SB Nation - Chris Kramer

Too young for these Cougars?

BoilerTMill — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:01:18 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Hit your free throws! (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

What more could you really ask about last night? In seeing some of the numbers flying around the GBI board it was almost a negative to play the Cougars. Their Pomeroy ranking was somewhere around 350. As a result, our strength of schedule allegedly dropped 100 points simply by playing them. I knew something like that would happen. SIU-Edwardsville is not going to get better or get much needed cash for their program unless they play games like this.

There can be positives for us though. We got to develop the bench guys some more with quality minutes. I am a firm believer in having everyone ready because you never know when an injury is going to strike. We didn't know LewJack was going to be gone, but we have now had 11 games to get used to life without him. Before the season Sandi Marcius was projected as playing more than Patrick Bade. Now Bade has 11 games of experience, and I think we saw that beginning to pay off last night. We can only take so much from games like this, but it was nice to see that we did take something from it.

Patrick Bade - Once again, I will reluctantly take credit on this one. I have now attended two games as an official member of the press. After Wake Forest, I asked one question about Purdue being a second half team. We immediately began starting games better. After the Ball State game, I asked one question as well, this time about Patrick Bade being more aggressive in the game and his development as a player. We saw the result last night as Patrick played maybe his best collegiate game.

Thank you, again.

We got a career high of 10 points and 8 rebounds. Yes, it was against SIU-Edwardsville, but it is a still a step forward. It shows the versatility that makes us so dangerous. We now have nine different players that have at least one double-digit scoring game this season (JJ, E'Twaun, Robbie, Kramer, Grant, D.J. Byrd, Mark Wohlford, Ryne Smith, and now Bade). Kelsey Barlow has also shown he is a threat to join that club. It is one thing to have a 10 man rotation for purposes of depth. It is something else to have ten players that are legitimate threats to score if they have the basketball. We didn't have either of these last year. If you think about it, both of these numbers jump to 12 once LewJack and Marcius return, though Marcius has yet to prove he is a threat to join the double-figure scoring club.

I have long said that the Marcius injury is much bigger than the LewJack injury simply because of the depth issue at the respective positions. Keaton Grant, Chris Kramer, E'Twaun Moore, and Kelsey Barlow can serve as a guy to bring the ball up the floor. We're averaging 16 assists and 79 points per game (as a sidebar, I thought we were a slow, boring, all defense no offense team?) without LewJack. He is a good player that makes a very good team even better if healthy because of what he brings to the table (quickness on defense, added pressure, the ability to slash and score or kick the ball out). Losing a guy like Marcius, who was supposed to provide depth at a position where we have really on JaJuan Johnson established, is a big blow. We saw it against Alabama and Tennessee. If JJ is in foul trouble, we can quickly become ordinary. To beat the good teams on our schedule we are going to need players like Bade and Marcius to step up and both compliment JJ as well as step in if he gets in foul trouble.

Other teams watch film. They know they can get JJ in foul trouble and they will work to do so. I have already seen it by noticing he isn't as aggressive on defense in going after blocked shots because he is fearing the whistle a little. It is almost like seeing how Kramer wasn't as aggressive going to the basket after knocking himself against Clemson two years ago. If they get JJ in foul trouble they know it is our one major weakness. That is why seeing Bade develop into a guy that can solidly "run, rebound, and defend" as Matt Painter described him after the Ball State game is so important. Getting Marcius to the level will help too. Getting guys like Donnie Hale and Travis Carroll with JJ staying next year, plus Bade and Marcius, plus LewJack/Byrd becoming Kramer clones on defense to replace his loss? Holy Crap!

I think I need to sit down. I'm too excited.

Stevie Loveless - Congratulations to the young man for scoring the first points of his career! Now we need to get the ball to Kyle Coleman more. Coleman is the only healthy player on the roster that has not scored. He is 0 for 1 from the field and 0 for 2 from the line this season. For the next Walk-On Whiteout we need to get Coleman the ball and have him shoot.

JaJuan Johnson - You get the sense he could have totally dominated the game if he wanted to last night.

Keaton Grant - Grant found his outside shooting touch last night. I feel like he has a huge breakout game in his future when we will need it most. I can't wait to see it.

Negatives from the SIU-Edwardsville game:

Kelsey Barlow on free throws - Maybe he is a great free throw shooter in practice that clams up during a game. I don't know. I do know that if he is going to be handling the basketball in late pressure situations we need him to knock down free throws. It nearly cost us the Tennessee game. There is nothing worse than a point guard who barely shoots 50% from the line.

Defending Mark Yelovich - Helluva night for the young man. 23 points on 5 of 5 3-pointers. We didn't defend him and he showed why he is a solid building block for the Cougars.

Up next:

We have about as easy of a road trip as we can have to open conference play with Iowa coming up. The Hawkeyes have shown that they may be the worst team in the conference this year, so it absolutely has to be a win. It counts no more in the standings than beating Michigan State, but a lot more people will beat Iowa in conference play than the Spartans. Once again, we have to stay focused, not look ahead to a huge West Virginia game, and take care of business. I'll have more on the Hawkeyes next week, as well as a Big Ten Power Rankings tomorrow.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas, gentlemen. At 11-0 and one of just six teams in the country to make it to December 25^th perfect, you have earned it.

Wooden Champs, Again

BoilerTMill — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 05:13:35 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

This was probably the most challenging part of the day. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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You have to think the organizers of today's event do not want a repeat next year. The combination of just one game, a mediocre matchup, and poor weather combined for a rather dull game at Conseco Fieldhouse today. The upper balcony was curtained off like a Fever game (by comparison, I sat up there last year for the Davidson game) and a good portion of the LiveBlog talked about Chris Kramer's football ambitions or Drew Brees' MVP candidacy. Even in the postgame presser there was more buzz about the controversial Butler-Xavier ending.

I really want this event to be a good one, and so does Purdue. I know Purdue looks at it as a good opportunity to get a game in Indianapolis for its fans down here and to have a little more national exposure. I can see the other side of the coin too. What major conference team wants to come for a virtual Purdue home game (with no return guaranteed) against a pretty good team? Since Notre Dame is a bunch of pansies and won't play us there either we're left with what we have today. Don't get me wrong, Ball State is a promising young team, but you know everyone involved wants a bigger name for this event. At least we get the trophy for another year.

It was a win though. Purdue didn't look fantastic, but they were still clearly better than their opponents today. This is especially true on a day when West Virginia struggled with a major (winning by two at Cleveland State), Tennessee got pounded by USC, Georgetown lost to Old Dominion, and Florida lost to Richmond. I'll pick apart dull 20 point wins all day as opposed to the alternative.

Positives from the Ball State game:

Kevin Messenger and the Conseco Fieldhouse staff - Just a big thank you for the media access today and for hosting the event. It was first class all around.

Patrick Bade - In a game that was fairly dull bade stood out a little to me. I noticed that he was a little more confident and more aggressive in going after the ball. It wasn't a lot, but it was a step forward. Two points and two rebounds in eight rebounds may not seem like much, but it was the intangible things that matter. I asked coach Painter about this with my one question in the press conference. Here is what he had to say:

"He's doing a better job. It's a hard role to play 10 minutes and get subbed in four times. By the time you get lathered up and loose coach pulls you out. It's very difficult to get in a rhythm.I like to tell guys like that, ‘I'm not taking you out, I am putting JaJuan Johnson back in.' He's doing a great job. It's just hard to be consistent. He's not established yet while JaJuan Johnson is. Pat does a great job. He played 18 minutes against Tennessee and really laid it out there. He's staying aggressive and we need him to just run, rebound, and defend. He's going to develop into a great player for us."

That just about sums it up for Bade. He is kind of getting thrown to the wolves at the moment with no proven depth behind JJ, but that will pay dividends in the end. I was kind of hoping to see Sandi Marcius play today but he still wasn't quite ready. Until he is, Patrick is going to get some key minutes that will help in the future.In that regard, I'd rather have three options down low as opposed to two. last year's game at Michigan showed how bad that can be.

And yes, there was a big laugh when JJ was asked about playing 31 minutes without getting a single foul.

Defense - It is easy to look good when you hold your opponent to 18 points in the first half. Purdue allowed one 3-point attempt on the day and forced 19 turnovers. There wasn't anything overly special, either. It is nice to have a pedestrian effort yield these results. It also becomes very easy to win if you hold a team under 50.

