Horrible article about us on ESPN

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

Who is the author?

[DUShock]

I don't know how many of you guys have espn insider, but they have an article on there about mid-majors making it to the final four and brand recognition. The article is basically about how VCU and Butler did a much better job with the coverage they received than WSU. They talk about how VCU and Butler positioned themselves for the future by adopting their mottos "the Butler way" and "Havoc". They never once mention Play Angry as our motto and essentially say we will flame out because we haven't set ourselves up the way Butler and VCU has. They even say FGCU did a better job last year than we did. I do agree that FGCU did still some of or thunder last year, but this article just seems completely worthless. It is like they didn't do their homework at all.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncbr...espnapi_public

[jpshocker]

I think the problem with the super car guys is that, while you definitely remember it, it's so ****ing annoying that I would never buy a car there if it was the last dealership on earth. However, I might not be their target audience.

I had refused to eat at Spangles for many years based on this same principle but eventually we all have to cave.

[RoyalShock]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the author of that article doesn't really know as much about recruiting as he's trying to portray. While having a cute slogan might help a recruit remember who you are, and heck, may even get you in the door, I have a hard time believing it factors in to a recruit's decision. "Oh, wow, I really want to do things The Butler Way", "I can't believe I have the chance to play a defense with a cool name like Havoc!"

That said, what makes those slogans different than Play Angry?

What exactly does The Butler Way mean? Well, hmmm, I have no idea. The phrase itself has no meaning without context. And unless you get to see the inner-working of The Butler Way, you're probably not going to understand it anyway. Might as well get practice jerseys with your overall defensive rating on them. It would say more to the outside world.

Havoc? Ok, I guess it's more descriptive than The Butler Way (with fewer words and syllables, to boot). But what is Havoc, really? It's a mix of defensive philosophy and gimmickry. And it sounds confusing to execute. Not only that, it seems to make your halfcourt offense struggle.

Play Angry. It's not a fluffy, feel-good slogan. It's not a gimmick. It's a mindset. It's an identity and an ideal that breeds toughness. It's virtually self-explanatory. It's being used to group a category of statistics (thanks, Mark Adams) that are significant identifiers for a winning team. And it was spontaneous, not some slick marketing tool. It took off because it was organic and genuine.

If I'm a recruit and considering Butler, VCU and WSU, two of those slogans are going to have little-to-no effect on my choice. The third one will either scare me off (a win-win for both sides) or make me #NotSatisfied.

Yeah, I don't think that guy knows much about recruiting.


Disclaimer - I may not have any idea what I'm talking about, either. In fact, there's a very good chance I don't.

[Jhook89]

Who is the author?

Adam Finkelstein

[WSUwatcher]

From the brilliant Insider:

"Instead, it was actually Florida Gulf Coast and Andy Enfield who capitalized on the opportunity to create a brand during last season’s tournament as “Dunk City” not only symbolized a style of play but a brand of basketball that perspective recruits could get excited about. That momentum shot him across the country, which would have been virtually inconceivable before the tournament started."

And that was a good thing for FGCU? The writer seems a little confused about the difference between Dunk City U's team and their coach, whose personal "brand" has removed him from the picture -- exactly what any Shocker fan with half a brain (hello, KC -- how's that semi-ban coming?) would NOT want to have happen.

WSU's coaching staff and team don't seem terribly concerned about branding. They're too busy winning instead.

[pie n eye]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the author of that article doesn't really know as much about recruiting as he's trying to portray. While having a cute slogan might help a recruit remember who you are, and heck, may even get you in the door, I have a hard time believing it factors in to a recruit's decision. "Oh, wow, I really want to do things The Butler Way", "I can't believe I have the chance to play a defense with a cool name like Havoc!"

That said, what makes those slogans different than Play Angry?

What exactly does The Butler Way mean? Well, hmmm, I have no idea. The phrase itself has no meaning without context. And unless you get to see the inner-working of The Butler Way, you're probably not going to understand it anyway. Might as well get practice jerseys with your overall defensive rating on them. It would say more to the outside world.

Havoc? Ok, I guess it's more descriptive than The Butler Way (with fewer words and syllables, to boot). But what is Havoc, really? It's a mix of defensive philosophy and gimmickry. And it sounds confusing to execute. Not only that, it seems to make your halfcourt offense struggle.

Play Angry. It's not a fluffy, feel-good slogan. It's not a gimmick. It's a mindset. It's an identity and an ideal that breeds toughness. It's virtually self-explanatory. It's being used to group a category of statistics (thanks, Mark Adams) that are significant identifiers for a winning team. And it was spontaneous, not some slick marketing tool. It took off because it was organic and genuine.

