(That's right, kids. Uncle J is back in the house and in the recapping mood.)The #4 team in the nation played like it tonight, controlling a game against a talented, ranked-at-one-time, 11-win Minnesota squad, and won going away, 79-60.
Maybe one of the reasons Purdue isn’t viewed as “elite” is because of the workmanlike way they grind down their opponents. It’s rarely flashy, it’s never glitzy, and it’s almost monotonously efficient. The Boilers have won nearly every game the same way – pressure on the ball, solid defense, average shooting, making free throws. Seriously, have you noticed how almost every quality opponent has eventually looked fed up or frustrated with the Purdue defense? Sometimes to the point of giving up (I’m looking at you, Wake and WVU)?
You watch these games and they don’t feel like runaways...and yet they also don’t feel like "trouble" for Purdue at almost any time. Whenever Minny would get within 6 or 8 tonight, the Boilermakers would seemingly adjust and pull away, making the lead comfortable again. Case in point: Late in the first half, Purdue had the ball and a seven point lead, with the chance to make it ten. Rob Hummel had an open look for three and clanked it. Minnesota brought it down and hit a trey to make it only a four point game. That’s the kind of swing that can make a team feel great heading into the half. However, Purdue brought it back down and Chris Kramer took one of his rare shots and drained a rainbow three at the horn to put the lead back to seven at the half. Like I said, workmanlike – not flashy.
The second half tonight was much like the second half against WVU (and others, honestly) – the Boilers jumping out to an aggressive start, using smart-shooting and opportunistic defense (not to mention clutch free throw shooting, as usual) to expand their lead, while the opponent seemed to go cold. And perhaps that’s another reason Purdue is not viewed as "elite" – because it always looks like their opponents are "cold" (WVU, Wake, Minn) or "blow a chance" (Tenn, Alabama) to take down Purdue. Maybe, just MAYBE...and I’m just spitballing here...but maybe the Boilers have something to do with those poor second half performances by their opponents. I know, crazy talk, right?
In the end, the same thing happened – at least for me – that has happened a number of times already this season. The game seems like, well, a GAME, for the most part, but the workmanlike efficiency goes on in an almost subtle manner and suddenly you look up from feeding your kid his bottle (or studying or eating pizza or calling your bookie) and the Boilers are up 15 or 20 points with a few minutes left. Always a nice feeling.
As for the stat line, Hummel again puts up a double-double, as does JJ, who plays another game without getting in any foul trouble at all. As our guest-posters mentioned, what a difference when JaJuan is in the game and able to be a factor. He causes guys to collapse down on him, thus opening up perimeter shots, he draws frequent fouls, and his thunderdunks can rattle the building. I was excited to see Chris Kramer wind up with 15 points, although more than half came at the free throw line, where CK went 8 of 10.
The bench was quiet, points-wise, but provided minutes to give the starters critical rest at times. Ryne Smith went 2 of 3 from long range to lead the bench scorers with six. And in another of those weird statistical anomalies, Kelsey Barlow played nine minutes and had four fouls. As we’ve said before, this kind of thing can be a guy just adjusting to the speed of things. And yes, Big Ten play is yet another adjustment for young guys.
Misc observations:
- One of Boilerdowd’s favorites, Ted Valentine, was doing the game, though he was not particularly gesticulatory tonight. Maybe Teddy had a flu bug or something. On the subject of officiating, though, I got the feeling they were really letting the guys play tonight. Lots of bumps, incidental contact and reach-ins were let go. I’m a fan of this, because the game moves along and a flow can develop. Too many foul calls leads to what people use to criticize the Big Ten.
- Coach Matthew again insists on having the starters in late. This bothers us at BS at times because there just seems to be no reason to have the big guns in there when the game is comfortably in hand with two minutes left.
- Related to that last point, this nearly came to a head as the Ostrich and Damian Johnson got tied up late and – it appeared – were ready to start slapping one another. Johnsons got a T, perhaps for something he said, Hummel relaxed, and classy Tubby Smith removed Johnson from the game. Still, should Rob have been in the game at that point? I say unequivocally no.
