The Lady Bulldogs (5-1) came back to Indy with an impressive notch on their resume. The team beat Miami (Fla.) 62-59 in the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 24. Lade Akande received her second Horizon League Player of the Week recognition of the season this week as well. The Dawgs were picked to finish third in the Horizon League. But, they have played good games in this young season against Bradley and Purdue (both on the road) and Ohio, while Akande, Candace Jones and Tara Miller have stood out so far.
Now to the men's team. I'm a very, very very excited about this Saturday's game against the Buckeyes.
First of all, Ohio State got spanked by Florida in the National championship game last year, while the Bulldogs played well against the Gators giving the Rowdy Reptiles a run for their money (and yes that's a cliche, but come up with a better descriptive for me). Guess what... some very key components to last year's runner-up team are gone (Greg Oden and Mike Conely Jr.).
Second, the Bulldogs looked great while up in the "Deadliest Catch" region. They soundly beat Michigan, grinded out a win against Va Tech and showed Bobby Knight that Hoosiers in blue can play very good basketball. They got stronger as that tournament progressed. It appears to me that the Dawgs slid into Anchorage off of a mediocre win against Evansville, and then really came together as a team under Brad Stevens' game plan. They knocked off teams from three of the sport's deepest conferences: ACC, Big Ten and Big 12.
Third, the offense was outstanding. The Dawgs were constantly in motion with the ball forcing their opponents to play a run-around defense, while almost everyone contributed in the scoring column. The team lit the nets on fire from behind the arc, but also scored in the post and cut to the basket for backdoor and down-the-lane layups. The seniors played incredible basketball.
Despite these elements, I'm worried about the answer to the Buckeyes' 7' freshman Kosta Koufos and 6'8'' Othello Hunter. In addition to Hunter, Jamar Butler, David Lighty and Matt Terwilliger are return players from that runner-up team. So, this game won't be a cake walk for the Dawgs. Thad Matta will certainly prepare for Butler's three-point attack, which means that the team will also need to create points in the paint against a very tall defense, while having to defend two players taller than every Bulldog.
This game will be a lot of fun, and don't be upset or surprised to see Butler upset by the visiting Buckeyes. OSU has prepared well for this game, playing Syracuse and No. 9 Texas A & M with a match against No. 1 North Carolina this Wednesday. The Dawgs certainly deserve their No. 16 ranking, and I think they should be at least No. 10. No matter what the outcome, every Butler fan should be proud of this team and excited for the Horizon League schedule.
The men play OSU this Saturday in Hinkle at 7:30 p.m. (parking sucks! get there early; and good luck finding a seat to students not in the Dawg Pound, someone forgot about us when coming up with the new ticket plan), and the women play Indiana State at 2 p.m. on Dec. 1, in Valparaiso.
In case you're wondering how Todd Lickliter is fairing at Iowa, the former Butler head coach lost his third straight game, to Wake Forest tonight. I wish Coach Lickliter the best of luck, but he's missing out on another great season in Indy. Iowa is 5-3.
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2 comments:
Lady Bulldogs are 4-1 just to clear it up.
Their game at Indiana State will definately be overshadowed by the men's game, but look out! Its going to be a great season.
Yeah it will, that's okay, that won't stop the girls from beating the Sycamores
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