Debacle in Chicago Puts a Stake in the Heart of the '12-'13 Season

The Boilers' season effectively (and likely literally) ended tonight in Chicago on Day 1 of the Big Ten Tournament in a 57-55 barnburner loss to Nebraska.

Not to disparage Tim Miles (who we like a lot) or the Nebraska basketball program, but you know you've hit bottom when you're losing to Nebraska. The Huskers are a bad team, plain and simple. They went 5-13 in league play and were the proud owners of a grand total of five victories in 2013. The Boilers beat them in their house on Jan 16 and the Children of the Corn rank 332nd nationally in points per game, 292nd in rebounds, 336th in assists and 299th in FG percentage. So as you can see, I'm not being a jerk (no more than usual anyway) when I say they're....bad.

And yet, somehow, the Cornhuskers shot over 50% in the first half en route to a two point lead at the break. I will admit I was actually not overly concerned. I've seen Purdue play cold first halves -- especially in the BTT -- and then come out with more life in the second half. Plus, as I said, this was a bad team the Boilers were overlooking playing.

However, the Boilers did what they've done all season -- when things go cold, they go astonishingly icy cold.

If Purdue is rolling and DJ is streaking in a positive way (not that way, ladies), then Terone usually finds his groove, too, and as defenses struggle to contain those two, other guys chip in and get their double digit points, too...and all is well in the world. See the Minnesota game just four short days ago for Exhibit A. Tonight, however, was basically the story that has played out in every game in which the Boilers struggled -- DJ and Terone were cold and with them went everyone else and the Boilers' dreams of ruining some other squads weekends.

Purdue wound up shooting 40% from the field, but they were dreadful for the majority of the game (as the 16% from three will attest). 40% isn't good, but it doesn't look atrocious, but the Boilers were pretty damn atrocious. Let's face it...they'd have to be to be down by double digits to this Nebraska team. They managed to come alive late and begin making shots, which is what pushed that percentage into the 40s. DJ led the way with 15 points in his likely final college game on 6/14 shooting. He was only 2/8 from three, though, with both threes coming very late to make this a ballgame in the end. I (and I'm sure many of you) will remember DJ fondly, as we discussed on the Handsome Hour last night. He had a rough night, but he still led the way, as I said, and I am proud to call him a fellow Boilermaker.

Terone had a stinker of a night, scoring 9 points on 4/14 shooting and, unconscionably, 1/4 from the line. Speaking of the line, the Boilers shot 50% there, so once again, the game often comes down to simple things. The Boilers didn't play well at all, their leaders didn't have good shooting nights....but if they made their FTs, it's a very different game and likely a different outcome.

AJ Hammons and Anthony Johnson were the other Boilers in double digits with 11 and 10 respectively.

Of note was the short bench, another Matt Painter March trademark. RayDay started (along with DJ, TJ, AJH and RJ) and played 29 minutes. The only guys who came off the bench were Sandi (who scored 4 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and was whistled for 5 fouls in 14 minutes), Anthony Johnson (20 mins, 0 points) and Donnie Hale, who only played three minutes.

Of course, it doesn't really matter now, as the Boilers squandered not only the opportunity to piss in Ohio State's Cheerios tomorrow, but they almost certainly missed their outside shot at the NIT and the opportunity to play potentially a few more games, which as Hank said on our podcast last night, is crucial for the development of such a young team.

This is a disappointing night on a lot of levels. For one, obviously the Boilers reverted to their bleak form from earlier in the season, after a sizzling finish that saw them scoring tons of points and beating or nearly beating good teams. As the saying goes, nobody wanted to see the Boilermakers in this tournament. Well, except for Nebraska, apparently. Of course, as with many Purdue losses this year, the Huskers kept trying to open the door and let them in, but the Boilers were too midwestern and polite, insisting on only stepping onto the porch but never actually kicking in the door and taking over the party. No, I have no idea where this metaphor is going. I'm tired and hungry and why are you even still reading about the '12-'13 Purdue basketball season?

Going back to postseason aspirations and whether or not this was indeed the last game of the season and DJ's (and Dru's) careers...We're not huge fans of the NIT, obviously, but for this year's squad, it would have been useful for the reasons mentioned and also would have been something of an accomplishment considering where the season was heading during the February swoon. The NIT no longer requires teams to be .500 or better, but they generally still wind up only taking winning teams.

As for the next step down, the CBI, we're not fans of the Boilers participating in that. I don't think they necessarily would, but you never know. I do know that in the CBI, you pay to host games. So I guess in theory, if you guys are into the idea, we could field a team and host it in my driveway.

Let me know, okay?

Pre-BTT Extreme Handsomeness

The boys break their silence and quench your thirst for some good ole fashioned pod casting...but they're not alone.

Their good buddy, former Purdue player and current Purdue Graduate Assistant Coach, Ryne Smith joins the handsome duo to give some insider insight you'll hear exclusively on this site (and in classrooms at North Montgomery High School from time to time).

After Coach Smith weighs in, "Hank", formerly of therailroadtie.com, talks gambling, brothels, waffles and parenting.

Tune in, get handsome...and enjoy a few technical problems along the way (of course)...now!

