SB Nation - Bobby Riddell

Proud to be a Boilermaker

BoilerTMill — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:39:50 -0000

I am proud to be a Boilermaker today.

I never thought eight words would mean so much to me. When I was born, I came home from the hospital in a Purdue outfit. I can't even remember a time when I haven't watched Purdue sports. Standing in my living room last night though, with tears beginning to flow as I heard the Paint Crew members that went all the way to Arizona give us one final Bobby Buckets chant, those words gained an even more poignant meaning to me. My eyes are even getting a little misty this morning thinking about it again.

J Money gets it. There are normal people, then there are sports fans. For people like us our teams become an extension of ourselves. We live by them. We feel like we know the guys. I know that is true about this group of young men. Because of this blog I feel like I know them better than any other team. I have written almost daily about them since November. They have been what sports need to be: a pleasant distraction at times when we need them the most. They have allowed me to vent so many personal frustrations and re-direct so much pent up energy that I literally do not know what I would do without them. Dammit I am proud of these guys today.

Remember this moment, fellas. We will be back to avenge it.

Last night that Buckets chant said so much about who we are as Purdue fans. Over the course of the open thread here and the Liveblog that the UConn Blog was doing, the Husky fans continued to comment how we simply refused to go away. Even in the final minutes, with the game well decided, we did not give up. Instead of an arena filled with UConn fans cheering their team's advancement to the elite 8 what did we hear on the broadcast?

BOBBY BUCKETS!!!

Clap clap clapclapclap

BOBBY BUCKETS!!!

Clap clap clapclapclap

How can you not be moved by that? I admit we got our asses handed to us by a bigger, stronger, better team. UConn hit the shots they needed to hit. Thabeet thoroughly disrupted our offense. Price hit some very tough shots and Austrie hit some absolute back-breaking threes. Still, in face of everything, here are some select comments from UConn fans during the liveblog in the final minutes.

gxpanos: You guys play GREAT D, though, T-Mill. You'll be around in the Big 10 next year.

GoHuskiesGo: I think Purdue can dominate the Big Ten because they play BASKETBALL

GoHuskiesGo: Hey T-Mill- your kids wont die. its irritating.

Jesus Shuttlesworth: man, purdue just does not go away.

GoHuskiesGo: I'm very impressed by Purdue

Jesus Shuttlesworth: yeah, and considering they're all coming back, you have to think this team can do some damage.

Those statements just mean so much to me as does the Paint Crew last night. I will always remember that. Even in defeat we were still there, and we made my original prediction came true. At 9:25 last night, UConn did respect us.

BOBBY BUCKETS!!!

Clap clap clapclapclap

BOBBY BUCKETS!!!

Clap clap clapclapclap

Positives from the UConn game:

All of the above - Well, obviously. Last night was the first time this season where I really felt the general youth of our team. Maybe it is because the Big Ten in general was so youthful this year. Connecticut's experience made as much of a difference as Xavier's did in last season's tournament. They had that little extra push from it. They knew when to get in a passing lane, when to change tempo. They understood all the little nuances of the game that only experience can bring. A prime example was the fast break we had when down four and LewJack was looking for the open layup. Price knew exactly where to be, intercepted the freshman's pass, and it ended up being a dunk the other way. It was a four point shift and psychologically was a killing blow. The ability to get the lead under three almost became a mental barrier, and that (other than Keaton's second half layup that rimmed out, failing to cut it to one) was our best chance.

Robbie Hummel (first half edition) - Robbie kept us alive last night. Nothing was falling early on except for Robbie's shot. I don't know if it was the atmosphere of essentially shooting in a warehouse or what, but that was about the worst possible start we could have had last night. UConn basically won that game in the first six minutes by grabbing a 14-3 lead. Honestly, it could have been a whole lot more too. UConn did a great job of taking Robbie out of the second half.