Robbie Hummel - Again, this was a rather pedestrian effort and he gave us 19 and 9. If you look solely at the box score you'll see exactly what this game was. It was a statistical domination in which our three big guns did most of the heavy listing. It fits in almost exactly with the season averages through ten games.

Jarrod Jones - It is not often that I compliment players on the opposing team, but Jones is an impressive young player. If Ball State has a successful season in MAC play he will have a large role in that success.

The crowd - It was a smaller crowd than last year, but Purdue did a very good job of trying to fill the lower two levels of the Fieldhouse. It got a little loud in some moments (notably Keaton Grant's breakaway dunk), but otherwise Purdue fans simply enjoy a workmanlike win. There wasn't a whole lot to get overly excited about, but there was a bigger crowd than I expected at least.

The Walk-on WhiteOut - Credit to reader dbaltman for the term. This is like seeing Mariano Rivera in the ninth. When they come in, you know it is over. You can also tell Matt Painter has total control of this team. He said no shots in the final minute and he meant it. I wouldn't have the same discipline in such a small amount of playing time.

Negatives from the Ball State game:

D.J. Byrd - He had just come off of maybe his finest game and followed it up with a pretty bad one. His final line: 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 5 fouls, 15 minutes. There will be better days ahead. Kelsey Barlow also fouled out, but he had a nice moment where he attacked the basket for a layup.

3-point shooting - Let's save the 4 for 23 performances from long range for these types of games, okay?

Maintaining composure - Things got a little chippy at times with some hard fouls, but our guys kept their heads. Major positive there. Nothing escalated to shenanigans.

Up Next:

I think we can expect more of the same Tuesday against SIU-Edwardsville. It is yet another game in which we should not be challenged at all. I think you'll see more minutes from the freshmen and maybe even some time from Marcius as this will be the last game before the conference opener.

Another thing that coach Painter said in the presser was that he could only control what Purdue does. Someone brought up the Colin Cowherd statement about how Purdue wasn't a championship team because we don't have a great player. The guy kept baiting coach Painter too. I loved Matt's response:

"I can only control my schedule and what Purdue does. I think we have some great players. Robbie Hummel is a great player. JaJuan Johnson is a great player. These are guys anyone in the country would want. It is hard to judge where these teams are when everyone has still played so few games. I watched Kansas today and that is a very good team, but I would love to have a chance to match up with some of those great teams in March."

Very well said. We can only play who is put in front of us. Each game is about playing that game and that game alone. You play it, you get better, and you move on to the next one. Worrying about how good West Virginia is best left to the fans because the players are more concerned right now with SIU-Edwardsville. After that, it is a key conference opener at Iowa. By my count we have between 21 and 24 games (depending on the Big Ten Tournament) before we can even do anything about getting to the Final Four. Those games matter in regards to our seeding, but other than that they don't effect how we will play when we get there.

As long as we keep focused only on what is in front of us everything will take care of itself. You can win a lot of ballgames when you do that. That is how you beat teams like Ball State by 20 points with probably a C effort. Look at West Virginia today. Their C effort barely got a win at Cleveland State. Others weren't so lucky. This is why I choose to ignore the people that keep trying to tear us down. I know as long as we keep winning, it will speak for itself. In that regard, we still have a lot of talking to do.

One giant Kramer Moment

BoilerTMill — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:23:14 -0000

More photos » by Butch Dill - AP

Chris Kramer cements his place atop the Dead Hooker in the Trunk Scale. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

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Wow!

What else can you say? That was a transcendent performance by our senior leader and the heart of our team. JJ, Robbie and E'Twaun get much of the glory and the press. Chris Kramer, however, keeps hustling. He makes plays that change games. You readers have joined me in calling them Kramer Moments. Tonight truly was one giant Kramer moment. He was an assassin. He ripped out their freaking souls in their own building and loved doing it. Shoot, some Alabama students got so incensed they got themselves kicked out.

Purdue basketball: Where Fans get so irate they get thrown out happens.

Just look at the closing sequence. We were down five with 5:51 left. We then flipped the switch:

Kelsey Barlow: Rebound putback

Alabama turnover

Hummel 3 (assist to Kramer) ties it.

Defensive stop leads to D.J. Byrd free throw for the lead.

Kramer steal and score.

From there it was savvy clock management. We milked possessions, killed the clock with the lead, and made Alabama pay for their missed opportunities with time. We hit some free throws and closed the game out with defense. For the record, Alabama scored one point in the final six minutes. They didn't hit a field goal in the last 8:45. In their own building!!!

I hate using boxing analogies because they are overused, but this was like a fighter absorbing punch after punch after punch for 11 rounds without falling down. When it mattered most we unleashed an ungodly fury that flattened the Crimson Tide. You could almost see the moment the defense found The Switch. They never had a chance when we got rolling. We finished the game on a 14-1 run and in the process ripped a team's heart out Temple of Doom style. Every opponent down the road will see this game and know that we will NEVER be out of any game.

Positives from the Alabama game:

Chris Kramer - Gee, you think? 14 points (ties a season high). Three huge steals. 8 for 8 from the free throw line. The best play came with about 35 seconds left. Alabama inbounded the ball and Kramer hounded the guy for 8 seconds before making the steal. He couldn't do anything! Anthony Brock could only dribble around. He couldn't pass, drive, or shoot because Kramer was just hounding him. Eventually Kramer knocked the ball loose (how?) and came up with it (WTF?). He made Alabama waste the clock for him before not even allowing a shot. That was the most impressive one on one defense I have ever seen.

What level is he now at on the Dead Hooker in the Trunk Scale? I say at least level 6.

Robbie Hummel - Somehow he had a quiet 23 points. He was 3 for 5 from long range though, the biggest being the one that tied it at 64. Another hidden stat was that he had two blocks, one at a critical juncture when we were making the comeback. He did this while playing 39 minutes and even while running the offense at times.

Offensive rebounding - Yes the closeout defense was fantastic, but we don't get the chance to close the game without some huge offensive rebounds in the second half. That is what allowed the comeback. They all seemed to be the type of rebounds I get too. Alabama stood around expect the ball to come to them, only to have a guy slide in, grab it, and put it back before they realized he was there. As someone who did that for four years at the co-rec, I know it demoralizes the other team. That's especially true when it is a 5'11" white guy doing it. We had six offensive rebounds where we immediately scored on putbacks in the second half, including three on three straight possessions!

E'Twaun Moore - I saw The Look in the second half. Once we got the lead E'Twaun wanted the ball and he wanted to finish them off with the scenario I have described multiple times (3 point lead, shot clock winding down, dagger basket). I love that he wants the ball in these moments. I love even more that we have a whole team full of closers now.

D.J. Byrd - The freshman played his best game to date. I was impressed, as he hit some really big shots for us. He had two triples and had a chance for another when he gave us the lead. Work on the free throws a little and you'll be fine, son. D.J. Byrd is the perfect type of player we need right now. He is talented, but young. W don't need him to do a lot, but when we do get something from him it is great. He is learning the college game at a good pace and is starting to break out a bit.

Negatives from the Alabama game:

JaJuan Johnson - He played a good second half, but we have got to keep him out of first half foul trouble. We're playing with fire there. Patrick Bade looked lost tonight. Even when Sandi Marcius comes back he is a true freshman with less experience than Bade. I see JJ's position as our one true weakness. On the positive side, we're learning to survive without him. Poor JJ is so shell-shocked from fouls this year you can see he is more timid on defense. He hardly goes for even easy blocks now because he fears the whistle.

Patrick Bade - Please keep your head up, Patrick. Just do your thing and learn. He looked lost tonight, but he'll get better.

First half offense - Just atrocious. I don't even think it was Alabama's defense. We just never could get in any kind of rhythm. Even then, if it wasn't for offensive rebounds at the end we don't win.

First half bounces - Is it me, or did it seem like every little friendly roll, carom, or bounce went Alabama's way in the first half. That's what had me worried. This game had the feel of a loss because things weren't going our way in the Little Things department. That's why we have a Chris Kramer though. He makes things go our way.

What next:

Ball State, SIU-Edwardsville, and Iowa. We're going to be favored heavily in each, so it is time to take care of business. There is no reason we can't be 12-0 before facing West Virginia on New Year's Day. Who knows, with an upset or two here and there it could be a battle between #1 and #2.

