Very excited to watch my Winthrop Eagles go dancing in the tournament! Most pundits had us as a 14 seed or even a 15 seed. I didn't see anybody pegging us as a 13, so I was pleasantly surprised on selection Sunday.
It was always going to be an uphill battle regardless of who we faced but can't really complain about being matched up with Butler. Our biggest weakness is a lack of size and rebounding but Butler isn't exactly a team of redwoods either. Unfortunately our other weaknesses seem exploitable by the Bulldogs. Winthrop has a tendency to get sloppy and turn the ball over whereas Butler is one of the best teams in the nation at turnover ratio. Winthrop also likes to speed up the game and play at a frenetic pace; Butler will look to slow the game down and play in the halfcourt. Always seems like it's easier to slow down the pace of play in the tournament than it is to speed it up.
Since Butler doesn't turn it over very often it's going to come down to halfcourt defense and defensive rebounding for the Eagles to get out on the break and look for those transition opportunities. Again, rebounding isn't Winthrop's strong suit by any stretch, but they're a capable enough defensive team to get stops. Just can't give up too many second chance points or it will be tough sledding.
One thing in Winthrop's favor is that they'll have the most explosive scorer on the court in Keon Johnson, who will probably draw more than a few Isaiah Thomas comparisons from any Celtics fans who happen to be watching. The 5' 7" guard is totally fearless and can drain shots from anywhere in the gym. He's the kind of player who can single handedly carry a team to an NCAA win or two if he catches fire. If you want to see Johnson at his best,
check out his 38 point game during an OT win at Illinois earlier this season.
Thankfully Winthrop has enough capable role players to help out Johnson. Xavier Cooks can fill a stat sheet in a lot of different ways. The Broman brothers are both solid outside shooters who ensure defenders can't cheat too much to help on Johnson. Roderick Perkins showed what he's capable of in the Big South championship game, where he carried the team in the first half while Johnson was struggling to find his shot.
While this Winthrop team has no experience playing in the NCAA tournament, they do have a lot of experience playing in do-or-die tournament games as they've made it to the Big South final four years in a row. Yeah, I'm probably reaching with that one. But it can't hurt.
Regardless of what happens on Thursday, this season can't be considered anything but a success for the Winthrop Eagles. Hopefully they can flip the script on Butler and pull the upset but even if they get blown out by 30, I'll still be proud of what this team has accomplished.