Review: Butler Bulldogs - Old Dog House Learns New Tricks

Game 1 - Maine Black Bears at Butler Bulldogs, Saturday, November 15, 2014
Game 2 - Loyola (MD) Greyhounds at Butler Bulldogs, Saturday November 22, 2014
Game 3 - Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks at Butler Bulldogs, Monday, December 22, 2014
The Venue - Hinkle Fieldhouse, 510 W 49th St, Indianapolis, IN 46208
The Seat - Game 1 - Section 305, Row 17, Seat 35 ($21.25 total cost from Ticketmaster)
Game 2&3 - Section 211, Row 3, Seat 11 ($19.50 each as part of 4-game mini-plan)

The first college basketball game in Hinkle Fieldhouse history was played on March 7, 1928. When it was constructed, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States. In 1987, Hinkle Fieldhouse was designated as a National Historic Landmark. Through 86 years and thousands of Bulldogs games, the Dawg House has gone through a few facelifts, including a major renovation during the past off-season.  To paraphrase Robert Palmer, Hinkle Fieldhouse used to look good, but now it is simply irresistible.

The November 15 game marked the first regular season game at Hinkle since the off-season renovation. The facelift included new seating for the lower levels, upgraded facilities throughout the building, and video boards, injecting 21st century technology into the 20th century gem of a gym.  Five new permanent concession stands were added, three on the upper level and two on the entrance level. Despite all the new changes, the playing surface uses the same dimensions, just as the players from Hickory High discovered back in the day.

Changes to the building itself aren't the only changes the Butler program have gone through in the recent years.  Prior to the 1996-97 season, Butler had only participated in one NCAA tournament (1962). Since then, the Bulldogs have participated in 11 out of 18 NCAA tournaments, advancing to four Sweet Sixteens and two championship games (two of the more improbable runs to the NCAA Finals in recent history).  Basketball programs such as Xavier, Iowa, and the Boston Celtics have poached successful Butler coaches. Five years ago, Butler's major Horizon League rivals were the Detroit Titans and the Wright State Raiders. After a successful year in the highly competitive Atlantic 10 Conference, Butler was invited to join the Big East Conference in its realignment. No offense to Detroit or Wright State, but the fact that the Bulldogs now tussle with teams like Georgetown, Villanova, and Marquette reflects how far the program has risen on its meteoric rise.

After a ho-hum inaugural year in the Big East, this season's iteration of the Bulldogs are looking for changes on the court, not just in the arena surrounding the court. A major change came unintentionally and unfortunately, as Coach Brandon Miller went on a leave of absence in October to deal with an undisclosed illness. Chris Holtmann was tapped as interim coach, and he inherited an extremely talented group. In addition to veteran guards Alex Barlow and Kellen Dunham, the Bulldogs bring back frontcourt men Kameron Woods and Andrew Chrabascz. Newcomers include Indiana transfer Austin Etherington and freshman forward Kelan Martin, but the biggest addition to this year's squad is probably the return of Roosevelt Jones. Jones missed the entire 2013-14 season after injuring his wrist during a team summer trip to Australia. Jones is a dynamic playmaker on both ends of the court (just ask Gonzaga), and the 'Dogs missed having his abilities on his court during their first year in the Big East, going 4-14 in the league.

The crowds for these two early season games weren't sellouts, but were a very decent showing for Saturday afternoon games against inferior competition during football season.  Butler crowds are very knowledgeable: they know basketball strategy, they know their history, and they know the players on the court.  The student section, known as "The Dawg Pound", is set up behind each of the baskets in two tiers.  They were engaged from start to finish in the rout of Maine, but numbers were understandably down during the Loyola game which occurred during Thanksgiving break.  The Hinkle refurbishment moved the pep band from the lower level to the upper level, but it appears they had a special section built just for them, and they are GREAT.  In the two games that I saw, I noted over twenty-five different rock and pop hits arranged for the band, from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to Kesha and from The Monkees to Ylvis's "What Does the Fox Say?"  During one media timeout, the band transitioned from The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" to Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" to "Friend Like Me" from the film Aladdin.  I don't know how they choose their songs, I don't know how they find the time to rehearse all the songs, but I do know that playing "Name That Tune" is an excellent source of entertainment in addition to the product on the floor.

The new videoboards, especially the centerpiece scoreboard, add greatly to the enjoyment of a Butler game.  Now, for the first time, the home crowd can see replays of a Kameron Woods dunk, a Roosevelt Jones no-look pass, and a Kellen Dunham three-pointer.  While Hinkle has taken on a new look this year, it hasn't lost one bit of its old-school charm.  One minor quibble about the arena is while the lower sections of the arena got new seating, but the upper reaches have the same bleachers as before, just with a new numbering system. However, the old seat numbers were not removed, so the upper bleachers actually have two seat numbers, which I found confusing for a second. Even with Chik-Fil-A sandwiches and Marco's Pizza available, the concessions options are somewhat limited, but you should have no reason to go broke or hungry at a Bulldogs game.

Bottom line: Hinkle Fieldhouse was already one of the greatest college basketball experiences in the country, and if you haven't seen the renovated version yet, you need to put it on your basketball bucket list immediately!

STARS OF THE GAME

11/15/14  vs. Maine

★★★  Roosevelt Jones, Butler. Mr. Jones returned after missing last season with a wrist injury and contributed nine assists in his first game back, along with two steals and 14 points on 7-9 shooting. He is the straw that stirs the drink for the Bulldogs.
★★ Kellen Dunham, Butler. Dunham made five of seven three pointers to lead all scorers with 18 points.
★ Austin Etherington, Butler. The senior transfer from Indiana scored 11 points in 13 minutes off the bench.

11/22/14 vs. Loyola (MD) 

★★★  Kelan Martin, Butler. Coming off the bench, Martin tallied 23 points and 7 boards in 18 minutes, including 3 of 5 from long range.
★★ Roosevelt Jones, Butler. Rosie again stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals.
★ Eric Laster, Loyola. When one player scores over 60% of a team's points (24 of Loyola's 39), they get a star.

12/22/14 vs. Tennessee-Martin

★★★  Andrew Chrabascz, Butler. The big man led the Bulldogs in scoring, hitting 7 of 8 shots for 17 points, including hitting 3 of 4 shots from three-land.
★★ Kellen Dunham, Butler. Dunham again keyed the Bulldogs offense, chipping in 15 points.
★ Akeem Joseph, Tennessee-Martin. Joseph led the Skyhawks with 12 points and 7 rebounds.