What's Next?

JJ towers above his peers**

Last night Matty and Co. cleaned up on BT Awards Night.

Of course JJ and Smooge were named as members of the All-Conference squads by both the media and the coaches, and Painter was given the COY Honors for the second-straight season. But there were some surprises.

The hotly-contested POY race between JJ, Sullinger and Taylor went to Johnson. I think everyone could see validity in any of these guys getting the award...but Purdue's #25 swept the coach's and media's polls. I was a bit surprised at that- I thought the coaches would give it to JJ and Sullinger would receive the media award since he's been a national media favorite since he got on campus in Columbus...and rightfully-so. But, the guys that cover the BT, night-in, night-out thought the Indianapolis native and late-bloomer JaJuan Johnson was the right guy for the honor.

I think that's a tip of the cap to his consistency and his ability to simply carry Purdue as other players grew into their roles and Moore slumped a bit. It also might be a bit of appreciation by the media for the four-year player. Regardless, he's a good pick, a good representative of Purdue, as is Moore.

Atop the POY award, JJ was named the Defensive player of the year...and this surprised me as much as no Purdue backcourt player being on the All-Defense team. Moore and LewJack were drum-tight all season...but Craft and Lighty are just as good of a tandem, if not better...and there are only so many spots on these squads.

LewJack's ability to change the pace of a game didn't go completely unnoticed though. He named as an Honorable Mention All-Conference player. If Wisconsin's Taylor decides to go pro (which I don't think he'll do), and Jackson continues to mature and improve, he might be a first or second-team All-BT guy in '12. If his work ethic has anything to say about it, he'll get more recognition next season. Not bad for a guy that some Purdue fans simply didn't appreciate for the first few seasons on campus. I think now, even the biggest Jackson-doubter would admit he's as important as JJ or Smooge to this team.

Painter receiving the coach of the year award didn't surprise me. What did was the gnashing of teeth and tearing of robes by aOSU fans demanding a recount and pleading for their guy to get the nod. Anything less than a BT Championship from that talent-laden squad would have earned him the worst Coach of the Year award from me...but hats off to him for going away from the zone defense. Why he didn't do it sooner is still a head scratcher for me. Let's keep in mind they have four sure-fire NBA players on the team (Sullinger, Lighty, Buford, Diebler) who will be in the league, three more who have a good chance of playing in the league (Lauderdale and Thomas) and a guy who, regardless of what he does as a pro, will be an All-Conference player year-in, year-out for the remainder of his time on campus.

Hats off to Matta for building one of the best rosters in the nation and managing them brilliantly. His reward is a #1 ranking and #1 seed- I think Painter would gladly trade his award for that position...but, I don't think he'd trade Purdue's roster for anyone's right now. The two are made for eachother.

I've resigned myself to the fact that JJ is merely an also-ran in the National Player of the Year Awards as Fredette or Smith seem to be the two in that race at this point. And the same goes for Matty as Lavin, Fisher and Brey have done a tremendous job capturing the hearts and minds of the masses during this season. If I were to pick outside of this year's Purdue family, I think Fredette and Lavin would both be excellent choices. You can't really argue with Fredette's numbers or Lavin's turn-around. But, all Purdue fans remember October well and can't forget the 20+ drop in ranking position after Hummel was re-injured. The yo-yo effect of our Boilers being bounced down and then clawing their way back up has to be worth something...and maybe we've already seen that.

In some ways, getting this crap out of the way now is a very good thing. Honestly, I didn't like seeing and hearing Purdue's players and coaches commenting on the awards they had earned. My thought was all the back-slapping might have deter them from focusing on the 're-teaching', as Painter called it, of the defensive principles that were seemingly-forgotten prior to the Iowa contest. Regardless, we know this team is resilient and hope they have their best focus of the year in the coming few weeks.

Let's all be honest for a second. As much as it pains me to say this, the media has been generally-fair to Purdue in '11*. The Forces of Good have been getting love from lots of national outlets...but they earned this respect by tearing holes in their competition in the month of February and doing so in dramatic, noteworthy fashion. Who knows what we'd be talking about today had Painter and Co. not wet the bed in Iowa City...but what-ifs are unprovable. No one can argue with results. A win, is a win, is a win...especially in the tournament format. Our Boilers have a tremendous opportunity to move the program forward and make thunderously-loud statements to the nation about the state of this program.

Back in late January, we were hopeful and optimistic. Now in March, Purdue fans should be confident and excited. This team has a chance (to quote Matty) to be 'special'. Awards are nice, but are really a bi-product of success. As this team and the coaches have said all along, championships are the end goal.

*Even Davis & Goodman have chimed in lately...I credit a ground-swell campaign by Purdue fans via Twitter for helping them see the light.

