Boilers Get Back to .500 Before Heading Into B1G

Purdue probably didn't schedule the ninth-best team in the CAA, at Mackey, just before the conference schedule began, in an effort to get a challenge...but they got a pretty good test anyway on Saturday afternoon.

William and Mary entered the game at 7-3...not a bad record.  But, none of their wins came against the top-275 in the RPI. But the fact that the Tribe isn't a great team didn't stop them from really wanting a victory on Keady Court.

The game started out well for our Boilers- Purdue had a 7 point lead in the first 4.5 minutes.  But after a timeout by W&M, the game quickly became a back-and-fourth contest.  At one point in the final 15minutes of the first half, Purdue had a six-point lead...but quickly, they relinquished it by allowing open three pointers.

What typically defines Painter-coached teams- hustle, gritty effort and stubborn defense hasn't been easy to find this season...and that was the case again versus W&M.  After the game, Painter noted that giving up a six unanswered points in a few minutes isn't a good thing...but giving up a six point lead in 30 seconds has become the norm for his squad.

Purdue's opponent seemed to out-Purdue our Boilers- they were enthusiastic, opportunistic, energetic and just seemed to want the game more...especially in the first 30 minutes.  That's pretty tough for me as a fan to swallow; I'm sure it's unbearable for Matty to see.  But, these guys are his guys...and the state of this team rests on his shoulders.

On message boards and Twitter alike, Purdue fans seem to be arguing amongst themselves about how patient we need to be.  It's true that rebuilding seasons happen, even in the best programs, every 5-7 seasons. And I also think that while this teams woes are based largely on recruiting misses a few years ago, Painter has obviously earned some leniency.  But it's pretty clear to see that there are simply some missing pieces to this team that cannot be found on the current roster.

A consistent threat from the outside, A solid second option at point guard, an experienced first option at point guard, a defensive stopper or even a guy that simply plays like his hair is ablaze would all be welcomed additions at this point.

Lawson's shot-blocking ability and overall energy seem nearly-contagious, RonJohn's on-ball defense shows signs of being difference-making and Davis' ability to attack the basket and follow shots is much needed in an offense that seems to be based primarily on standing around and watching guys miss bunnies.

But, this defense, regardless of who is playing rotates extremely-slowly as if they don't fully grasp what to do when the ball reverses.  The end result over and over again is a late-arriving double or triple team...and a subsequent kick out that becomes an inevitable open three pointer.  This is why six and seven point leads are no where near enough cushion for this team.

At one time not-too-long-ago, a seven to ten point lead for a Painter-coached team was like a 15-20 point lead for the average team.  But those teams didn't rely on four Freshman to play 15, 20 or more minutes/game.

Poor defense followed by bad shot selection on the other side of the court is a putrid mix.  The recipe leads to not being able to hold a lead...or worse, being down for most of a contest.

Today though, that wasn't the case.  Purdue finished the overmatched Tribe off and won 73-66.  After being outfought for much of the game, shooting horribly from outside and being down at the half in both points and rebounds, Purdue finished the contest strong.

AJ Hammons, who fought through double teams for much of the game, finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds and a block. TJohn led Purdue with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists. His brother might have played his most complete game to date with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and just two turnovers. Byrd had 8, 5 and 2 and looked like he might get hot from distance early on...but wasn't able to get on a tear from behind the arc.

Byrd had a couple of effort plays that got the crowd into the game...and Lawson's blocks stoked the defense-starved Mackey crowd to a bit of a roar. I think Purdue faithful can deal with losses more-easily than watching a team that seems apathetic at times. Tonight, although the effort was inconsistent, Purdue showed some fight in the closing minutes and earned a victory.  Regardless of whom they come against, during this season, wins should be savored.

Not that it changes anything about Purdue's team this season, but the BTN once again neglected to air today's home game on TV...and the game was webcasted on EsPN3.

A few years ago, when the fledgling network was fighting for subscribers and carriers, they promised that each home B1G basketball game would be on TV.  Now that they have more sponsors than Rotel and Barbasol, an additional member of the conference and nearly every major cable company in the nation has picked them up, they've decided to relegate Purdue (and others) on the interwebnets.

Screw the BTN.  I'd take Raycom, at this point.

Purdue fans that complained to Comcast, ATT, Time Warner, and others were rooked into believing that they'd get to see their Boilers play their games on TV on the BTN.  Hopefully BTN doesn't expand onto the airwaves and take Cliz from the Purdue faithful that still have the gall to want to follow the games live without another fee atop of their already-exorbitent cable bill.

If I sound like an angry old man, that's because I am one.

Nearly Half-Way Look and Notes

Matty's boys stand at 8-2 after ten games.  They have a loss to a team that had been beaten up by Purdue two-straight times, but is also pretty good in Alabama.  They stole defeat from the mouth of victory as Hummel writhed in pain at Xavier and they've beaten two solid opponents in Iona and Temple.  We haven't been too surprised at what we've seen thus far.

We knew that this team would have some growing pains as guys tried to figure out their new roles on this team- Hummel as a primary scorer who has to look for his shot, Jackson as not only a ball-handler, but a secondary scorer, AJ and Lawson learning how to play the college game and TJohn being counted on more as a scorer.  There' no doubt that this team has shown at times that it's still a work in progress...here are a few things that are noteworthy about this year's squad thus far:

-The defense seems to still struggle when it needs a stop.  I still have faith in this part of the game as Purdue teams seem to gel in Early February under Painter.

