To Be Fair...

There's a term that many Purdue fans use when talking about IU's scholarship issues and its handling of said issues: Creaning.

Creaning: Creen-ing
noun (slang) 1. The act of forcing a player out of IU's basketball program due to oversigning 2. Cleaning out the old rusty guys on the roster to make room for newer, shinier models 

If it's in the BS dictionary, it must be a word...if it's on the interwebnet, it must be true; so be it.  Let's be honest (IU fans)- if it happened once, we might call it a fluke or isolated event...but each and every year, Coach Forehead has to come up with new and sometimes creative ways of eliminating players that want to play for IU.  These guys all seem to openly want to play for IU...but they can't because their coach loves shiny new things so much that he can't seem to follow the rules.

IU seems to have 14 or 15 players on their roster for the next Spring each season...but the NCAA only allows 13. Thus, something must happen to rectify the situation. Clappy believes the best thing for those players, that are unlucky enough not be the apple of his eye, is to leave that God-foresaken place in the bowels of Indiana; they should thank him...they seldom do.

Capobianco, Roth, Patterson, most-recently, Abell and others have all been Creaned...and as Purdue fans, we point this out to our IU pals. It really isn't right to make a guy leave who has committed to the program; committed to a coach, who is a good kid and whose only crime is that they're not very good and still have eligibility remaining...

So...

When I read this from Purdue's Coach in the wake of Sandi's departure, my antennae arose, and I knew I had to say something about it.

"John Hart's situation was different (than Marcius')...John did not voluntarily leave our team and he did not quit our team."

We're nothing if we're not fair...and while I like Coach Painter a lot, I disagree with his handling of John Hart.  And I'll stick by my statement yesterday, that I agree with the way Purdue has handled Sandi Marcius.

Sure, the moving parts in IU's situations and Purdue's situation are different.  In one, it's a chronic disease that neither the coach, fans nor media will admit is an issue...and because of this, it will continue to happen. IU's God-fearing, ethical, all-around great guy of a coach will continue to treat the guys (that he recruited, by the way) like pawns in a game he's created. It's simply not right; everyone knows it even if they're not willing to admit it.

On the other side of things, Purdue had no scholarship issue in '12/'13...Hart could have stayed.  He would have probably been on the bench a lot...and both he and Painter knew that; Hell, everyone could see that during his fourth year on campus.  But if he wanted to stay, I feel like he should have been able to stay.

He and Painter agreed that a redshirt season was the right thing to do for Hart out of HS.  Hart didn't received no BCS conference offers other than Purdue...and if you remember back that far, you remember his offer/commitment as a shock to about everyone.

Hart could score, but was a pretty incomplete player...when he was on the court at Purdue, we could all see it.  His defense was pretty lousy and he made some poor decisions with the ball...and he didn't progress a whole lot during his time in God's country.  BUT, it wasn't his fault that Matt Painter recruited, offered and signed him.

"There's the door, John."

If you believe Painter is generally a good guy (like I do), and you like him being Purdue's head coach (like I do), you should see this Hart episode as an incongruity that needs to be called out (like I do). If we don't do so as a fanbase, we're no better than IU's lemmings who treat the shiny forehead like an unworthy idol.

I'm glad Painter is a straight-forward guy, not a politician.  He told everyone what happened with Hart...and while he might have thought it'd be best for Hart to move onto a new place, Hart didn't agree. Just like it was a mutual decision for Hart to redshirt, it should have been a mutual decision for him to stay.

Now, if there was an attitude or disciplinary issue that we don't know about, that changes everything...but other than Hart being pals with Barlow, I heard nor seen nothing that points to this.

Before you tell me that Purdue doesn't owe a fifth year guy a scholarship, I obviously know that...but if it was a mostly-coaching decision to not let a player play during his first season on campus, that same coach needs allow an upper classman who sweated and bled for a program to stay if he wants to.

Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical.