Bobby, Nemanja, Marcus, and Chris - Although the circumstances were obviously not the best, all four got to play last night in the final games of their careers. Marcus had a very nice layup by collecting a tough pass on a fast break. Buckets gave us one more three to remember him. Chally had a bad night offensively, but I was very proud of the way he worked against Thabeet and got some tough offensive rebounds. Chris only got in in the final minute, but I know his contributions in practice will be missed. I know I speak for all Purdue fans when I say I love these guys, and I will miss them. Thank you.

The Paint Crew - Thank you guys for traveling last night. I am so envious of you right now it is not even funny. I remember watching the first Penn State game back in January and you guys took over their arena with a group not even 100 strong. You took over Glendale last night. I am proud to have you guys representing our University.

Negatives from the UConn game.

That one little bounce - I feel that is all we needed last night to turn the game around. The biggest moment, to me, was the open drive Keaton Grant had to the basket. We were down three at the time and we had actually pulled Thabeet away from the rim. Keaton had an easy layup, but it just barely rimmed out. We had been unable to get it under three despite several chances at that point, and if that shot drops it cuts it to one. That came with 15:35 left, and UConn went on an 8-0 run after the miss. We never got it to three again.

Hasheem Thabeet - He was the difference last night. He completely disrupted our offensive flow. We were afraid to attack him, and when we did attack he showed how smart he was by not fouling on a block. This was honestly a very poor matchup for us because of his size. He is a true 7'3". Many guys that are that tall aren't nearly as athletic as Thabeet is. I know I was impressed. I think without his disruptions we have a real shot because every time he was away from the basket or on the bench we looked good offensively. Yes Austrie hit three daggers threes. Yes Robinson was tough down low. Yes Price hit some tough drives, but it was Thabeet's physical presence that made the biggest difference. He played 36 minutes last night when he normally only averages 32. UConn needed him that badly. I have a feeling that facing a super-sized player like Thabeet will be our weakness, but fortunately not many teams have him.

36.4% - That was our shooting percentage last night. We shot 6 of 23 from the three point line, and one of those makes was from Buckets in the last 20 seconds. It was the one night we could not afford to have a poor shooting night. Thabeet played a large role with blocks or "influences", as I like to call them. Defensively we did everything we needed to do. If the game is close I think we keep them around 60 points because free throws in the last five minutes pushed it out. UConn didn't have a made field goal in the last six minutes, but they hit 15 of 18 free throws in that time.

Up next:

I know the future is very bright for us. Next year can easily be a Final Four year, with 2011 being a year in which I think we will have our best chance ever at a National Championship. There are many factors in thinking that. I think the talent we have coming in is better than the talent we have leaving. I think another year of experience will greatly help us, especially if we can bulk up in the weight room. It will help LewJack running the point especially. I also think that the Big Ten, with all its young sophomore talent, will only get tougher, and that will make us even better come tournament time.

I know a lot has been made about the Big East being a mega-conference, but they have delivered in this tournament. They won all three games they were a part of last night, making an all-Big East Final Four a real possibility. There is something to be said about conference toughness, and that could be the Big Ten next year. UConn was clearly the better team last night. I was very impressed with their defense, but I think that can be us in a year or two because most of the time JaJuan is going to be as big of a matchup problem for other teams as Thabeet was for us.

We will learn from this game. Depending on the outcome of tonight's game we might be able to say that we have played five of this year's Elite 8 at some point in the past two seasons. Had Duke and Xavier won last night that number could have been seven. As it is, we have now played seven of this year's sweet 16 in the past two years, and only one of those teams was in our own conference. We have taken our lumps, going 3-7 against the likes of Louisville, Michigan State, Missouri, Duke, Oklahoma, UConn, and Xavier, but we will learn from these games. I am very proud of where we are, and very excited about the future, but it still doesn't mean I am not upset over losing a game we very easily could have won if a few things are different.