I can't get over how impressive this win was though. This team has so much fight in them. They refuse to lose even with two players hurt and one of our main players on the bench with foul trouble. We turned this game around by sheer effort of will. We fought so hard that you could see the dejection on Alabama's faces at the end. This is the type of demoralizing loss that send a program into a spiral. We didn't just win the game, we broke their will. I never thought I would see a Purdue team do that.

So enjoy the week off, fellas. Get plenty of study time because it is Finals week and we need you all eligible second semester. I'll see you on Saturday at Conseco. As for the fans, we get a bigger arena to sell out this time. Make the drive to Indy and make Conseco Fieldhouse our home away from home for the first of four games this year.

Wrapping up the Valpo win (With some Boilermakings Notes)

BoilerTMill — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:41:06 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

E'Twaun for 3-twaun! (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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8-0 is 8-0. I think we are all very pleased with that result so far. With the exception of the South Dakota State game, we have dominated every "lesser opponent" and never let them hang around for a potential upset. Cal State Northridge, Central Michigan, Buffalo, and Valparaiso never had a chance with the way we started. We have reserved our slower starts for some of the bigger games (Wake, St. Joseph's) but have recovered quickly.

Maybe I had a small part in this. I questioned JJ, Robbie, and E'Twaun after the Wake Forest game about being a second half team. Since then, we have rocked opponents with dominant first halves. Maybe they took my question personally and have decided to make a concerted effort to start games better. Then again, maybe we're simply that much better than Buffalo and Valparaiso. It is probably the latter, but we'll see what happens against Alabama.

Ultimately, that is the story of this game. We played a team that we should dominate and did exactly that. Remember two years ago when we struggled with teams like Indiana State and even lost at home to Wofford? Those days seem like the distant past right now. We have come to expect easy games against lesser competition. That is a very good place to be in. Any game in which we get a Walk-on Whiteout near the end (Bubba Day, Stevie Loveless, Kyle Coleman, Dru Anthrop, and Mark Wohlford. Think about it) is a good day.

Positives from the Valpo game:

Defense on Brandon Wood - I totally forgot to mention this in the preview, but seeing Chris Kramer play against Wood was impressive. Some might think it was a case of him playing good defense against a great scorer. The thing is, Kramer is familiar with Wood. Huntington North and Kokomo are both North Central Conference opponents. Kramer's Vikings played Wood's Wildkats when Wood was a sophomore and junior. Kramer got the better of Wood both times then, and he had him last night by forcing him into four turnovers. Wood did most of his scoring very late when the game was already decided and Kramer was on the bench.

Robbie and E'Twaun from deep - They got it going early and often, finishing a combined 8 of 9 from the field. I got to see Robbie's first three and once he splashed it you could almost see the light go back on for him as he ran back up the court. He had the look of, "there it is!" in regards to finding his shot.

Keaton Grant's health - Keaton showed the knee is just fine with a great burst for a breakaway dunk in the first half. It was amazing to see him pull away from the defender like that. We need to get him involved a little more in the offense, but I am confident that his experience and leadership will come around in Big Ten play.

Offensive balance - JJ gave us 19 and 8 without really having to try that much. E'Twaun had 19 and shot 70% from the field. Hummel had 15 and hit all his threes. Keaton had 10. Kramer even had nine and six assists. As a team we shot 53% from the field with extensive time for the freshmen and subs. We were better than 45% from long range and almost 80% from the line. If we can consistently get those numbers from our starters we will win a lot of games. It shows that every single player, even Kramer, is an offensive threat. Kramer is a bit like me with his jumper. He is deadly when left open from 15-18 feet. If he steps out to 3-point land the accuracy goes away.

Negatives from the Valpo game:

Robbie Hummel's near injury - I don't think I am alone when I say that I nearly crapped myself when Robbie went up for a late second half rebound only to have his legs cut from under him and land on his spine. I am only 30 and shouldn't have that feeling for about 60 more years minimum. Evan Turner's injury is way too fresh in our minds, as is Robbie's from last year.

Boilermakings notes:

Here are some odds and ends I have found lately that weren't quite enough for a full Boilermakings, but they need to be mentioned:

Lost Letterman interview with Walter Jordan - This is a pretty good podcast with the former Boiler.

Cuanzo Martin off to a 7-0 start - Screw other coaches and their coaching trees. Gene Keady is the Godfather of undefeated teams!

Ladies lose Big Ten opener to Northwestern - This team is just decimated by injuries this year. Looks like the NCAA streak is in serious jeopardy.

Brees on Leno - Our favorite quarterback was awesome last night.

Curtis Painter now 2^nd string behind Peyton Manning - I mentioned this one yesterday, but it will be good to see him get some regular season reps after the Colts clinch everything. He won't get a start barring an absolute disaster that would cause rioting in the streets of Indianapolis (Manning getting hurt), but he will add to the Cradle of Quarterbacks title. If not for the Brandons (Kirsch and Hance) we would have a Michigan-like streak of consecutive starting QB's that played in the NFL. Will Elliott join that group?

If he does start I had better get my shotgun from my dad's house and some canned goods.

This is what we are supposed to do

BoilerTMill — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:43:06 -0000

More photos » by AJ Mast - AP

Even Matt Painter can't find fault with this win, but he is trying.

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How can you find negatives when we top 100 points for the first time in almost three years? Yes, the following statement probably comes from a bit of an inferiority complex with the ACC and Big East. I don't care. I want to force my brand upon the college basketball world and make people respect us. If they want to see offensive dominance, fine. I give you a 101-65 win over Buffalo. We used defense to build a big early lead, then decided to say, "We can score when we want to, so here is what we can do."

How can you find anything wrong with that. Our "stars" (and you're ddamn right I used quotes when I know everyone has a team-first attitude) put in an effortless 11-12-14 performance? That is the JJ-Robbie-E'Twaun combo for the unintiated.Even out defensive ace Chris Kramer had 14.

I saw this game as being a mismatch on paper. Buffalo didn't have many strengths. They could be classified as weak strengths, and event hen they played right into our defense. Their weaknesses could be exploited by a team of our makeup. That is why we have a 36 point win where we topped the century mark and gave four freshman walk-ons at least five minutes of game action.

That is what makes this a very simple game wrap. We did what we neeed to do against a lesser opponent. The game was in doubt for a few minutes, and that was it. Since Boilerdowd had the Corporate Seats as we call them, I was out running errands and didn't get home until about five minutes into the game. That seemed to be the moment where the team decided, "Oh, T-Mill is watching. We can play now." When I turned on my TV they had a one point lead at the second TV timeout. By halftime we were up by 19. It was never in doubt from there.

We played every single player we had on the active roster. Only Stevie Loveless and Kyle Coleman didn't score. It wasn't for lack of effort, either. Loveless had a couple of shots from the field while Coleman got to the line for a pair but couldn't knock one down.

As a sidebar, Coleman reminds me a lot of myself if I had been taller. I saw Coleman play about a dozen times as a compliment to IU's Derek Elston at Tipton in high school. He did a lot of the dirty work inside and played the middle while Elston roamed all over the court. Coleman rarely got the glory, but was rewarded with a walk-on opportunity at Purdue. If I were in his shoes, this would be my reaction: "HOLY SHIT! I GET TO PLAY THE GAME I LOVE IN FRONT OF 14,000 FANS AT MACKEY ARENA!!!"

Can you blame him for missing a pair of meaningless free throws? I know it is my naïve mind, but this is often the scenario I envision for any walk-on. This is what happens when you are a 5'11" white guy from Kokomo with a sketchy jumper and rudimentary ball-handling skills.

I think that best sums up this game wrap. It is a very good thing when we are picking apart the performance of the walk-ons on our team. We all want to be in their position, yet we cannot. In short, we did exactly what we needed to do today. No more, no less. Expect a similar performance later this week against Valpo. The Crusaders have already played some of the top teams in college basketball, so we have a litmus test for what we should expect.

"It was like he had three guys in his pocket..."

BoilerTMill — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:52:35 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

If that is not a WTF look I don't know what is

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That is what coach Dino Gaudio had to say about Purdue's second half defense last night. He didn't even have any preamble when he began his section of the press conference after the game. After Wake Forest's Ishmael Smith torched Purdue for 10 first half points and the Demon Deacons held a 31-29 halftime lead, Purdue cranked up its defensive intensity. Smith hit just 2 of 6 second half attempts after going 5 of 9 in the first half.

"He couldn't do anything. It was like he had three guys in his pocket the entire second half." - Dino Gaudio

There is a reason that the Paint Crew, which was in postseason form all night, serenaded Wake Forest in the closing minutes with, "BIG TEN BASKETBALL clap clap clapclapclap."

