Boston Trickle Down?

We had a clown from Boston come at us on Twitter for some reason when we reacted to the Brad Stevens hire by the Cs.  We're both pretty big fans of Stevens; really tough not to be.  He's a class act that did the seemingly-impossible by taking Butler to two national title games STRAIGHT. The guy can coach, and his demeanor seems to be ideal for the job.

Barry Collier and Brad Stevens helped engineer Butler's rapid ascent through the college basketball world. Collier has made all the right decisions on whom should run his program...and the former Bulldog coach helped Butler leapfrog from the Horizon to the A10 to the new Big East.  But now, hiring an assistant off of Butler's bench seems like a mile-long shot as Matthew Graves has left his alma mater to be head coach at South Alabama (hired in March).  Yesterday, he reassured everyone that he's staying put in his new post and wouldn't be a candidate at Butler.

Who knows...maybe the changes at Butler will eventually lead to our pal Ryne (out of focus in the background) coaching at Butler?

That leaves Butler with a pair of coaches in Michael Lewis and Terry Johnson who simply aren't ready for the bright lights of a legit basketball conference. This is where this story gets close to Purdue- Stevens' old head assistant coach, Micah Shrewsberry would seem to be a logical target for the post.  But, Coach Shrews is still pretty green...and my hope is he isn't even in Collier's rolodex at this point.

I think it's fairly obvious that Shrewsberry will be a head coach again someplace in the next few seasons. He can recruit, is a great ambassador for wherever he works and has coached under some pretty successful coaches in Stevens and Painter. Before Purdue and Butler though, he had been an assistant coach for U. Indy, Wabash and Depauw, and had a brief head coaching stint at IU South Bend.

Friends of mine at Butler tell me that it seems that UM's LaVall Jordan looks to be the guy...and the reports of him interviewing at Butler are legit.  If Collier pulls the trigger and hires Jordan, this might have an effect on Purdue yet again as Jordan has been the recruiting spearhead for Beilein the last few seasons...and a few recruits that Painter wants to see in black and gold are leaning toward UM at this point.

The effects of Stevens wisely taking the Boston job could be positive for Purdue...but who really knows. What I do know is that college basketball lost a great coach to a league that I can barely watch; that's the shame of it for me. While I'm surrounded by Butler grads, I still am not much of a fan of Butler...but I couldn't help but root for Stevens.  Now it'll be easier to resume not caring too much about Butler's basketball program once again (if they hire Jordan).

That said, I still marvel at Butler's ability to simply plug and play coach after coach after coach. In the time that Purdue has had two coaches, Butler has had five. Collier's success as a head coach really made Butler's program noteworthy because he took Butler to their first three NCAA tournaments (starting in '97)..but his successors took the next step.  Matta, Lickliter and Stevens had a composite winning percentage of 68%.  There's no question that The Butler Way, which Collier credits to Tony Hinkle, has some credence. While some of the ideas of the philosophy that has built Butler's program are Hinkle's, there's no question that the architect is really Collier.  He's in a pretty unenviable spot right now though.

A friend of mine is a booster at Butler and he thinks if Jordan is hired, Butler should give thought to hiring Gene Keady as a consultant or assistant that would help mentor the young coaching staff there.  I'd love to see that happen and think Keady would bring some wisdom to an extremely young bench...but once again, I'd be forced to kinda root for Butler to succeed; something I'd rather not do.

J just posted his fear of Stevens ending up back in college basketball clad in the hideous blood red and off-white...and I can't think of worse scenario for Purdue fans.  So as of right now, I'm rooting for Stevens to beat the odds by making a successful jump from college to the league and making me actually care about the NBA for the first time in over a decade.  Here's to the Good Witch of Zionsville kicking ass Boston.

The Good Witch Takes His Act to Beantown

Legitimately cutting down nets

We've joked before that Brad Stevens is a "good witch," because of the magic he was able to sprinkle onto his Butler University basketball program for the past six seasons, which included back-to-back national runners-up in 2010 and 2011.

