INDIANAPOLIS — Forget the obvious “Hoosiers” reference, the David-versus-Goliath cliché and the lovable-underdog-takes-on-the-big-bad-Blue-Devils storyline.
When No. 1 Duke meets host Butler at Lucas Oil Stadium Monday night in the NCAA national championship game, it won’t matter how many times each program has been to the Final Four (15 to zero), what league each team plays in (the ACC compared to the one-bid Horizon) or how experienced the two teams’ head coaches are (Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is in his 30th season with the Blue Devils, while Bulldog head man Brad Stevens is in his third year as a college head coach.)
Because at this point in the topsy-turvy 2010 NCAA Tournament, one thing has become crystal clear: If you think you’re too good to lose, you’re going to get beat, and Butler will be more than happy to beat you.
The Bulldogs (33-4), a fifth seed despite winning 25 straight games since December, survived an upset bid in the Round of 32 from No. 13 Murray State to reach the Sweet 16. Since then, they’ve gone on a giant-killing expedition, taking out two trendy Final Four picks in top-seeded Syracuse and No. 2 Kansas State. They’ve done so by playing tenacious defense, taking care of the ball and forcing tons of turnovers, three characteristics Duke’s players take pride in as well.
In Butler’s upset of the talented Orange last weekend, the Bulldogs forced 18 turnovers and gave the ball away only seven times; against Michigan State Saturday night in the Final Four, the storyline was the same, as Butler coughed it up eight times but caused 16 Spartan turnovers.
“They play great defensively [and] they get their hands on a lot of balls,” Michigan State forward Draymond Green said. “When you think you got a layup, [Ronald] Nored comes from behind, makes a steal.... [There weren’t] a lot of open layups [tonight]. They were great help-side defensively [and] they had very active hands.”
The Bulldogs’ offense, though, has sputtered at times, something the Blue Devils (34-5) will look to exploit Monday night. Duke has scored at least 68 points in every Tournament game—including 78 against defensive-minded West Virginia in the national semifinal—and Butler hasn’t topped 63 since the first round.
That offensive inefficiency was obvious against the Spartans in the second half, when the Bulldogs went an incredible 11-and-a-half minutes—during a critical stretch of the game—without a field goal. Butler scored only four points on free throws during that period, but its defense was able to contain an injury-ravaged Michigan State squad for long enough to give itself a chance late.
Duke’s explosive offense—led by the peaking trio of Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer—is clearly a cut above anything the Bulldogs faced Saturday night.
“I don’t know how we’re going to guard those guys,” Stevens said. “Those three guys all attempt roughly the same amount of shots, points.... They all three share the scoring load.”
In Duke’s Final Four win over the Mountaineers, it was Singler, Smith and Scheyer who carried the Blue Devils, as they have all season. The trio scored a combined 63 points, six more than the entire West Virginia roster, and a repeat performance could give Duke its fourth national title in seniors Brian Zoubek, Lance Thomas and Scheyer’s final games with the program.
The Blue Devils have been criticized all season for a number of things—a lack of athleticism, no depth in the backcourt, a missing scoring threat in the paint, and lately, an easy road to Indianapolis—but to the players, those things just don’t matter anymore.
“[The game] is everything. This is the culmination of four years for me,” Zoubek said. “To have a shot at the championship my senior year, after everything that we have been through, is a dream come true.”
For Stevens, the architect of this magical run for the hometown Bulldogs, facing the Blue Devils in the NCAA title game is beyond his wildest dreams. It’s not that his team is short on talent, or hustle, or dedication—Gordon Hayward is a do-it-all forward with NBA potential, Shelvin Mack is an athletic swingman with hops and a jumpshot and Butler will have the support of most of the 70,000 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium, less than six miles from the Bulldogs’ Indianapolis campus. Stevens is just understandably nervous for the biggest day in his program’s history.
Late Saturday night, after watching Duke’s destruction of West Virginia, Stevens was chatting with his wife, who said glowingly, “You’re playing for a national championship tomorrow.”
Stevens’s response: “Yeah, but we’re playing Duke.”
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