November 26, 2025 • 7 mins
Butler head coach Thad Matta joins us and discusses a successful trip at the Greenbrier Tip-Off, Finley Bizjack against opposing defenses, his time at Butler, his Thanksgiving turkey prep & more!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
For the Butler Bulldogs to beat South Carolina on Friday
in Virginia on Sunday to talk more about it. He
is the head coach of the Butler Bulldogs. He is
fad Moda coach. The Greenbrier served you well, did it not?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That was a good trip. I thought that, you know,
we played some good basketball down there. Guys really competed
and and you know, I like the week before coming
out of the SUW game, sold things that we we
did well, sold a lot of things we had to
get better at, and and uh, but I like, I
like the direction that we're hitting in.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I was watching a little bit behind the scenes video
of you talking to your team after the UVA win,
and you had shared with them a text message you
had sent the night before the game. For our audience
that might have missed it. Could you share what you
wanted your team to know the night before that UVA game?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
No, it was it was just more of the It
was pretty simple of we had to be the team
that was that played harder, that played more together, and
we had to be the tougher team in the game.
And I thought we did those things. Dad.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
When you look at again, we've talked about him. I
feel like on a weekly basis here Finley biz Jack,
when teams you know are going to scout him, they're
going to try to take things away from him. How
have you seen him grow to respond when there's no
hiding as one of your top guys?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Right? You know what great question I think with Findley
because of his you know, he's got he's got a
very high basketball IQ and we've got to move him
around and get creative and in ways to create space
for him. And you know, Broy, the thing that that
family does that goes as unnoticed as anything is he's
(01:41):
an unbelievable screener and when he set screens, it buys
him time to to be more open, and you know,
it's staying in the obvious. He's he's really really fast
when he has the ball and can get to the
get to the rim, or get to a spot to
get a three off and and uh so I think that,
you know, the biggest thing with him is is just
creative and using him different ways throughout the course of
(02:04):
the game to free him up that model.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
The Butler head coach on the Paylist Slickers Hotline. I
got one more on Finley Bizjack. In this day and
age of college basketball coach, obviously a huge part of
it is players staying with your program and not portaling
it up on an annual basis, but also there is
an element of you wanting those players to also stay
and with Finley and a team that had a lot
of turnover, particularly from the front line guys, I get
(02:29):
some of those eligibility, but you know what, I guess,
was it about wanting him to return as well? Because
you know, again from a new faces standpoint, there's a
lot of them for you.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Well, you know, it's it's funny because you know, now
with the high turnover, you don't always get to build
a great bond with the player. And I think that's
something Finley and I have developed over his time here
is you know, just sort of a trust. I think
he trusts me. I trust him, and you know, the
(03:02):
way you finily finished the season last year is exactly
how he's playing right now. And you know, he understands
our system and he understands the coaching that we're doing
and what we're trying to do, and that does make
a difference, you know, depending And we're telling the other
day and he said, you know the game is the
time that I've been here, it's really slowed down. And
that's what happens to players, is they mature, they start
(03:25):
seeing things at a slower pace as they're developing. And
that's whatever really and seeing in family when he's out
there on the court, he's doing a great job.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
To pivot a bit to the rest of your roster
and it can we have that made Butler men's basketball
coach joining us here on the Palos Liquers hotline that
I know as a coach, you're always gonna stress rebounding.
You're able to out rebound Virginia forty through to thirty nine.
And you have a couple of guys stand out on
that front. Drayton Jones season best non rebounds and then
(03:56):
you have Jamie Kaiser, the Maryland transfer, matching his career
how ten rebounds. So from a great standpoint, what did
you like about that side of it? Because you know
how it goes in his game Sometimes I'm gonna make
shots and so you got to get more shots in.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
You get that by getting the rebound, no extra possessions.
