Boilermakers Exorcise The Demons

Robbie Hummel tried to slow down Wake with solid D, great rebounding and a dizzying array of bricks.

The Boilers took down Wake Forest tonight in WestLaf by 11, 69-58, though the score got wider than that before a late Demon Deacons run made it a bit closer. Nevertheless, Purdue exorcised some demons tonight.




Tonight's game was a terrific example of what I was talking about earlier today. Good teams win games like this. Lesser teams (and past Purdue teams) let a horrid shooting start like that demoralize them and get in their heads. Sure, there's still a lot that can improve, but aren't most teams saying that on December 1?

Purdue has had trouble in high profile games early in the year of late. Well, they've had trouble in lots of early-season games, period. High-profile or otherwise. A loss to Wofford not too long ago. 0-2 to begin conference play last year. That terrible showing against Duke. But this season -- as we hoped it would be -- is different.

Solid, methodical dismantlings of lesser opponents is a good first step. And then quality showings and the ability to overcome obstacles against good-to-very-good teams (Tenn, Wake) is a very promising second step. 6-0 feels good, and it should. It's a nice position to be in, worrying about getting more offense. But how nice is it also that the boys can start 0-11 from behind the arc and finish 1-15 from out there (yeah, that's less than 7%), and yet still never fall behind by more than six?

Rob Hummel, while shooting under 30% from the field (including 0-6 beyond the arc), still managed to have another 11/11 double-double, and JJ led the way with 21 points and over 50% shooting, as well as 7-10 from the line. On that subject, the Boilermakers cashed in at a 77% clip from the line, versus just 52% for Wake Forest. We say this all the time -- games can and will be won and lost at the line. Pressure defense and guys who get under the other teams' skin leads to foul trouble and bonus time.

You know what else pressure defense leads to? Turnovers. 26 Purdue points were scored off of 25 Wake turnovers. (Mmmmm, turnovers.) Wake Forest players were yelling at each other at a few points in the game. Fun to see... when you're on this side.

Weird number of the night: DJ Byrd had four fouls in just six minutes of play. Better nights are ahead for DJ.

Speaking of froshs, Kelsey Barlow continues to improve, playing 14 minutes and, though he didn't score from the field, he was perfect (6-6) from the line and tweaks the Deacs a few times, drawing fouls and committing a few, before Coach Matty pulled him late to ensure things stayed under control. I like it.

I love this team and they never seem to be overly bothered if things aren't going their way. This is not the first time they've had a mediocre first half (going back to last season, when they always seemed to start slow). Maybe it's just time to admit this team is a second-half team. Tonight they clamped down in the second half and simply wore Wake out. Once they took the lead back and weren't allowing Wake to score, you knew it was over. And it turned out to be one of those games where a few minutes later, you look at the score and are almost surprised it's gotten so comfortable.

On T-Mill's Cover It Live chatfest tonight, a few guys were commenting how the offense would have to improve in order to beat West Virginia. While I can see the concern, let's remember that's a month away and there are games to play between now and then.

Beyond that, this is a nice problem to have, isn't it? Wishing for more offense when you have Smooge pouring in 22 and JJ netting 21, plus Hummel (on an off night shooting) putting up a double-double? Yes, Keaton's 1-point performance and o-fer from the floor is, um, a concern. But we continue to have faith that the Keaton of two years ago is still on his way back. We shall see, I guess.

Quite honestly, the next few should be "gimmes" for a top 5 team. The toughest expected game would be at Alabama next Saturday night, but that should be a win as well if Purdue is who they're supposed to be. 12-0 and heading to the New Year's Day showdown with West Virginia -- at home -- would be fun, right?

But let's take 'em one at a time. Next up is Buffalo this Saturday and Boilerdowd will be observing our boys in action live.

Choo-choo.

ESPN To Reluctantly Show Purdue This Evening

"What? We're on national TV??"

In just their sixth game of the season, the #4 team in the land will find a home on national television. What was the rush, EsPN?