I did get a chance to ask one question in the presser. (As a sidebar, I did have a "holy shit!" moment when I walked into the press room at the exact same time E'Twaun, JJ, and Robbie did. It was like, "Hi, guys." as I was 3 feet away from them. Fortunately I maintained my composure and didn't go fanboy). I asked the guys if they felt they were becoming a second half team after the way this game and the St. Joseph's game played out. Here was JaJuan's response:

"We don't want it to be that way, but it is kind of how it has been. You want to go out and have that good start but right now we feel like anything can happen in the second half."

Enough hard-hitting real journalism. Let's break this game down.

Positives from the Wake Forest game:

Purdue's hosting ability - If I hadn't been so flustered and freaking out (more on this in a moment), I could have really enjoyed sitting down and seeing the placard that said, "Purdue welcomes Travis Miller" right in the press section. Talk about a moment of vindication after working on this blog for over three years. I've covered tons of high school games since 1999, but this was like getting called up to the Majors after toiling for ten years in the minor leagues. Everything was first class on Purdue's end. I owe a big thank you to Randy at Rush the Court for setting everything up, as well as Purdue's basketball SID Cory Walton and his staff for everything on Purdue's end. Let's hope this does not turn into a cup of coffee situation and instead becomes a 10-year journeyman career.

E'Twaun Moore - I thought I saw it in the Tennessee game, but I saw it even more in person last night. E'Twaun is developing The Look. He is getting the ball in his hands specifically looking to take over the game. I wish I had remembered to ask him about this last night now. You can tell at certain moments that he wants to dominate the game, and he has the confidence now that he can do it. I absolutely love it.

Chris Kramer - Okay Paint Crew, if there are members that read Hammer & Rails I have a new chant for you. In the LiveBlog last night I mentioned that we needed a Kramer Moment. Basically, it is whenever he makes a great defensive move and causes another turnover or any great play for that matter. The next time he does it, let's get a Kramer Moment chant going. Some top Kramer moments: His swim move, the shot from his knees, His tomahawk jam against Illinois two years ago. The man keeps his legend going. He really is the Secretary of Defense, adding four more steals and a sweet assist to Robbie on a break last night.

Robbie Hummel - He'll break out of his shooting slump. That's what many of these next few games before West Virginia are for. In the meantime, I love that he continues to work hard on the glass and at the defensive end. He knows what he needs to do too. His response to going 0 for 6 from 3-point land: "That's unacceptable."

JaJuan Johnson - 21-9-3. I'll take those numbers from him any night of the week. Is there a more special moment than when he gets the ball and everyone in the building knows a thunderdunk is coming?

Rebounding - Anytime you out-rebound a bigger team it is a very good thing.

The Paint Crew - I made this comment several times last night, but that was the loudest I have ever heard Mackey Arena. Even the alumni were loud. It absolutely gave me chills and it took every fiber of my being to maintain professionalism and not go nuts with you. They thoroughly disrupted Wake's offensive flow int eh second half (though foul trouble helped as well).Someone on the GBI football board proposed a similar group for football next season, even having it including young alumni who want to get loud and crazy during games. Sign me up!

Negatives from the Wake Forest game -

My 5pm until about 7:30 - For about two and a half hours things could not have gone worse in trying to get things going. A sampling:

Leaving Indy at 5pm should give me plenty of time, but traffic slowed things by about 20 minutes on 465.
Getting the press pass and parking pass from Mackey, then actually getting parked behind Ross-Ade, was a trial. As a result, I had approximately the National Anthem to get the laptop up and running. Next time, I'll try and have everything mailed to me. It would have saved me half an hour at least.
I had to scramble down to the press room to get the wireless access code. That wa the one very small negative that it wasn't at the press row, but in Purdue's defense I thought I would have more time to get to the press room pre-game.
Cover It Live refused to let me sign in, and wouldn't e-mail me the new password. I finally had to create a new account, redo the code, e-mail it to Rush the Court, and re-input it into my Open Thread. This is why we have nothing for about the first eight minutes of the game as I was in panic mode, texting, e-mailing, and flashing between sites. This was after running full-tilt from the back of the R Lot behind Ross-Ade to Mackey.
The first half went well. Everyone was playing nice in the comments, so I turned off moderation. Then things went a little south. Purdue took over the Cover It Live chat and ruined the neutrality of it a bit. Since this was for the national (and neutral) Rush the Court it ended up being a little counter-productive. While it is awesome so many of you readers showed up to chat, I need to moderate things better next time if I am there for Rush the Court. Hence, there will be more moderation on my end instead of turning it off like I did. You guys can, however, leave plenty of comments in the Hammer & Rails open thread away from the Cover It Live. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.

This made my evening feel like an unmitigated disaster on the way home. I know I didn't really get to enjoy much of the game, but it was fun running the liveblog. I would give myself a D as far as coverage for this game and the actual assignment. The only saving grace was getting an actual question in at the press conference. Had the main reason for me being there been this site, the grade is easily raised to a C.

3-point shooting - We all know 1 for 15 isn't going to cut it. It looked like we were leaving everything short on our home rims. Ah well. The shots will start falling eventually.

Up next:

We now have a pair of wins in the bank that are growing interest, with St. Joseph's potentially joining that group if they continue to have a good year. Soon I'll be able to d the non-conference opponents tracking sheet again to see how our portfolio is doing.

I do think this is a major step forward though. One journalist asked how things were different his year from last year in terms of experience. She mentioned that we had a close loss in a preseason tournament (Oklahoma) and a loss at home in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge (Duke). Those are now wins for us this year (Tennessee and Wake) in similar circumstances. Robbie pointed out that experience was the big factor now. This team now knows it can win these types of games. That is a huge step. The difference between thinking you can win and knowing you can by actually doing it is huge. We're going to be favored in every game now until a huge West Virginia game. The only real test in that stretch will be December 12^th against Alabama.

It is now time to work on the freshmen. DJ Byrd and Patrick bade need a lot of work, plus we still don't have Sandi Marcius back. These next few games will get their legs under them and have things running smoothly for that next big test.

Q&A with Hammer and Rails

MRickman84 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:30:16 -0000

We had a chance to talk with the excellent Purdue blog Hammer and Rails for the Deacs' upcoming game against the Boilermakers on Tuesday. You can find our questions and their answers after the jump.

What does the loss of Lewis Jackson mean for the team?

Not as much as I thought after seeing Kelsey Barlow play in the Paradise Jam. We’re used to playing point guard by committee. Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer played that role in the 2007-08 season before LewJack arrived. They can handle things, while Barlow grew up quite a bit as a freshman in the Virgin Islands. If there is such a thing as a fortunate injury it is this one because we are so guard heavy. Even former walk-on Mark Wohlford can bring the ball upt he floor a little. Where we miss LewJack the most is his ability to penetrate and score. Barlow isn’t quite there yet, but he is getting close.

How do you plan on defending Wake's bigs?

This is where injuries can be an issue. 6’9" freshman Sandi Marcius has yet to play because of a foot injury, but he is very close to returning. He may even be back for this game. We need him. Aside from JaJuan Johnson we don’t have a true, dedicated post player. Robbie Hummel is a good rebounder, but he plays on the perimeter more offensively. Freshman Patrick Bade has done well in relief of Johnson so far, but he is still very green. Both Bade and Johnson fouled out against Tennessee and we were lucky the Volunteers did not attack the paint on the final play.

To be quite honest, our lack of depth on the interior is a major reason that I think we are one year away from truly contending for a national championship. We have JaJuan Johnson and that is it. We have some promising bigs coming in the next recruiting class, but they won’t help us this year when they are still playing high school ball. We will be fine if we can keep JJ out of foul trouble, but that is a big if.

Obviously we know what we're getting from E'Twaun, Hummel, Johnson and Kramer, but who is the X-Factor that Wake should be looking out for?

Our X-factor is that we can have any player we put on the floor go for 10-15 points on any given night. Case in point: in the Paradise Jam semifinal Mark Wohlford had 10 points (he had four points in his career coming in) and Ryne Smith had 16. These guys are role players, but they carried the day. We are at our best when our role players like Smith, Wohlford, Grant, and other can contribute. They free up the floor for JJ, E’Twaun, and Robbie.

Speculate: Why will Purdue make the Final Four?