Listen to internet radio with Boiled Sports on Blog Talk Radio

Big Ten Tourney Time -- Bet You Didn't Think You'd Care

And so here we are. Tom Crean has acted like a jackass for the final time in the regular season, the standings are set and Purdue has finished better than any of us would have predicted a mere 2-3 weeks ago. At that time, it looked like the Boilers were circling the drain, heading towards one of those early Thursday conference tourney games where you're on the team bus heading home before most of the fans have even found their seats. Not a great situation from a program visibility perspective.

However, the Boilermakers -- in true Matt Painter fashion -- just kept swimming and never quit (like so many of us fans did) on the season. Their reward? Well, only a 15-16 finish, but a hard-earned 7-seed in the BTT and a hell of a final week, in which they upended Wisconsin in the Kohl, had a double-digit second half lead on #7 Michigan and walloped 20-win Minnesota on Senior Day.

After losing 5 of 6 in a two-and-a-half week span (all by double digits) from Jan 30-Feb 16 that included two hammerings from the Hoosiers and a truly listless performance at Northwestern on Feb 2, the season looked bleak to say the least. Amid the downward spiral, Matty lost his composure at Illinois and got tossed for the first time in his coaching career. The Boilers then lost by 28 on  Feb 16 at Ass Hall, stood at 12-14 and looked like they were ready for the season to be over.

Then a funny thing happened -- we're not privy to the details of what goes on at practice or behind closed doors, but the Boilermakers regrouped and appeared to refocus. To our eyes, it looked like Matt Painter finally had enough and told the young, talented guys who were getting lots of playing time that it would now work like this: those who work hard and listen to the coaching staff will get to play -- those who don't do those things will see their minutes reduced.

The Boilers then went out and destroyed Northwestern by 31 (a game that included Sandi starting over Hammons and Dru Anthrop logging a career-high 17 minutes),  kicking off a 3-2 finish to the Big Ten season that included a 13 point road win at Wisky and the fun Senior Day from Saturday.

What does it say about a team that can get bludgeoned by double-digits on a regular basis, but then when they do win, they win by double digits? You can't simply explain it all away with youth, I don't think. Young, bad teams get battered in this manner, but their wins are usually squeakers or final minute nail-biters. The Boilers -- for as lousy as a season as this has been at times -- have won games by 29, 26, 12 (at Clemson), 33, 10, 18, 27 (vs WVU), 31, 13 and 14. And I only left out five games, you'll note. So the Boilers won 2/3 of their victories by double-digits, including 50% of their conference wins. My rambling point? There is still a lot to be excited about here, in case you were wavering. When these Boilers win, it's because they shoot well, rebound well and play committed defense. Their FT shooting is still suspect and will likely be their downfall, in this year and beyond. But some of the fundamentals of being a good basketball team are in place -- and the thing that has been a thorn this year (youth and inexperience) will begin to pay dividends as early as next fall.

The BTT tournament bracket is out and it will take a win the Boilers should get (Neb) followed by one that would be a challenge (OSU) to get them into NIT talk. While stretching for the NIT is often something we might mock, a couple extra weeks of competitive basketball might be great for this group that seems to have finally figured a few things out.

If nothing else, this should be one more example of how Matt Painter never stops working, and doesn't allow his charges to stop working, either.

Rooting Guide for Season's End

Updated through Ohio State-Illinois. Purdue will be the #7 seed and will face #10 Nebraska.

(Sorry about the wall of words. There's really no other good way to do this.)

aghast at the thought of
rooting for Tom Crean

You might not be aware of this, but Purdue could actually finish ... sixth? It's actually possible that they could finish alone in sixth place in the conference, which would be amazing when you consider how they were playing not too long ago. It's also possible that Christina Hendricks could appear at the door of my hotel room with some story about her key not working and blah blah blah and would I mind if she stayed with me. (Answer: that depends. Are you an IU fan?)

What is somewhat more likely is that Purdue will finish tied with one or more teams for something between sixth and eighth, and their resulting seed will be something between sixth and ninth. In case you don't think that will make a difference, keep in mind that the #6 seed will play the 9 PM game against Northwestern or Nebraska, and the #9 seed will play the noon game against the #8. For NIT purposes, you want the #6 or #7 seed - ideally the #6 to set up a Friday game against #3 instead of #2. (Also, the #6 seed pretty much assumes that Purdue won both games this week ... otherwise you're talking about playing until at least Saturday.)

Big Ten Tournament tiebreaking procedures, in short:

1. Head-to-head competition. Unlike the NFL, the number of games played does not matter: all that matters is winning percentage. (This is key, as you'll see below.)
2. Record against each team or set of tied teams in the standings, starting with the champion (or co-champions) and descending until records differ.
3. Strength of DI schedule (W-L record of DI opponents, that is).
4. Coin toss. Yes, you can do a coin toss among three or more teams. You never saw Friday Night Lights? (Yes, that coin toss happened in real life, too, although one of the teams was different.) Go fix that and come back when you're done.