Does Painter's treatment of Hart warrant a pun-based label for him? Probably not...but if IU fans want to take umbrage with Purdue's treatment of a player, they shouldn't be bringing up Sandi, but might want to point to Hart.  If they do, Purdue fans, keep the names "Capobianco" and "Roth" handy for quick usage.

Monday Gumbo

You Can't Lose What You Never Had

I know, I know, Purdue was all-but-guaranteed to get the services of a transfer from Wright State...can't remember his name right now...but, as we all know too well, guarantees from recruits, whether they're 17 or 22 years old, are about as solid as mashed potatoes.  The guys that want to come to Purdue end up at Purdue, plain and simple. Those that are wishy-washy don't want to come and there's not much else that can be said/done about that.

Many around the message boards and Twitter are piling on Matty right now, saying he's not a closer.  In their defense, there seems to be a pattern forming here- when Painter faces off against slimeballs coaches for big time talent, he doesn't win very often. But the guys who enjoy the limelight, keep taking additional visits and try to wait as long as they can might not be good fits with Painter anyway.  I'll speak from my own perspective for a moment...since that's all I can really do-

If I had a very talented guy/girl say he was interested in working for my company, but he needed to go to a few more interviews before signing on with me, I'd probably be visibly agitated.  That might be why Painter hasn't been able to close out on some of these guys.  OR, maybe, perhaps, the playing field isn't level.  We all know life isn't fair...and watching recruiting battles reminds us of this, and other principles- not everybody operates by the same rules, the good guy doesn't always win (in fact, he doesn't usually win) and you can't ever quit when things get difficult.

One thing Purdue fans can be sure of is Matty is an excellent judge of talent.  Recently, coaches like Teflon John Calipari, Tom Izzo and Tom Crean have all followed in his wake after an offer was given to a kid. I don't know if Purdue will land a five-star guy anytime soon...but those that are coming in the next two years are pretty damned good at playing basketball.

Specifically, the class of '13 is looking better and better.  My hope is that their individual rankings don't get inflated...and the three guys (who actually want to come to Purdue, by the way) continue to work hard with the chip squarely on their collective shoulder.  Bryson Scott started to show a lot during his HS season, Kendall Stephens has done so time and again in the last few months, and just this weekend, Basil Smotherman played at an elite level at an AAU tourney.  While Smotherman was the sixth man on his HS team last season, during the AAU season, that's not the case...and when called upon, he's been answering the bell.

As of now, it doesn't look like there will be any additions to the recruiting class for next year...upper classman, or any other class for that matter...but there are a few guys that have expressed interest in Purdue, so while the doors are closing, nothing's completely shut...yet.

The last thing I'll leave you with is what I've always said- while reading up on recruiting is a good thing to do as a fan, try not to get too enthralled with recruits until they're officially Boilermakers.  There are too many variables that are out of control of Purdue's coaches.  Plus, I like the guys that have chosen to play for my alma mater.  And one of those, Ronnie Johnson will be playing a huge amount of minutes nearly right away.

Definitely coming to Purdue.

Tortoise and the Hare

While slow and steady will win you a ton of contests, the Lotus power plant at Indy doesn't look like it's going to win anything this season...or maybe any other...but they've got the slow part down pat.

While most of those running laps around the famous oval are in the upper-two-teens, the Lotus machines seem to be unable to squeeze anything more than a 208, thus far.  Granted, these teams, and this power plant doesn't have the miles of testing that the other two do, but that doesn't really matter at this point. These cars look like they don't belong...and since there have been so many defections already from Lotus power, I'd bet that there won't be many running this engine by the end of the season.

A couple of 221+ laps have been turned so far...but one was heavily-aided by a tow.  I'm still hoping for a pole of 222 or 223...but the more I watch these cars, the more I think that they just don't have it in them, especially with the boost set up as it currently is.

Teams like Andretti, Penske and Ganassi simply aren't finding top speeds, at least yet...but the rumor is none of them are trimmed out yet, and are just getting the cars shaken down...these three have the best engineers and the deepest pockets, and they know what they're doing. So hopefully, we'll see some shockingly-fast laps by Saturday, if not before.  If you want to follow what's happening at the track during the day, click here.

