I have a man crush on Gordon Hayward

There was really only one reason that I ever felt cool on a basketball court, back when I actually used to set foot on such a surface. That reason was that I had on the authentic Michigan hoops shorts – made famous by the Fab 5. And “authentic” was important when you were in junior high.

The Fab 5 still hold a place in my heart, no matter how much loot they were making. C-Webb, Jalen, Juwan, Jimmy and Ray ... they were like my best friends. Gimme a break, I was nine years old. When I heard the word “booster,” I thought it meant the seat. Not some conniving alumni who pays college ballers hundreds of thousands of dollars. I digress.

These days, I would consider myself to be a casual fan of Michigan b-ball (though I do love John Beilein). And by that I mean that I may casually flick the channel to a game to check the score if I know they’re on TV. There are two reasons this happened. One, Michigan has sucked since the Fab 5. Two, I graduated from Butler.

Like most Butler grads, we tend to follow our alma mater’s squad rather close. Although some of my buddies, one in particular, would argue that I actually pull for the refs. I don’t even know what that means, but whatever.

Let me just say, how is it really conceivable that the Dogs were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League. Really? Fifth? In the Horizon League?! Say all you want about preseason rankings and predictions, but that’s about as much nonsense as I’ve seen in a while. Maybe it’s because I saw Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack play in high school before their arrival. Maybe it’s because I have half a brain, I don’t know. Either way, Hayward has been my boy. He’s a lot of people’s boy now, but I’m calling shenanigans on that one.

I watched the game last Saturday at Ohio State (which was in HD as some of you know…a little better than online feed from the Sony camcorder). After letting it soak in for a few days, and after seeing most all of Butler’s nine games and 8-1 record, there are a few things that have become clear to me. The first of which being that the loss in Columbus is not the worst thing that could have happened.

I was able to get a pretty decent read on Brad Stevens when I wrote a feature piece on him last winter, and one of the things I was most intrigued about coming into this season was watching how he would handle this group of studs coming in. Between Hayward, Shelvin Mack, Garrett Butcher and Ron Nored, the simple fact is that Butler had never seen this kind of talent roll into campus. Now we’re starting to see how legit Stevens really is, too.

With Hayward and Mack alone, Butler has two players with as many raw gifts as Eminem back when “My Name Is” was released. At 6-foot-8, Hayward can legitimately play four different positions at the mid-major level. He could be described with more adjectives than Dick Vitale could come up with (Lord, please, don't ever let Dickie V. call a Butler game). Mack, on the other hand, has an aggression and powerful first step on the offensive end of the floor that sometimes just makes you giggle when you see it. Butler used to be about lay-ups and efficiency. But Hayward and Mack can play inside the lane and above the rim. Period.

Bringing Stevens back into the picture, what I have been just as pleased to see is how these to guys have been coached on the defensive end of the floor. Mack has quicker hands than Thomas Jackson ever had, and Hayward has a somewhat freakish combination of hops, long arms and quick reactions. Some of that is obviously natural talent, but some of it is Stevens clearly putting as much emphasis on defense as offense.

The game in Columbus showed me a few different things. One, this team is ready to win and it’s ready to win now. Two, they desperately need more discipline. Enter Stevens yet again.

I could sit here and rip quite a few things I don’t like about what has happened and what is going on with line-ups and a dozen other things, but the truth is still that the Dogs are nine games into a season where most people didn’t know what to expect. I do have a few suggestions just for the sake of conversation, though. More minutes for Butcher; less minutes for Jukes and Nored; everyone lay off Howard because without him on the floor you can forget about it; and consider Mack at the point.

That’s going to wrap it up for now. I’m headed to Chicago for a few days, but will be back with another utterly thought-provoking column on Thursday or Friday. Feel free to e-mail me at thefuncarblog@yahoo.com with comments and insults, and I’ll do some type of feedback column in the next couple weeks. Cheers.