Another Look at Sunday

Up double digits midway through the second half on Iowa, Matty's boys were in the driver's seat...but like we've seen so many times this season, they're not comfortable with success just yet.  They allowed Iowa to scratch and claw back into the game...after being smart and savvy against Iowa's trap for much of the game, Purdue lost its focus, started taking ill-advised shots and nearly gave it away.

Ronnie Johnson has looked simply brilliant at times this season...but whenever I start to have thoughts of him becoming one of Purdue's best PGs, he'll quickly remind me of his youth.  Last night was a prime example of that.  When Purdue needed him to facilitate, he seemed to think it was the perfect time for him to shoot...and after a few missed shots, Purdue's lead turned into a deficit.  Then, TJohn got in on the poor decision business and took a bad three.  This was during one of his best, most complete games of the season.  That's probably what this team's biggest problem really is- it's not just the young guys who need to learn how to complete a game, but the vets too.

Inconsistent effort is something that plagues this team...and of course, missing free throws is another disease that this group suffers from.  Last night with about four minutes left, I said to my wife, as I always say, "Hit your free throws, win the game."  Shortly after Purdue started missing FTs, as we've become accustomed to.

Conversely, there's a lot that was good about the game- Of course, the fact that it was a win is a very good thing. While an NCAA bid is surely still this team's goal, it's still a long shot.  Beating the great teams will be important in order for them to make the dance...and beating the good to not-so-good teams is essential. Iowa falls into the latter category...When boiled down, it was a winnable game at home, that they won.  The next thing that was good is that Hammons played well again after a few games in which he was quiet...TJohn continued to be one of, if not the leading scorer and Byrd's hustle set a fire under the sleepy Mackey crowd, and subsequently, his teammates.  But, Donnie Hale and Travis Carroll both made some big plays...and that's what Painter's teams need most- guys to be ready to step up when called upon.

Lawson seems to be in the doghouse a bit right now, and last night he didn't even play.  So in his stead, Carroll had a few big boards and a an important shot block in the first half.  But in the second half, Hale made a ton of plays, specifically a drive to the left in the closing minutes that kept Purdue in the hunt.

Back to Lawson really quickly- I don't have any details on why his minutes have been limited of late, but whatever Painter's asking him to do, he needs to do- for himself and for the team.  He'll be important for the Boilers down the stretch if they're going to get near the NCAA tourney.

Prior to the win over Iowa, Purdue's Composite Computer Ranking was 80.  After beating a team in the 30s, it'll surely go up...but none of it matters unless they can pull some improbable wins in the coming games.  I continue to believe the magic number for The Forces of Good is nineteen: But going 8-4 to close out the season is little more than a pipe dream, at this point. The next opportunity to get an improbable win versus one of the nation's elite, of course, comes against the highly-talented, poorly-coached, always-unlikable Hoosiers on Wednesday.

If the Paint Crew is motivated, which they clearly weren't on Sunday, they can make Mackey one of the hardest places in the nation to play for opponents.  But due to poor attendance by the students and a general malaise among the entire crowd for much of the game, it really wasn't loud until the closing moments of the game. Granted, it was a snoozer, especially in the first half- Purdue couldn't and wouldn't score, and Iowa was worse...but as J said yesterday, the opponent shouldn't matter.  If you've got four or five years to be a student at Purdue enjoy your time and take advantage of having a short walk to one of the best arenas in the nation each game. The Paint Crew has set the bar high...so when they do what they did last night, it's pretty obvious.  1000+ empties for a B1G conference game is pretty weak, regardless of who Purdue is playing.

The fact is Purdue's general fanbase that comes to Mackey is a largely passionless group, sadly. For the first time this season, but about the 20th time ever, I had a fellow Boiler take umbrage with my cheering; too loudly, not to their liking, whatever. Purdue needs the Paint Crew to be lathered up and ready to go each game...no question about it, in order for Mackey to be the proverbial hornet's nest that I've come to know and love...and visitors have come to fear.

Five ranked opponents left on the docket...beating the 7th-best team in the nation, especially one with that coach, from that place could go a long way into making this season a success.  T-Minus just 57.5 hours until tip-off.