So, here's where we stand. Purdue cannot finish in a tie with Minnesota unless they beat the Gophers, and not having faced them this season yet, that 1-0 record would give Purdue the edge in a two-way tie. (And by beating the Gophers, they now have that edge.) Purdue split against Illinois and Iowa, so those ties would go to step 2, which we'll cover in a bit.

Like Purdue, Minnesota also split against Illinois and Iowa. Iowa played Illinois once and beat them. So any tie that includes either team but not both will go to Purdue, thanks to everyone else being .500. If Illinois and Iowa tie with Purdue, and Minnesota isn't included, then Iowa has the advantage; if all four teams tie, Iowa and Purdue split out first.

OK ... record against each team or set of tied teams. (What does that mean? It means that you ignore tiebreakers in other groups when computing a tiebreaker yourself: you look at record against all teams with a particular conference record.) Purdue lost to Michigan tonight and Illinois will finish against Ohio State, but the other games against teams ranked 1-5 are done, so we can look at them individually and even as a group (you'll see why in a moment).

Indiana. Illinois 1-0, Minnesota 1-1, Iowa 0-2, Purdue 0-2. Bad for Purdue. Unfortunately, they're kind of included at the top no matter what.
Michigan. Iowa 0-1, Minnesota 0-1, Illinois 0-2, Purdue 0-2. The loss to Michigan was painful, but doesn't hurt them much since no one else beat Michigan.
Michigan State. Minnesota 1-1, Iowa 0-1, Illinois 0-1, Purdue 0-2. Again, bad for Purdue. In general, root against Michigan State.
Ohio State. Illinois 1-0*, Purdue 0-1, Iowa 0-1, Minnesota 0-1. Bad for everyone except Illinois, even if the Buckeyes split. A sweep is very bad. Root against Illinois.
Wisconsin. Purdue 1-0, Iowa 1-1, Minnesota 1-1, Illinois 0-2. (Which contender struggled against second-tier teams?) Good for Purdue. Root for Wisconsin.
*will change after this week's game

Take note of a couple of things: there are a lot of losses in that group, and most of the wins are by Minnesota, who can't win a tie with Purdue because of the head-to-head loss it would require. It's a lot better than it seems.

Let's roll. (I was totally going to do a really cool chart for this with logos, but then I remembered my work laptop doesn't have Photoshop. Just pretend it's there.)

• Purdue wins out, all others lose out. Purdue is 9-9 and #6, no tiebreakers required. Commence rooting for Nebraska. No longer possible with the loss to Michigan.
• Purdue ties with Minnesota. Boilers win head-to-head tiebreaker.
• Purdue ties with Illinois. It depends who ties for first. If it's Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan, Purdue wins the tiebreaker (1-3 vs. 1-4). Any other combination of teams, tied or not, goes to Illinois because of their record against IU and their better record against everyone other than UM and UW.
• Purdue ties with Iowa. Purdue's win over Michigan (necessary if they are to tie only Iowa) gives them the advantage in any combination or order of teams; Iowa's only win is against Wisconsin, Purdue is 1-0 against them, and even if MSU is also tied (Purdue 0-2, Iowa 0-1 makes up for the Wisconsin difference), Purdue's 1-1 record against Michigan would take care of the rest. This was actually somewhat wrong, because Iowa and Purdue could tie for eighth at 8-10. If that happens, see the four-way tie below.
• Purdue ties with Minnesota and Illinois. Purdue wins the tiebreaker based on head-to-head records (Purdue 2-1, Illinois 2-2, Minnesota 1-2).
• Purdue ties with Minnesota and Iowa. Again, Purdue wins the tiebreaker (Purdue 2-1, Iowa 2-2, Minnesota 1-2). 
• Purdue ties with Iowa and Illinois. Iowa wins the tiebreaker, Purdue finishes next (2-1, Purdue 2-2, Illinois 1-2).
• Purdue ties with all three teams. Purdue and Iowa win the first tiebreaker based on head-to-head records (3-2 vs. 2-3 for Minnesota and Illinois). Breaking this tie: even though unlike the NFL, we don't go back to individual head-to-head record, it doesn't matter because they split. 
• If they tied at 9-9, then see above: Purdue would have the advantage in any combination of teams 1-5.
• If they tied at 8-10, then the only wins Purdue and Iowa have are against Wisconsin, so it depends on who Wisconsin is tied with:
• No one. Purdue wins the tiebreaker (1-0 vs. 1-1).
• Both MSU and Michigan. Iowa wins the tiebreaker (1-3 vs. 1-4), even if Ohio State is also part of the tie. (Indiana can't be, because MSU still has to play Wisconsin.)
• Either MSU or Michigan. That cancels out Purdue's 1-0 vs. Wisconsin, .000 winning percentages eliminate the rest, so we go to ... 10th place? 
• Northwestern. Iowa wins the tiebreaker (2-0 vs. the Wildcats to Purdue's 1-1).
• Nebraska. Purdue wins it (1-0 vs. 0-2, as Nebraska would have to beat Iowa to send the Hawkeyes to 8-10).
• Both. Purdue wins it (2-1 vs. 2-2).

So ... for whom should you be rooting the rest of the way?

This guy. Root for the guy with
the big head. (No, not that one.)

