Butler defeats Gonzaga

Did you see Brad Stevens after that crazy game last night?  He acted like he just won the first game of the season over lesser competition by 40 points.  Butler somehow won a game they trailed with 3.5 seconds left and their top ten opponent inbounding the ball.  Butler just won bragging rights over Gonzaga for best program for a school that was unheard of by the common fan a generation ago on a last-second floater by muscle-bound forward Roosevelt Jones.  Butler just won a memorable game because John Stockton's heady son David made a bad pass at game's end, moments after one of their own--the walk-on Alex Barlow who beat Indiana earlier in the season with a last-second shot--turned the ball over himself by traveling.  Butler won without leading scorer, Rotnei Clarke, who looked like a British dart player with his black sweater and pub-like haircut, sidelined with a neck injury.  Butler won because Brad Stevens is the best coach in the country (as if you did not know that already) and Hinkle Fieldhouse can rock with the best of them.
The problem with scouting a game like last night is that, thanks to Clarke's injury, we cannot gain enough from the winning team's performance beyond a desire to grab as many Butler guys as possible.  Jones was clearly the most impressive of the bunch, especially since he does not play Clarke's position.  Gonzaga impressed too, especially considering the environment, and we can get a better sense of what to expect from them.  The Zags have three talented big men and Butler--like most teams--does not have the size down low to stop them.  6'9 Sam Dower was the hot man early, doubling his 8-pt average in the first half alone and ending with 20 pts (he even hit two 3s) while 6'8 Elias Harris, who also finished with 20 pts (5 more than average), and 7'0 Kelly Olynk, who finished with 14 pts (4 less than average), dominated the second half.  Being that most of the opponents they play do not have three men to match up with that trio, one or more of them will have a mismatch and the Zags will exploit that situation.  Those three bigs even combined for 10-12 shooting from the charity stripe and so you cannot even throw waves of defenders at them in a foul-by-foul strategy.  The problem is that if the backcourt cannot get into a rhythm, especially from beyond the arc, then an opponent like Butler can stay with Gonzaga if they shoot threes well.  Which is what happened last night as Butler hit 8-19 three pointers, led by freshman Kellen Dunham's 4-8, while the visitors managed only 4-14.  Lead guard Kevin Pangos, who nailed 4-8 from 3-pt land on Thursday versus Portland and 3-5 against St. Marys the game before, took only three long attempts and made one.  Pangos is a true roll of the dice pick for fantasy purposes as you will have to take him fairly high and yet in his last seven games he has given the Zags the following point totals: 31-23-9-6-22-14-5.
The big lesson from last night's excellent regular season clash is that you should be very bullish on both teams.  Of course so will everyone else.