Because it is a goal and it is so close to home. I was junior at Purdue in 2000 when we made the elite 8. We fell to Wisconsin in the west regional final. It was out third loss in four games against the Badgers that year. The Final Four was also in Indy, costing Gene Keady maybe his best chance of making a Final Four.

This team is ready for that step. They have seen it on the schedule and know how close it is. I don’t want to make the Final Four. I want to win the whole damn thing.

Same deal: Why won't Purdue make the Final Four?

Depth in the middle. As I said before, we have JJ and that is it. We have another true center on his way in Travis Carroll, but he won’t be here until next year. That is why I want JJ to say for his senior season. He can helped lead us to a title while teaching Carroll as his understudy. We would also have Marcius, Bade, and Donnie Hale (another 2010 recruit) to provide depth in a very weak area this year. Basically, I view our 2010-11 team as the best team in Purdue history is JJ, Robbie, and E’Twaun stay because all the pieces will fit perfectly. If they all stay, anything less than a national title in 2011 will be a disappointment in my eyes.

Who has made the biggest jump from last year?

It is a tie between Ryne Smith and Mark Wohlford so far. Kelsey Barlow, Patrick Bade, and DJ Byrd are freshmen. Event though they are very talented, they are still freshman. Smith was the 10th player in a nine man rotation last year as a freshman. He has improved his game greatly and is emerging as a 3-point shooting specialist so far. He went apeshit in the second half against St. Joseph’s. Anyone who can regularly throw the ball in the basket from 20 feet away like Smith is good enough to be on my team. Wohlford is a great story. He is a former walk-on that was cut as a freshman, worked his way back on the team, and is now a regular contributor as a senior. He is a tenacious defender and every point he gives us on offense is a bonus. He even had a big three in the Tennessee game.

It's prediction time: who wins, what's the score and why?

The Boilers are playing at home, and I will pick this Purdue team against any team in the country in Mackey Arena. The core group has lost only four games at home to Wofford, Duke, Illinois, and Northwestern. The Wofford and Northwestern games were severe aberrations. I saw this team in person systematically dismantle Michigan State in Mackey Arena last year 72-54. Those Spartans then had a pretty good postseason run. I am concerned about Wake’s size, but I can’t pick against the Boilers at home. Purdue 74-70

The TDG Big Ten Basketball Preview

GopherNation — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:45:15 -0000

I have intentionally held off with a Big Ten basketball preview, waiting until we could see a few games and get a feeling for how teams are adjusting to the key gains and losses from a year ago. Gopher Nation has plenty to look forward to this season. As we all know everything is returning with some key additions added. An NCAA tournament bid and likely a win or two is expected. But what about the road before the NCAA Tournament. The long and difficult Big Ten season comes first and this team has a chance to really be a factor in the B10 title race. Let's take a brief look at each team in my expected order of finish.

1 - Purdue (NCAA) - Were it not for Purdue having injury issues a year ago they could very likely be defending a Big Ten title this year. Robbie Hummel was last year's preseason B10 POY and he should not be fully healthy to lead the rest of a very talented roster. The bulk of the talent lies in the junior class for the Boilermakers and this team is athletic and deep. Injuries and other uncontrollables aside, what may be the difference between a Big Ten title and a top 2 finish could come down to coaching. Matt Painter is an excellent coach but who knows if he'll be capable of steering his team accurately to win a Big Ten regular season title. Guys like Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan, Bruce Weber and Tubby Smith have the resume of winning multiple titles. I think after this year Matt Painter adds a Big Ten regular season title to his resume.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - E'Twaun Moore
SG - Chris Kramer
SF - Keaton Grant
PF - Robbie Hummel
C - JJ Dawson

2 - Michigan State (NCAA) - I know that Michigan State is the consensus title team and for very good reason. Tom Izzo is a great coach, his team is coming off a national runner-up season and he returns the vast majority of his roster. But my gut tells me they have a great season but one that ends the regular season looking up one spot in the B10 standings. It is really hard not to like Michigan State. They too are deep, very athletic, play great defense and as I mentioned they are very well coached. But I think the one key loss will be the loss that makes the difference. Goran Suton meant a lot to the Spartans a year ago and while this team still has very talented players like Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen and Durrell Summers (with guys like Raymar Morgan and Delvin Roe off the bench); Suton will be missed. Freshman Garrick Sherman may be very good but he's not the same thing. From year to year team's take on different personalities and even the loss of just one player can change the dynamic of a team. Michigan State will be great, they'll be extremely dangerous in the NCAA Tournament but I think they fall a game or two short of Purdue this year.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Kalin Lucas
G - Chris Allen
G - Durrel Summers
PF - Draymond Green
C - Garrick Sherman

3 - Ohio State (NCAA) - In this early season the Buckeyes have looked fairly strong. And leading their early season charge is the outstanding play of Evan Turner, who looks like the early favorite for Big Ten POY (very early, I know). Turner has notched a double-double in all four games averaging 21.7 ppg and 14.7 rpg. OSU has a lot of very nice pieces outside of Turner, which isn't surprising considering the recent string of very highly ranked recruiting classes in the Thad Matta era. OSU has some offensive weapons but they are lacking in a couple key areas. First of all they are not an overly deep team. Jon Diebler is a lights out shooter and Turner might be the best player in the conference but they can only carry them so far. Matta has been going with an eight man rotation so far this year with heavy minutes for the starting five. Secondly this team is not overly strong in the paint. Their perimeter is as good as anybody's in the conference but Kyle Madsen and Dallas Lauderdale will not strike fear into the hearts of the conference's coaches.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - William Buford
SG - Jon Diebler
SF - Evan Turner
PF - David Lighty
C - Kyle Madsen

4 - Minnesota (NCAA) - There was a time when my maroon goggles would have had me rank the Gophers one spot higher. The potential (probable?) losses of Royce White and Trevor Mbakwe greatly lessened my optimism. But then the impressive play of Rodney Williams to start the year has me thinking big things again, just not as grand as before. As we all know the Gophers are deep and defend very well. I think the improvement of the sophomores and the athleticism that Williams brings to the table makes this team dangerous. Over the course of a long season I don't think we have what it takes to finish in the top 2 but this team is good enough to beat anybody on their schedule.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Al Nolen
SG - Lawrence Westbrook
SF - Rodney Williams
PF - Damian Johnson
C - Ralph Sampson III

5 - Illinois (NCAA) - this might be the team I know the least about but I do know enough to know that this team is well balanced and has the roster make-up that is well suited for Bruce Weber. Demitri McCarney, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale are known quantities around the Big Ten. These guys averaged a combined 33 points, 14.7 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game last year. They compliment each other well and this year they add a couple dynamic freshmen to the backcourt in DJ Richardson and Brandon Paul. In the early goings these kids have 11.3 and 16.7 respectively, although they have yet to play any team of substance. Overall this will be a very good team that will only get better as the season goes along.

Likely Starting lineup
G - Brandon Paul
G - DJ Richardson
G - Demitri McCamey
PF - Mike Davis
C - Mike Tisdale

6 - Michigan (NCAA) - Manny Harris is such a great player who can win a game on his own and probably has the best pro potential in the conference. A lot of people would put the Wolverines as high as third on their prediction list based mostly on the talent of Harris and DeShawn Sims. But I'm not 100% sold on the rest of the team. John Beilein is a great coach and in year three he should really have his guys and his system working well. But once again I'm not sold on the rest of the roster and in this year's Big Ten a guy like Manny Harris will win you a few but on the nights when teams slow him down Michigan will be rather vulnerable. Decent depth, great scoring and not great interior size. A sixth place finish may seem very low but the difference between the 4th through 7th place teams could really only be a couple games.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Darius Morris
G - Manny Harris
G - Laval Lucas-Perry
F - Zack Novak
F - DeShawn Sims

7 - Wisconsin (NCAA) - Rule #1 in Big Ten basketball, never underestimate Bo Ryan and the Badgers. This isn't a great Badger team but there is some talent here with Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon and even Jon Leuer is having a pretty good season thus far. It may be easy for Gopher fans to overlook Wisconsin since we did sweep them last year (that was fun to write), but this team is capable of not only beating the Gophers but finishing at least a few spots higher than this. Maybe this is wishful thinking or maybe I'm not sold that the talent is there, not even for Bo Ryan.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Trevon Hughes
SG - Jason Bohannon
SF - Tim Jarmusz
PF - Jon Leuer
C - Keaton Nankivil

8 - Penn State (NIT) - The Talor Battle show will be a lot of fun to watch in Happy Valley. Penn State is perfectly demonstrates why I wanted to wait a couple weeks before I started my B10 preview. I once would have put PSU a spot or two higher, but after losses to UNC-Wilmington, Tulane and a 2-pnt win over Davidson (Steph Curry is no longer there folks) I am thinking that 7th might be too high. This team will go as far as Taylor Battle will lead them but the development of freshman Tim Frazier at PG and how well their interior rebounds is what could be the difference between another NIT run and the NCAA Tournament. Their Big Dance resume is already in bad shape, they'll will have to finish a lot higher in the conference standings to avoid the NIT again.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Tim Frazier
SG - Talor Battle
SF - David Jackson
PF - Jeff Brooks
C - Andrew Jones

9 - Indiana (NIT) - Great recruiting class and I am a huge Tom Crean fan, but this year will be tough for a young Hoosier squad to make much noise in the Big Ten. The conference is the deepest and most talented that it has been in a very long time. Other years a hot, young team like Indiana could make a run into the top 5, but not this year. This will be the sheik team next year and this year you'll likely seen them stun a few top 4 teams along the way. But learning to play at the Big Ten level is not an easy adjustment no matter how talented you are. I wouldn't be completely shocked to see them finish higher, but not likely this year.