Wednesday

Purdue over Michigan
√ Nebraska over Minnesota (for Purdue to have a shot at sixth)
Summary: Purdue can't finish 6th by themselves with the loss to Michigan; Minnesota blows the same chance with the loss to Nebraska. Boilers can be part of a four-way tie for 6th, a three-way tie for 7th, or a two-way tie for 8th.  

Thursday

Wisconsin over Michigan State (to help with Iowa and Illinois tiebreakers)
Summary: Purdue now loses a two-way tie with Illinois for 8th, should it occur.

Saturday

√Purdue over Minnesota
Nebraska over Iowa (to prevent a tie with Iowa and not Minnesota)
Summary: 6th and 9th are no longer possible, thanks to Purdue's win (which meant they would finish ahead of Minnesota) and Iowa's win (their 9th in conference play). If Illinois beats Ohio State, Purdue will be #8 and Minnesota #9; if Illinois loses, then it'll be #7 Purdue, #8 Illinois, and #9 Minnesota. In either case, Purdue will face Illinois in the 11 AM game ... just like boilerdowd said. (There were other possibilities. Iowa just ruined them.) If I were paying attention, I would have noticed that #7 and #8 do not play each other; Purdue cannot face Illinois. An Illini win will pit Purdue and Minnesota in a rematch of today's game; a loss will give Purdue #10 Nebraska.

Sunday

√Wisconsin over Penn State (same)√Ohio State over Illinois (generally speaking, avoid being tied with Illinois)
Michigan over Indiana (to help with Illinois tiebreaker)
Northwestern over Michigan State (mostly, although there might be a scenario where we'd root for MSU)
Summary: Other results plus the OSU win make the last two games irrelevant for Purdue: they are the #7 and will face #10 Nebraska.

Big Ten Tourney Champs!

Ass-kicking-makers

The Purdue Boilermakers won the Big Ten baseball tournament last night by kicking Indiana's ass twice -- the way that mattered was the second time on the field (6-5) in as many days; the other way was in a bench-clearing scuffle after a dust-up at third base. 

The Boilers went 3-0 in the tourney and are now outright regular season champs as well as tourney champs. As mentioned the other day, they also have the pitcher, player AND coach of the year in the Big Ten. They've now received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance in the big tourney in a quarter century.

The all-tournament team was also announced and featured five Boilermakers:


P: Jonny Hoffman, Indiana P: Tony Bucciferro, Michigan State
P: Lance Breedlove, Purdue
C: Kevin Plawecki, Purdue
1B: Ryan Krill, Michigan State
1B: Richard Stock, Nebraska
2B: Micah Johnson, Indiana
3B: Cameron Perkins, Purdue
SS: Kirby Pellant, Ohio State
SS: David Miller, Purdue
OF: Will Nolden, Indiana
OF: Anthony Cheky, Michigan State
OF: Barrett serrato, Purdue
DH: Michael Pritchard, Nebraska
Most Outstanding Player: Kevin Plawecki, Purdue



Of course, this all makes the mess that happened in the 9th inning that much more frustrating. 


As you can see, Purdue's success is tied to their commitment to hustle (a familiar Boilermaker trait). That hustle, combined with the Hoosiers throwing it around like a little league team, led to the Boilers take the lead. Eric Charles then slid awkwardly into Michael Basil at third and apparently didn't acknowledge the famous IU banners, which Basil didn't like so he kind of knees him and there's a little shove and then before you know it, the benches have emptied, and someone (probably an umpire) is yelling "Get back in the fu-king dugout!"

Charles and Dustin DeMuth were ejected yet Basil, who started it all, was apparently not. I know there are always different way rivals see such a situation... BUT. Whether you like it or not, this was a baseball play until Basil started a fight, simple as that. I don't care if you don't like the slide or if you don't think it was textbook -- that doesn't matter. If a guy is blocking a base, you can barrel into him. That's how it works. Always has, and if you can't handle that, you shouldn't be playing baseball.

Watch the video above that Riley Schmitt had up last night. At 1:43, you can see Basil doing a headlock maneuver. At 1:49 you can see Charles -- who is on the ground and a bit more defenseless than the ogres standing over him -- get hammered by Basil who I guess took a bump from behind as an excuse to forearm shiver Charles. For a few scary seconds, Charles looks like a cowboy who fell under the herd.

The upshot is that Charles may likely be suspended for at least a game in the NCAA tournament as a result of this, which kind of seems like a bitter pill to swallow. Sure, we're biased, but here are the facts: Purdue has their first legit shot at the college world series perhaps ever. IU was frustrated and started a bench-clearing fight with their rival who was in the midst of taking their candy yet again. Somehow Purdue will have the biggest negative impact from this.

All that said, let's simply enjoy the fact that your Boilers are conference champs X 2.

Choo-choo, muthas.

Grab Your Balls, Boiler Fans

I'm talking Boiler baseball, of course.

Your Purdue Boilermakers -- outright Big Ten champs -- are now in the throes of the Big Ten baseball tournament as the #1 seed. They defeated Ohio State yesterday 5-4 with some late inning heroics by Big Ten Player of the Year Kevin Plawecki, the Boilers heart-and-soul catcher and with the save locked down by their Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joe Haase.

