The So-Called "Bad" Game

I have heard a lot about how "bad" the recent NCAA men's basketball championship game was between Butler and Connecticut, held this past Monday evening. The main rationale for this complaint was that both teams, and especially Butler, missed a lot of shots throughout the game. Butler only made 12 of 64 field goal attempts, a new record percentage low for NCAA championship games. The analysts on CBS were beside themselves slamming both teams and the game as a whole. But I have a different interpretation.

Butler and Connecticut both made it to the final primarily by virtue of their tenacious defensive play. In an earlier tournament game, Florida's usually frenzied, high-octane offense was slowed down effectively by Butler, which won the game at the end when the Gators simply could not stop them from scoring on drive after drive after drive. That Connecticut was so effective in pressuring Butler to take bad shots is to their credit as a championship team and shouldn't detract from Butler. I have followed many Florida basketball games over the years, and the analysts always judged the opponent's field goal percentage in terms of Florida's defense. If the opponent had a low percentage, then the Gators were given credit for doing a good job defending them. That's the way I see Butler's poor shooting performance in Monday's game: Connecticut did a good job defending them, consequently winning 53-41.

I have seen times like during the NBA All-Star game when there has been little or no defensive pressure applied by either team to the other. There was a lot of scoring and some spectacular-looking drives to the basket as well as difficult-looking three-point shots, but it wasn't well-played basketball to me. The game between Butler and Connecticut was a good, hard fought out game that determined a true champion: the Connecticut Huskies!