Bulldog mentality

By Michael Marot - Associated Press Sports Writer     Dec 15, 2006

BUTLER'S MIKE GREEn, LEFT, is defended by Cleveland State's Raheem Moss during the second half of their game. Green and his teammates don't look like many of the other Top 25 teams in the country, but that hasn't kept the Bulldogs from their No. 18 ranking in the current AP poll.

? The players come from towns as small as 200, cities as big as Philadelphia. Most were told they weren’t tall enough, fast enough or athletic enough to play big-time college basketball.

No, 18th-ranked Butler doesn’t look like many other Top 25 teams and doesn’t imitate them, either. Instead, a combination of old-school philosophy, small-school charm and unlikely stars have put the Bulldogs on top of the basketball world.

“If you said we were runts in size, you might be able to get away with that one,” junior guard Mike Green said. “But as far as heart, there is no way you could say that. We work with our minds, we’re pretty smart and we have huge hearts.”

How else could one explain Butler’s improbable run of taking down four big-name programs in 11 days at the NIT Season Tip-Off?

Or how it managed to fly back to Indianapolis and beat Kent State less than 24 hours after a victory celebration in New York, a city most of the Bulldogs never even visited until late November?

It’s a unique environment where selflessness takes precedence over stardom.

Each player has a different explanation for his attraction to a school with 4,200 students, but the plot line rarely changes. Overlooked by other programs, they all got their chance at Butler.

It’s added up to a 10-1 record this season, including wins over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga. That same philosophy will be on display again Saturday at the Wooden Tradition against Purdue.

“When I played here, I think I said it was like Beethoven playing a symphony with a hangnail,” said Joel Cornette, the director of basketball operations. “We get a lot of guys who didn’t get a lot of attention coming out of high school, but if they decided to transfer now a lot of those big schools would be inquiring about them.”

The school has never sent a player to the NBA and is more famous for producing the real-life version of the “Hoosiers” stars – sharpshooter Bobby Plump (Jimmy Chitwood in the movie) and coach Marvin Wood (Norman Dale).

“We look more at the way you play the game and the way you respond to teammates,” coach Todd Lickliter said. “I’m a firm believer in recruiting players with vision, and I think vision is something that’s overlooked. It’s not just court vision, it’s vision to see what’s beyond them.”

Lickliter’s approach has produced an unusual-looking roster.

A.J. Graves seems more manager than leading scorer (17.3). He’s listed generously at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds and his hometown of Switz City, Ind., 30 miles west of Bloomington, has a population of 200 to 300.

Graves is a proficient 3-point shooter and leads the nation at 98.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Since he avoided the AAU circuit, only five schools – Bradley, Butler, Indiana State, Southern Illinois and Xavier – were seriously interested.

“Look at me, I’m not a very big guy and you wouldn’t even know I play basketball by looking at me,” he said. “I felt this was the right fit coming from a small school and small community.”

Green, at 6-foot and 180 pounds, is the Bulldogs’ top rebounder (4.8) and got lost amid the talent in Philadelphia.

“We’re size-challenged,” Green said. “What people have to realize, though, is that we’re all playing together on offense and defense. We play with our hearts and we play with our minds, and a lot of teams can’t do that.”

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