In their third game in a five-day stretch, our Boilers lost a game that they simply should not have lost. Coming into Wednesday night's contest v. Wofford, Painter's Boilers were 21-0 in Mackey against non-conference foes. Painter's noteworthy streak stopped at blackjack as Purdue simply couldn't put their opponent away.
I've spoken about how pleased I was with Crump during a few games this season. But other times (last game, and tonight's game), he's looked out of control and as if he simply doesn't know what he's going to do with the ball as he moves toward the basket. His lack of control sealed Purdue's loss tonight. Purdue had the ball with a little over a minute to play and a tie game. Crump dribbled inside the three, was trapped and threw the ball directly to an opponent...BEHIND HIM. This turn over led to the points that would keep Purdue at an arm's length until the clock hit 0:00.
Painter-coached Purdue teams seem to struggle mightily with rotating to defend the three...Tonight was no different and the open looks led to Wofford shooting over 50% behind the arc. Conversely, Grant, who had been hot couldn't shoot effective from outside 19.9.
This game felt a lot like the Lipscomb contest...but the final score makes this one a lot tougher to deal with. I really believe this loss could hurt Purdue badly if they're on the bubble come March...Hopefully, they'll grow up quickly during the BT schedule, but I'm not as optimistic as I was a month ago. Having the youngest starting five in the nation is an awfully tough thing to overcome...even when the four Freshman are a talented and humble group.
The effort was high on Wednesday, but both physical AND mental fatigue did our boilers in. One of our regular visitors said we could stop calling this group, "The Baby Boilers" and start calling them "The Toddler Boilers". Not so fast...I'm sticking with Baby Boilers.
The Wofford Logo is the only one in all of college sports that was designed on Microsoft Word
7 comments:
Ouch.
I came on here just to check the final score and read any comments you guys had on the game. Didn't expect to find we had lost the game. I'm here in UK(y) country and it's getting hard to swallow these losses to schools I've never heard of (GW, Wofford). Ok, ok, I've heard of them, but they've never drawn attention until they beat my team(s).
Damn.
This is definitely the loss that will stick out to the tournament committee.
I think this loss overshadows the L'Ville win...so we're back to square one.
Travel safely.
In pregame radio comments, Painter spoke about wanting Crump to be aggressive with the dribble.
Seems like they've got to somehow beat it into Crump's head when not to be aggressive. If I remember correctly, they started that last possession with about 46 sec. left. Call timeout for pete's sake. Work the ball inside and get the foul and maybe the bucket.
Anyone else tired of Crump's tear-drop/runner/floater? How on earth can you rely on that?
I was afraid of this when Wofford played Alabama close in Tuscaloosa Monday night. I guess the Baby Boilers haven't quite been weaned.
Now we have to get past Iowa State and Alabama/Missouri State. How would they then decide the winner of this pseudo-tournament?
My friend said it the best... What the hell is a Wofford?
Two things...
1) With that last crucial possession, why would Painter call for Crump to take someone off the dribble to creat his own shot? He has become an absolute train wreck with the ball in his hands. Lewis Jackson can't get here soon enough.
2) With Purdue up 3 with 90 seconds left to go, I was screaming at the TV to guard the 3 point line. Sure enough, Wofford drains a 3 pointer to tie it up. Infuriating!
Matt, right on.
I was surprised at many of Painter's decisions during the second half...unpleasantly surprised.
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