UConn Wins Ugly

SI's Luke Winn explains how the Huskies held Butler to an ugly 18.8 field percentage, throwing out of whack the Bulldogs' precision offense:

Once UConn coaches realized — and realized quickly — that Lamb could handle Mack one-on-one, they made a key alteration to the defensive plan, calling off the “red” double-team on ball-screens. The ripple effect, according to Blaney, “is that then, they’re not able to get the ball ahead of you to the open man. That’s what you give up when you trap.”

Instead of throwing ahead to Matt Howard or Andrew Smith for good looks in the paint, the Bulldogs were forced to rotate the ball elsewhere, and unusual shooting candidates such as Chase Stigall became their primary long-range options. Stigall had scored five points in the whole tournament, but attempted 11 shots (and scored nine points) against UConn. “We thought, ‘If he’s taking those shots, we’re good to go,’” Napier said of Stigall. “Because if Mack takes those shots, we’re through.”

While Lamb was locking up Mack, Napier was serving as the pressure man on Butler’s point guards in the second half, picking them up early and throwing their halfcourt sets out of whack. Calhoun told Napier at halftime, “This teams runs on you,” and assistant Andre LaFleur said the freshman guard got them off to a “gritty start” after the break. Blaney credited Napier’s extended pressure with keeping the Bulldogs pushed off of the three-point line, where they couldn’t get clear looks or high-quality post feeds to Howard.

UConn's defense uglied up the game, but Butler's shooting damn near made it impossible to watch. The game was unsightly, busted-up and bloodied, the worst-looking championship in my lifetime. UConn goes home victorious, a pretty girl with a broken nose.