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Verdell Jones III
G - Jeremiah Rivers
G - Maurice Creek
PF - Tom Pritchard
C - Christian Watford

10 - Northwestern - This may have been the year for the Wildcats to make the tournament, but the loss of Kevin Coble effectively ended that dream. This is a surprisingly talented NU roster and with the way they defend and execute their precision offense they should never be taken lightly. But with Coble out for the season they'll rely on Michael Thompson and John Shurna. There are a couple intriguing freshmen to go along with Thompson and Shurna

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Michael Thompson
SG - Jeremy Nash
SF - Drew Crawford
PF - John Shurna
C - Luka Mirkovic

11 - Iowa - The outlook for the Hawkeye season is so bleak that they cannot help but surpass expectations this year. Scoring has been the problem this year for Iowa. There will be games when they are hot from behind the arc and maybe they'll get a few conference wins. But for the most part you can expect a lot of losses for Iowa (that too was fun to type).

Likely Starting lineup
PG - Cully Payne
SG - Anthony Tucker
SF - Matt Gatens
PF - Jarryd Cole
C - Brennan Cougill

I know that people hate preseason polls and predictions but at the conference level this is a lot of fun. Everyone has much hope and optimism for the season, except Iowa fans. There are eight teams capable of making a run to the NCAA Tournament (although Penn State is already on life support). The Big Ten should be a blast to watch this year.

Since I'm taking a wild stab at the standings here is my best guess at some post season individual awards.

All Big Ten First Team

PG - Kalin Lucas
SG - Manny Harris
SF - Evan Turner
PF - Robbie Hummel
F - DeShawn Sims

All Big Ten Second Team

G - Taylor Battle
G - Demetri McCamey
F - Jon Diebler
F - Damian johnson
C - JJ Dawson

Big Ten All Freshman Team

G - Brandon Paul - Ill
G - D.J. Richardson - Ill
F - Rodney Williams - Minn
F - Christian Watford - Ind
F - Garrick Sherman - MSU

Basketball 2009-10: The Returning Players

BoilerTMill — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:39:43 -0000

I can barely contain my excitement. Growing up in Indiana, basketball is in my blood, and I can literally feel it coming around the corner. It felt like it began this morning when ESPN released its preseason coaches poll and Purdue was rated 7^th.

So I have decided to make basketball a three part preview before next week's exhibition opener. Part 1 was up a few weeks ago talking about the huge crop of eight newcomers to the program. Today I'll hit on the returning players and what wee need from them in addition to what they already give us. Finally, I'll talk about the schedule in part three and what we can expect as a reasonable record.

The reason this team is so highly ranked is because of its returning cast. All five starters are back. A key player off the bench is back. These are all guys that have now been around for quite awhile, so much is expected of them. Lewis Jackson is the only returning starter that is not at least a junior, and big things are expected of him too.

Seven months ago I said we needed to remember this moment because we would be back to avenge it.

Consider us back.

JaJuan Johnson - My regular readers know that I am trying subtle hypnosis to get JaJuan to stay in West Lafayette after this season. I am of the opinion that if he stays, we will win the 2011 national title because he will have an experienced Sandi Marcius as a backup and a young Travis Carroll to teach for the future. Having those three on the same team for one season in 2011 could help Purdue jump into the realm of the country's elite.

We know what we're going to get from JJ. He has a solid mid-range jumper. He is developing into a great low post player. No one abuses the rim on thunder dunks like him. If anyone ventures within five feet of him the ball will quickly be going the other way on a swat. Now we just need him to become a dominant rebounder. Ultimately, I can see that part of his game holding us back if he doesn't develop. We no longer have Calasan and Green to help him on the boards. Marcius' development will help in this, as will Patrick Bade's. The game at Michigan last year showed what can happen when JJ gets in foul trouble, so it is critical that we don't rely on him too much.

Seriously, how much fun is this? I can't dunk, so will someone who can please tell me?

Back to the hypnosis: It's too early, JaJuan. Education is important. You want to win a title and be a legend. You're not 21 yet so you haven't experienced Harry's or the Cactus...

Robbie Hummel - I honestly don't know how Robbie does it. He is a scorer, a rebounder, a deadly accurate shooter. He is also a tenacious rebounder and hustler. Robbie is a player that makes everyone else around him better because of the matchup problems he creates. If we have a smaller guy on him he can go inside and open up the 3-point shot for E'Twaun and Keaton Grant. If teams go big on him he draws that big man outside, opening up the middle for JJ. There really is no great way to guard him.

If Robbie can stay healthy this year Purdue has an excellent chance at a special season. Robbie single-handedly kept the UConn game in last year's tournament close. Purdue can win a lot of games with just Robbie Hummel playing well. With Hummel and everyone else playing well, it is very hard for them to lose games. We just need Robbie to be Robbie this year and stay healthy. If everyone steps up around him I don't think there is a team in the country we can't beat.

E'Twaun Moore - If 2008 was Robbie's breakout year as a freshman and 2009 was JJ's as a sophomore, the third of that "Baby Boilers" group is due this year. I think we have yet to see E'Twaun's talents as a pure scorer. I call him a scorer because he is a player that can create his own shot nearly anywhere on the floor. He is capable of taking over a game and exploding for a personal 12-0 run at any time.

E'Twaun has been far from a disappointment so far. He is a consistent scorer. We know we're getting 13-15 from him every night. What I want to see from him is the ability to just go apeshit and drop 30 on anyone at any time. I know he has it within him. We saw flashes of it last year in the losses to Oklahoma and Penn State, where he put the team on his back for long stretches. We also got a taste when he had a season high 26 on 10 of 14 shooting against IU. There was also the game at Illinois in 2008 when he went for 24 on 10 of 12 shooting. I want E'Twaun to be a bad, bad man that other teams fear. I want him to be the assassin that closes games out with absolutely backbreaking baskets. You know the type, when a team needs a stop and they defend until the shot clock runs down only to have someone drill a 17 foot jumper with a hand in his face. E'Twaun is that type of player, and this is his year.

Chris Kramer - Is he really a senior? I know I have talked about him coming back to play football next year, and that is a rumor that continues to grow legs. We still get one more year of basketball and Chris has made his goal clear: he wants his Defensive Player of the Year award back.

Kramer is the type of player where you love him if he is on your team, but hate him if you're facing him. I am convinced the man cannot feel pain. He is tenacious and drives other teams nuts with his mere presence. His scoring has gone down every year, but we don't need him to be a scorer. If he can generate a few points every night on turnovers and icing free throws that is fine with me. We have plenty of other guys that can score. Kramer generates plenty of offense through steals and assists even if he isn't the guy that actually puts the ball in the basket. We just need Kramer to be Kramer.

Keaton Grant - Any time you can have a guy like Keaton Grant come off the bench you know you're a good team. His scoring was down a little last year, but that is because he had a reduced role in the offense and was still recovering from knee surgery. With him completely healthy we have another great 3-point shooter. In 2008 he shot 44% from long range, but dipped to 35% last year with more attempts.

Keaton needs to be a shooter, plain and simple. We need him to return to his 2008 shooting form where he buried nearly every open look from beyond the arc. Part of the reason his numbers dropped could be because they moved the 3-point line out a foot, but he can still be a dangerous weapon off the bench from long range.

