Matt Painter, Evil Genius? Boilers Win, 68-61

"Wait, I thought they fired Weber."

No means no, Illini seniors!

They'll have one more shot to beat the Boilermakers in their college careers in February, but on this night, the Purdue Boilermakers looked like they grew up a bit and that perhaps the angst of the pre-con might have been worth it just a bit.

Purdue hung with the 11th-ranked Fighting Illini in the first half, shaking off some of Illinois' best punches and keeping the game close. DJ Byrd even had an open look at a transition three in the final seconds of the first half that would have given the Boilers a lead, but the 33-31 halftime score was still an improvement for a team that has struggled to compete with even moderate competition this season.

I might argue that Illinois was a bit of a soft 13-1, but a nearly top ten team is what its record says it is. Hey, until Big Ten play starts anyway, and then they turn back into Bruce Weber's team that lost 12 of 14 to conference foes to end last season.

We, like many of you, were a bit downtrodden about how this season had gone so far for our Boilers. However, one thing that we also pointed out at times was that this program was due for some serious bumps in the road and some youth. With youth and inexperience comes mistakes and growing pains. And those pains have showed this year. That said, we also felt like this is where you give Matt Painter the benefit of the doubt that he has earned and see what he can mold this very young squad into -- and how long it takes him to mold them. Whether this season turns into a pleasant surprise or not, tonight showed that, as Monty Python might say, they're not dead yet.

Speaking of those for whom reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated, DJ Byrd rose from the ashes of a rocky start to do what we all need him to do -- be a senior leader. Perhaps DJ finally allowed himself to stop feeling the pressure to be Robbie Hummel or a big-time scorer or whatever. But tonight he began hitting clutch shots again, making the plays you need from a senior, and just illustrating to everyone else what kind of hustle is needed to win games in the Big Ten season. DJ had 15 points on 5/11 shooting, including 4/9 from three. He only got to the line once, but it was YOOOOGE, as it effectively sealed the win after a late score while being nearly tackled as the Illini tried in vain to keep him from making a bucket.

Of course, the play that made everyone fall in love with the Byrdman again was his hustling, sliding time out call with just over 20 seconds to go. Jacob Lawson -- who had just nearly been clotheslined by what should have been called an intentional or flagrant foul (and Bo Boroski was there, so you know...) -- missed both his free throws, and on the second one, DJ Byrd chased it towards the corner and, while sliding on both knees, grabbed it just as he slid to a stop, called timeout and then toppled out of bounds.

Let's just clear up something here about the naysayers on twitter and elsewhere claiming that wasn't a legit timeout -- it was. The ones they did away with were the nonsense ones where a guy is literally in the air flying out of bounds and calls timeout. This was not that. Watch it again if you need to. It may be only a partial second, but DJ grabs the ball, turns and calls time, all while teetering and then falling on his side. He was grounded and was not in the air. I won't argue with you that it was close -- but it was definitely one you could term a judgement call for the official and this time DJ got the benefit of the judgment. I'd say he deserved one.

Terone Johnson had himself really a player-of-the-game kind of night, with a career-high 25 points, plus 9 rebounds. Terone continues to be the go-to scoring guy and is turning more and more into the reliable, consistent fill-it-up guy. He reminds me a lot of E'Twaun in that sense that most of his scoring isn't all that memorable, but then you look at the scoresheet and there he is -- everywhere. Quiet confidence with a salty side. Yet another likable Boilermaker.

Jacob Lawson was the third Boiler in double-digits, with ten points in 22 minutes. He was 3/5 from the field, including a couple of rattling dunks, and 4/6 from the line, which would be good except he missed two critical ones that are only forgotten now because of DJ's manly play. Lawson also had seven rebounds and we at BS have always been fans of his -- good to see him not only starting, but getting serious minutes at crunch time.

I remember not long ago -- and on the JJ/E'Twaun teams -- how we would lament the Boilermakers' complete inability to rebound, despite some size and athleticism. Now here we are and one of Purdue's strengths is rebounding, as they're 21st in the nation, averaging over 40 boards a night. Tonight was no different, as they outrebounded the Illini, 38-31.

Tonight, the Boilers outrebounded their opponent, hung with them at the line (63% for Purdue, 64% for Illinois), and shot better than them from the field (41% to 36%). That's a formula I like. The Boilers also had only ten turnovers to Illinois' nine, but I will say it felt as though all ten of the Boilers' were in the final two minutes.

