Versus Wake, Purdue shot horribly...so most Purdue fans were pretty sure we'd see an offensive explosion tonight versus Buffalo. But I don't think anyone thought they'd see this:
-Chris Kramer would have more points than everybody on the team, except Smooge, in just 17 minutes of action.
-The Ostrich continued his shooting woes...if you're worried about him, you're foolish, in my opinion.
-Purdue won the rebounding battle, yet again and Kelsey Barlow led the team with eight boards. The ever-improving Frosh had a great line- 8pts, 9reb, 6ast...in 16 minutes. But man, that dude looks pissed almost all of the time.
-The Boilers scored over 100 points and did so (to a large extent) on the back of solid three point shooting...by walk-ons and Freshman.
-John Hart got to play double-digit minutes...and directed traffic as much of the team he played with was comprised of guys who played their high school ball 25 minutes (or much less) from Mackey Arena. Oh yeah, Hart also made it rain by going 3-for-4 and finished with eight points.
-DJ Byrd didn't have the best statistical night...but he had a 3-or-4 minute span in which he kinda took the game over making his presence felt in every phase.
-Patrick Bade still is having trouble finishing around the bucket...but he drained a 20-footer with ease in the middle of the deluge of treys late in the second half.
The Boilers were up by 40 for much of the second half...and even with walk-ons and newbies playing almost entire the second half versus many of Buffalo's normal rotation, Purdue still won 101 to 65.
Here's a bit of perspective- According to Pomeroy, Bufallo was the 174th-best team in America (IU is 167th), and Purdue was 9th. Buffalo looked pretty bad for 3/4 of the game...but mostly because Purdue simply smothered them with Matty's balls-to-the-wall defensive system.
The Paint Crew was pretty darned awesome today- a different distraction chant every time Buffalo came to the strip in the second half and the group, in spite of a few slackers not coming to the game, the Boiler students were great as usual. Of course, the rest of Mackey was like a library for much of the game.
Here are a few other observations from Mackey:
-Marcius dressed, but had a boot on his foot. He looks large and should be a big help. It'd be great to see him by the first of '10.
-LewJack looks especially tiny on crutches.
-I saw incoming PF/C Travis Carroll at Mackey- he's a big body, but doesn't particularly look like a basketball player. He reminded me of Matt Howard after watching his videos, and after seeing him in person, I am even more reminded of Butler's big man because of their similar body types.
And speaking of recruits, is anyone else just stoked about incoming Freshman and other recruits that are diamonds in the rough? Barlow wasn't the highest touted player in '09, but looks like he has the potential to be excellent as his career progresses. Hummel, while a 4-star wasn't as highly respected and didn't have nearly as many offers as his old little league pal, but that's turned out alright.
I am already excited about Hale, Carroll...and even Molock in a few seasons. Painter seems to be a pretty good assessor of talent, which is A-OK, if you're into that sort of thing.
Purdue hosts Robbie's old hometown institution of higher learning before heading to Alabama in a week.
6 comments:
Hard to get excited about this since it was Buffalo.
I’ve noticed that same thing about Barlow. He looks like he rather be anywhere else than playing ball at Mackey. I’ve been impressed with him so far but he is still a freshman and for every good pass he makes he has a bad one, for every good shot he takes he has a bad one. That sort of thing happens with freshman so no big deal. But with his mistakes he seems like he doesn’t take criticism very well at all from what I have seen at the games.
I saw Barlow play in HS a few times last year. I projected his biggest problem transitioning from HS to college would be his apathy and staying focused when things aren't going his way. He always maintained that look on his faced that he wasn't really 'into' it.
I am beginning to think that we shouldn't read too much into his facial expressions as he's shown nothing but dedication.
Regardless, I don't think a player who isn't willing to give 110% (excuse the cliche) would want to play for Painter. Conversely, I don't think Painter would play a kid who isn't willing to give 100%
Matt, you are hard to please. If they squeaked by Buffalo, I imagine you wouldn't be happy about it, either....
Matt, I think I understand what you're saying, but at the same time, if Purdue is making a run this year, they have to mop the floor with teams like Buffalo. We finally saw the type of performance we wanted to see from end to end and from top to bottom on the roster.
And every game like this is an opportunity for the other 10 guys to get valuable minutes. There are quite a few good teams out there that don't have the depth Purdue has, and each game like this provides a lot of valuable minutes for those guys. Yeah, it's not the same as playing Michigan State or Kansas, but it's a hell of a lot better than what other teams' benches are getting.
I suppose we did move up a spot in the Coaches poll...but how can we slide a spot in any poll when your avg margin of victory in the last 3 games is 24+ points. I guess it only matters if we're still top 5 come March.
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