Until the three big money teams start focusing on qualifying, enjoy seeing new guys like Clauson and Newgarden making names for themselves.

In Case You're Wondering, but Are Too Lazy to Check

John Hart has transfered to IUPUI...and Barlow is rumored to have interest in Iowa State.  BUT, the enigmatic Barlow might end up anywhere for his final year of NCAA eligibility (after sitting out a season).

As of right now, Purdue has 11 of 13 scholarships occupied for '12-'13...and Anthrop (at the very least) will get another year under scholarship unless something dramatic and unforeseen occurs.

Champs!

Purdue's Baseball Boilers clinched a part of the B1G title this weekend...but couldn't get the one additional needed win for the outright title at home this weekend. They'll have three chances to get the sole title versus the six games under-.500 Iowa Hawkeyes on the road...and will also play ISU this week for the last game ever at Lambert Field.

They're currently 39-10...a 40+ win season should help them with their case to get into the post-season.

Boilers Hang On at Iowa: 79-76

After a week off, Purdue traveled to Iowa to begin the B1G schedule.  Iowa's transition-based offense had  been in rhythm the last three games, all wins, as Iowa scored 82 points twice and 105 once...and early on, the pace favored Iowa.

With the collapses of the Butler and Xavier losses in the front of his mind, Painter clearly was trying to keep Hummel and Jackson as fresh as possible for the closing minutes.  Purdue's lead stayed around 6-8 points for much of the first half.  But in the second half, the game got tighter as Iowa tied it twice and kept it within 5 points for most of the last 20 minutes.  But, the Hawkeyes couldn't get over the hump.  When they punched, Purdue had an answer...and much of the time, the answer came from unusual places like Byrd, Barlow or Lawson...but in the end, Hummel closed out the Hawkeyes with a few key rebounds and hitting his last four free throws; something Purdue has struggled with all season.

In the first half, Purdue had 30 points off the bench.  Most-notably, DJ Byrd and John Hart both had 8 points...and looked as if they completely expected such a performance.  Hart finished with an efficient 8 points in just 11 minutes...and looked very good shooting the three.  Byrd scratched and clawed his way to 14 points, 2 assists and a steal in 22 minutes.  Perhaps he's finally healthy...or maybe it was just a good night. Regardless, it was not only great to see, but absolutely needed.

Tim Doyle was on color for this game...so I watched large chunks of it on mute.  But honestly, I was just happy that BTN was able to broadcast video alllllllll the way from Iowa. That's good of them.

The most interesting point in the game by far was following an assist from AJ to Hummel, Rob looked like he wanted to punch AJ in the face...so did Matty on the timeout...and Coach Shrewsberry didn't look too happy with the RS Frosh either. I went back and watched the play and deduced that AJ missed a screen and wasn't moving on offense and tried to say it was Hummel's fault as they walked off the court...I guess.  Whatever it is, it's something to watch.  I don't think I've ever seen something like that on a Painter team.

In the closing minutes, it had the feel of the Butler game- Iowa looked fresh, motivated and quick, Purdue looked sluggish as if they were just gutting the game out.  And when Iowa's Gatens hit a three that made it a three point game with :49 seconds left, I had that not-so-confident feeling.  I'm positive that crept into the minds of the squad as well.

But as they had for much of the night, Purdue answered.  This time it was Barlow who finished close to the basket. He finished with a quiet 12 points, 2 rebounds and a steal...but played smart and tough for much of the game.  LewJack seemed to end most possessions on the floor. He struggled to stay in control at times and was clearly wincing at times.  He finished with 6 points and 4 assists; but turned it over 3 times.

Lawson started again as Marcius stayed home with the calf injury.  He finished with just four points, but had 5 rebounds...and as usual, foul concerns kept him out of the game- he only played 14 minutes.  Carroll played a quiet 17 minutes and looked more resolute at times, but had 0 rebounds. Ryne Smith struggled from behind the arc, going 1-5.  He finished with 5 points and 5 rebounds.  TJohn continued his frosty free throw shooting going 0-2.  I don't think it's going to change this season, but he must make free throws as he seems to be at his best in traffic...and that game will draw fouls.