The BT baseball tourney is double-elimination (bracket is here) and the top seed gives you a deserved reward in the sense that a bye past the first day, followed by two victories puts you in the tourney championship game.

Of course, because this is how life works out, our Boilers play #2-seed IU tonight to go straight to the championship game. The loser of this one goes to a game which becomes a must-win (obviously, with double-elim and all) and, if won, routes them right back to the championship game. So it's quite possible the Boilers and Hoosiers will be meeting again this weekend.

Tonight's game against IU is at 7 PM and is scheduled to be broadcast -- along with all Big Ten tourney games -- on BTN. Unless, you know, a transmitter in the BTN truck gets ice cream spilled on it or something.

The train is a-coming. Plenty o' seats on the bandwagon. Go Boilers.

Boilers Methodically Mow Down Huskers, 79-61

Purdue defeated Nebraska tonight in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, nearly without appearing to break a sweat. The Cornhuskers would get close -- and by "close" I mean within a half-dozen or so -- and Purdue would pull away again. This game was reminiscent of recent seasons where I used to often comment that the Boilers ground teams into a fine powder. It also reminded me of Purdue's late-season cohesion as a unit. Not even Nebraska's Hickory High-era uniforms could make a difference.

The ball moved fairly well around the perimeter, though I will say the Boilers will need to be more crisp against Ohio State to have a shot tomorrow night. The shooting -- particularly in the first half -- was very sharp. For the game, the good guys shot 56%, including 52% from beyond the arc. Sizzlin'!

Five guys in black and gold got into double figures; distribution like that is always great to see, even if it is against a team in their first year of Division 1 basketball.

(Oh, what's that? Nebraska has been Division 1 for a long time? Oh, my bad.)

Anyway, Rob had ten points on 3/7 shooting, Ryne pumped in 15 on 5/8 (all from three-land) and DJ had ten on 3/7 shooting (and only 1/4 from the line). But those guys are expected to do that...at least. What I loved seeing was the continued emergence of the Johnson boys.

AJ was doin' work off the bench tonight. In 26 minutes, he had 17 points on 7/10 shooting. It was a season high in points for #1 and was only his second double-figure scoring game since the end of the non-con schedule. And let's not forget -- he's listed as a freshman thanks to his redshirt year. So....more to come.

Is it me, or has AJ begun to emerge without the shadow of Barlow around? I'm not suggesting he was stunted by Barlow's presence -- just that without Kelsey here, AJ has been able to spread his proverbial wings.

Anthony also hit a three, hit half his free throws, dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds. That is doing work, my friends.

The other Johnson -- Terone -- continued his rise, starting the game and playing the most minutes, while going 6/11 from the field, 2/4 from trey, scoring 16 big points, snatching six rebounds and doling out six assists. 16, 6 and 6....is there any doubt some triple doubles are in Zero's future?

I also got this feeling that LewJack is gently passing the baton. No, he's not done yet, but games like these are a good opportunity to let the young bucks shine and drop the dimes. Lew had a quiet five points and three assists but that's fine. As B-dowd said on the Handsome Hour, we almost would have been fine with them not even dressing Rob and Lew. But we're selfish and love seeing them play, so we're glad they did.

As I said at the top, the best thing about this game was that the Boilers made quick work of the Huskers. The game was honestly never in doubt, and the cornholios never got in a groove where they could have thought they had a legitimate chance. That's the way we like it and it's the way good teams handle bad teams.

Make no mistake, Purdue is a good team right now. Tomorrow night, they'll face the rested and ready Buckeyes in a rematch of one of the best Big Ten games of the season. At least they're in Purdue's state this time, and let's hope that the Big Ten Tourney doesn't mean much to those guys. That kind of a slight edge might be all the Boilers need to kick the door down.

Tune in tomorrow night to find out. The Boilers will again be the nightcap, likely around 9 PM, this time on BTN. Word is live humans will be on hand to discuss the moving pictures we'll be watching. I mean, you know, assuming the BTN production truck doesn't explode or something.

"Bang bang! Your Big Ten career is dead, Doc!"

Old Ways Creep Back in; Boilers Lose 85-74

It's kinda simple- if you play 20 minutes of basketball in a 40 minute game, you're going to lose more than you win.  We saw that early in the season, and witnessed it again in Ass. Hall this evening.

Purdue spotted IU and 18 point lead...played awful defense, didn't sell out for loose balls and rebounded like dog excrement.  When the teams headed into the locker room at the break, the game was already over for all intents and purposes.

LewJack led everybody with 17/5...Hummel had 16/8...TJohn had 13/4.  Byrd shot horribly and still got to 12 points simply because he shot 14 times.

Ass. Hall is a tough place to win- IU is 18-1 there this year.  Purdue couldn't play one of their worst games in the last 7 or 8 and still expect to win...and by their body language, Matty's boys didn't.

Purdue was 41st in the RPI coming into the game; they'll probably stay around the same place.  In my opinion, it would take a catastrophe in the B1G tourney for them not to get into the dance.  Purdue will play Nebraska a little after 8:00 on Thursday in the first round of the tournament.  If they get by the 'Huskers, they'll play aOSU on Friday in the last game of the day.