-The injury problems that Purdue had coming into the season are still having effects on the team.  Hart still hasn't played, TJohn is showing flashes of brilliance, but still lacks consistency, LewJack is still not practicing everyday due to tendonitis and other ailments and Hummel doesn't rebound like he did before his two knee injuries.  I'm not so sure that I even want Hummel sticking his nose into every loose ball situation...for the sake of longevity, I'd like to see Rob keep doing what he's doing.  I'm still convinced TJohn will earn a starting job by January as he gets stronger.  Byrd isn't playing as much because of a bit of a nagging injury and he's now behind #4.  Not sure if he wants to, but I wouldn't mind seeing him play a bit more forward behind Lawson instead of wing.

credit: GBI's Tom Campbell

-Barlow is important. When Kelsey is playing smart, he's nearly un-guardable. When he's in the mood to pull up from 21 feet, it's pretty detrimental.  Defensively, he's a monster when he wants to be.  I'm still convinced that the way Barlow goes this season, so go the Boilers.

-Bigs playing small.  I think many Boiler fans were hoping to see Marcius and Carroll be able to take a big step forward this season and become a collective force underneath the basket.  Instead, their lack of production and Lawson's physical play have pushed Lawson into the forefront.  As a result, Purdue's most-effective line-up right now has no one taller than 6'8" in it.  That could be very problematic in the B1G.

Painter said this week that one of the biggest problems this team has is that the practices aren't very competitive right now due to attrition.  Hummel, Hart, Jackson, TJohn and Byrd have all been held out of multiple practices this season, and many of these guys are held out regularly.  I think we see the effects of this very often as Purdue seems to struggle in pulling away from teams, even lesser teams, time and time again.

This team has shown how good it can be at times (for 25 minutes v. Xavier, for 20 minutes v. Alabama and v. NIU) and has shown how flat-out lousy it can be (for the final 10 minutes v. Xavier & 'Bama, v. High Point and in the first half v. Western Carolina).  I think we'll see this all season, but I still think this Purdue team will have around 22 wins.

I know a ton of people are bothered by performances like High Point and Western Carolina, and there are reasons to be concerned, no doubt.  But, college basketball is a bit of a mother- the 22nd team in the land almost was beaten by a sub-.500 St. Bonneventure at home this week, the 15th-ranked team in the nation lost to a .500 Long Beach State team in November...upsets happen and near-misses happen even more.  If the Forces of Good keep winning, regardless of the margin, I'll be a pretty happy guy.

Purdue's CCR is currently 33rd thanks to a silly high-50s RPI ranking.

Case Against the BTN for Purdue faithful

People who don't root for Purdue often wonder if Purdue fans have a complex about media coverage...and the more I observe, the more I believe we have a reason to have this chip on our shoulder. Purdue has three home, non-exhibition games this season not televised live by the BTN.  When asked why this happens, the network assures paying customers like me that they still have full coverage (read as paid internet broadcasts with awful production and broadcast teams).

One of the bones that they threw to Purdue fans was the promise of the games being on tape delay the next day just so you could get your fix if you couldn't make it to Mackey.  Of course, when they re-aired the Coppin State game, they cut in so Urban Meyer could be coronated named as head coach...then didn't show the game again.

Then of course, what happened this week for the most recent game was historically-bad.  BTN's defense was that it hadn't happened before and the cost-saving measure of not sending a broadcast team to the venue allowed them to hire Gus Johnson and Keith Jackson.

Seriously.

I think everyone who watches sports understands that technical difficulties happen.  But, instead of putting running stats on the screen and having a play-by-play, we got to see Bo Schembechler's Icon's program again. Perhaps they could have shown a Purdue-based program as salve for the wound? Nah.  They're just Purdue fans, ammiright, BTN.

If the BTN wants to save money, I'm sure they could find local TV guys to do the "less-important" pre-con games IN PERSON and they'll be able to avoid this type of thing.  Instead, they seem to say- "yeah, it happened, we're going to go ahead and keep doing things this way and hope for the best...we'll make sure it doesn't happen to the programs we value."

Hey BTN- Gus Johnson is a half-rung above Dick Vitale in my opinion (I mean that in the bad way)...and wasn't Keith Jackson fired a few years ago by a big network? You guys stink and you simply haven't fulfilled your promise to cover every home B1G basketball games...but great job on the Icon re-runs and extra-long press conference coverage!!

You can let the BTN know you care by clicking here.

The NBA Still Stinks

When I saw that the Lakers were preparing to trade for Chris Paul and Dwight Howard last week, I thought- this league is awesome- 5 super teams and a bunch of also-rans.

Then the league blocked the trade of Chris Paul and I was conflicted.

The Lakers gave up a lot to get Paul...so it wasn't like he was being stolen (as it's happened often in the crappy league), so why not?

But then I remembered, the flipping league OWNS the team that Paul currently plays for.  No wonder Stern doesn't want to allow their money maker to leave town.

In a recent conversation to a friend, I said the NBA represents all that's wrong with pro sports, in my opinion.  From a game that doesn't even resemble basketball being played, to locking-out at the worst-possible time, to rigged games, to making the worst-possible people as the face of the league, the NBA has turned me off at every turn.  Now we can add an intense conflict of interest and inconsistent trade rule enforcement to the laundry list of stink that defines this crap league.

Keep up the bad work, Stern and Co.