Level Headed Spartans Declare, "WE ARE HERE TO WIN!"

 Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium  It isn’t a secret that the MSU Spartans are 7-0 in Indianapolis for the NCAA tournament. It also isn’t a

 

Indianapolis, IN

Lucas Oil Stadium

 

It isn’t a secret that the MSU Spartans are 7-0 in Indianapolis for the NCAA tournament. It also isn’t a secret that this is Tom Izzo’s sixth Final Four in twelve years. It hasn’t been hidden that this is the first for the Butler Bulldogs.

 

It is numbers like those above that will get tossed about here at the Final Four, but there are other considerations that are much more germane. Such as experience.

 

The Spartans are used to the attention. They know what the home team minefield can be like and Butler is simply glad to be here. Tom Izzo reflected on what the Bulldogs are going through and what they are about, “I can understand what [Butler head coach] Brad [Stevens] is going through. There are some distractions you have to worry about. I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid of any Cinderella story when your ranked 10th in the country at the beginning of the year and you maintain that… If any coach or any team has proven they can handle [distractions], I think it’s been Butler. I think Brad has handled everything perfectly and his team has. And yet, it gets pretty exciting on game night when there are thousands more fans there than theirs… As much as you’re playing for them, you can also let them down… The game is still played on the court and the players play the game.”

 

Delvon Roe talked about the experience his team has, “When we got there last year, we were happy and surprised to be there. Now we know what to expect. We’ve come here on a business trip. Last year, we were just excited, and we were just taking everything in. This year, were here to win another weekend.”

 

Durrell Summers was wide eyed last year in the D and talked about what playing in Indianapolis against Butler will be like, “This is how it was for us last year. I am expecting them to have a huge fan turnout. Their fans are going to do everything they can to say things to us and to cheer their guys on. You love when your fans come support you, especially in an event like the Final Four. I don’t think the fans really affect us. We play in a lot of hostile environments. I am sure the fans will help Butler, but our guys will be focused, make sure we communicate and locked in to the game. They may go on a run, but I think all in all, our fans will support us no matter where we go.”

 

Sophomore guard Korie Lucious who had great first, second and third round games and struggled against Tennessee summed up the expected big Butler crowd will have, “I definitely think (Butler) will probably have a majority of the crowd, but at the same time, we have loyal Spartan fans, so I think they’ll come out here and support us the best that they can. I think that where we are, we’re used to the big crowds against us.”

 

The Spartans aren’t glad to be here. They are on a mission. All year they struggled with becoming a cohesive unit. All year this team battled distractions that had nothing to do with a dislike for each other, but they were still distraction none-the-less. Draymond Green talked about those distractions and made what in my estimation was the most powerful quote of his young career. “At the start of our season, Raymar (Morgan) and Kalin (Lucas) were our captains. I’ve always been a leader on the floor…toward the middle of the season coach came to me and said he wanted me to be a captain. When (leadership) isn’t there, a team is not really a team.”

 

I gave the emphasis to that quote. Draymond didn’t, but the importance of it can’t be ignored. As a sophomore there was some issues with his emerging vocal leadership and the fact that he can now state it so plainly tells us something. It tells us that this team has grown up. This team recognizes what they are.

 

This team isn’t just happy for the hoopla that is a Final Four. This team is not glad to be here. In fact this team that once was considered by many spoiled fans a disappointment is motivated. 

 

 Last year after the Final Four Draymond Green, then a freshman, reminded his teammates of North Carolina using a loss the year before as motivation for another title. There were times this year when being here wasn’t in the picture for a group of young men who looked like they lacked any motivation. When Kalin Lucas went down on the court in Spokane, something clicked.  It had started after the Minnesota loss in the Big Ten tournament and that was the ignition they needed. So if Butler is glad to be here, what are the Spartans? Draymond Green summed it up best.

 

 “I’m not really excited anymore, I was excited last year. This year, we’re here to win.”