As for the blog, I'll still do some basketball stuff as long as the women are still playing. I am leaving for Miami on Wednesday, and I may be doing some stuff for SBNation's Miami blog the Seventh floor in that time since I am going to a baseball series down there, but I don't know yet. Through the spring I'll be talking about Purdue baseball, as well as Spring practice. I have another series idea as well that is similar to last year's Best Wins of the Tiller Era. Over the summer it will be team and unit previews as we gear up for football as well.

I do want to thank everyone for stopping by and making the midseason transition over here to SBNation so successful. I wouldn't be here if not for two groups of people: you the readers and the teams themselves. I thank you both.

Purdue: Know Your Glendale Travel Companion

Bill C. — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:00:10 -0000

Yesterday we looked at UConn. Today, the #5 seeded Purdue Boilermakers.

Purdue: 26-9

	Boilers	Opp
Points Per Minute	1.71	1.47
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.06	0.91
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.24	1.09
2-PT FG%	49.2%	41.7%
3-PT FG%	34.9%	32.8%
FT%	70.6%	67.2%
True Shooting %	54.2%	47.8%

	Boilers	Opp
Assists/Gm	15.0	12.3
Steals/Gm	7.2	5.3
Turnovers/Gm	11.6	14.9
Ball Control Index (Assists + Steals) / TO	1.92	1.18

	Boilers	Opp
Expected Offensive Rebounds/Gm	11.8	12.8
Offensive Rebounds/Gm	9.8	11.4
Difference	-2.0	-1.4

Where PU's good: Forcing turnovers, forcing bad shots, defensive rebounds, passing, ball-handling
Where PU's not as good: Offensive rebounds, overall points per possession and free throw shooting are only decent but not great

NCAA Basketball Stats

Player	AdjGS*	GmSc/Min	Line
JaJuan Johnson (6'10, 215, So.)	14.42	0.54	13.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.1 BPG, 1.3 TOPG
Robbie Hummel (6'8, 208, So.)	13.75	0.47	12.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 TOPG
E'Twaun Moore (6'3, 180, So.)	11.56	0.35	14.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.1 SPG, 2.6 TOPG
Chris Kramer (6'3, 205, Jr.)	7.71	0.28	5.2 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.4 TOPG
Keaton Grant (6'4, 207, Jr.)	6.21	0.23	8.0 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.4 TOPG
Lewis Jackson (5'9, 165, Fr.)	5.34	0.23	5.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 3.3 APG, 2.0 TOPG
Marcus Green (6'4, 229, Sr.)	4.63	0.29	4.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 1.0 APG
Nemanja Calasan (6'9, 250, Sr.)	4.58	0.29	6.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.0 TOPG
Bobby Riddell (5'9, 163, Sr.)	2.23	0.32	2.3 PPG
Ryne Smith (6'3, 175, Fr.)	0.86	0.16	1.1 PPG
Mark Wohlford (6'0, 185, Jr.)	0.19	0.07	36 minutes
Chris Reid (6'9, 251, Sr.)	-0.23	-0.11	30 minutes

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It does the same thing my previous measure of choice did (it takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game), only the formula is more used and accepted. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

JaJuan Johnson is a much more physically dominant player than his weight would suggest. He's a great shot-blocker and shooter, though I guess really his rebounding leaves a bit to be desired considering he's PU's #1 post man.
Robbie Hummel, on the other hand, rebounds particularly well considering how much time he spends on the offensive perimeter. He's one of the team's best 3-point shooters and its best rebounder. Interesting combination. Purdue's three major seniors are their #7, #8 and #9 contributors. They'll only be better next year.
One thing quickly jumps out, though, when comparing this roster to that of UConn: size. Not a lot of it here...some height, but not a lot of weight.

What does Ken Pomeroy have to say?