- With about five minutes left, Minny makes a pick and roll pass for a dunk and Hummel looked pissed at JJ for not switching. No comments from Schulman and Lavin, of course, but I found it interesting. The Ostrich wasn’t "mad," per se, he was just irritated that they didn’t play perfect defense. A lot of teams – especially with a comfortable lead – would simply shrug it off and move on. Coach Matty’s boys believe in defense evidently with the same dog-with-a-bone fervor of their coach. Love it.
Looking Ahead
The Boilers next face Wisconsin this Saturday in Madison. There’s been a lot of talk about how few have the success against Bo Ryan that Matt Painter does. There have also been a few publications (and our own Boilerdowd) who seem to feel the first loss is most likely to come at the hands of the Badgers.
While I see the point Boilerdowd makes that Purdue simply can’t continue to sweep Wisky forever, I also am not a huge believer in the nonsense of saying a team is "due." Nobody is "due" to do anything. Good teams make their own luck, and all that. I think if the Boilermakers play their game this Saturday, they should take down the Badgers by 5-10 points. However, I do think it’s possible that the undefeated record will begin to be on their minds soon. I believe in Coach Matty’s ability to keep these guys focused, but after a while those thoughts (of staying undefeated) have to begin to creep in.
Still, when every pundit out there thinks you’re going to be the first undefeated to fall (they’ve been saying this for a while now, no?) maybe it serves as extra motivation to stick it to them.
Choo-choo.
20 comments:
I got to watch the game and I must say I am impressed with the defense they are playing right now. As with WVU, they systematically break down the other team and cause them to make mistakes. I can't think of too many teams that play defense that well. Come March, regardless of rankings, no one will want to play them because of the defense.
Minny was averaging 80+ points a game over their last seven games. Good defense.
The Hummel Johnson fight remind me a bit of the Kramer white fight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tei8SV9_Nd0
I agree not sure why Matt likes to keep the starters in the game. He seemed to do the same thing last year too.
I think as soon as the starts are playing perfect basketball, he will pull them early from games. Until then, as long as Painter sees room for improvement, he will keep them in and hound them. That relentless dedication to improvement is how he turned around the program so quickly, and one of the reasons we love him so much.
Hopefully that doesn't come around and bite us, but I think our players have been smart in the closing minutes of games for the most part.
The defense didn't just knock Minnesota's half-court offense off its tracks, they pulled away the rails and ties as well. If Purdue had been more careful against the press, this would have been a big blowout. Barlow in particular looked very uncomfortable with it. You'd think he was a freshman or something.
I thought the officiating was really inconsistent: periods where nothing seemed to get called (although that benefits an active press team like the Gophers), then periods where every little thing would get called. Then I saw who it was. (I thought the announcers mentioned Hightower, not Valentine, but to me they are one and the same. Death by officiating.)
I agree that the suffocating defense hurts the impression of Purdue (much as a football team with solid defense and average offense isn't rated as well as a team with average defense and solid offense), and that it has a lot to do with opponents looking out of sync and out of control.
I also agree that for the most part, these games really have settled into the "oh good they've got it locked up" phase with 10+ minutes to play. (Contrast that with - avert your eyes - the women's team, which granted has suffered some injuries this year, but isn't quite as talented as usual anyway. Even though they led against Notre Dame in the second half, I got the feeling it wasn't going to last, that they just weren't good enough to hold on, and sure enough, they came close but couldn't pull it out.)
Considering that for years and years we've been conditioned to expect disappointment of one kind or another from the men's team, this is a pleasant change.
I think the Wisconsin game will be an indication of how good this season can be ... in a sense, maybe it's a freebie for Purdue. Lose and it's a tough road loss: sure, a school-record 15-0 would be nice, but 14-1 is nearly as good, and let's be honest, at this point the Boilers are playing for tournament seeding and a Big Ten title. Win and we can start thinking about the return game on the 28th; while Coach Painter will be focusing the guys on the four intervening games, those should be wins, and we should feel free to look toward a possible 20-0 start.
If you want to look far down the road, it's possible that at this point, 27-3 might be something of a letdown ... yeah, I like this team.
I wanna know what Matty says at halftime, because those boys come out with a fire in thier bellies. It's every game.I don't know if its adjustments he's making or tearing people new ones or what, but keep doing it Matty.
It was Westbrook that got tied up with Rob.
It was Hightower, not Valentine, officiating the game. Indeed, it was quite inconsistent officiating for both teams.