Choo Choo, Muthas.

Escape! Boilers Win Brickfight, 65-62

Clean play!

Inconsistency was the order of the day for the Boilermakers today, but they found a way to win it at home and move to 4-3 in the Big Ten.

After a dreadful, sub-40-points (total!) first half, the Boilers came out with a bit more effort in the second half, pulling out to an 11 point lead late in the game (45-34, I believe). However, they showed the inability to close that we've seen on and off from this squad all season, and Iowa came all the way back, even taking a lead in the final minutes. The Boilers were able to tie it at 54 and Iowa missed their last possession of the second half and this one dragged its way into overtime.

The crowd seemed to come to life in OT and the Boilers also seemed to play with a renewed passion in the extra frame, ultimately working their way to a victory. 

B-dowd reported a very disappointing Paint Crew showing today, which is pretty inexcusable. We've griped about this before, but if you're at Purdue right now, you have precious few years remaining where you have this kind of entertainment at your fingertips, not to mention opportunity to support your school. Take advantage of it -- walk the mile or less and support your fellow students out there representing you.

Just some old-fashioned, Big Ten basketball...

Today's game was a brickfight, with the Boilers holding a 19-16 advantage (if you can call it that) at the half. Early on, it looked as though AJ Hammons might have been able to have his way with the Hawkeyes today, but for some reason the team stopped tossing the ball to him. Perhaps late in the game it was because he was in foul trouble, I don't know... and on that subject, he did wind up fouling out of the game with just seven points, though he did grab ten rebounds.

The Johnson brothers led the Boilers on the scoreboard with 32 combined (Terone with 17, Ronnie with 15) and Terone made his a double-double as he snagged a dozen boards as well. Also of note, Terone and Ronnie had one turnover combined (and that one was Terone's). Donnie Hale had 12 points off the bench and DJ Byrd also got into double-figures with ten points.

The Boilers followed the formula we've talked about before -- they outshot their opponent, as Iowa was ice cold much of the game, 39% to 31%; they outrebounded the Hawkeyes 43-36; and they turned the ball over less (10-7). FT shooting was below average for the Boilers, as they hit only 60%, but Iowa's 70% wasn't quite enough to hurt the Boilers, as the Hawkeyes missed some critical FTs in OT.

We've talked before about how we feel as though Fran has this Iowa team heading in the right direction, and tonight was another example -- they almost took a challenging road victory in the conference. However, for Purdue to have any hopes of a decent ending to this season, home games are where they need to lock down their wins. And nothing against Iowa, but this is a "winnable game," when you look at the schedule. Not a lock by any stretch (what game is, really?), but a game that you have to have if you want to think about any form of postseason play.

Next up for the Boilers -- and perhaps their focus and that of the Paint Crew is already on this one -- are the Hoosiers coming into town on Wednesday night.

Progress?

Three fumbles, two of which led directly to Iowa touchdowns. Ten penalties, all in the second half (!!), including personal fouls on what would have been 4th and 16 and 3rd and 6 for Iowa. The usual array of questionable coaching decisions, including an inexplicable timeout on Iowa's final drive that nearly gave the Hawkeyes a chance to win (but ironically ended up saving time for the Boilers' winning FG).

And yet the rest of the game was a solid Purdue effort, aided in no small part by a punchless Iowa team that no doubt has its fanbase scouring the internet for desirable coaching candidates. (You know, that Corso guy on TV sounds really smart. Note: see comments below - even if Iowa fans want a new coach, Ferentz isn't going anywhere.) A strong performance by a Purdue quarterback ... was it a coincidence that Gary Nord was nowhere to be seen? The defense holding Iowa to 10 points outside the turnovers and preventing a score on that final drive. Special teams almost looking respectable, with the winning 46-yard kick making up for the 20-yard miss at the end of the first half. A gutsy call on fourth-and-one in Purdue territory that paid off.

This game, to me, is what makes Hope such a frustrating coach. For the first time during the Big Ten season, we saw both the talent we know Purdue has and the results we should be expecting from that talent ... but mistake after mistake by the Boilers let a lackluster team with an ineffective QB hang around for the entire game, and only a no-win situation for Ferentz gave Purdue the chance to steal victory from the jaws of Hope at the end.