If I'm a recruit and considering Butler, VCU and WSU, two of those slogans are going to have little-to-no effect on my choice. The third one will either scare me off (a win-win for both sides) or make me #NotSatisfied.

Yeah, I don't think that guy knows much about recruiting.


Disclaimer - I may not have any idea what I'm talking about, either. In fact, there's a very good chance I don't.

That about sums it up for me.

[FlyingWheat]

Maybe this is me revealing my ignorance, but I had honestly never heard the phrase "The Butler Way" before this thread.

[im4wsu]

Maybe this is me revealing my ignorance, but I had honestly never heard the phrase "The Butler Way" before this thread.

Me neither, but I probably would have gone with "the Butler did it!"

[Aargh]

If he's talking about recruiting, he's right WSU will not capitalize on the F4. the 2014 class was already committed, so it's not a factor there. Gotta look at 2015. There are only two scholarships available, so the recruiting class is going to look bad in all the comparisons that add up the total stars in the recruiting class.

See. the Shox will not be able see a recruiting advantage from the F4. There will be at least 4 scholarships for 2016. By then no one will remember this guy's name, let alone the article.

[NattyMat]

I don't have insider, but just basing off of what's been posted in this thread:

1. Recruiting - How, exactly has VCU, relative to their Final Four three years ago, improved their position? If they got better recruits, they aren't getting anywhere close to similar or better results. To hold VCU to the same standard he holds WSU, that first recruiting class should be juniors by now and leading them to deep tourney runs. A 5 seed is nice, but they're a popular choice for a 1st-round upset. Yeah, we been there, done that.

VCU fan here (and occasional Shockernet lurker).

I think it takes a bit for the recruits to come around. Recruits wanna see you aren't a one-hit wonder. VCU landed two top-100s in 2012, one of which happened to be the brother of a VCU Legend, so was probably a lock to come to VCU anyway, then was able to snag Melvin Johnson away from Miami when they had a coaching change. But really the recruiting boost from that run is just starting to really hit. VCU's 2014 class (ranked No.15 nationally by ESPN) has three top-100 players including a top-40 guy in Terry Larrier. Does that mean those guys are going to pan out? Who knows. Kentucky's recent "greatest class in the history of all the cities of all the worlds" class is probably a prime example of how reliable those rankings are. But that said, VCU is now at least an option for a lot of guys who otherwise wouldn't have given the school the time of day.

Side note: Two of the guys they landed immediately after the Final 4 run were Briante Weber and Treveon Graham (all-be-it guys they recruited prior to going on the run). Anyway, they were both just 2-stars who weren't really being recruited by anyone while a true post Final 4 recruit, Teddy Okereafor, was receiving interest from some bigger schools. Okereafor eventually transfered to Rider because he wasn't getting any minutes while Weber is a legit National Defensive Player of the Year contender (has led the nation in steals % every year as a Ram and broke the schools all-time steals record as a junior) and Graham a serious baller (leads VCU in scoring) who played on Team USA's World University Games Team with Doug McDermott.

Anyway, that is all. I've got you guys going far so don't let me down.

[wufan]

You think Darius Carter, JUCO AA, was swayed be the FF? He was our only late signing.

[ripemupshocks]

I follow college basketball quite closely and I can honestly say that I've never heard of "The Butler Way". Either I've just somehow missed it or it isn't really that well known.

I would bet Havoc is currently slightly ahead of Play Angry nationally with The Butler Way a distant 3rd.

Maybe this is me revealing my ignorance, but I had honestly never heard the phrase "The Butler Way" before this thread.

Me neither, but I probably would have gone with "the Butler did it!"

The phrase "The Butler Way" is actually a very old phrase around Butler University; and as with everything else in that worthless article, the writer was wrong about the source. "The Butler Way" was NOT coined by Brad Stevens, but rather by the late great Butler Coach Paul Tony Hinkle. As in Hinkle Fieldhouse. "The Butler Way" certainly isn't as well known as "Play Angry".

I have to question how a person who seems to lack the ability to do the most basic research, is even allowed to write for ESPN? How about hiring a fact checker.

[kcshocker11]

Read the article it was crap. Lets say $555 million and Shocker gear up 2000% in sales. Someones getting the message

[Blackmag]

This article was pretty lame. Really the only thing that keeps a team in the news and noticed is winning and being on tv and playing in the NCAA tournament. Also, when people hear the Play Angry slogan they do relate that to Wichita State and the basketball team. I like it because it came to be because of a couple of our greats...Carr and McDaniel.