program. And no one can argue they didn't face superior talent a good selection of those games. The coach can flat out coach and get all the effort his players have.

 

[ut1969]

Coach K has been to the final four 11 times and won it 4 times. I think he gets a pass every now and then.

 

[Third Coast]

They're going to have to play better to beat KU, but they are capable.

 

[Win]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Joe2005]

In the process, the Butler coach has beaten teams coached by Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, and Billy Donovan - all championship coaches. So if we're going to compare the last two years of Brad Stevens, every coach in America will come up short. No one has had a run like that.

 

[l00p]

Yeah but they don't have such awesome fans like we do. We will always have that on them, sigh.

 

[HI_McDunnough]

The Butler coach is better than Barnes. Period. I am no longer content with with making the tourney and then getting bounced when we shouldn't.

The argument that some coaches needed 20 years to win a title is garbage. I don't want to wait 20 years to see if Barnes MIGHT win a title. We deserve better. Face it, we are getting out coached.

Butler was in the title game last year, and is now in the final 4 again. Butler. Let me repeat, Butler!

You can call me a hater all you want and I don't give a ****. We can't win a Big 12 tournament, much less THE TOURNEY.

We have to make a change if Texas is ever going to win a national title in basketball.

 

[Bigtex112]

Well, one huge difference is how long the kids stay around. Butler's 2010 FFour team had only 1 Sophomore starting (Haywood). The rest were Jrs and Srs. This year's squad has only Jrs and Srs starting I believe. They may have a Soph but I couldn't verify.

Contrast that with Texas starting 2 true Freshmen and 1 Sophomore and add to the fact that they are our best players, it makes it doubly tough on the experience side of the equation.

Just look at much better Hamilton was this year over his Freshman year and project a similar advance for Joseph and Thompson. Plus you have J'Covan Brown who will be a Junior.

Texas' problem has not been talent in the past, it's been experienced talent. Texas Basketball is a 1-year or at most a 2-year stop for our most talented players and then they are on to the NBA. I would like to see that change this year but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[caryhorn]

And Congrats to VCU for making the Elite 8. That is quite an accomplishment. Their young Coach, Shaka, has done a great job.

 

[TXThorn]

Bigtex is definitely right in alot of cases. Several of the mid-major teams who excel are very experienced and have alot of seasons together. Cohesion between players is important and can sometimes defeat better talent when the opponenets have less cohesion or experience together or in the system. Both Butler and Gonzaga are great examples of very good systems, coaching, and teams usually with alot of experienced players. And in the cases of those teams it means alot of their guys have tourney experience.

 

[dangdirtysooner]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Bigtex112]

You are right you Dirty Sooner. I thought Nored and Mack were Juniors last year. I would still take 3 Sophs over 2 Freshmen and 1 Soph, though on the starting 5. That extra year is huge.

 

[Bob in Houston]

In reply to:

---

---