1:08 on the clock, Iowa pinned deep thanks to yet another Cody Webster cannon, and with just two timeouts left, not much of a chance to get in scoring position ... but Hope promptly hands the Hawkeyes a chance by calling one after the first-down stop, no doubt expecting three straight stops that would give Purdue the ball with no timeouts, probably 25-35 seconds left, and 40+ yards to go for even a long field goal attempt. A better call is to let the clock run; maybe you don't get a final chance in regulation yourselves, but you don't risk the opponents converting and taking advantage of the time you left for them, which is exactly what Iowa did.

Ferentz also chose the aggressive option, going for it at the 35, knowing that a first down would give the Hawkeyes a couple of shots to set up the game-winning field goal with the timeout they had remaining. But they failed, and Purdue promptly drove 37 yards in 16 seconds to give Griggs the chance to win it.

It's rarely easy to win on the road in the Big Ten. There are only two places I don't think are particularly challenging for visitors, Evanston and Bloomington, and of course the latter means the Bucket, so it's always a big game there, and Pat Fitzgerald has a pretty good team every year at Northwestern ... so a conference road win is something to acknowledge. But where was this effort against Minnesota? Will it be present in Champaign next week? How is it that a team that can take undefeated Notre Dame and undefeated Ohio State to the final minutes on the road can't get out of their own way against bottom-of-the-pack teams? (Minnesota's improving, but not there yet, and Iowa's seemingly on the way down.)

The hallmark of Tiller's best teams was beating Purdue's peers, the teams not in the top tier but wishing they could get there. Tiller was 6-2 against Illinois, 10-2 against Indiana, 8-2 against Minnesota, 9-3 against Northwestern. Hope is 7-5 against that same group. Struggling against Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State was acceptable as long as it was part of 8- and 9-win seasons with bowl appearances; when it's accompanied by struggles against the other guys, then it basically makes us Indiana. (Except, of course, Wilson has Indiana improving rapidly, notwithstanding the Wisconsin rout.) And not the Bill Mallory-era Hoosiers, but the DiNardo Hoosiers.

Hope has two games left against those peers. I hope.

Boilers Earn One in Iowa, 27-24

Marve gets comfortable at Kinnick

I'd love to come up with a snarky headline about Iowa out-Purdueing Purdue or the Boilers lucking into one, and maybe there is some room for jokes like that, but the truth is, the Boilers didn't back into this one. It was a sometimes fun, back-and-forth game between two pretty terrible football teams (sorry...two teams that are struggling) that ended with the Boilers stuffing Iowa on a fourth down try as the Hawkeyes were trying to get into field goal range, followed by Robert Marve leading the Boilers downfield so that Paul Griggs could nail a 46 yard field goal to win the game. Pretty damn exciting and I'm sure it felt as good as it looked like it did to this embattled team.

I also will say I must admit I was wrong. I didn't think the Boilers really had a chance to go on the road to a place they just don't win and beat a team that, while scuffling, features a talented QB, a solid run game and an above-average coach (some might argue with me on the last one). But Iowa proved they're struggling in that way that's almost more frustrating than anything. You see glimpses of the potential and know what some of these guys are capable of -- and have even seen it at times this season -- but they simply can't put it all together anymore. Believe us, OMHR fans, we know the feeling. Not that we feel badly for you because you are, after all, OMHR.

Robert Marve completed 75% of his passes on 25/33 for 266 and two TDs with no INTs. Not bad for a guy with only one functioning knee, if you're into that sort of thing. Robert now has 8 TDs and just two picks on the season. Pretty tidy and efficient if you ask me, plus the team seems to respond to him. In addition, his second TD of the day to Gary Bush in the end zone was the kind of on-the-run, reading-the-openings kind of TD pass that reminds you of Marve's talent.

Ralph Bolden was the Ralph Bolden of old, rushing for 102 yards on 14 carries (7.3 yard average) and making us for a moment wonder what might have been this year had he been health all season.

