Robbie Hummel tried to slow down Wake with solid D, great rebounding and a dizzying array of bricks.The Boilers took down Wake Forest tonight in WestLaf by 11, 69-58, though the score got wider than that before a late Demon Deacons run made it a bit closer. Nevertheless, Purdue exorcised some demons tonight.
Tonight's game was a terrific example of what I was talking about earlier today. Good teams win games like this. Lesser teams (and past Purdue teams) let a horrid shooting start like that demoralize them and get in their heads. Sure, there's still a lot that can improve, but aren't most teams saying that on December 1?
Purdue has had trouble in high profile games early in the year of late. Well, they've had trouble in lots of early-season games, period. High-profile or otherwise. A loss to Wofford not too long ago. 0-2 to begin conference play last year. That terrible showing against Duke. But this season -- as we hoped it would be -- is different.
Solid, methodical dismantlings of lesser opponents is a good first step. And then quality showings and the ability to overcome obstacles against good-to-very-good teams (Tenn, Wake) is a very promising second step. 6-0 feels good, and it should. It's a nice position to be in, worrying about getting more offense. But how nice is it also that the boys can start 0-11 from behind the arc and finish 1-15 from out there (yeah, that's less than 7%), and yet still never fall behind by more than six?
Rob Hummel, while shooting under 30% from the field (including 0-6 beyond the arc), still managed to have another 11/11 double-double, and JJ led the way with 21 points and over 50% shooting, as well as 7-10 from the line. On that subject, the Boilermakers cashed in at a 77% clip from the line, versus just 52% for Wake Forest. We say this all the time -- games can and will be won and lost at the line. Pressure defense and guys who get under the other teams' skin leads to foul trouble and bonus time.
You know what else pressure defense leads to? Turnovers. 26 Purdue points were scored off of 25 Wake turnovers. (Mmmmm, turnovers.) Wake Forest players were yelling at each other at a few points in the game. Fun to see... when you're on this side.
Weird number of the night: DJ Byrd had four fouls in just six minutes of play. Better nights are ahead for DJ.
Speaking of froshs, Kelsey Barlow continues to improve, playing 14 minutes and, though he didn't score from the field, he was perfect (6-6) from the line and tweaks the Deacs a few times, drawing fouls and committing a few, before Coach Matty pulled him late to ensure things stayed under control. I like it.
I love this team and they never seem to be overly bothered if things aren't going their way. This is not the first time they've had a mediocre first half (going back to last season, when they always seemed to start slow). Maybe it's just time to admit this team is a second-half team. Tonight they clamped down in the second half and simply wore Wake out. Once they took the lead back and weren't allowing Wake to score, you knew it was over. And it turned out to be one of those games where a few minutes later, you look at the score and are almost surprised it's gotten so comfortable.
On T-Mill's Cover It Live chatfest tonight, a few guys were commenting how the offense would have to improve in order to beat West Virginia. While I can see the concern, let's remember that's a month away and there are games to play between now and then.
Beyond that, this is a nice problem to have, isn't it? Wishing for more offense when you have Smooge pouring in 22 and JJ netting 21, plus Hummel (on an off night shooting) putting up a double-double? Yes, Keaton's 1-point performance and o-fer from the floor is, um, a concern. But we continue to have faith that the Keaton of two years ago is still on his way back. We shall see, I guess.
Quite honestly, the next few should be "gimmes" for a top 5 team. The toughest expected game would be at Alabama next Saturday night, but that should be a win as well if Purdue is who they're supposed to be. 12-0 and heading to the New Year's Day showdown with West Virginia -- at home -- would be fun, right?
But let's take 'em one at a time. Next up is Buffalo this Saturday and Boilerdowd will be observing our boys in action live.
Choo-choo.
11 comments:
I loved seeing Kelsey hit all of his free throws.
I'm starting to think Barlow should be starting. He was a big key to us starting that run in the second half. He doesn't fill up the stat sheet but man, he just makes things happen by penetrating the lane and making the defense move.
Need to shoot better from 3 if Purdue is to win the Big Ten or make a deep run in the dance.
As far as the Big 11-ACC challenge goes, a big thanks to Sparty for showing up in the second half of the game to at least make it look close.
IU is bad. There really is nothing more to say. I thought they would be better this year, and I was wrong.
"before Coach Matty pulled him late to ensure things stayed under control"
Is this a euphemism for "because he made a behind the back pass and it pissed Painter off?" The play where Barlow picked up a charge was pretty damn athletic nonetheless. There are more good things to come from him.
Good win overall... I was scared for 3/4 of the game. We couldn't hit a jump shot and still pulled it out.
Whoever said that KG was vintage 2007 and losing LewJack wasn't a big deal... I hope you were taking notes last night. At this point I'm not sure we'll ever see the same kind of offensive play out of KG that we did back then. LewJack would be able to get in the lane against teams like this.
Nate,
KG had an off night, to be sure. Maybe he's not going to reach the potential I thought he was. Let's all hope, though, that he does. However, I do think that the minutes Barlow is getting as a result of LewJack's absence are leading to his rapid maturation. He's getting much better every game and seems to have a particular knack for pulling down big boards. Glad he didn't get the redshirt.
That said, I'm tired of seeing our boys in boots. I heard a rumor that Sandi Marcius might be back for the Alabama game. Anybody else hear that?
Marcius has been spotted shooting around and doing light running from what I hear. I also saw him two weeks ago hop on his bike behind the physics building, boot and all. Can't be that bad if he can ride a bike, right?
John,
I most definitely hope KG can get going, but at this point I think it's becoming clear that he won't be an offensive threat in every game as he was in 07. I'm just saying what a lot of us are probably thinking to ourselves.
His line from the TN game:
21 min, 0-2 FG (both 3s), 4-5 FT (good), 3 RB, 2 AST, 1 TO, 1 BLK, 1 STL
From the WF game:
22 min, 0-5 FG, 1-2 FT, 3 RB, 2 AST, 2 STL
Now, these are the two best teams we've faced (and the only two I've been able to see), but he's just not hitting shots (yet). And not even taking many, which is troubling, unless he has huge assist numbers. Hopefully he can get going, because we already have one player that teams don't guard heavily.
I'm really not trying to beat a dead or dying horse, but this has been on my mind a lot as I watch these games...
I can't stand Lav when he calls Purdue games because I feel like he goes overboard trying to be objective by being a little negative against Purdue at times. But, I think he hit it dead on when he said that Purdue will miss LewJack the most come March.
Here's to hoping Barlow continues to get better and KG gets more aggressive offensively.
Go Boilers!
Nate, I was thinking the exact same thing after Barlow made that behind the back pass because it looked like he got his ass chewed out by Painter when he got back to the bench. Either way, solid win. What section does everyone sit in?
I think Robbie said something int he press conference tot he effect of, "Coach said if Kelsey made another pass like that he would kill him." Cracked the room up.
Nate,
Agreed. And to everyone, I don't want to make it seem like losing Lew was no big deal. I was just trying to find silver linings. So far, Barlow 's emergence is proving to be one such lining.
Matt, Boiler Brass. Yes, I'm a band nerd.
T-Mill, I saw that exchange on court. Looked like Barlow walked off with a smile though. I read in the exponent that Coach was asking him to push it and, well, he did. Apparently Coach dropped a line to him something to the effect of "Save it for the Harlem Globetrotters" once the official chewing-out had concluded. He's learning.
Post a Comment