**Credit SI & Andrew Hancock for the tremendous photo

BS Big Ten Awards

With the regular season drawing to a fitting close in Columbus last night, it's now time to hand out post-season awards. And as athletes everywhere know, no honor is more prestigious, more respected, than that which is bestowed upon him by the staff of Boiled Sports. Here we go.

1st Team All-Big Ten

JaJuan Johnson

Jared Sullinger

Jordan Taylor

E'Twaun Moore

Jon Leuer

2nd Team All-Big Ten

Talor Battle

Demetri McCamey

David Lighty

Jon Diebler

Christian Watford

Defensive POY

Aaron Craft

I don't like the guy a whole bunch...but isn't that the point? While no one doubts the defensive prowess of his teammate David Lighty, Craft's active hands, quick feet and annoying persona make him the ideal replacement for Chris Kramer at this spot.

POY

JaJuan Johnson

JJ's consistency and his ability to carry Purdue when no one else was stepping up was Herculean. Sure Moore has been great, but Moore had his worst stretch of his career in '11...and comparatively, Sullinger's supporting cast is filled with future (and current) pros.

COY

I think Painter absolutely killed himself in the eyes of the media on Saturday in Iowa City...but it's pretty difficult to ignore what he did with this team. They were picked to finish 4th or 5th in the conference by most in the national media and hover in the high-teens in the polls. Instead, Purdue was in the top-10 for large chunks of the season, and Painter's defensive system sprouted into a formidable offense this season.

Letdown Player(s) of the Year

This one is a three-way tie- Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis. Coming into the season, these three struck fear into most of the league. By the end of the season, they had rolled over more than the stars of the Westminster Dog Show and showed hardly any leadership in the process. This trio is still talented...and all three might still play in the NBA...that's what has to be so tough to swallow for the Illini faithful.

Players to Watch in '12

-Tim Hardaway Jr. ended his season very strong as the light seemingly went on about midway through the season. His supporting cast all returns as the Wolverines have literally no graduating players on the roster. Beilein's team should be at or near the top of the conference next season, and Hardaway will surely be part of the reason why.

-If William Bufford decides to return to aOSU, he'll be without Lighty, Diebler and Sullinger...plus, for the first time in a while, Matta won't have a guy on the roster who's supposed to be an instant-impact Freshman. Buford has been consistently graded well by scouts as a player that can play on the next level. Next season will be the year for him to show it a bit more.

-Rob Hummel's ability to get his game back to a high level is of utmost importance for Painter next season. It's tough to come back from one torn ACL, I'd think it'd be more-difficult to come back from two. That said, I think the biggest mistake his competition could make would be to discount his talent and importance to his team.

-From what I hear from my pals in Bloomington, Cody Zeller is seated at the right hand of our Lord...and being at such a place comes with expectation. He'll be the second-highest ranked recruit to enter the BT in '12...the question is how much difference will he mean to Tom Crean and Co?

Boilers Get On Wisconsin; Refuse To Get Off

Jon Leuer anxiously hopes the Boilers don't grab the wrong one.

Purdue did what they're "supposed" to do in order to make analysts happy and beat a quality team, the tenth-ranked Badgers, 70-62 in Mackey tonight. Of course, some will minimize the impact of the win because:

A) It happened on Purdue's home court.
B) Wisconsin suffered a letdown after beating OSU.
C) Analysts are wankers.

Make no mistake, tonight's win was a big one, and is yet another sign that this team is coming together. They still have their moments where they slip or make some poor decisions on shot selection, but by and large they're good enough to overcome those lapses. Wisconsin is a solid opponent and one who just beat the #1 (and undefeated) team in the nation a few days ago.

However, Purdue quite simply owns Wisconsin in Mackey, as the Badghuhs are now 2-37 all time in our favorite gym. JJ and E'Twaun wind up 6-2 against Wisconsin, including 4-0 at Mackey.

I'd have to find a literate Wisconsin fan to find out if this is true or not, but I get the sense that Bo Ryan does not have confidence coming into West Lafayette. He seemed far less animated than usual, his pregame interview seemed very much of the opinion that they'd need a lot of breaks to beat Purdue, etc. Is it possible Matty, the evil genius, is in the Grinch's head?

I have a special dark place in my heart for Wisconsin fans, mainly because they're among the most obnoxious I've ever come across in any sport at any level. They're kind of a dark horse in that category, much like their football and basketball teams often are. You don't think of them immediately -- unless you've dealt with them a bunch. And I know I'm not alone in this. Many people I've talked to agree that Wisky fans are among the toughest to deal with. So I guess what I'm saying is that I always enjoy it a bit more when Purdue puts a boot on Wisconsin's throat.