The defense clamped down this week and while there were a couple of seemingly big plays, the Iowans only had 264 yards of total offense, with only 74 of them coming on the ground. That's pretty damn amazing, even if Iowa is on a slide.

The Boilers also -- amazingly -- turned the ball over three times to Iowa's none. If you lose the turnover battle by three and are playing on the road against a team with a better record than you, I don't know what the odds of winning are, but I imagine they're kind of steep. Marve, Bolden and Griggs wouldn't let it happen.

Gotta say, I love the Iowa helmets.

Kudos also to Patrick Higgins, who is Purdue's wide receivers coach but today served as offensive coordinator, filling in for the injured Gary Nord and making good use of Robert Marve's talents. Higgins has served as an OC before (actually, at UTEP under Nord), so I'd say he should hold the post until he loses. Get well Gary, but don't rush back.

Speaking of that, does this game get you believing again? I know you don't want to, but there's got to be a little part of you saying that hey, if Purdue can win at Iowa, they can surely win at Illinois. And if that happens, a bowl game all comes down to beating IU at home. IU, for their part, got positively shellacked vs Wisconsin today and now needs to win at PSU to wind up in the same position. Which, frankly, I am fine with. Let's have something for the Boilers to play for in that game. We've been saying for years that it would be nice.

Sure, we've said a few times that the season is effectively over -- even winning out only brings them to 6-6 and yet another mediocre bowl. This is not progress, even if it happens. Could it be enough to save Danny Hope's job? Who knows, of course, but I have a hard time seeing Morgan Burke firing a guy on a 4 game winning streak (if you include a bowl). And just like previous years under Hope, it will be just that much more frustrating to see them play well for a stretch and to know how much better it all could have been. But that's the best there is from this point on. We at BS do not agree with Hope that such a finish would constitute a "successful" season and it just serves to underscore our frustrations with Danny that he would even suggest that could possibly be acceptable.

However, as I said, it's all there is at this point. On to Illinois.

Imposters of Purdue Players Removed at Halftime; Regulars Return in Second Half to Beat Hawks 67-56

I volunteered to write this article as the blog’s moderators are occupied with much more important business. As an alumni and current grad student (I’m in my 9th year at Purdue) I couldn’t wait to share my thoughts on the Boilers’ huge blowout, Robbie’s new free-throw record, and the debut of freshman big man Sandi Marcius. Unfortunately, I only get to discuss one thanks to a lackluster first 20 minutes.

Seriously, who were those guys in the first half? I mean the defense was fine. I’ll take 27 points allowed per half all year. However, the offense was sputtering (11-30 in first half) to yield only 26 points and Purdue’s reputation of starting slow continues (see Tennessee, Wake Forest, Alabama, and SIU-E games).

In all honesty, it really just came down to shooting. Other than the first eight minutes or so, it wasn’t that bad. Purdue was just 3-14 during this stretch, including 0-4 from deep. Meanwhile, the Hawks were 6-10 and 3-4 from the arc. I went back and watched this portion of the game, and nothing stood out as being that bad. Purdue was playing hard, most of the shots they took were good shots, and many of the made Hawkeye baskets were challenged or difficult shots that just happened to go in.

Something clicked after that first eight minutes, and especially after halftime. I don’t know if the guys had West Virginia in the back of their minds to start the game, Coach Painter ripped them at halftime, or it was just the law of averages evening things out, but the Boilers scorched the nets in the second half, shooting over 65 percent.

In the end, Purdue ended up above their season averages from the field and the three-point line, and this game just goes to show that the defense will keep the Boilers in games regardless of their offensive performance. Painter has never seemed too concerned about shooting woes, but let’s hope Purdue starts off Friday where they ended against the Hawks and forgets the first half.

Double digit conference road wins are good no matter the opponent, so let’s not be too critical of the boys and just enjoy the winning streak.

A few random thoughts:

• Congrats to Rob on his free-throw streak record. He made his first four of the game (before missing two in a row) to set the Purdue record at 36 in a row. Jerry Sichting hit 34 in a row during the 1978-79 season. If the time gap holds true, one of my sons should break Rob’s record in about 2040.
  