Lewis Jackson - I thought LewJack was the missing piece coming into last year. We needed a distributor who could force tempo and make us run at times. He filled that role perfectly, and now we just need him to mature both on and off the court. He offseason arrest for alcohol and pot was not a step in this direction. One has to think he is on very thin ice coming into this season, as he is already suspended for both exhibition games and the opener against Cal State Northridge. Honestly, it is a pretty toothless suspension. We don't need him in the exhibitions and Cal State Northridge is a game we should win regardless of who plays. Still, LewJack must learn and grow.

As a point guard, LewJack needs to improve on his assist to turnover ratio (nearly 3:2 last year, so not bad) and he needs to be a better free throw shooter. He is going to have the ball in his hands a lot at the end of games. He also will be driving the lane a lot and drawing contact, so 58% from the line won't cut it.

Ryne Smith - I have read a lot about how Smith has bulked up and is ready for more minutes this year. He is an interesting case. If you read the message board chatter after last season ended, Smith was a candidate for transfer because surely the newcomers would take what few minutes he had. It appears he has bulked up and improved his shooting stroke though.

Smith is almost exclusively a 3-point shooter. He was 6 of 21 from the field last year, but only four attempts were inside the arc. He was 5 of 17 from 3-point range, so if he has improved his stroke I know we can use him as a 3-point shooting specialist for a few minutes each night. In the college game you always have room for a kid that can just shoot the basketball, especially from long range. Smith gives us another option in this area.

Mark Wohlford - Wohlford is the only returning player that is not expected to have a huge impact on the court. The walk-on has only played in 18 career games, mostly as a final minute replacement when we've had a big lead. He has four career points. Wohlford will still be a leader though.

We have a lot of walk-ons. Bubba Day, Stevie Loveless, Kyle Coleman, and Dru Anthrop give us a virtual practice squad of players. Wohlford will likely take on a leadership role in this group, giving us essentially our own team to practice against. How can you not like that? If Wohlford has to play in a game and can give us anything at all it is gravy.

Final Analysis:

There is a reason we're ranked #7 in the preseason and on the short list for the Final Four. This is a damn good basketball team with a lot of returning talent plus some pretty good freshmen. All the parts fit each other well. That is the biggest aspect, especially in the style we play. We are not an individualistic team. We don't feature one guy that when you stop him, you stop us. We thrive on spreading around the scoring and playing team defense.

Tell me, Digger: Will you be using the highlighter to point out how wrong about Purdue you have been? If so, let me give you a few more so you don't run out.

Of course, the media doesn't like this. We'll probably piss of Digger Phelps all season long by <gasp> playing defense and doing what we need to do to win games. So what if we don't score 95 points per game. Who freaking cares! You don't need to score 95 when you can hold opponents under 60. The object of the game is to win. It doesn't matter if you win by 1 or 100. This team is built to win basketball games, and it will win a lot of them.

BtB 2009-10 Big Ten Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:44:34 -0000

For all of the beating that the Big Ten took during a particularly rough and tumble regular season, the conference really validated itself in the postseason. Those March and April performances bode well for this season, especially considering that the Big Ten's main contenders didn't lose as much as the contenders in other conferences. For example, all five players on the coaches' All-Big Ten team from last season are back.

The two teams who progressed furthest in the NCAAs, national runner-up Michigan State and regional semifinalist Purdue are the clear favorites in the league, and both teams could make a serious run at a MIdwestern Final Four. Penn State, the NIT champions, will look to improve their standing enough to get into the Big Dance this time around. And of course, Northwestern will look to really shake things up in the league and make it to the NCAAs for the first time. In between, the Big Ten's other five NCAA entrants will attempt to stay in the field. The biggest thing for the conference this year is separating itself from the other BCS leagues, especially in non-conference play. With the Big Ten being hyper-competitive this year, its members really need to distinguish themselves during the early part of the season. Otherwise, teams will be clumped together on lines 8 through 12 of the bracket like last year, which doesn't bode well for sustained tourney runs. More on all 11 teams after the jump.

To refresh your memory, let's take a look at how the Big Ten standings looked at the end of the 2008-09 regular season.

Big Ten Conference Standings

(updated 4.7.2009 at 12:23 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Michigan St. Spartans	15	3	31	7
Purdue Boilermakers	11	7	27	10
Illinois Fighting Illini	11	7	24	10
Penn St. Nittany Lions	10	8	27	11
Ohio St. Buckeyes	10	8	22	11
Wisconsin Badgers	10	8	20	13
Minnesota Golden Gophers	9	9	22	11
Michigan Wolverines	9	9	21	14
Northwestern Wildcats	8	10	17	14
Iowa Hawkeyes	5	13	15	17
Indiana Hoosiers	1	17	6	25

Now, here are my picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order. If a school's name appears in red, that's a link to its SBNation site. You can go there for more detailed analysis throughout the season.

Iowa (last NCAA: 2006) The long rebuilding process continues for Todd Lickliter. It looks to be another long year in Iowa City, especially since the Hawkeyes have real point guard issues after Jake Kelly (transfer to Indiana State for family reasons) and Jeff Peterson (transfer to Arkansas) left the program. 6-1 frosh Cully Payne will have to adjust to the Big Ten game fast, as he will have to be the main option. If he doesn't, expect sophomore Anthony Tucker (10.4 ppg, 0.6 apg) to move over from shooting guard. The team's only other returning double-digit scorer, Matt Gatens (10.8 ppg), will be a force as he can really shoot the ball (40.3 % from the perimeter and 90.4 % from the free throw line). The Hawkeyes really need more contributions inside, where Jarryd Cole has battled injuries and struggled offensively, which has also been a problem for the rest of Iowa's frontline players.

Indiana (last NCAA: 2008) Tom Crean is also in a rebuilding situation, but he loaded up on recruits this offseason, something Lickliter couldn't quite do. Jeremiah Rivers, son of Boston Celtics coach Doc and a Georgetown transfer, is now eligible and will run the offense. Rivers' steady hand should improve a team that rated near the bottom of Division I in assist/turnover ratio. Meanwhile, the incoming freshmen are so highly regarded that last year's leaders may see reduced playing time. Rivers' arrival, and that of freshman Jordan Hulls, will eat into Verdell Jones' playing time (11 ppg, 3,6 apg). 6-5 Maurice Creek will take time away from Devan Dumes (12.7 ppg). In the frontcourt, Tom Pritchard (9.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg) will still see significant time, and he'll be joined by freshmen Bobby Capobianco, Derek Elston, Bawa Muniru, and Christian Watford. Considering that Crean's returning frontcourt players not named Tom Pritchard only average 0.8 ppg, they should see plenty of action. If they adjust to the Big Ten quickly, the Hoosiers may win some of those close games they tended to lose in 2008-09.

Penn State (last NCAA: 2001) You rarely see teams as happy about winning the NIT than the Nittany Lions last year. PSU had a real case for an NCAA bid, thanks to 10 league wins, but a non-conference schedule full of cupcakes cost them. On that front, the Lions hope they can get some big wins in the Charleston Classic to help their case this time around. In terms of personnel, the good news is that all-Big Ten first teamer Talor Battle (16.7 ppg, 5 apg) is back. The bad news is that his backcourt mates, Stanley Pringle (12.8 ppg) and Danny Morrissey (5.3 ppg) are gone and so is star forward Jamelle Cornley (14.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg). The effectiveness of their replacements will dictate the Nittany Lions' chances of moving up. Sophomores Chris Babb (2.8 ppg) and Cammeron Woodyard (2.2 ppg) will have to step it up to replace Pringle, but incoming freshman Tim Frazier will also play a big role in the backcourt. In the frontcourt, 6-9 Andrew Jones (6.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg) is expected to increase his production to make up for Cornley's graduation, so will David Jackson. Both Jones and Jackson played key roles in PSU's NIT run. Serbian freshman Sasa Borovnjak and redshirt frosh Billy Oliver will also see lots of time inside.