Iowa is not a great team...but they're well coached; a lot like Butler.  Unlike the somewhat-friendly crowd at Conseco, there were no Purdue fans at this one and Purdue held on to a much-needed road win.  Purdue's ability to get good looks and drive made the difference in this one.  It's clear that the FT woes are here to stay, sadly.  I think the immense amount of points that our Boilers are leaving on the floor will mount up and sting badly as Hightower and Co. get into midseason form while the Boilers travel.

Next up, the Forces of Good return home for a New Year's Eve Celebration v. Illinois.  The party will be televised on EsPN2 at 4:00.  Everyone in attendance is invited to Burke's office for punch and to watch the ball drop.

Mushrooms: Worst food in the world.

After I graduated from Purdue, I got a job in the Boston area. For those of you who have never visited Boston, I highly recommend VISITING the city...not living there. One of the jewels of the city is the North End, especially if you're like me in that you like to eat Italian food.

One night, my fiance (at that time) and I went out to dinner with a couple of fellow Boilermakers at an amazing restaurant called Artu. The wait was kinda long, as it usually is on a Saturday evening in the North End, and the weather was nice, so we waited outside.

After being out there for about 20 minutes, the guy working on the food at the prep table knocked on the window and signaled me in. I came in, he handed me a plate of some good-looking stuff and I headed back out. Everybody took a couple items, and I was left with a plate with some marinated mushrooms on it.

I'm a pretty picky eater, but I figured, if I'm ever going to like a mushroom, it'll be from a place like this. Everything I had eaten there had been delicious. They use really good ingredients, prepare them perfectly...so why not?

Well, with the cook watching through the window, I game it a try. I was wrong, Artu does not make everything delicious. So, I did what any adult would do- I gave a thumbs up to the cook, waited for him to turn around and get back to work, and darted around the corner of the building where I spat the mushroom out and dry heaved for a moment. Yeah, I'm a huge baby, I know.

There's nothing worse than that aftertaste, in my opinion. I wanted to do anything possible to get it out of my mouth and the memory out of my mind. Thank God our table was available shortly after my run-in with that wretched fungus. I quickly ate bread and drank a lot of my water...and looked forward to my meal (which was not disappointing at all).

Our Boilers just ate a mushroom (I know, I went a long way to get here).

I'm not a fan of tuna, mayonnaise or raisins. But I can deal with eating them. That's kind of like some losses. When Purdue lost to UConn in the NCAA tourney a few years ago, I think everyone could understand it- UConn was very talented, had a ton of veterans and a coach that'll do anything to win.

When Purdue lost to Wisconsin on the road last year, just days after Rob went down on...the fans and the players could deal with that.

But, the loss versus Minnesota is a disgusting taste in Matty's squad's mouth, I bet. Every player on that team knows they could have done a few things better and won that game. It was very winnable. And I'd argue, this is the second game like that this season. Richmond also left the nasty taste of fungus on the palate. After squeaking out a road win v. the moderately-tough VaTech Hokies, our Boilers ate some tasty cupcakes and got on a roll to get rid of the memory of that flavor.

Problem is, Purdue now has to face a tougher opponent on the road than they did in the wake of their first loss...and in the following 10 days, Purdue will face two of the favorites for the BT title.

But, in order to get back on track, remove some scrutiny from the media and regain some of the rhythm they had as a team, they need a win in Morgantown. It's by no means a must-win. But, it's another important game.

But I can guarantee you Huggy will remind the Mountaineers about what happened last year in Mackey. They'll be motivated and ready. Plus, they're coming off of a 30 point victory, so they're playing their best ball of the season thus far.

Moore Hart
One of Purdue's Big 2 is slumping as badly as he has during his career...and he'll get out of it, probably with an insane performance...eventually. A good game by 33 would go a long way in helping Purdue righting the ship.

Also, Hart has been running full contact in practice...so he might play. If nothing else, his mentality is a good thing, even though his legs might not be quite as lively as they were prior to his injury.

No word on Barlow's injury other than it's going to take time for him to get back to 100%. Until then, Purdue will definitely miss his defensive effort which was greatly-missed v. Minny.

1:30 tomorrow on CBS for our Boilers

Our Midseason Review

As I'm sure you all know, JJ is a mid-season All-American according to the Sporting News. While the media see Johnson for what he is, I'm sure 25 doesn't care too much about that. Versus Penn State, JJ didn't fill it up, but it might be one of my favorite he's played this season. He quietly went about his business, grabbed 15 boards and made some very important passes to move the ball around the perimeter. As PSU's zone sucked in on JJ as a diversion, space was created for Jackson to drive and Smith to get open looks.

That's really what the best players do- make everyone better.

Same goes for Moore. Like JJ, he's been scoring around 20 points/game, but he doesn't get much media attention for his defensive effort, his rebounding and his distribution. Plus, and I don't think this surprises anyone in the Purdue family, when his shot hasn't fallen this season, I haven't seen him pout, whine or take one possession off. Moore quietly plays with a chip on his shoulder...but we haven't seen him get angry (at the other team) this season like he did late last year toward the end of the year. And while his opposition wouldn't like him when he's angry, Purdue fans and his teammates love him that way.

Both JJ and Moore have played exactly how Matty has wanted them to...and probably precisely how Purdue fans expected. Compared to last year, here's how their numbers have changed:

Player Min Pts Reb Ast Stl Blk

JJ +2.7 +3.8 +1.4 +.4 -.2 +.3

Smooge +.8 +2.9 +2.1 +.3 +.2 +.2

Both players were good-enough to garner conference and national honors last
season...and both have gotten better in nearly every category. They're much
of the reason Purdue is in the position it's in at this point...but that's obvious.

Here are a couple of other players that have impressed us so far and some honors
that we're bestowing on the just because we care.

Defensive Player of the First Half

Kelsey Barlow

Like Chris Kramer had to do, Barlow has been given the toughest assignments time
and time again. And other than Richmond's Kevin Anderson, he's pretty much shut
all of them down.

Offensive Player of the First Half

JaJuan Johnson

He's simply taken over the game time and time again. I think the interesting part
of JJ's game is the fact that he seems to play bigger and better on the bigger stage.
It'll only get larger from here out as Purdue begins to play ranked opponents and the
conference and nation's elite. Sampson, Leuer & Sullinger will all square off v. JJ
in the next three weeks.

Most-Improved of the First Half

John Hart

I know, I know, Smith is the "it" guy right now, but before Hart went down, he
was consistently providing a boost...and Purdue really needed it at that point
because no one outside of the Big 2 were stepping up. I'm looking forward to his
return. If we were only judging on the BT season, there'd be no question who
received this award.

One of our readers said Matty should be leading for coach of the year at this
point. I don't think there's any doubt about that...especially if the media looks
at where they thought Purdue would be following Rob's injury. Painter's quote,
"Our goals haven't changed." (which is emblazoned on the front of the
Mission Houston shirts) showed exactly the way he has approached the season.
And his team is beginning to believe that regardless of who's injured, they're
still one of the nation's elite. Hats off to Matty.



(please excuse the technical difficulties...our provider has been pretty lousy the
last few days)

Who was that masked man??

No, not that John Hart

What, you expected some pun about the team playing with "Hart"? Too easy.

Purdue shot its free throws well down the stretch, played better defense and JJ actually suited up this evening in Champaign...and those three factors, along with a couple other changes got Purdue off of the snide, finally.