It's huge. And I'll say this, and I thought Jamie
Kaiser was our MVP down there this weekend. His play
was as good. He had a play against Virginia where
he dove on the floor in the backcourt and literally
flipped the ball up and he slid out of the
(04:28):
screen and family went down shot at three and here
comes Jamie flying in. He tips it in it. It's
one of the top three players I've ever as a
coach seen one of my players do. And you know what,
he got three shots off in the game and had
ten rebounds, and you know he at one point during
the game he said, hey, let me guard number two,
(04:49):
the little guard that was hurting us, and did a
great job on him. And you know a lot of
things that that Jamie did down there went unnoticed to
probably the common fan, but myself and our staff and
our team, uh, we know what he did down there,
and it was great to see. And and Drayton, you know,
getting nine rebounds. You know, we've said this all along,
(05:10):
we've got to have that from that spot between he
and and Johan h they they've got to do a
great job rebound the ball for us.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Get that model with us here. Butler back inside a
hankle coming up Friday afternoon. They've got right state after
their impressive weekend in the Greenbrier. Coach, I don't think
we've ever asked you this. You you know, you played
at Butler, but you transferred there after a couple of
years of Southern Illinois. What what led to you transferring
to UH to Butler?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You know, I was only the Southern only for one year,
and I wasn't good enough to play there and I
knew that, and uh, you know, I wasn't delusional or
anything like that. And then Butler offered me the you know,
a huge nil package called it called room board and
(05:58):
three squares. But h no, I think you know, I
just I knew back then SOUTHERNIS was in the Missouri
Valley and it was a was a you know, a
bigger program than Bubbler was at the time. And I've
said this before. It was life changing for me to
get here in smaller school and you know, the family
oriented nature of the Butler Is. It was the best
(06:19):
move I ever made my life.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Was that Did you overlap with Barry Callier?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Then? You know, Barry was my coach my senior year.
I played a rich Ardan one year and played two
years for coach Sex and and then Barry came in
my senior year.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Got it, got it, and the rest is history. Of course,
the thad Moda and his coaching career have Butler now
back there and again the Bulldogs and I start to
this season A happy Thanksgiving. What's a must on the
on the plate of fad Mada coming up tomorrow afternoon?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know I'm going to green Egg at turkey and uh,
I don't know you guys use the green Egg at all?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, it's too intimidating for me, but I you have
my full trust in it. What time the turkey going on?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Uh? You know, we practiced them all so it uh
you know a as most of them are just to
enjoy Thanksgiving day off, we'll be we'll be in full
grind so whenever we get home from practice and and
it'll probably be tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes thinks we go to eleven.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Am green Egg and the turkey up there at the
moment sound So I would have a full trust in
coach Mana to get that.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Done, no doubt. No, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Coach, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Congrats on the nice work
at the Greenbrier, and we'll be watching Friday afternoon
Speaker 2 (07:34):
All right, guys, Thanks a lot.
For the Butler Bulldogs to beat South Carolina on Friday
in Virginia on Sunday to talk more about it. He
is the head coach of the Butler Bulldogs. He is
fad Moda coach. The Greenbrier served you well, did it not?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
That was a good trip. I thought that, you know,
we played some good basketball down there. Guys really competed
and and you know, I like the week before coming
out of the SUW game, sold things that we we
did well, sold a lot of things we had to
get better at, and and uh, but I like, I
like the direction that we're hitting in.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I was watching a little bit behind the scenes video
of you talking to your team after the UVA win,
and you had shared with them a text message you
had sent the night before the game. For our audience
that might have missed it. Could you share what you
wanted your team to know the night before that UVA game?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
No, it was it was just more of the It
was pretty simple of we had to be the team
that was that played harder, that played more together, and
we had to be the tougher team in the game.
And I thought we did those things. Dad.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
When you look at again, we've talked about him. I
feel like on a weekly basis here Finley biz Jack,
when teams you know are going to scout him, they're
going to try to take things away from him. How
have you seen him grow to respond when there's no
hiding as one of your top guys?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Right? You know what great question I think with Findley
because of his you know, he's got he's got a
very high basketball IQ and we've got to move him
around and get creative and in ways to create space
for him. And you know, Broy, the thing that that
family does that goes as unnoticed as anything is he's
(01:41):
an unbelievable screener and when he set screens, it buys
him time to to be more open, and you know,
it's staying in the obvious. He's he's really really fast
when he has the ball and can get to the
get to the rim, or get to a spot to
get a three off and and uh so I think that,
you know, the biggest thing with him is is just
creative and using him different ways throughout the course of
(02:04):
the game to free him up that model.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
The Butler head coach on the Paylist Slickers Hotline. I
got one more on Finley Bizjack. In this day and
age of college basketball coach, obviously a huge part of
it is players staying with your program and not portaling
it up on an annual basis, but also there is
an element of you wanting those players to also stay
and with Finley and a team that had a lot
of turnover, particularly from the front line guys, I get
(02:29):
some of those eligibility, but you know what, I guess,
was it about wanting him to return as well? Because
you know, again from a new faces standpoint, there's a
lot of them for you.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Well, you know, it's it's funny because you know, now
with the high turnover, you don't always get to build
a great bond with the player. And I think that's
something Finley and I have developed over his time here
is you know, just sort of a trust. I think
he trusts me. I trust him, and you know, the
(03:02):
way you finily finished the season last year is exactly
how he's playing right now. And you know, he understands
our system and he understands the coaching that we're doing
and what we're trying to do, and that does make
a difference, you know, depending And we're telling the other
day and he said, you know the game is the
time that I've been here, it's really slowed down. And
that's what happens to players, is they mature, they start
(03:25):
seeing things at a slower pace as they're developing. And
that's whatever really and seeing in family when he's out
there on the court, he's doing a great job.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
To pivot a bit to the rest of your roster
and it can we have that made Butler men's basketball
coach joining us here on the Palos Liquers hotline that
I know as a coach, you're always gonna stress rebounding.
