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You know that's what Gregg Marshall has to be thinking right now. Even in defeat (barely), Butler has just handed him the best recruiting / coaching / motivational tool he'll ever have, short of winning his own national championship -- something like this:
"Come play for us, work hard on your fundamentals, defend relentlessly, do what we tell you, and you can compete with any team anywhere. And any coach or TV talking head who tells you that you have to go to a power conference school to have a shot at a national championship doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. If Butler can do it, we can do it here."
And indeed WSU can. Obviously that same tool is also available to the coaches at every other school outside the power conferences that really takes basketball seriously, too. But WSU's advantage is that few of those others have the resources, large and faithful fan base, commitment to the sport, and coaching staff track record the Shocks have. The future is bright.
Oh, and one other thing for all of our armchair coaching geniuses who love to gripe about Marshall's determination to hang onto his time outs -- what do you suppose Butler would have given to have one last "TO, baby," available with 3.6 seconds left? Duke's tough defense on the last inbounds play, which forced Butler to burn that final time out prematurely, may have been the Devils' salvation, so to speak.
"Come play for us, work hard on your fundamentals, defend relentlessly, do what we tell you, and you can compete with any team anywhere. And any coach or TV talking head who tells you that you have to go to a power conference school to have a shot at a national championship doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. If Butler can do it, we can do it here."
And indeed WSU can. Obviously that same tool is also available to the coaches at every other school outside the power conferences that really takes basketball seriously, too. But WSU's advantage is that few of those others have the resources, large and faithful fan base, commitment to the sport, and coaching staff track record the Shocks have. The future is bright.
Oh, and one other thing for all of our armchair coaching geniuses who love to gripe about Marshall's determination to hang onto his time outs -- what do you suppose Butler would have given to have one last "TO, baby," available with 3.6 seconds left? Duke's tough defense on the last inbounds play, which forced Butler to burn that final time out prematurely, may have been the Devils' salvation, so to speak.
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