Final 4 Post Game Press Conferences
Butler
Brad Stevens Press Conference
VCU Press Conference
Coach Smart’s portion begins at around the 4:50 mark
Brad Stevens
All posts tagged Brad Stevens
Here is the first of a series of 4 posts looking at the teams in the Final 4. They can also be viewed here
Butler University Offensive Sets
Box Lob
Patience on O and very few wasted posessions. They run the set, don’t find an advantage and Coach Stevens calls a timeout.
Constantly Probing
Zone Offense
After this initial pass and screen they continue with their motion offense principles.
Lob Set
Back Screen Variation
They’ll run this back sreen various times during the game which sets up perfectly this little variation to get Howard an open 3.
Running in Transition
if they have numbers but very rarely late
Execution late in games
Butler University Motion Offense
Two Inter-related Units: Guards on the Perimeter
Bigs in the High and Low Posts- 4 Looking to Pop and Become a 4th member of the perimeter.
Patience | Spacing | Agressive
4 out 1 in looking into the post
Pick and Roll with the 5 the 4 man evacuates from the middle
Out of a Timeout With Weave Action To Start
Motion versus zones
Butler University Defense
Pick and Rolls between bigs and littles
Big is flashing hard to prevent the ball handler from turning the corner trying to force the ball handler to move laterally not vertically
Solid D followed by Execution on O
Following screens and lots of helping but no switching
Only Switching as the Last Option to Prevent Open Looks
Guard to guard ball screens or dribble handoffs = Switch
Great on Ball Defense
(especially in crunch time)
Desire to Defend:
Rather than a miscommunication and noone closes out here two guys go and stop the ball and 5 players are willing to sacrifice their body to take a charge.
They Really Get Back On D
As 2010 finishes I wanted to take a moment and look back at a few of the memorable moments from 2010.
Butler Bulldogs : Anything is Possible
Coach Brad Stevens led the Butler Bullbogs on a historic run through the NCAA tournament and captured the basketball world by guiding the Butler Bulldogs to an improbable appearance in the NCAA Championship game. They went blow for blow with Duke in basketballs best rendition of David vs Goliath and if the dreamers ever needed more inspiration they got it. Anything is possible: in any situation or game the outcome is never a guaruntee so compete until it’s all over because you can always win.
The “B Team”
USA brought their “B Team” and won a hard fought gold medal in Turkey, the first World Championhsip for the States since 1994. I’m not sure if there was ever a more clear cut example of the expression “Offense wins games (Lithuania, Serbia) but Defense wins Championships (USA, Turkey).” Without a doubt the two best defensive teams played in the final. Coach K also showed that if you know how to coach, you know how to coach. It can be kids, adults, pros, amateurs. If you can coach, you can coach.
My friends dad would say referring to a baseball player’s ability to move up from one league to the next in professional baseball: “If you can hit, you can hit.” Coach K showed us that it doesn’t matter the age, If you can coach, you can coach.
España
Living in Spain it was fun and exciting to watch Spain win their first ever World Cup Championship. Of course led by the players from F.C. Barcelona. Sport is sport and I love sports. It would be hard to argue that there is a more followed sporting event than the World Cup in soccer. It unifies people all over the globe like no other event and gives everybody a chance to “escape” their daily lives and root for their country. Hopefully one day basketball can hold an event that can compare to the World Cup. Nevertheless Spain was a very eserving champion and sure knew how to celebrate their victory!
Could the 2012 Olympics bring basketball to the worldwide level that the World Cup does every four years?
Celtcs vs Lakers
Other than the outcome of the series (as a Warriors fan who has spent too much time around Laker fans I would have preferred any team but the Lakers to have won the title). That being said the series was a classic that had everything. Absolutely everything and watching these superstars, both the players and the hall of fame staffs on each bench for 7 games was a pleasure. This was a series to be remembered and my favorite game was game 2 and watching a legendary shooter have a career best night was fun to watch.
A common saying in the coaching world is games decided by less than 5 (or 7) points has a lot to do with coaches making a difference while games decided by more than that is all about the players. Butler in the 2009-2010 Final 4 season is 10-1 so far in games decided by 5 points or fewer. Wow. In watching and rewatching their games from this year’s torunament they were so good at getting buckets coming out of time outs. Check out this article about the young coaching phenom from the New York Times.
Butler is 10-1 in games decided by 5 points or less. A sign of great coaching.