Stevens, as you know unless you've been in a drunken stupor the past few days (and if you have, good for you for celebrating our independence in true American fashion), took the head coaching job with the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. People were shocked, mainly because Stevens seemed to be a Butler lifer -- or at least he seemed committed to Butler for the foreseeable future. Stevens had been linked to jobs at UCLA, Illinois and other places over the past few years, but he and his family love Indianapolis and always felt more at home there than anywhere else. Add to that the fact that Stevens proved you can win at a smaller program like Butler (backed up not just by the two title game appearances, but the fact that he never won fewer than 22 games while compiling a .772 winning percentage and really, was within one rattled out heave from winning the 2010 national title over Duke) and it began to feel like that warm, fuzzy, feel-good story might continue.

Here was a guy who had nearly reached the mountaintop (and, really, in college basketball, the goal always seems to be reaching a Final Four -- national titles are, of course, the ultimate goal, but Final Fours are probably more frequently referred to when judging coaches) and who seemed to love where he was. Plus he was young, likable and seemed to say and do all the right things.

Then, jarringly, Stevens bolted for Boston. We've never made any secret of the fact that we like Stevens a lot. B-dowd's brother and sister-in-law graduated from Butler and I remember saying to them that I hoped Purdue could one day match the Final Four success of a big time program like Butler (the jokes write themselves sometimes!).

At the same time, he scared us a bit as Purdue fans. While we are unfailingly in support of Matt Painter and his approach, recruiting against Indiana and Notre Dame in the state of Indiana already meant the top players in the state were no easy feat to land. With Butler rising to levels of success IU hasn't seen in a long time (or ever, if you're considering back-to-back Finals appearances) and obviously far better than Purdue or ND basketball has seen, the idea that "mid-major" Butler could "steal" recruits away from the big boys took on serious life. After all, wouldn't you want to play for Brad Stevens? And what if you could play for that guy and be a national darling (like a Gonzaga but with actual substance and the ability to win big games)? And go to Final Fours? Well, hell, that sounds great.

So that was concerning enough. But again, liking the guy and what he was doing made it hard to be anything

but admiring of him and his own version of the "Butler Way." Butler had been sneaky successful for quite a while, under a number of coaches, but Stevens broke through to that proverbial next level.

As this all was happening, murmurs began in different parts of Indiana that maybe he was the guy who should be leading one of the more "marquee" national programs in the state. Painter is a likable guy and a very good coach, but did he have what it took to get to Final Fours? And what about Tom Crean? He can recruit like a mo-fo, but his in-game abilities as a coach have never been marveled at. Fans are restless. Naturally, people talked. What could Brad Stevens do with Purdue or IU's budget, facilities and name recognition?

For us, the more concerning thing was that IU would realize that pretty much anyone could recruit kids to IU -- what they needed (and still need) is a coach who can win tough games, instead of just the ones where his talent overwhelms opponents. Could that happen? We genuinely feared it. Because a Brad Stevens-coached Hoosiers team would be awful from a Purdue perspective in different ways. We'd still loathe them, of course, but they'd be a lot more difficult to hate with Stevens running things. And, of yeah, they'd surely be back in the Final Four on a likely regular basis, so that would be hard to stomach, too.

Now Stevens takes his act to Boston to coach the unlikable Celtics. People are already talking about him co-existing with Rajon Rondo. While I think Rondo is a jackass, I don't think it's fair to assume they can't coexist. Stevens is the type of guy who gets everybody on the same page and has a zen quality when it comes to keeping everyone calm and focused. Doesn't that sound like it might be a good quality to have for the NBA grind? As for Rondo, though, I think he'll be gone before the season starts, so Stevens will probably have a very mediocre team to build from the ground up. Maybe he'll mold them in his ideal shape. Or maybe he'll crash and burn like so many college coaches before him. If he does, what's the downside? He'll be markedly richer and he'll still be the hottest name in college coaching, even 3-5 years from now. In addition, he'll have been to the "promised land" of the NBA, which will undoubtedly help with coaching/recruiting college kids.

That's where my negative, Purdue-centric mind takes us. Three to five more years of Tom Crean's act in Bloomington might be just the right amount of time for a) NCAA infractions to come to light (not saying there are any, but if there are, they never stay in the dark forever) or b) IU to realize they'll be consistently talented and win games under Crean, but aren't likely to add to their musty collection of banners under him. What if that coincides with Brad Stevens becoming available again? Could the nightmare happen a few years down the road? That's the kind of thing that keeps a Purdue fan who has seen years of banana peels up at night.