Seeding

We discussed this a bit on the Handsome Hour last night (so go listen NOW if you haven't), but I wanted to talk about Purdue's potential seed and a little bit about why it matters.

I think there are three potential outcomes after the Big Ten Tournament for Purdue, barring some kind of catastrophic occurrence (like, oh, for example, last year vs Minny).

1) Purdue wins the Big Ten Tourney. If this happens, I think Purdue is in line for a potential 1-seed or, more likely, a very strong 2-seed (read: the top team in Chicago).

2) Purdue wins Friday night over MSU (most likely) and then loses to either Wisconsin on Saturday or OSU on Sunday. If this happens, I project Purdue as the 3-seed we currently keep seeing them as in mock brackets.

3) Purdue loses Friday night to Michigan State. If this happens, I think Purdue winds up as a 4-seed, which is kind of incredible... it would be almost exactly what happened last year and would culminate a hell of a roller-coaster month. And it'll make some people ask if Purdue peaked too early, if you believe in those sorts of things.

Incidentally, I think if Iowa pulls the upset of MSU and advances to play Purdue, you'll see the Boilers win by 20 or 30. I hope it happens, but I don't think it will. I also worry about Purdue having to beat MSU three times in one season. While they only need to beat them once on Friday, I can't imagine many teams have ever beaten Izzo thrice in a season.

I think the most likely outcome for this team is the 3-seed we've been seeing. And if they wind up in that Anaheim region that I keep seeing them projected for, well, I'll take the projections I've been seeing, because they would be 1) ND 2) BYU 3) Purdue. That would mean that, assuming seeding more or less holds to form, Purdue would have to beat BYU and/or UND to get to the Final Four. And I'll take that right now. Sure, it would be a load of drama facing the national program that is UND, but we here at Boiled Sports would absolutely love not only knocking out IU fans' second-favorite program, but also ending Scott Martin's season in painful fashion. I only wish Rob Hummel could hit a dagger three in his grill.

We also sometimes see others saying, hey, let's not worry about seeding, let's not stress, etc. And while I sometimes sort of agree that we just need to let things fall where they may, I will say this: seeding does matter. You've heard me say it before: last year's crappy seed cost Purdue a legit shot at the Final Four. If Purdue doesn't wind up running into the national champions in the Sweet 16, well, I think they honestly have a really good shot at getting to Indy. And if they weren't a 4-seed, they wouldn't have faced the Dukies that early...or maybe wouldn't have even been in their region. So it very much matters.

As a 4, you have to win four tough games to get to the Final Four. Siena showed they were there to play and a couple years ago, Northern Iowa was happy to be there, but did a hell of a lot more the following year. Purdue dodged a bullet there. Point is, if you're a 1 or a 2, you have one really cakewalk game and perhaps one more semi-easy game. So now you've only got two really tough games to get to the Final Four. That's a hell of a lot more appealing than having four bloodbaths to get there. Know what I mean?

Of course, all that said, 4-seeds (and lower) can and have advanced to the final weekend. So I certainly won't be making excuses if Purdue doesn't get there and basing those on seed. Because Purdue will have the chance this weekend to earn the best possible seed they can get.

I'm ready for some BTT. Choo-choo, muthas.

Seriously?

Foul Effort

Frustrating Win

An ugly win is better than a pretty loss...if there is such a thing. But make no mistake, this was ugly.

My keys to the game going in were pretty simple- LewJack needed to not allow NU to set up the zone and play at a fast pace...and Moore needed to shoot well. Moore shot well from behind the arc (4/8), but missed a lot of shots. He had stretches where he took the game over, but his free throw shooting (12/17) simply must be improved. But, 28pts, 5reb, 2blk is A-OK...if you're into that sort of thing. LewJack dished it out well- 5ast, 4pts, 4reb...only one TO. But JJ proved to be too much for the Cats- 22pts (7/9 shooting) and he made his free throws (8/9).

The rebounding was once-again a key- Purdue won the battle on the glass by just one, 30-29...but as you all know, when Purdue out-rebounds their opponent, they win. Also, when Matty's club shoots their free throws well, they usually win too- they nearly hit 75% of them...an important part of the 69-61 victory.

Grant shot poorly...but I'm going to step out in faith and say this wasn't a sign of things to come and look for a more solid performance, offensively, in the semis. He did have a cramp at the end of the game...but didn't look too fatigued, just was a touch off as he had a couple deep shot go in and out. Bade played a solid 10 minutes and showed a touch of what he might become next season...and hit a pair of big free throws. Hart had a few questionable fouls called on him and Smith played some valuable minutes...but man do the good guys need him to hit his threes.

Speaking of cheap fouls, here are the most-noteworthy stats, to me anyway- NU and Purdue combined to shoot 66 frickin' free throws. The two teams combined for 52 fouls. Most of Purdue's starters had 3 fouls very early in the second half. Northwestern had three guys foul out...Purdue had three players end the game with four fouls. This game was ugly...and unlike the MSU game, which was completely the fault of Purdue's poor shooting and ugly play by both Purdue and Sparty, the refs controlled the beauty of this one.