You're able to out rebound Virginia forty through to thirty nine.
And you have a couple of guys stand out on
that front. Drayton Jones season best non rebounds and then
(03:56):
you have Jamie Kaiser, the Maryland transfer, matching his career
how ten rebounds. So from a great standpoint, what did
you like about that side of it? Because you know
how it goes in his game Sometimes I'm gonna make
shots and so you got to get more shots in.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
You get that by getting the rebound, no extra possessions.
It's huge. And I'll say this, and I thought Jamie
Kaiser was our MVP down there this weekend. His play
was as good. He had a play against Virginia where
he dove on the floor in the backcourt and literally
flipped the ball up and he slid out of the
(04:28):
screen and family went down shot at three and here
comes Jamie flying in. He tips it in it. It's
one of the top three players I've ever as a
coach seen one of my players do. And you know what,
he got three shots off in the game and had
ten rebounds, and you know he at one point during
the game he said, hey, let me guard number two,
(04:49):
the little guard that was hurting us, and did a
great job on him. And you know a lot of
things that that Jamie did down there went unnoticed to
probably the common fan, but myself and our staff and
our team, uh, we know what he did down there,
and it was great to see. And and Drayton, you know,
getting nine rebounds. You know, we've said this all along,
(05:10):
we've got to have that from that spot between he
and and Johan h they they've got to do a
great job rebound the ball for us.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Get that model with us here. Butler back inside a
hankle coming up Friday afternoon. They've got right state after
their impressive weekend in the Greenbrier. Coach, I don't think
we've ever asked you this. You you know, you played
at Butler, but you transferred there after a couple of
years of Southern Illinois. What what led to you transferring
to UH to Butler?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You know, I was only the Southern only for one year,
and I wasn't good enough to play there and I
knew that, and uh, you know, I wasn't delusional or
anything like that. And then Butler offered me the you know,
a huge nil package called it called room board and
(05:58):
three squares. But h no, I think you know, I
just I knew back then SOUTHERNIS was in the Missouri
Valley and it was a was a you know, a
bigger program than Bubbler was at the time. And I've
said this before. It was life changing for me to
get here in smaller school and you know, the family
oriented nature of the Butler Is. It was the best
(06:19):
move I ever made my life.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Was that Did you overlap with Barry Callier?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Then? You know, Barry was my coach my senior year.
I played a rich Ardan one year and played two
years for coach Sex and and then Barry came in
my senior year.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Got it, got it, and the rest is history. Of course,
the thad Moda and his coaching career have Butler now
back there and again the Bulldogs and I start to
this season A happy Thanksgiving. What's a must on the
on the plate of fad Mada coming up tomorrow afternoon?
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You know I'm going to green Egg at turkey and uh,
I don't know you guys use the green Egg at all?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, it's too intimidating for me, but I you have
my full trust in it. What time the turkey going on?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Uh? You know, we practiced them all so it uh
you know a as most of them are just to
enjoy Thanksgiving day off, we'll be we'll be in full
grind so whenever we get home from practice and and
it'll probably be tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes thinks we go to eleven.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Am green Egg and the turkey up there at the
moment sound So I would have a full trust in
coach Mana to get that.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Done, no doubt. No, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Coach, Happy Thanksgiving to you, Congrats on the nice work
at the Greenbrier, and we'll be watching Friday afternoon
Speaker 2 (07:34):
All right, guys, Thanks a lot.
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