They're kind of like a poor, poor man's aOSU from last season- they've got a bunch of guys between 6'4" and 6'6" playing different positions really just based on their girth and strength...with a couple of bigger guys sprinkled in. In fact, their starting line-up was so vertically-challenged that Matty decided to try to run the offense through Sandi to start things off.
In the first three or four possessions, the good guys threw it into 55 each time...and he was looking to shoot. One of the possessions earned him a a foul and one...another got him to the free throw line...then things got ugly. The smaller, more-athletic 'Canes started doubling down on Marcius and just knocking it away. He ended up playing only 11 minutes...and might not quite be ready to have the offense running through him.
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| Not a foul. |
Hummel quietly led the team in scoring with 17 points, 5 rebounds and a block in 32 minutes...but hit 6 of 7 free throws; a few of those down the stretch that helped salt the contest away. LewJack ran the point pretty well handling the pressure well for most of the night. Most-notably, he was getting fouled each time he touched the ball in the last 5 minutes, and the refs simply refused to blow their whistles. As 23 weaved through double and triple teams, he managed to get the ball across half court, fight through arm tackles and not turn it over. He finished with 15pts, 4 reb, 2ast.
Barlow played solid again as he did a lot well. He had 7pts, 4reb, 2ast, 2stl, a block and 0TOs. When his head was in the right place, he was looking to attack Miami's defense...and finish at the rim. When bad Kelsey showed up, he was accepting the three pointer instead of making it difficult for the 'Canses. TJohn and AJ combined for 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block without any turnovers. TJohn probably played his best game of the young season...and AJ continues to be rock solid; both off of the bench. Carroll had three rebounds and played tougher and smarter than in the last few games. Smith hit a couple threes early, but after cooling off seemed to decide it wasn't his night and just settled in to playing defense. Jacob Lawson continues to impress defensively as he had two blocked shots, two or three altered shots and a steal. Plus, he's playing important minutes each game and is averaging around 20/gm in the last few. He still hasn't even started scratching the surface of his potential...but his impact is being felt.
Purdue donned the long-rumored silver uniforms with black numbers/piping...and I really liked them. In fact, I like them a lot more than the white or black. They have a similar macho factor like the black unis from a few seasons ago as they are kind of no-frills, just business.
JJ was honored at halftime for his great career in God's Country...and although his number had already been added to the rafters, it was the night when he was formally recognized. He was walking around in the concourse before the game like a normal, anonymous 6'11" guy prior to his Mom escorting him onto Keady court.
I also saw and spoke briefly to Siller and All-B1G Tackle KK Short in the concourse...they also had a difficult time blending in...but Siller was gracious as always as I thanked him for a great career. Robert Marve was in attendance as well, but was followed by a crowd as he looked to go to grab something from the concession stand (I suggest the chicken fingers). Turns out I'm not the only person who is a fan of Marve.
At the end of the night, the B1G was up 4-2 on the ACC with Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern and aOSU all winning, while Michigan and Iowa both got beaten pretty soundly. It's kind of funny- a few seasons ago, EsPN couldn't help but break down the dominance of the ACC ad nauseaum pointing to the B1G's lack of athleticism and fall from grace in the college football world. But this year, as the B1G dominates, these are just individual games. Huh.
Honestly though, Duke v. aOSU is like evil v. evil to me...so I wish they'd both lose and my conference loyalty always comes back to my alma mater...I just think it's almost like the Entertainment network has some sort of bias in its coverage when dealing with their vested interests.
Suck it, EsPN.
Early Season Ranting
As my BS counterpart J sipped ice cold malt beverages out of frosty boot-shaped mugs in beautiful, always sunny** Houston, we spoke on the phone about our Boilers. As we talked, the winter storm that was sitting over Indiana began attacking the BS offices in Fishers, IN. The blizzard-like conditions intensified as the afternoon went on and I sent him a photo as the snow began to stick...and I thought aloud that the drive to God's country would be pretty lousy tonight...It was.
It usually takes around an hour and five minutes...but tonight, it was double that...but I never thought of not making the drive to see the Boilers play the 9:00 game v. Tha U (that's what the kids call 'em). But, once again, the expensive seats sat mostly-empty...yet again...as the rich Purdue alums and donors continue to embarrass the university on TV.
I guess that's not completely true...because the BTN has done their best to make sure no one sees this Purdue team play. That said, I've been to three games...and each time it's the same situation. 2/3-3/4 of the comfy, plush seats are empty. I'm glad those people give money to the program...but their lack of real interest in the product is obvious. On the boards and Twitter, the excuse of weather and the late-night tip-off were used. The weather was bad, no doubt. But, this is Indiana...I bet we'll see snow again prior to tip-off in December, January and February. Sunny skies, weekend games with a noon tip-off? Same garbage. Heck, the seats weren't full for the re-dedication of Mackey. Nice job, rich guys.
As is a tradition of mine, I attempted to move down in the arena and fill some empties (I've already done it twice this season) and enjoy a better view. This time, my lawless behavior was thwarted by the Mackey Event Cops making sure the pristine seats wouldn't be littered with disgusting cheering fans. Hats off to Morgan and everyone else who have decided to enforce this policy no matter what- It looked great on TV!!