Many say that the best officials are those that you don't notice. If that's the case, these were some of the worst officials I've ever seen. They were obvious on nearly every possession. On one possession by the purple in the early second half, Purdue had three fouls called on them...KG had a great reaction to the third, by Smooge- he put his hands on top of his head as if to ask, "What can we do?" Later, JJ had a technical called for being mouthy...after NU was called for a foul. Makes sense.
This game was almost not basketball. And I don't fault any of the guys on the court with numbers on their backs. Paul Janssen, Curtis Shaw & Dan Chrisman were the story, plain and simple. Congrats for being mentioned, fellas. Print out this post, show it to your kids and Grandkids...and let me never hear your name again. You guys stole money tonight from whomever was foolish-enough to hire you as NCAA/BT officials.

Hats off to Matty and co. for advancing. They'll face either MSU or Minnesota tomorrow afternoon around 4:30.

And for those keeping score at home, Matty and his scrappy, disrespected, 4-loss Boilers win another game in which they had the chance to avenge a loss. I've said it a 100 times, this team is damned-good when they're revenge-minded.

Thanks to the BTN in-studio personalities and the EsPN braintrust for making Purdue, the number 2 seed in the tournament, an underdog v. the Wildcats. And, according to almost everyone, it's a foregone conclusion that Purdue isn't deserving of any more than a 2 seed. From here out, fellas, no one expects you to win, but you. Fight your way to daylight.

What was Michigan thinking?

Why was there no pressure on the inbounds pass? Why were there 3 defenders in the paint with 2 seconds left and a full court to go? Were they expecting Christian Laettner part 2?

Yes it took a great shot by Turner to win the game, but he never ever ever should have been allowed to even sniff the ball.

Big Ten Tournament Prognostication

Since T-Mill was brave enough to share his picks for the BTT over at Hammer and Rails, we figured it's only fair that we fill out a bracket as well. Boilerdowd argued with me a bit on this one, though. First, take a look.

Click to largenize

This is one of the most wide-open BTTs since its inception a dozen years ago. I'd say the only teams with zero shot to win it are IU, Iowa and Michigan. I know Michigan has the horses if they all play well, but they've underachieved the whole season and I don't seem them turning it on now.

While I think Purdue could absolutely win this thing, I just have this feeling they won't. They've had their shaky moments since Rob went down, as well as some very strong moments. So yes, it could totally go either way... I'm just thinking their focus is still on figuring things out without Rob and advancing in the big tourney.

I also think Wisconsin is the smart pick for this tourney. Not because I don't think the Boilers can beat them, because I do. Purdue honestly should be 2-0 against Wisky this year (as usual), but poor FT shooting doomed the Boilers in Madison. I just think Wisconsin is well-coached, talented and kind of under the radar. As T notes in his post, they're the only team to beat all three co-champs. Pretty impressive. (And pretty frustrating, I would think. Beating all three co-champs and finishing as a bridesmaid?)

Boilerdowd's argument with me was that he thinks MSU's fatness (and we know all about fatness) and the fact that they're playing for seeding will mean the Spartans take the BTT seriously -- something they and Coach Izzo don't always seem to do. T-Mill thinks that MSU will lose to PSU, so I guess we'll know right there how seriously MSU is taking this thing and which Purdue site knows how to gauge the BTT.

Truth is, if this thing plays out the way we outline above and Purdue and Wisky meet in the finals, I like Purdue's chances. But picking them to win it when the entire nation seems to think Purdue should simply fold the rest of the season and come back next year would look like being a homer.

Readers, who's winning this thing?

Have The Players Written Off The Final Four?

With everyone passing around the article in the Indy Star today where Smooge and JJ confirm they're most likely coming back next year, one particular quote jumped out at me. It was from JJ and it is:

"That's what it looks like right now for me, coming back to school," Johnson said. "I still have a lot of things to accomplish, a Big Ten championship, a Final Four. There are a lot of things I still want to do in college."

Whoa. My next question would have been, "Have you written off a trip to the Final Four this year?"

Maybe I'm being hypersensitive, but that's what that sounds like. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel. I know some of you are (and that disappoints me greatly), but this season is not over. I know it just got a whole lot harder. But these guys need to believe in themselves and they need all of us to continue to believe in them. Just imagine how a deep tourney run would feel now. Most of the media didn't believe Purdue was legit before Rob's knee injury -- and we all know they're now officially left for dead.

All things considered, I'd rather this happened when it did than, say, in the last game of the Big Ten Tournament or something like that. This week provides two of the Big Ten's crappiest teams to try things out on and work on new schemes. The Big Ten Tourney is pretty meaningless, honestly, and so there's another couple of games to work on things. And then, assuming you maintain a 2-seed for the big tourney (as Leprechaun Lunardi currently projects), you play a 15 seed to start that off.

If Matty and the boys can't figure out a decent formula to win with the talent that remains healthy in those five games, then there might be a deeper problem.

Keep the faith. It is not effing over.

Changing the Trajectory

Winning is Fun

Purdue's regular season ended poorly because of poor effort and lousy shooting. For the second-straight game, Purdue left those things in the past and nearly put their opponent away in the first half.