You look at KenPom's stats, and you start to think the Purdue-UConn game is going to be about 63-58 one way or the other. Like UConn, Purdue is a defense-first team. They are a reasonable offensively efficient team--#57 in efficiency, #19 in turnover %, high assist-to-FG ratio--but they are in the Sweet Sixteen because of defense (and anybody who watched the last minute of Purdue-Washington can attest to that). They are #5 in the country in defensive efficiency, #9 in Effective FG% allowed, #10 in 2pt% allowed, and #25 in block%.

What are Purdue's weaknesses? They're only an average FT shooting team (#109), and they don't get to the line very much at all (#243). A good passing team can pick them apart (#279 in Assist-to-FG ratio), and as you would guess from all the sophomores contributing for them, they are not high in the experience ratings (#189). And as mentioned earlier, they just do not grab many offensive boards (#265). It's rare for a team to be so great defensively and so finesse- and jumper-oriented offensively, but that's Purdue.

Keys to the Huskies-Boilers Game

Purdue's offensive rebounds. Purdue's offensive rebounding ability vs UConn's defensive rebounding ability is the single biggest statistical contrast in this game. UConn has an extreme advantage here, and the Boilers will either have to get very hot shooting the ball, or they're going to have to find some way to grab some second-chance opportunities.
The hot hand. Points will be at a premium in this game, and neither team has a true go-to scorer--Purdue and UConn both have three guys averaging double digits, and the leading scorer seems to change from game to game. If somebody gets hot, especially from 3-point land (away from the blocked shots in the paint), one nice spurt of scoring could create the necessary distance between the two teams. Will that hot hand be AJ Price? E'Twaun Moore?
Size vs Speed. UConn's a really big team, Purdue not so much. They both play very well defensively, but can Purdue compensate for such a disparity in, um, girth? Hasheem Thabeet (7'3, 265) and Jeff Adrien (6'7, 243) will win any battle of size and muscle over JaJuan Johnson (6'10, 215) and Robbie Hummel (6'8, 208).

However, Johnson and Hummel will have a significant advantage in terms of speed and range. Johnson has decent shooting range, and Hummel actually seems to prefer the perimeter by far, having made the second-most 3-pointers on Purdue's roster. The winner of this mini 2-on-2 battle will probably win the game. If Purdue's skinny bigs can draw UConn's away from the paint, Purdue's options double or triple. If not, then Purdue's going to have to sink a ton of 3-pointers to win this game.

Prediction

Nevermind how well UConn played the first weekend of the tournament. It's ancient history. What clearly resides in the present tense, however, is that Purdue has much less margin for error in this game. UConn will likely dominate the glass on Purdue's side of the court, so Purdue either finds a hot shooter or loses. Hummel or Moore or maybe Keaton Grant can take a lot of pressure off of JaJuan Johnson if they can make some 3-pointers and open up the court a bit, but in the end I just don't think Purdue matches up well. Purdue's strengths are UConn's strengths, only the Huskies seem just a bit better in every category. This will be a halfcourt dogfight, but I expect UConn to end up advancing. UConn 69, Purdue 62.

Champions once again

BoilerTMill — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 01:43:06 -0000

I was a sophomore in high school the last time Purdue won a men's basketball championship of any kind (unless you count the Great Alaska Shootout from 2003-04). That was the third of three straight Big Ten titles, but the program with the most such titles had been in a drought until today. We were more than read. The vastly pro-Purdue crowd (at least 75/25 in our favor) was in a frenzy once things started to turn our way in the second half.

Those who stay will be champions

That is the thing I will take away most from today. Purdue fans came out in force and took over downtown Indianapolis. We had a large contingent in the 5K race in the morning to witness my 93^rd place finish. I would say at least one in six of the more than 600 people in the run were in Purdue attire. At lunch restaurants were overrun with fans. The scalpers out in full force practically attacked anyone wearing Purdue attire, and fans were more than happy to relieve them of tickets. Once inside the arena the lower two bowls were almost completely full, while my ticket purchased for half price had me sitting right at center court of the balcony level. Only the upper corners of Conseco were virtually empty. I was lucky that some friends of mine had club level seats on the opposite side and two seats behind them were open, so I was able to join a very vocal Purdue contingent down there for the second half.