By the way, I'm a small-time JPCer.
*CCR stands for Composite Computer Ranking
**It wasn't beautiful today in Houston
9 comments:
At the inside 4min TV timeout in the 2nd half (or around that time) they went to a close-up of the announcers (who were horrible, btw) and there behind them the TV audience was treated to a nice, clear veiw of how comfy the new seats are... it was rather embarrasing to me at home how many (95% at this point) were empty.
I agree on how downplayed the TV coverage of the B1G early dominance was over the ACC... in years past EsPN openly questioned whether this 'tournament' should continue but last night, no comment on the either conference as a whole.
I did kind of laugh when Gottlieb was drooling on himself about IU being a team on the rise, and winning some important early games...
The weather down here hasn't been any better (minus the snow) but wow, do people freak out when it dips below 50 degrees.
The Premium Seats - Worst idea ever in Burke's tenure. (this over the hiring of Hope because I see the seats' longevity much longer than Hope)
By putting those seats in the lower bowl like that Burke has made a statement - that he doesn't care about the product on the floor, he cares about the $$ it generates.
Like I said over at H&R, his goal should be to put a product on the floor that people would pay to sit on nails to watch. Build tradition where kids want to play for Purdue just to wear the jersey. Teams that no matter their record, people still would kill to see the team play. Instead we try to emulate the NBA, take the true fans away from the court and place corporate idiots.
What other programs have done this, or need to do this? NONE
These seats are all taken by companies like Beck's, Monsanto, etc. The people in these seats are their customers, not the loyal Boilermakers that should be there.
2/3 f****ing empty in the premium seats that take nearly half the lower bowl. What a damn joke.
Then you flip over to the OSU game, and the entire area across from the camera is surrounded by students, at least half the court side seats (and maybe more because you can't see the whole thing on TV). Now when we see the commentators we will see 12 gold (yellow) seats behind them that look like they are left overs from the captain's seat on the set of star trek with maybe 2 of them with butt's in them.
I just don't understand the thought process behind these decisions. If he really wanted some premium seating then they should have found a way to put some suites in the rafters, not take away from the atmosphere at Mackey.
I cannot wait for Burke to hit the road, he's a damn CHUMP.
Agreed. Burke's marketing guru must be an IU grad. Those seats are a joke.
It's a sad day as I can no longer anonymously rip IU fans or Indystar's fawning over IU on the Indystar message boards. I'd rather not have some raging redneck coming after me because comments are linked to facebook now.
I really loved the silver uniforms and think they should be the standard home uniform. I think the lack of piss yellow is the reason I love them so much.
I hate those VIP seats... always empty. (Though, I did notice that the FA from FW that used to spill over into my seats in the rafters the past few seasons followed through on his threat and now sits down there on the aisle!) There needs to be a system to release those seats after halftime when they are not filled. It looks horrible on TV, takes away from the noise on top of the court, and just generally ticks me off that everyone else got shifted up in the rafters so that some corporations could buy some seats they may or may not use/may or may not put up on StubHub for opposing fans to use.
Also, they should have never allowed the big donors to buy 12 seats in Mackey- those extras are also just being sold on StubHub and I can't wait to see how many lower bowl seats are taken by OSU fans next season when they come to visit!
Loved the new unis- very sexy!! Seems like a lot of who we would want to like them (future players, etc) were big fans. It does have an impact on what recruits think... Screw the old folks- if they don't like them, they can boycott them by not showing up to use their yellow or black cushy seats and ipads. My only surprise is that this is the game at which they were unveiled.
Other than that, I really enjoyed that we were attacking the rim a lot in this game and not just settling for 3's. I think they do need to work on keeping Robbie involved a bit more (seems he was the forgotten player in the 2nd half)- though it is nice that we don't need to rely solely on him. I was also really impressed with the Johnsons. Nice to see that Terone may be rounding into shape after the surgery. AJ did a great job of finishing last night. I feel this team's ceiling is very high and hope we finally have a healthy season to fully enjoy March/April.
I'm not exactly sure when I started feeling this way, but whenever I hear Doug Gottlieb talk, I want to take the socks off of my feet and shove them in his mouth. I think that started last year during the NCAA tournament. No matter, I've pretty much quit watching espn for everything except the games themselves. And even then I typically turn the volume down so I can just watch.
As for the game, I pretty much follow most of them these days on either the Yahoo tracker or some other app. It isn't nearly as good as actually watching the game, but I tend not to get worked up as much this way.
I loved Purdue's new silver uniforms! Of course, I would also love it if the Packers wore black, the Reds wore purple and the Lakers wore maroon and sky-blue!
Team colors? What are those?
I've been wondering that myself for the last 10 years of Vegas (Piss) Gold. If you can't get Old Gold right, go Silver!
Maybe I need some time for the uni's to grow on me. I didn't mind the styling but Silver just seemed odd. I couldn't help but remember the Silver helmet on the "New Pete" and wonder what is wrong with the colors of the tradition- black, gold, white. But whatever- if everyone likes them, I'm sure I can get used to them.
I can't get used to the seating style at Mackey though. I am reserved to accept the fact that Morgan Burke is a buffoon and all one needs to do is have a conversation with him and he will prove himself so. But by God he still has his swimming pool.
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