Out of the 6 teams that remain, one of them is Indiana's own (and once again Cinderella story) Butler University. Butler started off the tournament ranked about right in the middle of the field of 68, so making it this far is quite the accomplishment in itself. Growing up a huge fan of basketball and having one of my siblings attend Butler, I have found myself to be an avid follower of the Bulldogs. Their team chemistry and drive to play to the best of their ability astounds me every game I watch.
Basketball teams are a great example of a small group setting. This should seem obvious to most people seeing as the word team is already there, but some people may not catch it. The definition of a team is a coordinated group of individuals organized to work together to achieve a specific common goal. Most basketball teams, especially high school and up, consist of 12-15 players; and out of those 12-15, only 5 are on the court at one time during a game. Communication between these players on and off the court is crucial to a teams success during the season. Teams that develop a strong bond and relationship amongst each other off the court tend, to find that they play a lot better together on the court. Everything you do together away from the game of basketball translates back to the court, and vice versa. Ernest Bormann's Symbolic Convergence Theory definitely comes into play in this setting when teams are developing their relationships. It helps that teammates already hold one thing in common, basketball, but it is important to further explore their personalities and find more common ground. When watching Butler play you can definitely tell these guys have great respect for one another and approach it as if they even are a family.
Communication and leadership also are key aspects that a team needs to perfect. When you watch a basketball team you can see how important communication is among the players in order to excel. Not only verbal communication, but non-verbal communication is important as well. Teams learn how to communicate with each other non-verbally so that they can relay information to each other without the other team knowing what is going on. These non-verbal cues come in the form of hand gestures, facial expressions, and just knowing what to expect next in a previously designed play. Leadership is important to have amongst a team for when times get rough. A team is not always going to play as well as they like or maybe its just things aren't going their way. It is important at these times to have key players step up and take control of the team, and let them know not to quit. When I watch Butler play you can definitely see players like Howard and Mack have developed this leadership position. Howard being a senior has been there and done that. He has been in the league for four years now and knows what to expect. It is his job to guide the freshmen and sophomores in the right direction to become great players like himself.
Well that's about all I got. There are only 5 more games left to be played in the tournament and you can bet I will be in front of the TV for everyone of them, especially to cheer on the Butler Bulldogs.
Tyler Oehlman
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