As you know if you read this site, tonight is Purdue's shot at the ACC in the form of Wake Forest in the eleventh annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge, or as ESPN likes to call it "We love the ACC and the Big Ten sucks."

As everyone has pointed out, the Big Ten has lost the Challenge every year for ten years. And this is the year many thought the Big Ten might right the ship. However, don't be surprised if it doesn't happen. A bunch of Big Ten schools mailed it in over the weekend, doing about as much damage to the conference's rep at this early juncture as they could. And I look at this year's slate of Big Ten/ACC games and don't see our conference winning.

BUT.....who cares?

I mean, seriously, should this matter to us? I don't think so. What should matter to us is Purdue's game tonight against Wake Forest. Wake lost a game to William and Mary over the weekend, so that's not necessarily good and it takes some luster off what could have been a matchup of 5-0 teams. However, Wake is still a good squad and one who people take notice of, right after UNC and Duke in the ACC.

Last year, everyone was amped for the Purdue-Duke showdown in Mackey. We had those guys on our floor, in our house, and so forth.... and the boys showed they were not ready for prime time.

This year, sure, it's not Duke, but it's still a big game. Purdue needs to show they can and will be as evenly prepared for each game as they have been through their first five. Sure, there have been concerns about rebounding, about fouls, about depth, about inexperienced players, etc. However, the team has looked about as prepared and focused in games against patsies as they have in games against legit teams. Last year, they surely were ready for Duke -- almost over-ready, if that makes any sense. They were so hyped up, they seemed to hardly be able to find the handle. Duke methodically wore them down and there was no coming back. Whether you love or hate programs like Duke, Purdue wants to get to a place where they're consistent. It's a word you hear overused in sports, but when you think about what it can mean, it often applies. This is one of those cases.

Purdue does not need thirty points from Smooge tonight (although we'd take it). They don't need the Ostrich to shoot 70% from three-land (although it'd be fun). They need to simply be consistent every time down the floor and let their talent, shooting and defensive skills take this game over. They're at home, they're unquestionably a better team, and they should win this game. Sure, sometimes that can make it harder if you start thinking too much about it, but let's hope they are well coached by Matty.

For those interested in chatting live about the game, we defer this evening to our friend T-Mill over at Hammer and Rails. He has sold out and obtained a press pass for this evening's tilt and will be running a Cover It Live babble-fest from press row. Be sure to visit and offer insightful things to ask the players afterward as well as tell him how awesome Boiled Sports is.

Friday Notes

so tired

One of my least-favorite, most-sleepy times of the sports year is upon us...and outside of NFL mock drafts, little is going on that I care too much about. The NBA playoffs are about half-way through their opening-round series...MLB baseball has about 200 games left...and the 9-6 Yankees look every bit worth their $201,000,000 team salary. J's favorite team, the Sox aren't any better, but they're streaking right now...but playing the Orioles and Twins will do that for a team.

And, while some don't enjoy racing, we're nearing the month of May, which I love because of the Indy 500.

All that said, I'd trade the NBA playoffs, MLB baseball and Indy Car Racing for more Purdue football and basketball. Since I can't make the trade, here's what's going on right now:

-Prep school big man, Sandi Marcius will make his decision on Sunday following a tournament that his AAU team's playing in...The less I hear about Jeff Robinson, the more I believe he's not coming to Purdue. So, signing Marcius, simply to help with depth seems imperative to me.

And, the good news is Painter is still on the recruiting trail getting exposed to talent that he might see as a fit down the road...

-The BT/ACC challenge, which honestly hasn't been much of a challenge at all for the ACC will yield a Purdue v. Wake Forest match-up at Purdue. Regardless of the domination that the ACC has shown in this series, it still provides a decent barometer of where a team is and what they need to do to get better...I like this game and the match-ups quite a bit. And if the NBA doesn't take a few of Wake's players who have announced for the draft without agents, both teams could be top-10 at the time of the meeting.

More later...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz