ShareThisBurdened by cumbersome expectations and disappointing early-season results, Butler coach Brad Stevens endured a miserable Christmas.
The root of Stevens' discontent were two losses in a 15-day span to Georgetown and Alabama-Birmingham.
Sandwiched in between were victories over eventual NCAA tournament qualifiers Ohio State and Xavier, but those notable successes did not help Stevens enjoy his holiday.
The Bulldogs had lost their bite, he feared.
Bah, hum-bug.
"I wasn't a real happy camper," Stevens said.
In the days leading up to Butler's Horizon League opener against Wisconsin-Green Bay, however, Stevens looked in the mirror and "learned a lot about myself -- that I needed to get my priorities straight."
Instead of feeling sorry for himself and his team, the Butler coach took a deep breath and focused on the positive aspects to the Bulldogs' start.
Stevens convinced himself that the losses to Georgetown and UAB -- in addition to earlier defeats against Clemson and Minnesota -- had not hopelessly wrecked the season.
"We had to realize that we got beat by some really good teams (and) then get back to being who we were," he said.
Three months and 22 straight wins later, Butler is back.
Owners of the nation's longest winning streak, the Bulldogs have reached the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2003.
They take a 30-4 record into Thursday night's game against Syracuse
Not bad for a team that plays in a so-called mid-major conference but consistently outperforms its high-profile neighbors from the Big Ten.
"To us, that's just kind of a label everybody else talks about," said Butler star sophomore Gordon Hayward. "We don't put that label on ourselves. We feel like we can go out and compete with any team in the country. ...
"If people want to label us as mid-major, I guess that's fine because when it's all said and done, it's what happens on the court that counts. Labels don't matter."
Sophomore guard Shelvin Mack is more succinct: "We let our play do the talking."
Since Stevens took over for three seasons ago, the Bulldogs have spoken volumes. They are 86-14, including 49-5 in the Horizon League.
This season, 10 of Butler's 15 players are from Indiana. They come from such hamlets as Connersville, Ellettsville and Yorktown.
While it's true that starters Willie Veasley, Ronald Nored and Mack were imported from Illinois, Alabama and Kentucky, respectively, none was highly recruited.
"It's fun watching how Butler does it," said New Mexico coach Steve Alford, a native of New Castle, Ind.
UTEP coach Tony Barbee, who grew up in Indianapolis, referred to Butler's 6-foot-8 forward Matt Howard and said, "They play a lot bigger than what they are. You look at Howard and he may as well be 7-2 and 300 pounds because that's how he plays. They all do."
Stevens, a Zionsville, Ind., native who left a marketing job to become a Butler assistant 10 years ago, deflects credit for the success the Bulldogs have enjoyed on his watch.
He says the program's rise to prominence began under his former bosses, Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter.
Along with the current players, Stevens believes he's just the caretaker of a program built on the long-established foundation of academics, sacrifice and unity.
Bulldog fans call it "the Butler Way."
"It's not about me," Stevens said. "I'm just a small part of this. It's about a lot of people -- great people (with) a belief that there is a bigger picture than one person and we all need to stick together and do the very best we can."
When it's suggested that Butler's mid-major program resembles the one that has been constructed at Gonzaga, Stevens shakes his head.
"We're not trying to be Gonzaga," he said. "... We are Butler and we have some great, great things to offer. What we try to do is get people who fit into our niche. It goes back to recruiting the right people and all working together for one goal. That's how we've been able to do it."
E-mail Steve Luhm at luhm(at)sltrib.com
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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