Well, in the last week, Purdue took down Wisconsin and Ohio State...back to back. The number 2 and 10 teams in the nation. Sure, they were at home, but that's where you must dominate. Ask MSU or Illinois how much they'd like to be unbeaten at home this year and how hard it is to accomplish.
We're now getting lectured on Twitter by OSU fans about how we manufactured this chip on our collective shoulders. And that's pretty typical -- a fanbase so arrogant they're going to tell us how our team is viewed and tell us how we should react. You'd think they'd have some respect for the fact that nobody in Mackey rushed the court, unlike in Madison. But that'd be silly. Enough about them, though. This post is about the winners.
E'Twaun Moore, about whom Seth Davis doesn't think too much, as Boilerdowd told you earlier this week. Seth even went so far as to say Smooge is small and unathletic. Of course, today he poured in half of Purdue's points (38) against a team full of potential NBA players. Moore also became only the fifth Boilermaker ever to amass 2,000 career points. Not a bad second-to-last home game for one of our favorite players.
Today was about greatness in a lot of ways. OSU, no matter what you think of them, is a very good (or great) team. They came in with one loss and are among the favorites for not only a #1 seed in the tourney, but they'll likely be a popular pick for the Final Four and/or national title. Beating a team with those credentials (and who whupped you a month ago) is a showing of greatness on the Boilers' part. E'Twaun Moore's career day also included five assists, four rebounds, two steals...and 70% from beyond the arc. That's pretty damn great.
It was also great to do this in a national game on CBS, just a few weeks before the committee decides seeding. Last year, the Boilers finished far from great, and it affected their seed in a major way. Hopefully, this is a harbinger of a strong Purdue finish to the season.
And, finally, the fans were great. B-Dowd was there and he'll surely weigh in some more on this one, including the experience in Mackey, but it was clear to those of us watching that it was a madhouse. What was also fun was the sense of Purdue family I've been noticing recently. Maybe it's just the modern-day convenience of social media, but no matter where we are, it often feels like all of us in the Purdue family are watching in one living room or bar (yeah, knowing most of you....a bar). We're all fiercely supporting our boys and continuing to believe. So much so, in fact, that there was no court-storming today. And it's not just because there was an expectation of victory. I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that, yes, this win was huge...and critical. But it's far from the desired end game. This isn't the pinnacle. There is more to come. More goals to achieve. More big games to win.
As Coach Painter said back in October, the goals remain the same.
Choo-choo, muthas.
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| "Unathletic." |
21 comments:
My head almost blew off when we were holding the ball at the end.
Good job boys! Now off to IU to take on the clappers!
Interesting how every OSU fan I know never even went to OSU......
jwiniger...
So true. I don't know any IU fans who actually went to IU, either.
Same with Notre Dame... Duke.. USC... every school that anybody hates. Nobody actually "knows" someone who "graduated" from those schools.
I not even sure I know what "this" means right now.......
I just keep remembering.....last time we went undefeated at home....we went to the final four!
Somebody ate the FLOWER! Some black and gold team was relentless crashing the boards today. Good thing 3'twaun was a one man wrecking crew today and we played good defense. JJ and LewJack (considering his play as of late) struggling a little on offense and turning it over more than usual would usually lead to a loss.
How did Aaron Craft get away with more contact than even Kramer was allowed at Mackey? And I've been wondering is that Kramer's mom in the crowd I still hear over 14,000 others?
I love today's strategy mainly because I hate Thad Matta's approach. The fresh 11 players brought in and out allowed for multiple players to be able to foul Sullinger.
Matta did this last year with Evans and it questions over and over the depth he will have.
I feel comfortable seeing these Buckeyes on neutral court.
Yeah it was absurd how Lewis and Kelsey were getting called for little touch fouls and Craft was molesting them up and down the court. The stripes still cannot call a consistent game.
When E'Twaun's circus shot went in I think we all knew it would be a good day. I heard it was the most points a Purdue player scored in Mackey since a certain Glenn Robinson was around. That's pretty good company, and it was a similar performance to those we saw from Big Dog.
Just an unbelievable performance by this team who kept the unbeaten streak in Mackey alive. There is also no way they lose on Senior Night to a mediocre Illinois squad, so it will be special to go undefeated in Mackey.