Suffering from March Madness

In the meantime, we honestly wish Stevens well and, from a more narrow-minded and "now" thinking Purdue perspective, we're happy Matt Painter doesn't have to contend with Stevens either on the recruiting trail or on the court in the Crossroads Classic. For now, Butler's loss is the rest of the state of Indiana's gain, from that point of view. He's the rare guy who could make us pull for the Boston Celtics (at least a little).

In the end, I would suspect that it had nothing to do with not being unhappy at Butler. I think Stevens loved it there and wanted to coach at no other college or university. For those being cynical, I don't think it was an act on his part -- he believed in the Butler Way and his own way of doing things. However, sometimes in life new challenges become available to you that require getting out of your comfort zone. There's no shame in not taking on those new challenges -- especially if you're really happy with what you're doing -- but there's also a lot of people who would lose sleep wondering "what might have been," or wondering if they could have met those new challenges. The NBA is likely that for Brad Stevens -- a new challenge for an ambitious guy who is only where he is because of his gumption and confidence to take the leap and reach for new heights. How else to describe a guy who was working at Eli Lilly when offered the chance at a volunteer position at Butler, yet took the volunteer position and quit his paying job? This guy goes for it, which is just one more reason to admire him.

Happy trails, Coach Stevens. Continue to do what makes you happy.

Monday Gumbo

The final Four is set as everyone knows- Ohio State v. Kansas and Kentucky v. Louisville.

A couple things you might want to take note of...just for future reference.  First, most obviously, only one #1 seed made the final weekend of the tourney.  J noted on Twitter how many of EsPN's pundits had at least two #1s...some had four; and these are the experts, right?  As much as it feels good, always resist the urge to go chalk...unless you're talking women's basketball.

Sidenote: J and I aren't women's basketball fans...and this is just one of the reasons.  Not only does the women's tournament seems to run according to seed almost always, BUT, massive blowouts in the round of 16 happen regularly. There were 27 and a 44-point discrepancies this weekend in the women's tourney...and neither of those was because a Cinderella made it through.  Only two of the eight games were single-digit games...Plus, not one lower seed won a game.  That will leave the women with a final eight of 1v.2...times four. You won't hear us tell you what to do on this site- if you like the women's game, watch to your heart's content; but we won't be.

Back to the men's game.

Moral Victories Stink
In 2012, for the fourth year in the last five, Purdue was knocked out of the tourney by an eventual FF team...the only exception was Xavier.  Two of those three (this year is yet to be decided, obviously) were eventually crowned national champs.

For me though, that says two things- One, timing is everything.  If your squad plays the wrong team at the wrong time (read as VCU), it's tough to overcome that. Second, there's no solace in losing to anyone, even a team that wins the championship.

Thoroughbreds
If you take a glance at the teams that made the final four, it's no surprise that talent reigns supreme; almost always does.  But almost all of this year's FF teams have length- good height and long arms...coupled with athleticism.  The team that has been the best on paper all year, Kentucky, has a line-up that would make many NBA teams jealous.  They have size, they have length, they have athleticism...plus almost the entire team shoots their free throws in the 70% range or higher...and they get to the line a lot.  In other words, they do it all well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Kentucky's pros will finally bring all-around good guy, Calipari, his first national title.

And to clarify...again (because this is something that doesn't seem to come across via Twitter).  Just because we think someone will win the national title, doesn't mean we like or root for that team.  Of the remaining four, I'll be pulling for Kansas...mainly because I don't want to see aOSU, Kentucky or Louisville win it.

Good Journalism
On late Friday night/early Saturday morning, Butler's Brad Stevens' name started lighting up Twitter.  Rumors of a 21-28 million dollar contract offer from Illinois came first and then, of course, news guys started saying Stevens would be announced as the new Illini coach on Saturday.

Stevens quickly denied ever being offered a contract...and a day later re-affirmed that he'd be staying at Butler.

For those of you keeping score at home, Illinois has been turned down by Smart and Stevens...next up, they'll probably offer Ohio's coach, Groce, college basketball's most-recent "it" name. Since he's only had four years at Ohio, hasn't planted deep roots, and Illinois will offer to quintuple his salary, I think he'll be the guy that takes Weber's place in Champaign.

Groce graduated from Taylor, and later coached under Matta at Butler and aOSU (and a few other stops as well).