Clean play!

As for tonight's game, Wisconsin employed their usual goonish tactics, clutching and grabbing like Boilerdowd at a spring formal in 1995. The officials were once again awful, sometimes calling fouls tightly while other times allowing guys to scrambling over one another after loose balls like an on-sides kick in the fall (in that other sport).

This was also the first time this season that anyone broke 70 points on Wisconsin. Pretty impressive, both that they're managed that and that Purdue accomplished it while being tackled. It also illustrates why Bo Ryan's teams win. When you lock teams down in the 50s and 60s, you always have a chance. And as B-Dowd said on the Handsome Hour last week, the old Wisconsin formula of good point guard play plus a bunch of goons leads to wins in the Big Ten, year after year.

Bret Bielema likes the form on that tackle!

As we continue to wind down the careers of JJ and Smooge (hard as that is to believe), the boys continue to play well and lead. JaJuan continues to put up numbers and efforts worthy of Big Ten player of the year status, and honestly of national player of the year consideration. Tonight was yet another outstanding effort, with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and two steals. Oh, hey, did you know he leads the conference in blocked shots? No? Oh, maybe because nobody says it. The guy is a complete player and knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers like Seth Davis need to watch more than three-year-old game tape, or whatever he bases his worthless opinions on. Yes, I'm pissed. JaJuan is putting up an incredible season and he's leading this team in ways a guy who goes on to the next level should.

Whenever Purdue needed a rebound, he got it. Whenever a bucket was needed, as in so many other games this year, there was JJ, either knocking it down or cleaning up the glass and laying in a needed basket.

Smooge got in on the act, too, scoring 19, with none more critical than his late three to put the Boilers back up 7 after Wisconsin had closed a 13 point gap to 4. I had hoped the seniors would come through in those final minutes and they did.

Another guy who came through yet again was the man Gus Johnson was calling "Little Louie," which, sorry Gus, we do not approve of. He's LewJack. Get used to it. He'll be perhaps the best PG in the Big Ten next year. Lew scored 18 tonight, including layups over guys a foot taller, a big three, and five assists...with zero turnovers. One of the dimes was a no-look to E'Twaun who hammered down a dunk over one of the Wisconsin farm boys in his path. Hammer down, indeed.

So tell me, doubters... where will the points come from? How will they get by with only two senior leaders who will be all-Big Ten? Who will step up to put in points when needed? You know, other than LewJack, Ryne, DJ, Terone, Hart....besides all them. WHO?? Oh, right.

One thing I did not like tonight was, again, Purdue's inability to fire the kill shot. I thought when they had a ten point lead at 48-38 and there was a timeout....and then immediately after the TO, the Boilers hit a three to go up 13, that was it. It was a little over ten minutes to go in the game and it looked over at 51-38. However, Wisconsin has shown many times that they're not concerned with being able to come back, and they did their thing, whittling it down to four points. Fortunately, though, the honkeys weren't able to hit the big shots in the end, with that doof Bruesewitz firing away. Sure, he hit a big one against OSU, but he's 15 of 43 on the year from behind the arc. Keep firing away, pal. I especially like the ones that make the rim reverberate so loudly we can hear it over the crowd.

In the end, the Boilers withstood the comeback and, really, there is no shame in having the #10 team in the nation give you a game. The truth is, the Boilers took the lead early in the first half and never gave it back. And hey, let's be honest, there are some teams in the Big Ten whose students would riot on campus if they beat the #10 team in the country. For the Boilers, it was simply a win they had to have as they continued their slow march towards...well..March.

So often, teams get caught looking ahead. It would have been very easy to be thinking about the rematch with Ohio State on Sunday. But this team is focused and that remains one of Coach Matty's strengths -- keeping their minds on the task at hand. I like that trait in a team.

The Boilers are now two games behind Ohio State with five games to go. The Bucks come to Mackey on Sunday, for Smooge and JJ's second-to-last home game.

It's time to play hard.

Good Guys Finishing First (team & second...and honorable mention)

"Are you flippin' serious? No JJ on the first team?!?"

I'm not a glass is half-empty guy...but how JJ was kept off of the A-BT first team is beyond me. No matter. It's pretty awesome to see so many Purdue guys gaining hardware for their trophy cases.

All Big Ten First Team
Ostrich
Smooge

All Big Ten Second Team
JJ

All Big Ten Honorable Mention
CK3

BT Defensive Player of the Year
CK3

All Freshman Team
Kelsey Barlow

Coach of the Year
Matty Painter

Purdue should strive for nothing less than the entire starting five from our beloved Boilers being the All-BT first team squad...Mr. Jackson & Mr. Johnson, we'll be holding your table.