Sunday, November 14, 2010

New Look Boilers Roll in Opener 76-40

The forces of good tipped off the 2010/11 season with great fanfare and jubilation against a guy named Howard at Mackey this evening. Sure, everyone was excited to see the BT Champs banner unveiled...but the fans were really stoked to know both J & Boilerdowd from the greatest site in all of the land were in attendance...and no one left disappointed.

Heightening the excitement -- at least for nerds like us -- was the unveiling of the gold uniforms for the first time in over four years.

Handsomeness abounded in the stands. But, the BS Handsome Duo was clearly overshadowed by Matty's Handsome pair -- JJ & Smooge. Johnson didn't score a ton of points, but his line was impressive: 10 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks...in 24 minutes. Had he played close to a full game, an odd triple double might have happened. His fellow senior teammate made noise with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers in 26 minutes. His stat line was solid, but his finish after Kelsey Barlow's steal in the early second half was monstrous.

Moments later, Barlow finished his own break by dunking over a half-assed Bison attempt to stop Purdue from scoring. Those were Barlow's only points, but what he didn't have in the box score, he made up by frustrating the opponent. Chris Kramer was widely hated because he frustrated opposing players with his stifling defense...Barlow will most-definitely be one of the most hated players in the league, not just because of his trash talking, but also because he simply antagonizes the opposing team. Hopefully Matty can channel this in a somewhat positive manner, or 12 will make his team pay with a tech or two during the season.

With around 13 minutes left in the game, Painter clearly made a decision that the day was pretty much done for Purdue's biggest two weapons, but Hart and Byrd thought it was their job to continue to pour it on after the seniors had yielded the floor. At around the 6:00 mark, Hart and Byrd began alternating three pointers. Five minutes later, the 15 point barrage was over...but the game was over well before the clock was close to 0:00. Both finished with 12 points and had nearly-identical stat lines in around 15 minutes of play each.

Terone Johnson impressed once again by scoring 9 points, with 3 assists, a steal and a block. Purdue's 11 man rotation was impressive as the depth came in waves and simply squashed the undermanned, poorly-shooting Bison from Howard. Marcius played solidly, but has the look of an enforcer who will eventually be as good of a basketball player as he is an intimidator. Travis Carroll played a similar role- he finished with 2 points, a block, four fouls and 8 rebounds in 15 minutes. I'm not sure if any one of the trio of Bade, Carroll and Marcius will scare opposing coaches this season, but collectively, they might be the perfect compliment for JJ. Where JJ is amazingly-athletic, agile and quick, the Three-Headed Center is strong, methodical and frustrating. I'm sure Matty will continue to develop his squad's depth whenever he has the opportunity...and there should be plenty of that during the month of November.

Next up, Alcorn State visits Mackey in three days.

Oh, one more thing, Boiler faithful -- a ton of people left the game early tonight. That's not really surprising to us because, as you know, we can't stand the softness of Purdue's general fanbase. It's pretty embarrassing...but sadly predictable. BUT, we expect a lot from the Paint Crew...and were pretty disappointed with the amount of students who left with minutes yet to be played. Hopefully this doesn't become the norm for the best student section in the nation.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I'll start by saying I stayed the whole game, but I digress...

I have no idea why but I'm pretty sure that the upper bowl of the Paint Crew was more filled during the first exhibition game. Also, there were only 30-some groups at the lottery this morning. Though that could have been due to the fact that it was at 8 am on a Sunday morning (good thing someone else in my group volunteered to do that...). On to the actual game...

33 was his usual great self. JJ's shots will fall, but I'm STILL concerned about his ability to finish under the basket. I'm really liking what I see from Barlow, Byrd, and Hart. They're all gonna see probably 25, 20, and 15 mins, respectively, this season and they all impressed tonight. I am loving the mean edge that Barlow is playing with. He was extremely active on D and will definitely frustrate opponents like you mentioned. Overall, solid game. I think they'll be fine on D but will have to keep the offensive droughts which plagued them last year to a minimum this season.

Unknown said...

As a marroon and gold bleeding Gopher fan who never leaves a game early, I can only guess that your fans leave early due to your half-a** non conference schedule. But we all do it - even Tubby is guilty. Good luck this season. See you at the Barn on 1/13 and in Indy next March.

historian said...

My 4 year old kept asking "Where is everyone going?" This will be a special season. Enjoy all of it that you can.

Unknown said...

If this was a big game I would say give em shit about leaving early.. but its Howard.. the game was over in the first. Students are still students, they have projects due and finals coming up. I know from my personal experience that profs pour it on thick before the T-giving break. But I digress... team looked good. Really liked how the new guys contributed especially Terone. Liked the new look Bade.

boilerdowd said...

Joe, it was a Sunday afternoon...not even an evening game. Plus, shouldn't they just not come if they're positive of the outcome? I guess we can disagree on this.

MrAnonymous said...

You do realize that Purdue is not top ten worthy, right?

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2010/insider/news/story?id=5784560&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2fpreview2010%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d5784560

Stupid ESPN d-bag tools...

DavidS said...

UNC beats Lipscomb by 14 in a game where Lipscomb trailed by only 5 points with 7 minutes to play and Purdue blows out Howard by 36. Clearly this means that UNC is the better team and should jump the Boilers in the coaches poll. What a joke.

boilerdowd said...

You're both right! The polls are a joke...there's no logic to them at this point and it's little more than throwing crap at the wall and hoping it sticks.

Hopefully Smooge's dunk is sexy enough for the media to notice Purdue has some athletes...otherwise, it'll be this garbage all season.

Michael R. said...

I didn't catch the game this week but would you consider Marcius as a future Calisan or will he make a bigger impact for the team?

jas07 said...

I'm digging the gold uniforms even though they are a year and a half late, and just in time for the newer uniforms to replace them. I at least think they are getting the new uniforms with the junk on the back of the jersey.

boilerdowd said...

Michael, Marcius is a different guy than Nemanja- he pretty much never looks to shoot the ball outside (at least at this point), and is comfortable in the blocks...which Calasan never was. He's a much more traditional center than a Euro-style center...and he has a bigger presence than his listed height. It'll take a season or two, but I think he'll be a force on the glass eventually.

Super-long call sign- I think the shadow pattern on the jerseys is a done deal...but I'm not sure which color. They clearly didn't have it on the golds or whites. Maybe roads only?

Mark said...

I love it that we're under the radar.

I wouldn't mind us being under the radar all year, until someone notices in the last week that we've only lost 2 BT games, which makes 2 total...and they HAVE to put us in the top 4.

I only care about seeding for the NCAA at this point...It doesn't matter where we're ranked now...only late in the season.

Final Four or bust!!!