One more thought about winning these tough games -- good teams fight back and find ways to win and bad teams often find ways to fold down the stretch, as we've seen from Purdue earlier this season (and at times early last year). Winning these games takes more than just spurts of playing well and a few rebounds. The Boilers pushed their lead out to ten (61-51) with two and a half minutes to go and then the Illini responded with back to back threes to make it just a four point game. The Boilers had some sloppy play in there, including a couple of turnovers and a shot clock violation, but then they bore down and ground out a prototypical Matt Painter/Purdue Big Ten victory. I would love to see blowouts and not these kinds of nail-biters, but it's just rarely the way in this conference and for this team. For tonight anyway, it felt like our Boilers were back on track. Let's hope it continues.

1-0.

Choo-choo, muthas.

Growing up?

Boilers-Illini Predicto: The 95 Cent Edition

Chillin'

As recently as Thursday morning, end zone tickets for tomorrow's heavyweight tilt between Purdue and Illinois could be had for as little as $.95 per ticket. Note the decimal point -- that's 95 cents. Which puts it at the same popularity level as actual heavyweight fighting. Hey-yoo!

Purdue and Illinois get into a slap fight tomorrow at 3:30 on the Big Ten Network. Why 3:30? Who knows? I guess we should just be happy the BTN hasn't decided to record the game and show it at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning.

After a win to sorta, kinda save what's left of their train wreck of the season, what happens this week for our Boilers? It's time to find out. 

So put in a nice dip o' chaw, pull up a chair, and get some predicto.

SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: THIS FOOTBALL GAME MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. DO NOT OPERATE HEAVY MACHINERY WHILE USING/WATCHING/LISTENING.

zlionsfan says:

Saturday, Purdue will find a kindred spirit in an Illinois team that has spent the entire season preventing the Boilers from finding the bottom of the East. Like Purdue, they beat the clearly-weaker teams on their non-conference schedule and lost their other games (the loss to Louisiana Tech looked bad in September; with the Bulldogs in the top 20 and having just one loss, to Texas A&M, Illinois' loss to them doesn't look so bad now). Like Purdue, they stunk up the joint in conference play, except they didn't get to play Iowa, so the Illini are still searching for their first conference victory.

And unlike Purdue, Illinois is doing this with a new coach. Halfway through the 2011 season, Illinois was 6-0 and looking great ... but they dropped their next six and got Ron Zook fired. In a move that Morgan Burke would approve, the Illini hired Toledo coach Tim Beckman, even though Beckman had only three years of experience at Toledo, his only time as head coach, and had only four years of assistant experience at power-conference schools before that. The move was something of a gamble ... and so far, it has not paid off at all. By either standard stats or advanced metrics, this Illini team would struggle in the MAC, never mind the Big Ten. Their offense and special teams are better suited to a weak Sun Belt team; averaging less than 17 points per game, the Illini are 118th of 120 I-A teams, and of the four new to that level, three of those also outscore Illinois. (The fourth is UMass, a new MAC team with DII-caliber talent.)

The latest chapter of the Beckman Experience posted just 3 points against a rebuilding Minnesota squad; that performance has at least one writer calling for a new coach. (Beckman's comments in that article should sound familiar to Purdue fans.) I don't believe Illinois would cut a coach loose after just one season, but a bad performance in Champaign might turn up the heat. The September Purdue squad would induce that kind of Illini performance; the October team would pull Beckman out of the frying pan and drop Hope in the fire.

Which team do I think will show up? The November team that squeaked by - but still beat - OMHR in Iowa City.

Purdue 21
Illinois 16

J says:

Not amused.

Sure, why not? The Boilers -- after looking utterly hapless and finished -- go into a place they haven't won at in two decades and win. And they don't just win, they win despite losing the turnover battle, 3-0 and allowing one of those turnovers to be returned for a TD. How many bad teams win road games when those things happen? In all seriousness, not many. Does that mean Purdue actually is good, after all? No, it does not.

The Boilers have absolutely no excuse to not win this game in Champagne handily. They need the win to keep bowl hopes alive. They need it to keep their coach employed (if he has any chance at all). And they're a far superior team, which says a lot considering they're not very good. Does any of this give me confidence? Of course not. It's still a conference road game, too, and they're never gimmes (unless you're Wisconsin in West Lafayette).

In the end, though, I've been pretty correct this year going with my gut. It looks like Marve will continue to play the majority of the snaps and if the play calling is at all clever, Purdue should win this one without trouble.

Boilermakers 31
Illini 16

Boilerdowd says:

We talked about this during the Handsome Hour: Illinois is not a good team...their stats show it, their record shows it...and if you're into that sort of thing, their body language shows it.  Guys clad in orange and navy who have played well in previous seasons can't find production.  The Zook magic left with him.

