Jimmy Butler Named To NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Those of you with a mind for recent Marquette history remember that Jimmy Butler's senior season ended with a trip to the Sweet 16.  That NCAA tournament started with a rather dominant upset of Xavier, where Butler's lockdown defense left Xavier star Tu Holloway crying on the bench as the game ended.

That defensive mindset continues to this day, and it's part of the reason why Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau installed Butler as the starting shooting guard for the Bulls this season.  The faith from his head coach paid off today, as Jimmy Butler was named to the 2013-14 All-Defensive Second Team, making Butler one of the four best defensive guards in the NBA.  Butler was joined on the second team by LeBron James, Patrick Beverley, Kawhi Leonard, and Roy Hibbert.  That group of players came in second to the first team group of Joakim Noah, Paul George, Serge Ibaka, Andre Iguodala, and Chris Paul.

In his first full season as a starter for the Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler emerged as one of the best defensive players in the league, but that's not a surprise to Marquette fans. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Butler finished fourth in the NBA in steals per game, and eighth in defensive win shares.

The Bulls have already picked up the entry level contract option on Butler for the 2014-15 season, but you have to figure it's a matter of time before they have to figure out a way to lock him up long term.  For more on Butler and the Bulls, be sure to check in with our SB Nation Bulls site, Blog A Bull.

In other Marquette news in the All-Defensive team voting, Wesley Matthews finished well off the pace with four points, but did earn a first team vote, while Dwyane Wade had two points in the balloting along with one first team vote.