I think most of the Purdue fans I hang out with thought the game v. PSU would be a "W"...but not many thought the Boilers would win in such convincing fashion. Up by 30 at one point? Dominant on defense and offense? What's this? Is this young Purdue team becoming a legit competitor in the nation's oldest league?
While I don't know if Purdue can win the BT title this season, I do know that they're going to continue to make noise the rest of this season...and they'd better if they want to go dancin' in March. In my opinion, Purdue simply MUST beat Wisconsin, IU or MSU to erase the ill-effects of the Wofford loss in the minds of the tournament selection committee.
One of Penn State's players compared Purdue to Wisconsin following the thrashing his club took at home. His sentiment was that this Purdue team is filled with players who understand their role and seem to fit well in the system that's in place. We will soon see how well these Boilers compare with Wisconsin as the Badgers travel into the more-and-more hostile Mackey Arena tomorrow.
It will be a colossal task to beat the Badgers...their only two losses come at the hands of Duke and Marquette- two well-coached, veteran & talent laden teams. They've been ranked for the majority of the season and have done it the Wisconsin way- by beating teams up physically on defense and being fundamentally sound. Purdue will struggle with Wisconsin's depth, but many defensive match-ups may be natural for the Boilers. I'm excited to watch Landry v. Hummel since Robbie will guard him out to the three point line (Landry has range that his brother didn't have).
Note, I'm not referring to this team as the Baby Boilers any longer. I said I'd stop using that moniker if the Boilers won four-in-a-row or beat a ranked opponent. They not only one their fourth in a row this week, but they beat their second road opponent in-a-row for the first time in 7 years...it's also been 7 seasons since Purdue has beaten a team ranked as highly as Wisconsin is right now at home...Maybe this is the week for a lot of these types of streaks to end.
Give 'em hell Paint Crew...and get off of your asses, old John Purdue-ers!
4 comments:
Does this mean Toddler Boilers has officially arrived?
I don't know if we can call them toddlers until they fall down in an unexpected way...but from a developmental standpoint, I guess they'd have to be toddlers, wouldn't they?
You said it's been 7 years since we beat a team ranked as highly as Wisconsin... What about Duke in the 2003 great Alaskan shootout?
7 years since they beat a team this highly ranked in Mackey...my bad.
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