Big Time Atmosphere, Big Time Win

Sparty was prepared for a tough road game in Mackey tonight, and stuck tight with Purdue into the second half. But, as Purdue's guards extended, and JJ continued to alter shots, MSU was simply blown out of the water by Purdue's defensive pressure in an important BT contest. The atmosphere was hostile and loud...even some of the old guys got involved in making noise.

But sadly, some jackhole in row 16, Sec. 16 didn't like me standing up during different times of the game...and he was a Purdue fan.

Please note, I'm 5'4" (so wasn't blocking anyone's view)...wasn't cursing...and wasn't puting down any MSU players. This guy kept saying sit down. This of course forced me to stand up for the next three minutes. Then as the game got further out of hand, I turned around and asked him if it was OK that everyone in our section was standing. This jerk is what is wrong with Purdue sports. He's a microcosm for all of the small-time, unenthusiastic numb-nutted gold coats in the lower bowl that have to be all but begged to cheer, and even worse, don't like it when others are cheering, even in big games. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There need to be more Paint Crew members in the lower half of my alma mater's basketball arena. Sorry for the sidebar, but this garbage infuriates me.

Paint Crew killed it tonight

Paint Crew- EXCELLENT JOB! Everything from riding the worst three officials in all of the land, to ripping up IU when the opportunity presented itself- you guys were loud and in the game. And speaking of those horrible officials, my brothers and I were yelling at Jim Burr after missing a series of reach-in fouls early in the first half. Not only did he not ignore us, he made a chatting hand signal toward us...Dude is a pro, huh! That's a joke, to me that an official would acknowledge the crowd during a contest, but he's a joke. Half of the game he was making stupidly-large signals for violations, the other half, it looked like he was late for his bed time.

Stealing Money

And Valentine and Hightower were no better...and probably were worse (as our pal Boilergal pointed out). The hand signals that we all have come to know for traveling, reach in, over the back and other calls are all out...they've been replaced with jumping around, running and pointing to a spot on the floor or a player (as if you're angry at him) or making a hugging motion or something else non-sensical. There was a period in the early second half where they called 4 personal fouls on Purdue, in a :50 period...two on Moore. They were ticky-tack to say the least, and were simply lousy...But these three stooges, in spite of their best efforts, weren't the story tonight. Defense was.

From the get-go, both Purdue and MSU were contesting every pass, drive and shot. And, from the low-angle from where I was watching, it was clear there weren't going to be a ton of fouls called. Both teams were grabbing, slapping and holding to make it difficult...it was physical- exactly what you'd expect from these teams and their coaches. And MSU, unlike Purdue in the early going, took advantage of free throw opportunities.

Not only was Purdue missing foul shots, our Boilers offense was pretty inept for the first 15 minutes or so. Outside of Hummel, not too much was working offensively. This trend changed in the second half as Jackson, Kramer and Grant started creating easy offensive opportunities by stifling the Spartans just as they started to run their offense. After that, Johnson's footwork couldn't be matched by Green, Gray or Suton. Johnson continues to look like an all-conference player.
The Ostrich showed signs of life as well as part of his game returned to form after a lousy showing in Iowa. He hit two three pointers and had two more go in and out...and on his first attempt, he was physically violated, and the refs didn't seem to notice the molestation. Hopefully, he can take it easy this Saturday. Grant played like he did last year as he shot 50% from behind the three point line. Atta boy, KG! Clearly, he's sick of hearing me ask the question, "where's the old Keaton?" Kramer was Kramer defensively, but had a couple of blocked shots that were impressive to me. Nemmy played well, but shot two three pointers in the first half...one nearly missed the rim. Green played the game that I like to see him play- gritty, hard-nosed and with the defense-first mentality that makes this team tick. Lewis Jackson played at a fast paced on both sides of the court, and much to the chagrin of the ALJA, seemed to make everybody better...all while throwing up during his time on the bench as the flu that everyone else has had has made its way into LewJack's system. And finally, Smooge shot well, played good defense and rebounded very well...he had too many turnovers, but his silky-smooth game seemed to be a tough match-up for the Spartans.

In the closing minutes, Buckets and the reserve brigade was on the court. After Bobby broke the ankles of a back-up Spartan guard, he hit a 20 footer (long two pointer, not a three). At that point, Izzo pointed to his starters on the bench and said, "Remember this!"

I like Izzo, because like me, he's passionate and short and likes basketball a whole lot...but he's too good of a coach to believe that shot was offensive...further, this Spartan team shouldn't need any more motivation as Purdue goes to East Lansing in two and a half weeks. (Thanks to the Big Ten for this "random" scheduling, by the way)

Defining Moment
Both Chris Kramer and Robbie Hummel set up for a charge in the second half, and the officials made the call in favor of Purdue...with both Purdue players on the ground, the three remaining Purdue players came and helped their team mates up from the ground.