Purdue looked like the team that the media predicted to win the Big Ten once again on Saturday afternoon...and as a result, might still make the prognosticators right.

Purdue avenged earlier painful losses to Painter's old boss and reminded fans why Robbie Hummel would have been player of the year had he been healthy. When the Ostrich is in rhythm, no one in the nation is a better three-point shooter. JJ displayed his complete game scoring 20 points, blocking 3 shots and changing the complexion of the way Illinois played offense. Plus, he forced his Illini counterpart, Tisdale to foul out with 6:00 left in the game. Kramer and Grant shut down McCamey for 0 points in an effort that resembled that of Steve Curry in the very same building back in December.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Purdue's offense looks as good as it has in '09, and the defense has been enough to carry them to a championship ...Tomorrow at 3:30 v. aOSU, Purdue can revive a season that was all-but-dead just a week ago...and possibly play their way into a 3 or 4 seed while breaking the painful streak of never winning a post-season BT title.
Purdue faces a girl, a porn star and a very handsome, and skilled coach for a sizable amount of marbles.

Avengeful Afternoon?

Boilers looking to jump past Illini and exact, at least, a bit of revenge...Comment here, if you need to vent; positively or negatively.

Rubber Match...and other notes

I feel this way about our Boilers- they don't fear anybody...almost to a fault. With the exception of Duke this season, no team has been able to intimidate Purdue...and when Purdue plays teams that have previously beaten them, they seem to play harder, more aggressively and generally more-focused (read as except Illinois).

So, when Purdue soundly-beat PSU after losing in Happy Valley, I wasn't surprised- so how will this evening's contest go? My thought is this- Purdue, in spite of backing into the tournaments, in spite of playing with great lethargy is in a quite-enviable position. There are no expectations on our Boilers, very few teams fear Purdue, and everyone's healthy. Plus, I've always liked Matt Painter as a motivator against teams that have beaten his teams (except Illinois)...He seems to know the buttons to push to motivate his young squad into pissing them off enough that they play with a chip on their shoulder.

My brother and I have both coached some grade school and high school basketball. We always like to think about what we'd do to prepare a team in a similar situation. If I was in Matty's shoes, here's what I'd do- Tell the world how great this team is...Pull a Lou Holtz, "No one can guard Talor Battle, Pringle is the 2 in the nation, Cornley is a brutal force that is unstoppable..." etc.

But in the locker room, I might say things differently. I'd first show them the score of the game in Happy Valley saying, "If you don't respect them and play well, you're capable of losing to these guys..." But I'd follow it up by saying, "But, you're better than they are. If you guys play hard, know your roles and play team basketball, this opponent simply will not beat you. Let's remind everybody who we are."

But, I'm not the coach, I'm just a dude who cares too much about Purdue basketball and gets paid nothing to do it...I'm looking forward to watching the game on BTN tonight at 9:00, but would gladly go with someone if they want to give me tickets!!

NYC
If you were watching the 'Cuse/UConn game last night in the second half, I'm pretty sure you were like me and couldn't stop watching it. The simple fact that it was so back-and-fourth and the Orange(men) were about .05 seconds too late on an improbable last-second shot made it tough to turn away from. But, one of the most interesting parts of the game was the fact that no one in MSG seemed to be enjoying themselves except the EsPN crew. Fans, coaches and players all seemed to be in pain...Granted, the players were probably cramping up and felt lead-footed as the extra stanza repeated 6 times, but the crumudgeon Calhoun and whiny Boeheim really didn't help their players outlook with their body language. It was astounding to me how Flynn, who played 67 minutes still seemed to have spring in his step, even in the closing seconds.

I remember this one time, back when I wasn't fat and was young, I ran for 67 seconds...those were the days.

Greatest Game?
The greatest game is a completely-subjective moniker thrown around too often, but last night's contest would definitely be in the discussion of many college basketball fans. That said, part of what makes a game great is when it happens, where it happens and versus whom.

I started thinking about what some of Purdue's greatest games were. The first one that popped in my mind was in Ass Hall when Chad Austin shot a dagger into the heart of Knight's Hoosiers in OT...but one of my favorites was Purdue v. Illinois in Champaign in 1986 (I believe). Doug Lee kept Purdue alive in regulation and ended up winning the game improbably in double OT. It's memorable to me because I was in 6th grade...and in spite of the game ending so late, my Dad let me stay up and watch it with he and my older brother.

So, in your opinion, what's the greatest Purdue basketball game...or greatest basketball game you've ever seen?

Big Ten Tourney...First Day

Alright, alright...so it looks like I'm going to go 1-2 for the first day of the BT tourney. That doesn't mean I'm not the smartest guy you know.

Stupid IU with your lousy players and spastic coach- I deserve to have a bad BT tournament for believing in you.

And Coach Licklichter- Please dress more than 4 players in future tourney visits.

J's buddy likes Boilers...

Not sure if this is a good thing...in fact, it's probably not, but the IU Star's Terry Hutchens likes Purdue in the BT tourney.

Hope he's right.

Big Ten Tourney Guessing

Here's the way I think it could go...Not too bad for our Boilers- Beat IU a second time, avenge getting swept by the Illini. Thoughts?