I read a ton about the Baylor Bear's offensive firepower, quickness and balance. I was positive the team that couldn't handle Illinois or aOSU would be no match for these cubbies. I was wrong, deliciously wrong.
What I saw today was a Baylor team that played absolutely atrocious defense and made snap decisions on offense. Make no mistake, Purdue controlled this game and forced Baylor to play as poorly as they did. When it would slow down, Purdue would run half-court sets as JJ would beat double teams...When it was time to gallop, Purdue got out on the break and finished strong. Purdue's length created problems for Baylor as the Boilers rotated well to guard the three, and their quickness cut off passing lanes and stopped the dribble-drive over and over. It was clear Baylor was frustrated...In fact, one of Baylor's 7-footers got so frustrated that he looked like he wanted to fight one of our interior threats; Scott Martin. That's right, Scott Martin out-toughed Baylor's bigs to the point of rage. Neato.
I'll be honest, I don't think we saw the best possible game out of many on the court today, especially offensively. In spite of Smooge's being named Player of the Game for Purdue, he looked as sharp as a butter knife at times. And the Ostrich simply wasn't shooting as well as we know he's capable. My point is, despite scoring 90, I think this team can and will play better. Honestly, they're going to need to do so to continue making noise.
The smiling faces of this Boiler team became a trademark during the 11-game streak earlier this season. Those smiles seemed to be replaced with grimaces during the stretch run of the Big Ten season. Well, the grins were back today. Purdue played like they were enjoying themselves. As the old adage goes, winning cures all ills...I think another victory or two might make Kramer and Grant forget about those painful injuries they've been enduring this season.
I told you a while ago, I thought X was one of the most over rated teams in all of the land. What do you know? My alma mater now has a chance to defend my big mouth. Sic 'em fellas!
7 comments:
Most interesting to me is that Purdue scored the most points of any team on the first day of the tournament. Who would've guessed that?
Baylor did not look like a well-coached team. How is it that Scott Drew is a hot name in the coaching market?
Well, he got 21 wins out of a program that almost was dissolved four or five years ago. He's doing well...
Dowd, J - good write-ups. I, of course, was in a meeting. Got back in time to catch the score of the interweb with about 7 minutes left in the game. Let out a whoop - that got all the people next to me interested in what I was looking at.
My boss is a Duke graduate - and yes, I'm looking ahead. To see that many guys get into double figures speaks highly of what this team can do. Hitting freethrows makes a big difference as well.
I think the toury will put a spring in anyones step - and Kramer and Grant were there last year for it. Put the pain away, because the season will be done sooner than you want.
Everyone keeps talking about Duke (even though we know we shouldn't be looking ahead) but after yesterday, I think West Virginia will take them down. WVU is dangerous...
Did you see this?
http://baylor.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=788021
You just have to laugh.
Something else about Sic 'Em Sports...they post all those articles leading up to the game and then after the loss all they put up is a one sentence AP recap.
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