I've been waiting for a few days to see which of the 1-2 loss Big Ten teams was real and which were nothing more than products of getting fat on sub-par competition. Might we have our answer...in God's country?
Good teams play good defense (check)...and are opportunistic on offense (nope)...and make their free throws (do you mean about 50% of the time?)...and (here's a big one), they protect home court (stink).
Last season Keaton Grant played great defense, shot well from behind the arc, drew fouls and hit his free throws. After coming off of a knee surgery in the off-season, Keaton Grant has not scored easily (down 4 pts/gm) has played inconsistent defense (down .9 steals/gm), shot poorly (down about 10%/14% from three), been out of control while driving and has not even shot free throws as well (down 4%). While one man does not a team make, one man does make a huge difference on how a team is defended...and as Grant drives and misses lay-ups and can't seem to find his range from deep, the rest of the team isn't helping out enough.
Hummel is officially slumping...for three straight games he simply hasn't played well offensively. He continues to rebound very well and make smart passes, but following being awarded BT POW, he's averaged 7.3 points and shot 18% from the three point line...Hardly the numbers of a guy picked to win the Big Ten's Player of the Year Award. He's battled back spasms this season, and it seems those spasms might be hurting his shooting more than he's letting on.
While Hummel and Grant struggle, Moore has been able to score, but hasn't shot the ball well from behind the arc, at least for a few games. All that's tough to take, but probably the most noteworthy is Chris Kramer's absence. He's been injured for the last four games and his minutes show it.
While much of the team has struggled to get into rhythm, JJ and LewJack both continue to mature nicely...and Riddell and Calasan are both playing well, so it's not all bad.
So, the Big Ten seems to be much better than last season, top to bottom (Purdue included), but last season, Purdue lost 4 conference games during the entire season...The margin for error has become very tight...especially when you look at last season's BT Champ's record of 19-2. But all is not lost.
Our Boilers now head into what amounts to a bye week. It'll be seven days until Purdue heads to Happy Valley to play yet another Big Ten foe with only two pre-conference losses. The last time our Boilers had a 7-day break, they came back and beat Davidson handily...hopefully, this last seven-day respit of the season will cure what ails these Boilers...In my opinion, that's quite a bit at this time.
The old adage that it's not how you start, but how you finish might be especially poignant come March of next year...but right now, it seems that this team dominated by second-year players is going through a Sophomore slump, collectively.
After watching the ISU game in person, I was pretty down-in-the-dumps over what I saw...the next week, I saw a completely different team play Davidson, and had a bit better outlook. Once-again, after the last three games, I'm less-than-optimistic about the '08/'09 season.
Hopefully my over-analysis and over-reactive gnashing of teeth can be laughed at in the coming months as the true pretenders in the Big Ten are exposed...outside of West Lafayette..
10 comments:
Personally, I think LewJack is a problem. He consistently drives too deep and has done so all season, then he's stuck and either turns it over or takes a crappy shot the gets blocked or bangs off the goal. I am not impressed so far, unless he is playing against inferior competition that lets him get to the goal easily.
Moore/Hummell/Grant- where is the fire, do they think that this season will be as easy as last and that things will just fall for them because they did last year?
Kramer needs to get healed. Sit him out as long as that takes so he doesn't keep aggravating his foot. Obviously, Chally is still injured, also.
I really just think that most on this team feel that the success from last year entitles them to the same or more success this year. I wish they would finally get out there and earn it, instead of expecting it!!!
I think LewJack makes mistakes, but there is no one else on the team that can change pace and drive the way he does. I actually liked the way Grant played at the point for about two-three minutes in the second half...but that was erased by a missed lay-up. I'm a bit more critical of a Junior than a Frosh.
I agree with your assessment of the lack of drive or emotion among this team's leaders...Maybe watching film will open their eyes to this. I hope it does.
Can someone please take Jim Burr out???? Not to make any excuses, but he has to be the worst ref out there. He refused to call anything against the Illini while calling anything he could imagine on Purdue. Purdue lost this game, don't get me wrong- free throws/effort/decisions. However, Burr sucks!!!
Good post Dowd.
-I agree Keaton Grant is hurting us. His play was a big difference last year. He needs to hit shots.
-I am constantly screaming at the TV to run the offense through Hummel and Moore. Get them open looks. A shot by Jackson, JJ (unless its within 10 feet), Kramer, Riddell, Grant, or Calasan is a wasted possession. Get the ball to our best scorers!
-I agree Jackson is playing well for a freshman, but he needs to stop driving too deep into no man's land and turning it over. It reminds me of Tarrance Crump. Jackson needs to play more in control.
-Hummel and Kramer are hurting. We need them to be 100%. Kramer for his D and Hummel for his O.
-I like Weber, but I hate Illinois and their fans.
-I feared a sophomore slump. It makes a big difference when you have a bunch of preseason hype dumped on you and you have a target on your back.
-I am trying to stick to my expectations of a top 3 finish in the Big Ten and a sweet 16 appearance for this year's Boilers. I still think next year is the year we break through to national relevance.
My wife ended up going upstairs because I was punching the sofa just a little too hard during the game. I'd like to thank the refs and Purdue's defense out of timeouts for that.
What I saw...
-Riddell consistently got beat off the dribble.
-Purdue's defense out of timeouts stunk.
-Proud of the way we rebounded last night.
-The officiating was poor.
-The officiating in the Big Ten will be poor all season.
-Wholeheartedly agree that more effort needs to be made to get Hummel the ball.
-I disagree that Moore played without heart.
-I was thinking in the shower this morning that while the strength of the conference is going to make it hard for Purdue to win a championship....it couldn't come at a better time for those who root against IU. The over/under on wins for them might be around 3.5. There isn't a single B10 game that you can confidently put a W up for IU.
And question....that 2pt/3pt play by Hummel....If the referee raises his hand after the shot (which he did)...doesn't that indicate it's a 3? Can he raise his hand and then say, "No, I was just kidding?" Isn't that equivalent to the call on the field needing indisputable evidence to overturn?
Very good assessment Boilerdowd, I felt like I got the double kick in the nuts last night as I described with the Kokomo loss.
I appreciate that LewJack is young and all, but it hurts just as much when he wastes a possession late in the game or in OT as it would if we had an upperclassman bringing up the ball. (We're down 5, of course they're giving you the lane, there's no point in driving, young man.)
I thought the game sucked balls. But oh well, we weren't going 16-0 anyway, and we can still have a solid conference season and NCAA run, and there is next year as well. hopefully.
I too chased my family out of the room by yelling at the TV.
Free Throws!?! Purdue can't win if they leave 10+ points on the floor.
But the most disappointing aspect of the game for me was the lack of guts in overtime. They score the first four points and then proceed to go to sleep. In years past, I was proud when the Boilers played hard and showed grit and determination. I didn't see either of those in overtime.
Add me to the list of those who lost their cool watching this game and caused his girlfriend to leave the living room.
Nice post after a tough lose. Whether it's Grant or another reliable scorer, Purdue needs him to give the team some balance and take some pressure off Moore and Hummel. I blabbered about this a few weeks back on our blog. Grant's the obvious choice because through at least half of last season, he was Purdue's clutch shooter. Perhaps it's his knee but it seems to me it's more a matter of him lacking confidence, pressing when he gets the rock and then jacking it; he's struggling to find shots. It's a vicious cycle. I'd like to see Painter runs some serious sets for him and see what happens.
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