Fun Facts
-MSU has the largest rebounding advantage per game at 10+...tonight, they won this battle again, by just 5.
-Purdue is now 20-0 when holding their opponent to 64-or-less points in this season.
-Purdue's defense made yet another good team look lousy as Sparty shot 32.7% and had 22 turnovers.
-As a team, Purdue continues to shoot the three poorly...but they keep shooting; good, I guess.
-This is the first victory versus a top-5 opponent at Purdue since I was in high school (and Matt Painter was still a player in West Lafayette)...1992, for those of you who don't own my book. While it's good that this streak has been broken, that stat is still shocking to me. Hopefully, they won't go another 16 years until the next win of this genre.
Cat Woman
You probably couldn't appreciate it on TV, but Erin Andrews was wearing pants and high heels that made it look like she was a naughty kitty cat. Sure, she had her standard weird shirt on...but she is stunning in person. This year, I didn't get to talk to her after the game as she raced off of Mackey's floor, but my section was only about 20 feet from her post...close enough to watch her work. You've heard me say it before, she's a tireless in-game reporter who is constantly pouring over her notes and stats.
Oldy Olderson
While I didn't get to hear it, some friends of mine have told me that Vitale sounded pretty awful tonight. Well, he didn't look any better. Hopefully his health isn't poor, but judging by the way he moved around off camera, I'd think otherwise. I am glad I didn't have to listen to him on the TV though.

Next Up
The Forehead and Co. come to Mackey on Saturday to square off at 2:00 in the afternoon...It'll be televised on BTN. Special thanks to the Big Ten's awesome scheduling that keeps Purdue from playing IU twice in one season, for the second-consecutive year.

Boilers Bounce Badgers (and other notes)

Thanks to Travis from Off the Tracks for selling Boilerdowd & the Mrs. these fine seats

Staring 0-3 dead in the face, Matty's squad needed a solid effort and a return to their old form to get off of the snide...And the principles that have made this team great reared their collective heads on Sunday afternoon as Bucky fell from atop the Big Ten at the hands of our Boilers.

The obvious story was JJ's 20/10 game. He looked stellar as his defense was solid...but more than that, he was actually rebounding and creating opportunities for himself and his team mates. JaJuan is deceptively quick, because his long arms and legs make it look like he's not moving...but he can create space with his first step and his rangy length played a big role in the fact that Wisconsin's scorers couldn't get a clean look inside 15 feet. But, JJ's rebounding bug was contageous as Purdue's entire team crashed the glass...and get this- actually won the rebounding battle. I've said this all along- blocking out and rebounding is a decision. Purdue decided, versus a bigger opponent to exert their will on the glass; and they won because of it.

Robbie Hummel & Chris Kramer's returns were both a huge boost. While Kramer doesn't quite have the quickness that we're accustomed too, he made life difficult for UW's Hughes & Bohannon and didn't allow them to get into rhythm. At the same time, he looked for his shot (kinda) and hit two key buckets in the second half off of the dribble. Hummel also is not quite himself yet, but his first shot, from about 24 feet set the tone that he was not just coming into the game as a token...he was going to take advantage of his lower minutes. His presence drew out the defense and created space in the middle...he shot 50% from 21 ft. and further and ended the game with 16 points/ 5 rebounds.

While there wasn't a ton of noise from Keaton Grant and Lewis Jackson I liked what I saw from both of them. Grant didn't seem to force things, same with Jackson...and both played solid defense which is the calling card of this team. Smooge didn't shoot well, going 1-12, but didn't turn the ball over and played quietly sound on the defensive end. Green had two big three pointers...and two airballs from the same range. But he rebounded well, pulling down seven and added two assists and a steal. I think it's best for everybody when he's looking to rebound first, not shoot first, but you can't fault a guy for a 50% shooting night. Calasan started alongside JJ to creat a twin-tower tandem, which was a good idea v. Wisconsin's lenght. While it didn't yield a ton of points for Nemmy, he had three assists...but, he went oh-fer from behind the arc (not too surprising). I don't know what Painter says to Calasan, but I think he tells him- you get two chances to miss from behind the arc per game...when those are gone, no mas.

We didn't see Smith or Riddell...I'm OK with that, but I'd like to see a bit more of Smith since his shooting might be important late in the BT season.

One thing that bothers me about Mackey is the old people. No, I'm not bothered that they come to the game, I'm bothered that they simply don't cheer. The Paint Crew was doing its damned-est to make some noise...but wasn't getting much help from the rest of the joint (sans boilerdowd, of course). Plus, when Hummel and Kramer came in, the ovations were luke-warm, which surprised me. One of the loudest points of the game was when JJ came out of the game in the first half...problem was, it was during a dead ball. Hey Paint Crew, don't think you're getting away unscathed- There were waaaaaaay too many empties in Paint Crew, especially for an afternoon game just 18 hours before classes resume. The students should have been salivating to get out of their parents' homes and get back to campus...some were, hats off to you...the rest of you get an "F" for this game.

It seems, if Hummel can come along slowly and get back to health and Kramer can do the same, our Boilers might get back into rhythm in the next week-or-so as they play a couple of fellow-conference-bottom-feeders before heading to the barn to play a stout Minny team. They need the next two wins to keep building toward 20-plus wins and a solid seeding. I'm not talking about the Big Ten race at this point...