I kid, but what we know is it takes a season or two to implement a system.  That's especially true when the predecessor is so different from the current coach.

Purdue should be motivated as the Seniors see the end of their careers within sight.  Marve, Shavers, Short, Johnson and co. should all play like men possessed; I'm counting on it.

Boilers roll and keep their post-season hopes alive.

Purdue 35
Illinois 20

Boilers Move To 2-0 In Conference By Krushing Orange

**Post updated at 10:45 PM ET**

The Boilers put on an impressive performance today to move to 2-0 in conference with a 75-60 victory over Illinois in a game that honestly wasn't even that close.

The Boilers trailed 23-15 with five minutes to go in the first half and I was definitely getting a bit concerned. However, a 37-6 howitzer blast of a run by the good guys swelled the lead to 23 (52-29) and that, coupled with the Illini's body language, showed this one was over.

I personally was pleased with this one for a number of reasons. Purdue lost two of the best players they've had in their stable in many years -- two of them -- and have still come out of the gate strong, to the tune of a 12-3 (2-0) start. And we also must remember -- not like you could forget -- that the Boilers' losses have all been games they had every right to win, if only they could have closed them out. It's not like this team has been outclassed in any contest.

In this game, Purdue only had two guys get into double digits, with Barlow netting a tidy 14, including 5/7 from the line, and Ryne Smith tallying 12, all from beyond the arc on 80% three-point shooting (4/5). Ryne also had four rebounds, an assist and two steals. I also loved Smith's hustle in this game, as he gave up his body a number of times and played some strong help defense under the basket, committing a foul to stop a slam -- I like that.

Elsewhere, LewJack had a quiet but important eight points on 67% FG shooting (2/3) and 80% FT shooting (4/5), as well as six rebounds and two dimes. He also only played 19 minutes and I think this was part of the concerted effort b-dowd mentioned in his last write-up to keep Jackson fresh. Once the Boilers were up big, why not give the younger guys some heavy minutes? It's never too early to think about next year, when convenient.

To that end, Terone and Travis Carroll both had 21 minutes off the bench, and scored nine and seven, respectively. AJ and DJ both played 18 minutes in relief and had seven and nine points, respectively.

Electric slide tonight for NYE?

Rob Hummel had his quietest game of the season, finishing with only five points in 22 minutes, but also with five rebounds and three assists. Lawson was incredibly quiet in another start, but on the plus side, he did commit only two fouls rather than his customary four.

John Hart only played nine minutes but most came in the first half and I liked what I saw out of John. I also liked seeing him get important, first half minutes. I'm not sure if that will continue, obviously, but as I said, I thought it was good to see as John continues to try to find his role within this team.

The reason I liked this win was because Purdue showed moxie. Just like the downhill direction can be contagious for a basketball team (like looking over your shoulder expecting to blow big leads when it happens a few times), I also think confidence can be just as, if not more, contagious. The Boilers, as mentioned, were down late in the first half before using a mini-surge to take a narrow halftime lead. They then came out and ballooned the lead into the 20s -- but with 12 minutes remaining. More than enough time to blow it, if you were worried they were inclined to do that.

But the boys in black and gold (and white and whatever gold that was) didn't fold and kept the Illini at a comfortable distance the rest of the way. I'll admit, the earlier flops this season make me a little gunshy as the lead went back under 20 and then down to 17.... but the Boilers held firm and looked confident doing so.

Hey, the best our boys could be right now in Big Ten play is 2-0 and they are just that -- which is a lot better than 0-2.

The alums who comprised the Paint Crew tonight while the students are on break did a good job and included the handsome Travis from H&R.Well done, old people.

On Senior Night, JJ and E'Twaun Do What They Do: Win 75-67

Thank you.

The game almost felt secondary tonight, as the Boiler faithful sent off 33 and 25 with many resounding Mackey cheers, as thanks for four years of dedication and hard work. Once again, the place was clearly deafening even through the TV broadcast. Let's say that first, everyone: great work again, especially the Paint Crew who always brings it.

As is always a concern on a night like this, the home team fell behind. However, it wasn't really that Purdue was playing poorly -- Illinois was just shooting the lights out and playing like the team we all thought they were capable of bring this season. Of course, that only lasted about ten minutes and then they reverted to the Illinois who resides on the bubble.

The Illini rode that hot early shooting to a 13 point advantage of 31-18. From then on, the Boilermakers ground them into dust, outscoring Illinois 57-36 the rest of the way. Yeah, that's a little more like it.

The forces of good showed again how this team just might be a little different than some of the others over the years. There has -- as of yet -- been no terrible letdowns. Beating Wisconsin was followed by a convincing win over OSU which was follwed by the requisite beatdown of IU which was followed by a senior night victory over Illinois. Assuming they can close the deal against the lowly Hawkeyes this weekend, this will end one of the best regular season stretches we've ever seen from Purdue, and that includes some pretty great seasons.

As for the game itself tonight, the scoring leaders were -- who else? -- JJ and E'Twaun, who had 23 and 18, respectively. They combined for over 50% from the field, 4 of 9 from three, seven assists, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Two performances indictative of the seasons these fine young men have had. Both Smooge's steals resulted in breakaways; one ended with a one-handed jam and the other with an "and 1" three-point play.

Kelsey Barlow effectively got under McCamey's thin skin tonight, as well, and though McCamey's numbers wound up pretty good (18 points on 50% shooting) it's tempered by the fact that most of his damage was done early in the game.

Ryne Smith chipped in 8 points and 9 big rebounds, not to mention a level of hyperness I haven't seen out of him this year. He was bouncing around, flailing his arms, playing to the crowd...Ryno was having some fun. And I love it. It looks to me like this guy is ready to be a senior.

Lewis Jackson had a fairly quiet night but as has been the habit of this team, the mythical "third scorer" baton was passed again -- this time to DJ Byrd. DJ hit three treys and scored 16 points, to go along with his seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. Not a bad all-around game from a guy who when he plays his next game in Mackey will only be a junior.

Matty shortened the bench considerably tonight, with only eight guys seeing the floor. I don't know if this was just an anomaly or a sign of how things will tighten up as we head into March basketball.

Senior night was perfect for the seniors themselves, as JaJuan had another game that typifies his season this year, as well as a beautiful monster jam off a feed from DJ Byrd. It reminded one of so many jams that made us talk about what a manchild JJ was.

And Smooge had his jam on the breakaway (not bad for an "unathletic" guy), but more a propos of his time in black and gold was his final basket of the night, a triple with two guys in his face and under a minute to go, the shot clock down to 4 seconds and the Boilers leading 69-64. Naturally, it rattled home as the sniper hit his target.

I can only imagine how great it was to be in the house tonight. This team loves one another and it is very obvious. They want to succeed together and they want to celebrate those successes with one another. We've seen a lot of Purdue teams and at the moment it's hard to think of one that is more cohesive than this one. A lot of that is probably because of Matt Painter, but a lot also has to do with the character of these young men.

As much as the guys are enjoying the ride, one thing that remains very clear as you watch this team is that each of these victories, milestones, steps and celebrations are all seemingly part of the journey... the mission continues.

Boilers Play Another Partial Good Game; Is Enough to Beat Illini, 81-70

For the first time in nearly six weeks, the Boilers won a road game as they took down the spastic Illini, 81-70 in Assembly Hall. Purdue is now 5-4 in true road games, which really isn't that great...but it's good enough to be in as good a position as they could really ask for, given all that has happened this year.

Things didn't start out well... but they started out predictably for this team, as the Boilers looked slow and unsure in the first half, shooting a sizzling 29% (to Illinois' 50%) in the first half. And if things were reversed, I would have been concerned. That is, if you're playing a team and you outshoot them as Illinois did in the first half, but only lead by 5...well, that's not good.

Purdue then came out and doubled their first half effort, pouring in 54 points to take this one rather comfortably. JJ had 24 and 9, Smooge had 20 and LewJack chipped in ten points and five dimes. This was actually a pretty good all-around effort from the Boilers, as a lot of guys hit important shots, especially during Purdue's comeback in the second half. Clutch threes from Terone Johnson and Ryne Smith made sure the Illini paid for focusing on the "two-man team" so many think Purdue is. Of course, when you're facing a one-man team and that one man is the undisciplined Demetri McCamey, things will tend to go your way.

JJ truly was putting together his NBA highlight reel in this game. He showed all parts of his game (aside from his new three-point prowess), with soaring dunks, soft-touch fall-aways, athletic blocks, crisp passing, intuitive movement without the ball and aggressive rebounding. On that last one, Purdue outrebounded the Illini by 12, which makes the game so much easier to win when you're not shooting well.

No, Illinois is not a good team right now. However, this was not a cakewalk and they have some talent (despite my McCamey joke earlier). Purdue won a true road test and they did it while shooting poorly for an entire half. That, my friends, is what you need to do in order to win games in a single-elimination tournament. Guys need to chip in...and chip away. E'Twaun did not have a great game, yet there he is finishing with 20 points because he got to the line 12 times.