Football Scrimmage
This time of year is always tough to tell what's really going on with Purdue's football team as Hope keeps practices and scrimmages locked-down.  But here's a quick report for those of you who haven't put the pieces of info together that's available.

The QBs (Marve and TerBush, specifically) have looked good as has the new-look offensive line.  But, in spite of that, the defense still won Saturday's scrimmage.  That's understandable as it always takes offenses a bit longer to get in sync...then again, this is a defense that is showing new looks and has a coaching staff comprised of a lot of new guys.

What we do absolutely know is there have been no major injuries...the best info that can come out of Spring football practice.

Wednesday Gumbo

I don't even like the WBC, but...
If you're like me, you stay up too late this time of year trying to gather all of the games and highlights you can to get as educated as possible in preparation for over-thinking your bracket. One bonus of staying up too late is you get to see stories like this before the highlights have been over-produced and there's still some drama to the story breaking.
The second Dutch oven...errr...upset (and subsequent elimination) of Dominicana is as astounding (to me at least) as the Miracle on Ice of 1980...but in a much-less important event. To put it in perspective, the Netherlands' players make about 1/160th in professional baseball salaries of those on the Dominican squad.

Granted, I probably still won't watch more than an inning-or-two straight of this made-for-TV event, but the highlights are awfully fun.

Speaking of Bad TV
I have owned my own business for about 10 years...and one of the many advantages of being your own boss is you don't get yelled at for watching sports in the middle of the day. Whether it's the Masters, NCAA tourney or anything else that tickles my fancy, it's an all-around good deal. But yesterday, it backfired.

At around 2:00, I figured I should check on the mid-major games and see if anything had tipped off. Well, the programming sadists at EsPN decided to waste everyone's time with soccer...and WBC games. What the heck, yo? They have taken the most wonderful time of the year and perverted it with over-acting, silky-shirt, short-short wearing, grainy coverage of the ugly game.

Thanks for nothing.

Hey, that reminds me...
Like most of you, I watched the over-rated Butler Bulldogs play last night...and I was pulling for them. I like their coach and their players, it's their fans that I struggle with. One of my brothers graduated from BU, and my parents lived a short bike ride from the campus, so I know the place well.

But, last night's game, especially the second half, was eerily similar to Purdue's performances versus Northwestern and MSU. The Bulldogs couldn't score for a large span of time and seemed to wait too long to try to close the gap (though it wasn't too sizeable).

Plus, like Purdue, Butler has a good Soph. big man and a shooting forward who's a string bean who grew up a Purdue fan. When I watch Butler, I can't help but think about how fun it'd be to have Howard and/or Heyward playing for Purdue...*sigh*

My next thought though, is I want Purdue to play Butler in the tournament and make those two regret their choice of where they ended up...If not regret it, at least think- "man, Matty's handsome and tall...I wish I was playing for him."

Butler's loss surely doesn't help the many bubble-sitters in the Big Ten...but it probably all but kills hopes for teams like Davidson (Steve- you should have gone pro last year).

Fair is Fair...
Alright, in the interest of fairness, I must do this...A few months ago, I gave a shout-out to Scout.com's Purdue site Boiler Sports Report and said everyone should give them a chance. Well, their effort reminds me a lot of my three year old son- They tried hard for about 15 minutes and seemed to have given up. Their Purdue coverage seems to be nothing more than copied and pasted links from other sites...Even when Purdue beat MSU in basketball...and whipped aOSU, the articles had a noticibly opposing-team-slanted spin.

Plus, as signing day approached and passed, they didn't report anything more than one-line blurbs about what was going to happen...and most of the time they were wrong. In fact, the "insiders" on their message board who are just schmoes like me seemed to be right more than their reporters.

They seem like well-intentioned, nice guys...but they also seem to be either A) In over their head or (more likely) B) Completely disinterested in Purdue sports as West Lafayette is second-fiddle to the big programs, in their collective minds. Plus, their interface/site design is bad-looking, cumbersome and out-dated.

I think a quarter of a year, especially in a news-packed period of time, is enough of a trial...Scout.com is overwhelmingly un-noteworthy. While the KHC board is worth little-more than used Charmin, the writers on GBI are good at what they do, and get this- they care about Purdue sports. If you've got $10.00/mo. burning a hole in your pocket, either get a subscription over there or send it to us via PayPal (we can give you our account e-mail if you'd like!!).