Notes
-I watched Matt Howard in person v. Detroit on Saturday at Hinkle...he's good...so is Heyward...they would have been handsome in gold and black.

-Speaking of big men, I saw Purdue signee Patrick Bade out to dinner after the game in West Lafayette. I'm stoked to know he and Robinson will be filling the shoes of Chris Reid and Nemmy next season.

-I love upsets...It was great for me to see both the Panthers and Titans lose this weekend. While both the Giants (J's team) and the Colts (my team) are out of the playoffs, there's still plenty to be interested in as the conference finals quickly approach.

-Three of my least-favorite officials were at the game Sunday (Hillary, Valentine & Burr)...but they weren't a factor as Purdue took care of business (thank goodness).

0-2

Taking the lead at all in the game at Penn State during the second half was an impressive feat...but in the following minutes, the under-manned Boilers seemed to completely run out of gas...In fact, our Boilers couldn't manage a single point for about 7:00 following clawing back into the game; and Penn State finally sealed the win, 67-64.

Make no mistake, Pringle, Battle, Jones, Morrissey and Cornley all played very well. Purdue had no answer for Cornley, especially in the first half, and both Pringle and Battle seemed to score nearly at will for large chunks of the game. So when an offensively-minded, two-loss team gets a 14-point lead, it's going to be darned-near impossible to win...and it turned out to be just that for Purdue.

The closing minutes of this game were sickeningly-similar to the Illinois loss- rebounding & loose ball opportunities weren't siezed and no one seemed willing to take the shot...EXCEPT, LewJack. He made a lot of mistakes during this game, but the mentality he showed in the closing minutes is why I like him so much. While Smooge couldn't create space between himself and his defender, Grant continually handled the ball sloppily and Johnson couldn't match the muscle of PSU's bigs, Jackson did what no one else in gold and black could or would do- put points on the board.

At this point, any thought of a Big Ten championship or a high ranking should be expunged from Purdue's collective minds. Now, the focus must be to simply get better each game and re-gain the offensive flow that has been completely lost for nearly a month. Also, I don't think it makes any sense to rush Hummel back into the line-up. Back injuries can ruin a season and even a career, so the big picture needs to be kept at the forefront right now for Painter, the Ostrich ad everyone else involved.

Stats by StatSheet.com

The Big Ten is a damned-tough basketball conference this season, regardless of what heads tell you in the media...and this Purdue team without a healthy Robbie Hummel and Chris Kramer, simply doesn't have the firepower to be in the top-half of the conference. I salute the second half effort today, and love the fact that Smith got more involved and Riddell was doing everything he could versus the talented PSU guards...but I felt like I was rooting for the Purdue team of Painter's first season as those two and Green played significant minutes- the effort was there, but the talent is not Big Ten caliber top-to-bottom. Perhaps now, regardless of whom is healthy, Purdue can once again become the hunter, since they no longer will be considered the hunted.


(read posts below if you'd like to see some stream-of-consciousness posting about tonight's loss as it unfolded)

Pollsters close to getting it right and other painful notes

Purdue checks in at #14 in both polls this week. That is almost where I'd put them if I had a vote. I'd have Purdue between 15 & 18 based on what I've seen so far...when everybody's healthy. That said, things aren't promising right now.

As expected by many, both Hummel and Kramer are still on the mend with back and knee problems, respectively...and will both be unavailable in Happy Valley. So where does that leave us?

Well, in a bit of a pickle actually.

Purdue has gone (barely) 10 deep on the bench in most games this season. Losing two is costly. Here's what it'll probably look like on Tuesday:

Jackson
Grant
Moore
Riddell
Smith
Green
Johnson
Calasan

PSU no longer missing the Crispin bros.

The Big Ten network and other sources have called PSU's backcourt the best in the conference...for good reason. Battle is averaging nearly 19pts., 6reb. & 5ast. Pringle averages nearly 15pts., 2.6reb. and 3ast. While Grant's defense has been OK this season, we know he can slow down one of these two...the second be defended by Jackson, who's a solid defender, but Moore and Riddell both have problems on the defensive end. Kramer's absence will be felt. The Lions' third leading scorer, Cornley will be guarded by Green/Johnson and Calasan in rotation...Hummel will be missed here. Plus, outside of Hummel, no one on Purdue's team has averaged more than 5.5 reb/gm this season. Green, Calasan and Johnson will have to attack the glass in order to fill the chasm left on the boards by the Ostrich.

Purdue will need to see both Moore playing the way he was a month ago and the two-headed monster of Calasan/Johnson must get back into rhythm to avoid and 0-2 start. One of the things I'd really like to see is Marcus Green not looking for his shot and instead focusing on defense and rebounding as he seems to play about six inches taller than his actual height.

All that said, I think Grant's play might be the deciding factor, when he's playing well, he creates very tough match-ups...And honestly, I don't expect to see Keaton shooting like last season, but I do hope to see him playing smarter than he has this season.

The shallow bench and long road trip will be a good test of this team's grit...hopefully the record doesn't show the scars after this contest.


(is it me, or is this one of the most-injured basketball teams in the nation during the past two seasons?)