Sparty Punches out Purdue at Mackey

Other than a really bad flagrant foul call, there were no dramatics this time...just a good team beating up on a not-so-good team in methodical fashion.

Run over.

Unlike in the loss versus Northwestern, Purdue seemed to fight and play hard...but the discrepancy between Prudue and MSU at this point is not a gap, but a chasm.  MSU has a system that the players buy into...and they have a ton of size, athleticism and talent.

Purdue continues to look discombobulated...has no chemistry or cohesion and a bunch of players wearing the same jersey who really aren't on the same team.

On a night that Robbie Hummel's number was put in the rafters of Mackey alongside Moore's, and Darrell Hazell was introduced to the fans, students and alums, the Mackey crowd was lackluster...but I'm not so sure I could blame them on this night.

Much like IU, UM, aOSU and even Northwestern last week, Purdue just doesn't look like it belongs with many of the teams in the B1G this season.  Like I said, at least the effort was better overall, but Purdue isn't very good right now.  Jacob Lawson, who hadn't played in the last few games played two minutes; which was good to see...Hale played solidly...Marcius played with energy, used his fouls up quickly (7 minutes, 5 fouls). RonJohn's 15pts, 8ast and 3steals were solid offensively, but he struggled mightily to slow down Appling. Hammons 13pts and 8 rebounds were solid, but he seemed to force his shots early.  TJohn's 20 points led all Boilers...but Purdue couldn't really get the game into single digits for the majority of the second half.  It was like MSU would just bat Purdue away if they got it down to 13...The final score of 78 to 65 really doesn't indicate how much command of the game that MSU had.

DJ Byrd attempted just one shot...and was in foul trouble for most of the game.  His last foul and subsequent body language afterward showed his agitation with the game.  MSU dictated the physicality of the game, the officials dictated how much they'd allow Purdue to do...and Purdue just kinda went along with it.  Poor free throw shooting (just under 65%) made a difference in this one...but if Purdue had been making FTs, I feel like MSU would have just done something differently to push the game back out to a 15 point lead (or something close to it).

Purdue only shot 5 three pointers...and it's a good thing- they went 1 for 5.  This Purdue team continues to be defined by poor shooting, regardless of the situation, awful offensive flow, mediocre defense and, at least they have this, solid rebounding.

With this loss, Purdue slips back to the familiar .500 (12-12)...but don't get comfortable with that fellow Boiler fans- the way this team is playing right now, they'll probably finish 5 or six games under .500.  At this point, Purdue is what they are...and I don't know if I've ever said this sentence in my life- it would take a miracle for our Boilers to make the NIT.

Purdue travels to Assembly Hall this week to play an Illinois team that really wants to break their 8-game losing streak v. the Boilers...then on to Ass. Hall to play a horribly-coached and amazingly-talented squad.

Seasons like this have consequences...They're tough on the fanbase, coaching staff and team.  Rumors are swirling about the futures of a couple of the players on the team.  I've said it before, I'd like to see everyone return...But only if they're willing to buy into the system and work in the off-season.  EVERYONE has work to do on this roster...and if they're not willing to do it, they should think about heading somewhere else.  But if they use these ass kickings as learning opportunities, good things can happen in '13/'14.

That's a tough concept to swallow for a ton of reasons-  First off, DJ Byrd's career is not going to end anything like many thought it would...that's too bad; I like Byrd and wish things were different for a myriad of reasons.  BUT, if TJohn thinks that this will be his team just because he's a Senior next year, he needs to learn from what he's watched up close this year.

Little things like missing free throws send a bad message to under classmen...if 0 wants things to get back on track for the program, he needs to start doing little things now. That's a tall order for a guy whose effort (specifically on defense) has been inconsistent.

I feel like I'm being pretty damned negative- those of you who are reading probably didn't enjoy reading it anymore than I enjoyed writing it...and apologize for that.  But this season has been a tough one to watch.

Keep your heads up.

Byrdless Boilers Battle and lose to MSU 76-62

It's tough to beat MSU when you've got a full roster...it's tougher when a starter and sixth man aren't available.  The effects of this week's suspension and dismissal seemed pretty obvious, especially in the second half, but the guys who could play fought hard.

In the first half, the Spartans were having their way with the Boilers underneath.  Granted, it's a bit easier to dominate the offensive end when your bigs are allowed to throw high elbows and travel to get position.  After the second or third time Payne and Nix had mauled their way to the basket, Painter got very animated with this lousy officiating crew...I was pretty sure he'd earn himself a tech...but never did.  I think a tech would have been in order and might have been a good way to make the team understand he was doing everything he could do as they fought to overcome the long odds.  But it didn't happen, and it might not have mattered anyway.

After Hummel had a Hurculean first half, scoring 18 points, the Boilers led by three- 38-35.  Much of the first half the good guys were down by 3-5 points...but fought and clawed and scratched were on top after the first 20 minutes were complete, but the second half was a different story.

Purdue's ability to make the extra pass to set up the open shot, that we've seen the last few games, was gone.  Then, as our Boilers languished for around 7 minutes without a made shot from the floor, some old crap crept back in...missed layups and bunnies and a few missed free throws for good measure.  Not Hummel nor Smith, Jackson nor either Johnson was hitting shots...partially because of MSU's defense, but also because of poor shooting and shot selection.  Finally, Painter brought AJ in and he kind of went off.

A three, followed by another three and a drive that finished with a teardrop got MSU's lead down to single digits, but that was it.  After that, Purdue couldn't seem to get inside of ten points and MSU salted it away.

Hummel's game was a monster, in spite of awful shooting from three (1-9).  He finished with 24pts, 15rebs, 3ast and 3blks.  He was moving well, following his shot and fearless in the big fat trees.  Along with Hummel, AJ showed some why I had been so excited about the guy prior to the season- He finished with 10pts, a rebound, assist and steal.

Jackson played as tough as Hummel at times...selling out (as usual) and closing down passing lanes on the other end.  He finished with 15pts, 5ast, 2reb and 2stl.  Fellow Senior, Ryne Smith shot well at times and finished with 10 points...but had a couple forced threes during that drought in the second half...but in the first half he drove a few times like I've never seen and was effective in doing so.  Following the game, Smith, Jackson and Hummel were all asked about the suspensions and dismissal.  The most noteworthy response by far was Smiths-

"I think we're gonna come together as a team better...Honestly, I think it's addition by subtraction.  DJ's gonna come back in full force, he's a great player for us. Tell you one thing, when he comes back on Wednesday night, he's gonna come back full force...I'll tell you that much."

First off, I'm pretty sure Byrd is one of Smith's best friends on the team.  You could tell before the game by Byrd's body language that he was pretty pissed to be in the situation he had put himself in- Good.  He messed up, regardless of the reason or intention (which I don't fully know or understand), and he deserved to be suspended. His suspension hurt his team.  I hope he comes back looking to make up for lost time on the court.

I like Byrd a lot...I think he's a pretty good guy, and I think his punishment fit crime.  Now he can move on and hopefully help his teammates by earning a spot in the tournament and doing a bit of damage.

On the other hand, Smith also referenced Barlow's dismissal as "addition by subtraction." This pissed a lot of people off on the message boards and on Twitter.  I don't have a problem with it.  Barlow is no longer his teammate and has clearly been a massive distraction for at least two seasons.  I'm saddened for his family...but he also got what he deserved...in fact, I think he was given too much grace the more I hear about what he had done in the past year off the court.  I have no reason to believe he can't go on to do something noteworthy for another program as he is very talented...but I hope he doesn't just go someplace that doesn't care about his insurrections. Instead, I hope he actually sees that his dumb decisions have consequences...He surely hasn't gotten to that understanding yet.

Now, is Smith's assessment that this team will be better without Barlow accurate? If I had to judge by what I saw today, I'd say no.  Barlow had been playing great basketball and was a key cog to the team's brief resurgence.  But, the season is not over and there are at least four more games left.  I think there's a lot to be said about team chemistry- who knows what Barlow's departure will do for the team.

Guys like LewJack, TJohn and Hart were all pretty good friends with Barlow, from what I understand...so while some might feel better about Barlow's antics no longer being a part of the team, others still might just miss their friend.  We'll have to see how it plays out.

What we did see today, once again, is that when this team is playing well, they can play with anyone...in spite of glaring weaknesses.  Carroll, Hummel, Marcius and Lawson all struggled with the size and strength of MSU.  The good news is, in the next three games, our Boilers won't play anyone with a frontcourt like that again. But the up and down Wolverines at home on Senior night will be a bit of a mother, I'm sure.

Next up though, Matty welcomes back Byrd to the team as the Boilers host Nebraska at 6:30 on Wednesday.  Nothing's a gimme, but Purdue must win the games they should and maybe beat someone they're not supposed to in order to get into the dance.

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Quick note to the Paint Crew- First off, those of you that were there today were great, as usual. BUT, there seemed to be a ton of PCers that were AWOL.  That kind of stinks...and I expect more from you guys.  Rally the troops and fill the section for the last two games- Rob, Ryne and Lew deserve it.  Next, I hear the B1G told you guys not to single out specific players (i.e. Dawson).  Screw that. Dawson singled himself out the last time Purdue played them as well as during his recruiting process and deserves what he gets.


If Delany and co. want players not to be called out, they should make sure there's a deterrent for players not to do as he did in E Lansing.  Instead, they rely on you guys to do that.  Bull crap.

BS Tourney Challenge -- Still Up For Grabs

It seems like weeks ago that we started the BS Tourney Challenge. Oh, yeah, it was. Since then, the Boilermakers have achieved about what we thought they might, the Big East was anointed the best conference ever by Digger Phelps, and Penn State won a national basketball championship.

And here we are, with just one more college basketball game to go this season. Remember, the winner of the BS Challenge gets a snazzy t-shirt (similar to picture) and the chance to voice themselves on our airwaves (Webwaves?), while second place only gets a t-shirt. Third place gets an ass-grab from Tim. And remember, coffee is for closers.

So where are we? Our leader in the clubhouse -- and winner if UNC wins the whole thing -- is DELA WHERE????, who accurately prognosticated MSU versus UNC in the final game. Nicely done.

Hail Leroy hangs on to second place and will continue to hang on with a UNC win.

But who can derail these two? The top 8 in the standings all have UNC winning and thus will all remain in lockstep if that happens. However, Digger's Stinky Palm and The Bracket have MSU winning it all and, thus, will finish 1-2 if that happens. Interestingly, only about six entries have Sparty winning it all. So either Purdue's blowout over them made people think they didn't have what it takes or everyone began believing the ESPN hype about the Big East.

If you wind up being the winner -- and really, the only two winners can be DELA WHERE???? or Digger's Stinky Palm -- please shoot us a note at boiledsports@gmail.com so we can correspond and get your guest-spot set up. Your brilliance will be required by early afternoon on Thursday and will be posted Friday morning so start thinking about what to say. It's kind of like the Oscars.

Good luck, all.