The game started out odd as Chris Kramer had his first non-injury-related benching to start a game since his Frosh year. And it looked, at least early that Painter's move might work. Barlow started strong, Johnson got involved...but then everyone seemingly got comfortable and Purdue slipped into lethargy, sweet, pasta-induced catatonic play. The hostile Illinois crowd enjoyed watching a hobbled Kramer struggle, Purdue's defense play slowly and its stars do little...and about mid-way through the first half, it seemed like the problems from the last three games were firmly-entrenched in the team.
Then, something funny happened.

John Hart came in and played with a bunch of the normal starters. His effort and defensive quickness was heartening, but I didn't think we'd see a bucket from 32...but we did! Yay!!

But he wasn't in the scorer's book. Booo!

Seriously, what in the hell was that about? After Hart's spark, Illinois got a couple free throws and a possession because of a bone-headed assistant coaching move. But this bizarre technical foul essentially acted as a wake up call at the end of the first half.

I had been asking, no pleading for Coach Painter to light a fire under the players to knock the cobwebs loose...but this was brilliance. The old, don't sign a guy into the book routine always awakens the sleeping giants.

And in the second half, we saw a guy who barely-looked schollie-worthy at times in mop-up duty this season go absolutely ape-crap. He drove with authority, rebounded, passed smartly, moved well without the ball and hit a deep three in the corner. Steve Lavin called him a guy that would become a regular in the rotation...I'm not sure if I buy that yet...but, you can bet your sweet, sweet ass I'd at minimum make sure he's signed into every game from here out.

Hart finished with 14 points in just 18 minutes of action. I'm positive everyone in the nation was surprised, including John...except maybe his parents. I'm sure they had faith that he could do it all along. I know for a fact though, Hart has been a topic of discussion amongst the braintrust over on KHC...even die hard Purdue fans had been doubting Matty's decision to give #32 a schollie. Now, please be quiet...I don't believe he'll become a staple in the Purdue line-up, but I'd bet he'll become a Paint Crew favorite from now on.

Check this out- we were all upset at the lack of production outside of the Ostrich and Smooge. This game was waaaay different- 5 players finished in double digits...Moore continued to chug along, Hummel led by putting the game on ice...and JJ exploded (quietly) for 24 & 12. And KG, in spite of not shooting well, grabbed 7 rebounds.

This game was important for a lot of reasons...sure, the defense allowed too many points, but just reminding the players they could still win was an important first step on what simply must be a new streak (in order for the team to have a fighting chance at a decent seed). Plus, perhaps Painter learned that if he gets after the team, they'll actually respond. He was extremely animated from the get-go in this one, and it seemed to have paid off. His fellows scored more points than they had since December 9th, won the rebounding battle and had a few minutes in which they were in a very good rhythm on both sides of the ball.

Good guys win 84-78...and maybe as Kramer nurses his ankle back to health, it's going to take big numbers to win the next few games. The really good news is Purdue is at home for the next three before heading to Ass. Hall.

If Purdue can win out in January and play like Keady's teams used to (in the 90s) in February, anything's possible. Next up, Manny Harris' elbow and Michigan.

Surprise: Purdue signs another guard for next season

John Hart...Another defensive stopper?

In a move that a lot of people are questioning on the message boards, Matt Painter signed another guard to next year's class...The third in the incoming class. Many thought Painter would try to pick up another big a la Chris Reid & Nemanja Calasan last season.

I'm not one to doubt the coach that found diamonds in the rough like Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer...So, if Painter thinks he's a good fit, I'll take him at his word. Plus, with Grant and Kramer's frequent injuries, a high-energy athletic guard might be just what the doctor ordered. Hart's no slouch, he's just been a bit under the radar. The Beech Grove Senior averaged nearly 19 points a game and was all-metro, all-county and all-city in quite a few publications.

From Painter's description, he reminds me a whole lot of a guy I knew during my time on campus...Herb Dove. Perhaps he can take the alley oop from Lew Jack a la Roberts to Dove in the 90s. I'm hoping so; we haven't seen that type of play in a few seasons. I'm hopeful that this isn't a signal that Lewis Jackson is going to be a victim of the NCAA academic clearinghouse. Let's keep our fingers crossed that all three of the incoming class make it to West Lafayette.