The team is hitting its stride at the right time, and if they keep playing like this a 2-seed (at minimum) is guaranteed.
BTFU!
Thinking the Smooge's performance might have been the most important one ever by a Boilermaker in regular season play. Thoughts?
This is not a discussion of "best" performance, but rather one that "impactful" (if that is a word)... Not looking for most points scored, best combined stats, etc... looking for, was the "biggest" performance ever?
If it's not, it has to be in the top 5.
O$U gets it handed to them by a solid team. This will not by be the high point of the season.
John - I think it depends on if this ends up allowing Purdue to win the BT title. Otherwise, some of those Robinson games from the 94 BT championship team probalby would be more important.
In another note, think about how huge this week has been for Purdue basketball. Two top 10 wins and two fantastic (probably both 4-star) commits from Stephens and Smotherman. Just a great week to be a Boilermaker.
Craft's play drove me nuts as well. But let's be honest, we would love this guy if he was a Boiler.
One of my favorite moments of the game was during on of aOSU's possessions they threw up a jumper and there were five guys around the rim to grab the rebound, all of them wearing gold unis. What a great win. One game at a time!!
I had to be on the road during the game so I caught it on the radio until I can watch the DVR...
Mackey was so loud at the end of the game I couldn't hear the Cliz. I WISH I was still a student!
Iteresting fact I got from the ESPN box score: While we played 11 players to OSU's 7, out top seven played 187 minutes to their 200. Not as big of a diferrence as I thought it would be.
I have been in Mackey when it was soloud you couldn't hear yourself think, but tonight had to be the loaudest I've ever heard it. Paint Crew and everyone else in Mackey was awesom. Great game. Great atmosphere. Great day, week, hopefully next few weeks and years to be a Boilermaker.
Hilarious rendition of "Party in the USA" by the Paint Crew when Jar-Jar Sullinger went to the line the first time.
Also, Smooge didn't just eat the flower, he gobbled up the Starman.
I'm not a big fan of Seth Davis. He's smarmy, he underestimates any team that is not a traditional basketball power, and his opinions have obvious ACC and Big East slants. However, that being said, you need to let the "E'Twaun Moore is unathletic" thing go. He didn't say that. He reported that he was hearing that from scouts. Your anger is misdirected and you come off like a whiner. Davis has actually had some nice things to say about Purdue lately. Get over it.
Seth has us ranked 10th and Wisconsin ranked 17th (!!!). Please don't get over anything and continue to bash his retarded face into the ground.
Shaun Phillips,
Why don't you pay attention to Seth for at least 2 seconds so that you can see how consistent he is in absolutely disrespecting Purdue???
Maybe because that would require you to pay attention to one of the worst sports minds to have ever lived, but give it a try, just once.
He still refuses to put us in his top 10, according to his recent tweets. And he's all defensive about us getting in his face for it. He seems to think that just because he predicted a win by us by two points, he's entitled to ignore the outcome of the game.
He's RETARDED. Pay attention, you'll get it.
I thought it was interesting that Smooge's 2000th point (and IIRC his 2001st) came exactly as a certain blog predicted it would: on a looooong three that gave Purdue a significant lead at that point in the game.
And hey ... look what happened the last time the top four EsPN/USA Today teams lost ... 2003, and who's that who beat Duke that week?
It probably won't make a difference in terms of Big Ten standings - Illinois and Indiana are automatic Ws in Columbus, Penn State might be a challenge for a different team on the road, and as much as I'd like to see Wisconsin beat the Buckeyes, I doubt that's happening in Columbus - but it sure makes a difference in terms of Purdue's approach to the fun part of the season. If they take care of business (even the game at East Lansing looks much more winnable than it did in January), that's 15-3, 26-5 heading into Indy, sitting on the #2 seed and waiting for one of the .500 teams in the quarterfinals.
I don't know, I don't think the obnoxiousness comes from attending or not attending the school ... there are a lot of IU fans in Indy and I'm sure some of them went to IU. (The people I know who went to Indiana are not obnoxious, but then I don't really make friends with obnoxious people.) Honestly, I don't know where it comes from.
But I do know there will be obnoxious people coming to Indy in a few weeks. Hopefully they return to Columbus with another loss.
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