Wisconsin (last NCAA: 2009) The Badgers struggled on offense and defense last year. However, Bo Ryan's team was able to right the ship after dropping six in a row in January to sneak into the tournament and grab a first round win over Florida State. However, Ryan lost two key performers off that team, swingman Joe Krabbenhoft and F Marcus Landry. Jason Bohannon (10.3 ppg, 1.7 apg) and Trevon Hughes (12.1 ppg, 2.8 apg) are back, however, so the backcourt remains in good shape, typical of a Ryan-coached team. The returning frontcourt players, led by 6-10 F Jon Leuer (8.8 ppg, 3.8 ppg) and 6-8 Keaton Nankivil (4.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg) will have to be tougher to adequately replace Landry and Krabbenhoft. Look out for the Badgers' two redshirt freshmen, Jared Berggren and Ryan Evans, as they should see significant frontcourt time as well. If the frontline improves significantly, the Badgers could go dancing for the 12th straight year.

Northwestern (last NCAA: None) While Wisconsin (and the rest of the league) has become a consistent NCAA performer, the Wildcats are the complete opposite. Once again, NU is the only team in a BCS conference to fail to qualify for a single NCAA tournament. On March 4, the men from Evanston stood at 17-11, after winning at Indiana, against Iowa at home, and at Purdue. They then managed to lose at Ohio State by 5 to finish 8-10 in the conference. If that wasn't bad enough, they then fell to Minnesota by 13 in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Wildcats cannot let something similar happen this season. Personnel-wise, the Wildcats bring back nearly everyone from last year, most importantly all-Big Ten second teamer Kevin Coble (15.5 ppg, 4.8 apg) and point guard Michael Thompson (9.9 ppg, 3.7 apg), a deadly three-point shooter (41.7%). The major loss is guard Craig Moore (14.3 ppg, 2.7 apg) who graduated. Incoming frosh Drew Crawford could slide into Moore's slot on the roster. He's the son of NBA referee Danny Crawford. If coach Bill Carmody can squeeze a little more from his returnees, who provided solid, if unspectacular and inconsistent performances throughout last season, the Wildcats will finally make the field of 65.

Minnesota (last NCAA: 2009) Expectations are high for Tubby Smith's third season in the Twin Cities. The Gophers will have to find a way to play Michigan State and Michigan better, as they didn't manage to win a single game against those two teams (0-5). The Gophers return all of their key performers from last season, including leading scorer Lawrence Westbrook (12.6 ppg), second leading scorer Damian Johnson (9.8 ppg), point guard Al Nolen (6.5 ppg, 4.3 apg), and big men Ralph Sampson III (6.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Colton Iverson (5.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg). Sampson and Iverson should see more time at center thanks to the arrival of 6-7 freshman Royce White and JC transfer Trevor Mbakwe, if he's ever cleared to play. Mbakwe is due to go on trial for assault in South Florida in December. Nolen could also see the bench if he's as inconsistent as he was during Big Ten play, thanks to the arrival of freshman PG Justin Cobbs. The Gophers are drawn against Butler in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, which should be a good indicator of how well this team will perform in 2009-10.

Michigan (last NCAA: 2009) Much like with Tubby Smith's Minnesota team. great things are expected in Ann Arbor during John Beilein's third season. Beilein's offensive and defensive philosophies usually take consistent hold in that third season, and the team's performance improves as a result. One of the Wolverines' biggest needs is in the frontcourt, where DeShawn Sims (15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) was often left on an island last season. Seven-foot, redshirt freshman Ben Cronin should provide some help, as should 6-8 frosh Jordan Morgan, if he plays. Beilein may redshirt him depending on how well he's recovered from offseason knee surgery. 6-10 frosh Blake McLimans and 6-6 junior Anthony Wright may be called into duty frequently. The backcourt is the strength of this UM squad, led by all-Big Ten performer Manny Harris (16.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.4 apg). Harris should get more time to drive to the hoop (and get to the foul line), thanks to the arrival of freshman Darius Morris, who is expected to take over at the point. The reserve backcourt players need to show more consistency, as none averaged more than 6.7 ppg, despite some impressive shooting nights.

Illinois (last NCAA: 2009) While the Illini lost guards Chester Frazier and Trent Meacham, the returnees and Bruce Weber's best ever recruiting class should keep the squad near the top of the Big Ten. Demetri McCarney (11.5 ppg, 4.6 apg) already has plenty of experience at the point to replace Frazier. Incoming freshman D.J. Richardson will be called on to replace Meacham, especially from the defensive perspective. Brandon Paul, another heralded recruit, will be an inside-outside threat. In the frontcourt, Mike Davis very nearly averaged a double-double last season (11.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg), so he'll continue to be a force. Mike Tisdale could be a star if he's more aggressive. He has plenty of room to improve on the 10 points and 4 boards he averaged last season.

Ohio State (last NCAA: 2009) The Buckeyes did pretty well last season, winning 22 games and making the Big Ten title game despite losing G/F David Lighty in the seventh game of the year. With Lighty back and all-Big Ten selection/jack-of-all-trades Evan Turner still around, the Buckeyes should be even better this time around. Joining Turner as offensive forces are guards William Buford and Jon Diebler who both averaged a little more than 11 points a game. While Thad Matta has a lot of guys who can shoot, he doesn't have a true point guard. Not that this issue really stopped the Buckeyes last year. Jeremie Simmons (6.8 ppg, 2.5 apg) and P.J. Hill (3.2 ppg, 1.9 apg) saw some time at the point after Anthony Crater's departure for South Florida, with Hill making more of an impact. If the two have issues, Turner, who averaged 4 assists per game last year, could spend some time running the offense. Turner will also see time in the frontcourt, where Lighty will serve as OSU's power forward (9.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg). 6-8 junior Dallas Lauderdale and 7-foot UAB transfer Zisis Sarikopoulos will occupy the post. OSU will be tested early, thanks to a matchup with defending National Champion North Carolina at the Coaches vs. Cancer event in New York, followed by a game with either California or Syracuse.

Purdue (last NCAA: 2009) The Boilermakers bring back nearly everyone from last season's team, which fell to UConn in the West regional semifinals. Thanks to the graduation of Nemanja Calasan, Matt Painter has only two returning post players. However, they're two good ones. Robbie Hummel (12.5 ppg, 7 rpg) should be fully recovered from a stress fracture in his back that cost him five games last season. Meanwhile, 6-10 junior JaJuan Johnson (13.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is one of the most electrifying players in the country. They'll be backed up by a crop of freshmen, led by 6-10 Croatian C Sandi Marcius. Purdue's backcourt remains intact. Chris Kramer will provide the defense, E'Twaun Moore the scoring--and some assists (13.8 ppg, 3.0 apg), while Lewis Jackson (5.9 ppg, 3.3 apg) will run the show. The Boilermakers' commitment to defense, led by Kramer, Johnson, and Jackson, is a major reason why they will seriously threaten to make the short trip to Indy this season. If they avoid the health issues of last season, they should get a seed that will help their path.

Michigan State (last NCAA: 2009) While the Boilermakers will attempt to do what the Spartans did last year, make a short trip in state to play in the season's final weekend, don't discount MSU, a team that has plenty of history of its own in Indianapolis. Tom Izzo has a team that may be able repeat Sparty's 2000 triumph. Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten Player of the Year is back at the point. Raymar Morgan is back in the frontcourt. But the biggest questions are how well the Spartan frontcourt plays without Goran Suton and who replaces Travis Walton's defensive prowess in the backcourt. Junior Tom Herzog and incoming freshmen Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman will be given every chance to fill Suton's shoes. Meanwhile, Lucas will have to play more of a defensive role this season than in the past, to make up for Walton's absence. While Lucas is the unquestioned star of the team, he'll need lots of support from players like guards Chris Allen (8.4 ppg) and Durrell Summers (8.6 ppg), and F Delvon Roe (5.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg) to make a second straight Final Four run.

So, the Spartans will hold the Big Ten's auto bid in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket, which I will release on November 9. Check in then to see what other teams from the conference I've penciled in at the start of the season. To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-Big Ten team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Player of the Year: Evan Turner, 6-7 G/F, Jr. (Ohio State)

Remainder of the Team
Talor Battle, 5-11 G, Jr. (Penn State)
Manny Harris, 6-5 G, Jr. (Michigan)
JaJuan Johnson, 6-10 F, Jr. (Purdue)
Kalin Lucas, 6-0 G, Jr. (Michigan State)

Poll

Who is your pick to win the Big Ten this season?

Illinois

72 votes

Indiana

4 votes

Iowa

5 votes

Michigan

12 votes

Michigan State

106 votes

Minnesota

9 votes

Northwestern

5 votes

Ohio State

14 votes

Penn State

20 votes

Purdue

49 votes

Wisconsin

4 votes

300 votes | Poll has closed