Down goes Big Least and Butler along with it !! A nice two-fer ! Except now of course the TRIB will go wild !! This time I will accept it as Irish did prevail ove OXEN BALL at its worst !!
A close game but sorry guys, games such as that throws Hoops back to when I was a mere boy !!!!!

Buck Futler

Why so harsh on Butler?
What is oxen ball, I assume you mean using clock and running plays?
We want some respect, then we should not be insulting and rude to other
teams and conferences. Butler plays hard and is well coached.
ND could win the whole thing, and losing to them in OT is not
exactly boring.... Keep your perspective.
Really!

My disdain has nothing to do with their style of play(well, the flopping got on my nerves). But, I have my reasons. More personal, really.

Well, guy !! Definition--OXENBALL--SLOWDOWN HIOOPS !! Exactly the kind that was played in the 40s and 50s. Today it is played as a rule when teams do not have talent enough. IF the College bosses liked this style, they would not have put in the 36 second clock. They would NOT have legislated against Dean Smith's 4 corner "offense".
For the record , I was in the Chgo Stadium, way back in the day, when DePewl beat Oklahoma A&M (now Ok St) something like 21-17 !!!!--Whitey Kahan a DePewl guard (all-timer) stood at a tad past center court for close to a minute as I recall--just stood there with the ball.
--Princeton played OxenBall for years recently---BORRRRING !!

There are more reasons for many of us to dislike Butler--However , we are now in the Valley and they are not--nuf sed !!

BTW, this time our tourney--CBI--is experimenting with a THIRTY SECOND clock !! That tells me something !!

I see you are somewhat new to our Board--WELCOME !! Keep posting. You will notice very little vitriol aimed at other teams and a lot of their fans--only Butler. We have our reasons !!

The current Butler teams do not have to rely as much on slowdown tempo, because they're finally able to recruit very strong athletes all around the floor. They can thank LeCrone for systematically building them up for two decades so they were able to leave the HL and attract better athletes. They can hang with the Villanovas, St. John's and Georgetowns of the world now because of their better speed and quickness.

And we're one to talk about tempo... According to kenpom, Butler was 248th in the nation in tempo and we are 336th.

Also, only two of the Top 10 highest tempo teams made the NCAA tournament field (BYU as an 11 seed, and Hampton as a 16 seed) while FOUR of the ten slowest tempo teams made the tournament field-- Virginia (2 seed), UNI (5 seed), Wisconsin (1 seed), and Wyoming (12 seed).

So what you're saying is that oxen ball is the key to success and Brot has been wrong all along?

I suspected as much...

Just because it works, doesn't mean it's fun to watch.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

Being a Rambler fan has NOTHING to do with fun!

It is a burden to be borne, like original sin, with grace and forbearance.

Thanks for the info.
I find UNI methodically to the point of boring.
They have nice athletes and size, BUT play way under control.
I suspect their players could handle some uptempo, if they were coached to do so....
Minimal turnovers, fouls...
Works for them. I don't think it's the future of the
game....
In another matter, I can't wait to see Kansas WSU/UNI Louisville.
Just for MVC validation, it would be amazing to get two W's
I also see we are 6 point favorites tomorrow against a team that racked up 90
last game..... Scary, but I suspect they, ORU, will end up with 25 to 30 fewer against the
Ramblers
GO RAMBLERS