Paint Crew and Purdue fans love Bobby "Buckets" Riddell. He walked-on as a Freshman and played a lot of minutes without a schollie as David Teague and Carl Landry recovered from injuries...but since that season, he hasn't played a whole bunch. Sure, he'd get in during garbage time, or grab a few minutes here and there, but really nothing too significant.
But tonight, the 5'8" (or so) Lafayette product lit up the Lions by hitting his first four shots; three of those being behind the arc. He ended the game with his career high 13 points (5-7 shooting) . Atop that, he had 4 assists, 2 rebounds, a block and a steal. Pretty solid line. But two other guys had good nights as well. First, another Senior, Nemmy, scored 14 points (4-6 shooting), 3 rebounds, an assist and a block. The other half of the twin towers probably had the best game...JJ continues to add wrinkles- long jumpers, turn-arounds, post hooks, and tonight a dribble-drive from outside of the arc. His double-double seemed effortless as he finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists.
The guy who, according to the box score, was quiet, but actually played a big role was LewJack. He was guarding Talor Battle for most of the contest...Battle finished 0-7 with 0 points...only 18.2 off of his norm. LewJack finished with only two steals, officially...but I counted three; and he was disruptive all game. He also had 5 assists (but 3 TOs)...I hope the Anti-LewJack Assn. (ALJA) can see that this guy is promising...and he's progressing each game. Just remember when you come around, that Boilerdowd will still be driving the LewJack bandwagon, and there's always room for more aboard this bus!
While Smooge didn't have the offensive explosion that I was anticipating, he did begin to shoot himself out of his slump, and finished with 10 points. Kramer shot the ball a lot, for him (4 times), and finished with 5 points...but most interestingly, he guarded Cornley in the second half (he only gives up 2 inches and 35 pounds on PSU's #2). Grant and Green were extremely quite; Green only played 7 minutes. Hopefully they both find ways to contribute when called upon, because they will both be needed during the stretch run.
Make no mistake, my fellow Purdue alums and friends, while Buckets' line is fun to talk about, team defense was the story in this game. We've seen Purdue really ratchet down on a few teams this season- Davidson, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and PSU, earlier tonight. Following two lackluster defensive games, Purdue returned to form and held the Lions to under 37% shooting; teams don't win too often shooting below 40%...and the magic number of 64 once again proved to be pertainent. When Purdue opponents score less than 64 points, Purdue's record is 18-0, this season.
This game is important for a lot of reasons- But the the biggest probably that it shows these guys that they can win without the Ostrich...something they desperately needed to do for their own psychee. I have no reason to believe we'll see Robbie playing in Iowa...so that means, he'll have rested for 17 days when Sparty comes to West Lafayette to face the new look Boilers...who knows if he'll play or how much, but I don't know how Painter's team can beat Izzo's squad without the services of Hummel.
Another important aspect of tonight's win is that it allowed the team to rest. An 8-man rotation was utilized, and the bench actually responded as Moore got in early foul trouble. And inspite of Purdue's normal extended man-to-man, no one seeme tired at the end of the game. Did anyone notice Purdue playing a type of zone defense tonight at the end of the first half? I know Painter doesn't like zone, but this switching man D closely resembled what I'd call zone.
defense feeds offense...Boilers put it away in the second half
Purdue hearts Iowa this coming Saturday at 4:05.
7 comments:
BD – what do you think it is about Purdue fans (and maybe it’s other teams as well and I just have my focus squarely on Mackey) that leads us to hate on our PG’s? The ALJA is just the latest manifestation of the constant bitching a segment of the Black and Gold faithful seem to do when it comes to PGs – guys like Travis Trice, Tony Jones, Allan Eldridge and a whole bunch of others that I'm forgetting – always seem to catch an inordinate amount of heat. Hating on LewJack is like cheering for Duke – a lot of people seem to do it, and it make absolutely no sense to me
Point guards are expected to handle the ball without turnovers, score some and lead in assists. Since they have the ball in their hands a lot they are very visible so their mistakes are very obvious.
I don't remember Trice, Eldridge was a decent PG and Tony Jones was outstanding. Jackson is playing very well, getting better, and just needs to cut out the 2 or 3 really bad decisions he makes in most games.
Riddell did not make a bad play yesterday, was ready to shoot when he caught it and his entry passes were the best Purdue has seen this year. Congrats to him for putting in the work to be ready when he got his chance. We certainly needed his spark and production. Talk about being efficient.
Team defense was the key. No matter how much we struggle on offense we should always be able to play good defense and stay in the game.
It's the old adage that familiarity breeds contempt- point guards have the ball in their hands more than anybody- their mistakes are pretty easy to remember...and they usually lead directly to a fast break.
I'd compare/contrast LewJack's point guard play to KG's or even Kramer's a few years ago...they didn't turn the ball over all that much, but, they weren't explosive at all, couldn't drive and draw the defense in and really never beat anybody off of the dribble. The point guard has a lot of responsibility and LewJack will be a mother in a season or two (maybe sooner).
Trice and Eldridge were good, but Porter Roberts had a career that demanded he play a lot right out of the gates. Only difference is he had a lot of upper classmen to pass to (also, he was a bigger guy). But he was mistake prone early in his career too.
Porter Roberts loved his guns.
I agree fans love to hate the point guards. I go to the University of Kentucky (born and raised a boiler fan though) and everyone here does not like our starting point guard. It has gotten so bad as to where he has been booed at home games, and they cheer when he leaves the game. I think Lewis Jackson will for sure be a great player, just give him some time.
Last night in the Duke UNC game the announcers were debating that Ty Lawson was the fastest player in the nation. Dick Vitale said "Give me Lawson versus any player in the nation." I was thinking in my head that Lew Jack would give him a run for his money.
LewJack quickness reminds me of Dee Brown's...
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