Purdue also kept their composure while Illinois did not. B-Dowd has talked about this a bit this season, but Weber has not done a good job. This was a top 15 team according to most at the outset of the season, but now they're probably a bubble team...if that. He has a lot of talent but he clearly does not have control of the team, nor are they listening. Case in point, when Purdue had a seven point lead with about four minutes left, the Illini call a timeout and then immediately come out looking for a three... to the point where they forced one and it was an airball. Down seven and you're that desperate? Makes no sense.

McCamey, by the way, finished with 4 points on 10% shooting (though he did have five steals and four assists). I guess he must have been yet another opponent who had an off-day. Rather than, you know, Purdue's defense having something to do with it.

"Shh! I said you'd get a few calls, Bruce. A few!"

Overall, this was a good win for Purdue, if for nothing else than it shows them they can win on the road and it keeps the Big Ten race close. I realize we'd more or less conceded things to OSU already...but Purdue is now two games back with OSU coming to Mackey. Yes, it's still okay to dream, as Purdue's remaining road schedule is @IU, @MSU and @Iowa. Those are truly winnable games right now.

The Boilers need to keep focused and stay healthy. And who knows... things might just get crazy.

Demtrius McCamey Spotted In a Different Court

He was in Judge Mathis' court, fool!

Hey, what would YOU do in Chicago?

Zooker!!

Yesterday, following the Illini's loss at Ross Ade, Ron Zook received the dreaded vote of confidence from his AD. Something to ponder:

While Zook's team did win 10 games two season's ago and earned a Rose Bowl bid, his teams at Illinois have left plenty to be desired. His record at Illinois is a dreadful 19-36. If my math is correct, that's an average of 3 wins/season in every year other than the fluke (?) Rose Bowl run.

Any Illini fans have an opinion on this?

BS Capsule Previews: Illinois Fighting Illini

Over the next few weeks, we'll be providing a quick-hit, uninformed, uneducated, poorly-researched capsule preview of each Big Ten football team (you know, kind of like typical reporters). Why spend time bringing in guests who actually know something about these other schools when we can just make knee-jerk comments and predictions, with heavy bias based on our love of Boilermaker sports? Enjoy.

-------------------------------------------

Illinois

Last year: 5-7 Overall, 3-5 Big Ten
Vs. Boilermakers: Did not play

The Fighting Zookers took a step backwards in 2008, falling to 5-7 after a surprise 9-4 Rose Bowl season in 2007. But which was the bigger surprise? The 5-7 or the 9-4? Because if you take away the 2007 season, 2008 was still a step in the right direction for the Illini. They were 8-38 in the four seasons preceding their Rose Bowl run. That’s pretty bad. Zook came in and within a couple years had them reaching for double-digit wins.

The thing about Zook that everyone has repeatedly heard is that he can recruit like few others, his players would step in front of a train for him….and that he’s not the best X’s and O’s coach. Zooker can bring in the talent and motivate them and be their best pal, cover up their misdoings (boys will be boys!), but when they get out on the field, he needs quality coaches to help coordinate things. We’ll see if they can toe the line this year. Now to the schedule.

September 5 vs. Missouri
September 12 Illinois State
September 26 at Ohio State
October 3 Penn State
October 10 Michigan State
October 17 at Indiana
October 24 at Purdue
October 31 Michigan
November 7 at Minnesota
November 14 Northwestern
November 27 at Cincinnati
December 5 Fresno State

I’ll give the Illini this: they’re not afraid. Their only non-conference delicious cupcake is a home tilt with Illinois State, who you should expect to see Illinois beat by about 40. But then throughout the season they play FOUR teams who won ten or more games last year. OSU and PSU, obviously, but they start the season even before their cupcake with Mizzou! And they have Thanksgiving leftovers on Friday, Nov 27 at last year’s Big East champ, 11-win Cinci. Yikes.

They’re a hard team to predict, but since we don’t get paid for this, here we go.

Best case: 8-4. The Illini come out swinging but have to play Mizzou, OSU and PSU all within the first month. Yikes. If they come out of that 2-2, it’s not such a bad thing, because then they get four winnable games after that. Hard to imagine them beating eight wins.

Worst case: 3-9. It’s not impossible that the Illini continue their return to form (for this decade, anyway). They’d definitely be one of those teams whose poor record wouldn’t really be indicative of their talent because this is just a tough schedule.

Our prediction: 6-6. I think they start 1-4 and then it’s a question of heart – do they have enough to salvage their season? 5-2 down the stretch seems about right.