  
• With JJ in foul trouble during the first half, E’Twaun and Rob were their usual productive selves. They combined for 37 points, 15 boards, 4 steals, and 4 assists.
  
  
• Too bad Marcius didn’t get any action tonight. I was hoping the game would be well in hand with 5-10 minutes in the second half and he would get some playing time, but it was not to be. I can’t imagine him seeing much action against WVU, but the Mountaineers have a talented slew of forwards and he could be valuable if JJ or Bade get in foul trouble.
  
  
• Although Marcius missed the game, Bade continues to improve. Through the first ten games, he would usually only infuriate me. However, the last two games he has really impressed. He only played 8 minutes against the Hawks, but had 5 points and a very nice block in the first half.
  
  
• I have been cheering for West Virginia to win so they would come to Mackey undefeated, and they have needed all my support lately. Three of their last four games have been decided by two points or less or in overtime. They needed a last second shot against Cleveland State to win by two, blew a big lead against Seton Hall but prevailed in overtime, and stole a win they didn’t deserve at home against Marquette thanks to some missed free throws and an awesome fade away 20-footer from Da’Sean Butler. The matchup of undefeated teams is set for New Year’s Day. With only a portion of the Paint Crew in attendance on Friday due to Christmas break, all you alumni with season tickets better be screaming your heads off with me and maybe even stand up once in a while. Let’s make Mackey crazy and BTFU!
  

--Guest Posted by David Stewart

This Was Only Three Months Ago

October wasn't very long ago, and in case you'd forgotten, October was kind of marginally awesome. It was Fall, squirrels were eating nuts, Joe Tiller was aggressively on the job and Purdue was actually winning football games and building a good record.

Those of you familiar with YouTube or Spoilermaker probably already know where I'm going with this. If you're unaware, stop reading us and go to one of those locations this instant, because you will find some of the greatest Boilermaker highlights on the entire Internet.

But I digress. Here is an awesome, awesome highlight reel of Purdue running over Iowa while Lispy McDomer talks about how good Iowa's defense is... uhhh, what?

Two words of warning, though. 1) the video isn't really that good and it features Mark May. 2) This video may not be safe for the easily emotional or Hawkeye fans. If you don't get a lump in your throat watching Joe Tiller's laserbeam focus early in the highlight when he has his hands on his knees.... why, you're not even human.

Now That's Big Ten Basketball!!

Mr. & Mrs. Boilerdowd gathered around the radio to listen to the riveting action from Mackey as Purdue eeks out a "W" (Special thanks to Comcast!)

The first time Purdue played and beat Iowa, the game was marked by big shots by Keaton Grant and a gritty performance down the stretch by the young Boilers.

This time in Mackey, Keaton put the game out of reach with a big shot once again with 1.4 seconds. This game's unusual foul-riddled ending was a microcosm of the rest of the game and luckily, Purdue came out on top, 51-50.


Gone were the big three pointers by Hummel, Grant, Kramer and Co...replaced by stupid fouls, poor decision-making and poor shooting. E'Twaun Moore led the offensive explosion with 12 massive points and Scott Martin poured in 11...Iowa's leading scorer had just 14 points.

So how bad was Purdue's offense? Well, the defense forced 22 Hawkeye turnovers, 11 were steals...conversely, the Boilers barely had double-digit turnovers...yet only yielded 51 points. That said, Purdue wasn't even in the bonus with just 4 minutes left as the Hawkeyes played force field defense never touching the Purdue cagers. Heck, even if they would have been, it wouldn't have mattered since Purdue barely shot over 50% from the charity stripe all game.

Many, Painter included, feared a letdown following the big win versus Wisconsin, and we all got it. Thank goodness this let down netted a game in the left-hand column at the end of the evening. Hopefully, this is the game many Purdue doubters saw coming...with the exception of the outcome- a poor showing versus a bad team.

You live and die by the three, and while Scott Martin shot well from behind the arc, no one else did...Hastily-selected bricks and lousy free throw shooting nearly yielded Purdue another loss at home to another bad team...but it didn't. As a result, Purdue's hopes for an invite to the Spring Ball are still alive and well...Next up, Illinois.