The Barbar Shop: Dawg Days

Blue II had been there before.

With cameramen jockeying for position, Butler’s bulldog mascot, dressed to the fours in a gorgeous tuxedo (Armani perhaps?), stepped in for a New Year’s Eve photo op with the Horizon League TV crew at Hinkle Fieldhouse and barely drooled at the multitude of cameras flashing.

After all, wasn’t he Top Dawg at the Final Four last season in Houston, with all the national fuss about his well-chronicled and well-deserved plush hotel accommodations? And barely flinched or barked?

You might say his favorite team has a similar temperament about bright lights and pressurized moments. Butler, typically, doesn’t fold. It has much to do with its youthful genius and head coach Brad Stevens (think The Wizard, The Baron, Coach K, The General, Jim Calhoun or Roy Williams in their formative coaching years).

And, it certainly has something to do with talent. With back-to-back years of early departures for the NBA, Butler is not so much an overachiever as it is an underestimated and undervalued basketball program.

So, with those factors working in their favor, the Bulldogs took what might have been a lost week, won a couple of grinders, and, as of Jan. 1, sit on the conference race’s lead lap with one loss.

Last week’s action for the Bulldogs didn’t begin well. Butler had a couldn’t-throw-it-in-Fall Creek shooting start of 4-for-23 from the floor against Green Bay and trailed by 10. But, with late 3’s from Andrew Smith and Kameron Woods, and free throws from Khyle Marshall, Butler gutted it out to a 53-49 win.

A similar scenario played out on Saturday versus Milwaukee. Down 10 again and shooting woefully after missing its first seven free throws – Butler rallied on a final minute three-pointer by Chase Stigall to win by an almost identical score of 54-50.

Had Butler lost both games and started League play at 0-3, there would not have been widespread panic on campus. For openers, the university is void of students during the holidays. Seriously, Butler has come back from deeper holes in the Horizon League race to win a championship.

But, two L’s would have left the Bulldogs at 0-3 in home conference games. And that might have been significant. Especially for an inexperienced team without a set starting lineup and still learning to play together.

It’s all a moot point, of course. Butler is 2-1 in the conference. And David Woods, the Bulldogs’ beat writer for the Indianapolis Star, says they could run their record to 8-1 before their next loss. And, if that happens, guess who’s positioning itself for home court in the Horizon League Tournament, and another bid to The Dance?

Count this Butler team out, with no Matt Howard nor Shelvin Mack?

Do so at your own risk. This team is much like its favorite animal: ready and willing to soak up the heat and intensity the big moments bring. In the Horizon League, it could be a Dawgs’ world this season. Again.