Also, Hummel got tied up with Westbrook at the end of the game. Hummel grabbed the board, Westbrook reached in to get the ball and fouled him, and neither wanted to let go of the ball as they danced 10-15 feet across the floor together. They started jawing with each other and the officials were right on top of it to get them separated. As both teams walked towards the other end for Hummel to shoot his free throws, the officials were still in the middle and Damian Johnson must have said something to warrant the technical. Both teams calmed down, Hummel drained four in a row, and that was the end of it.
Good win for the Boilers. I think we are all anticipating the game this weekend. I think some fans feel that a loss wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but I hope the Boilers don't feel that way or they don't stand a chance. Purdue is still a better team than Wisky, but the Kohl Center is worth about 7 points, so we'll see if they can stay focused and get a signature road win. Boiler Up!
-I can't stand Lavin anymore. He tries to hard to be unbiased with pointing out where he thinks Purdue got away with a foul or a no call.
-Lavin goes to Harry's Chocolate Shop for a "root beer float?!"
-Lavin also said Kramer was an "intangible player." Does that mean Chris doesn't really exist and we can't see him? I think he meant that many of Kramer's contributions fall into the intangible category.
-That over and back violation on Kramer in the second half was garbage. For it to be a violation, you have to have possession of the ball on one side of the court and then cross the line. He never had possession of the ball on the other side of the court.
Painter is leaving the starters in as a reward to them. They have spent a lot of time on the bench this season due to the Boilers building a big lead. We have 3 possible NBA players and they need to be afforded the ability to build some stats. I understand that is not supposed to be what it is about but the bottom line is if you want to keep the talent coming to WL you have to keep them thinking they will have a legit chance of making the NBA. You know Mr. Teague is probably watching these games on ESPN. I think we all (including Coach Painter) want to see him commit to Purdue.
How many times can he say "the kiss off the glass" for a bank shot? It was driving me crazy last night.
Teague is not coming to Purdue. I have heard he is probably going to Louisville or Kentucky. He is probably one and done and that doesn't really fit into Painter's system anyway. The Boilers need to focus more on Dawson and Randle for that class. Being pretty well set in '12, those two guys would be huge for the '11 class and keep Purdue in the upper echelon of the Big Ten.
Well played, sir. I too think we need to have 2 minutes of a Walk-On Whiteout at the close of these games.
#2 in the RPI after last night, still #7 in kenpom. Feels nice to have the computers like your team for once, they seem to always hate the teams I follow.
Good call on Hightower vs. Valentine, boys.... but what's funny is I even saw his pretty face and still mixed them up... mainly because they're both awful.
Good call on the over and back, too, and on the Hummel dust-up.... I hope you guys don't expect me to actually pay attention to these details. I'm a big picture guy, like Michael Scott.
I couldn't believe that trash over and back call. Why were Coach and Kramer holing up three fingers to the refs after that? While I'm not a proponent of "running up the score", I do like that we are showing signs of competing fiercely even when the game is hand. I get the feeling these guys can't really turn off their intensity.
I read the three fingers was that the rule supposedly states that all 3 "points" (two feet + 1 ball) must be established across the timeline before it is "over." Since only one foot was across midcourt, only 1 was over, and thus over-and-back could not occur.
I haven't verified the rules myself, so this is just hearsay, really.
thanks for the explanation. that makes sense. btfu saturday
i can't get a consistent answer on the over and back call, others say it was, and it was the right call, others say it was the wrong call. From the rule book, it seems to state the players position as to where his feet were last touching, thus kramer was in the frontcourt, got the ball( in the front court, cause that was the last place he was touching, grabed the ball, and landed in the back court. If he had any part of his foot/feet in the back court when he lept he would have been in the back court.
I also read this 3 point thing, were 2 feet and ball, and it seems to confuse things in my opinion
For the record, Andy Katz is now in Purdue's corner:
The Boilermakers are an elite team this season. No one should think otherwise.
So hey, Painter's kids have won over one guy out of 100.
Also, Gus Johnson doing BTN broadcasts? (Wisconsin-MSU.) When did that start? Very cool.
Yeah, I thought the announcers were getting overly excited about a pitchers duel, until I realized it was Gus. Then everything made sense.
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