Even the students came in full force. They were scattered throughout the arena, but Paint Crew shirts were everywhere. The band even led chants over the Ohio State band when they were playing (complete with IU Sucks in appropriate places). We took over Conseco and made an atmosphere that was much like a home game in the second half. It was a better, louder crowd than even the two Pacer games I have been to this season. It's only natural it felt like home too. We've now played four games there and we're 4-0 for the year. The only place we've played more games in is Mackey Arena.

I'll have a lot more about the NCAA Tournament and our first round opponent in Northern Iowa later, but for now this was just a great win.

Positives from the Big Ten Tournament Championship:

The crowd - Every Purdue fan in attendance today had a lot of fun. When I left the arena after the team was finished cutting the nets down my hands hurt from clapping and my voice was raw. I wasn't the only one, either. Most of the fans stayed for the trophy presentation and net cutting as well. In the second half everyone was on their feet. This was totally unlike a game at Mackey. It seemed like all my favorite loud, boisterous, jump-around fans were there while the stay-in-your-seat alumni that Boilerdowd loves so much stayed at home to watch it on TV. Once the team started giving us energy we gave it back tenfold. You could feel those guys thrive on it and I know the crowd gave them a huge closing boost.

The crowd should have been able to trim some net today. They worked just as hard.

Chris Kramer - If the crowd was a nuclear reactor, Chris Kramer was plugged into it the entire second half. His steal and assist to LewJack at the 6:43 mark of the second half was probably the play of the game. He read the pass perfectly, played the lane, and had a beautiful dish to Lew Jack instead of forcing the issue himself. It came at a critical juncture where an Ohio State basket would have made things interesting. Instead, it pushed the lead to nine and we were able to hold it above seven for another four minutes. He also banked in a short jumper on the next possession hat was huge. Remember what I said last night about momentum points? All four of those were huge momentum points. Closing out the game with four straight free throws was only appropriate.

Chris Kramer clinches it from the line.

E'Twaun Moore - E'Twaun, JJ, and Robbie each made the all-tournament team. Each one was an MVP of one of the three wins, with E'twaun taking today's honors. I know he has been struggling lately, but Mr. Moore finally found his stroke at the right time. You could tell once his threes started falling he got a huge confidence boost and became much more aggressive with the ball. That is the E'Twaun we need because he is one of the few guys that can create his own shot. Away from the bigger, faster defenders of the Big Ten I expect him to have a field day now in the NCAA Tournament. It was his three at the 12:12 mark of the second half, his third of the half, that gave us the lead for good.

JaJuan Johnson - I will admit that JJ got some awfully lucky rolls on a few shots today, but we'll take them. I like that we once again looked to him when we absolutely needed a basket. We also had the confidence to go to him down low when we were looking for a clinching basket or two. Along with Calasan he took away Ohio State's interior game of Lauderdale and Mullens. Ohio State was shooting well on the perimeter, but they still need more of an interior game to beat elite teams. Calasan and Johnson combined for 21 while Mullens and Lauderdale combined for 7. That's also before you factor in our tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Robbie Hummel - If you look at the scale to your left on the main page I think we can agree that Robbie has now reached at least level five: Dead male hooker. The kid has played hurt. He has gritted through a rough season that only makes me more excited for next season when he is completely healthy. The questions about his health with the short turnaround of the NCAA Tournament are officially answered after 95 minutes, 48 points, and 28 rebounds in three days. He wasn't as big off an offensive threat today. He deferred mostly to E'Twaun and JJ, but his rebounding was huge. I know this week could be a flare up, but I think we saw what can happen and how things are opened up when he is able to play at a high level.

Keaton Grant - I mention Keaton simply because of the stones he had for that dagger 3-pointer with 47 seconds left. It simply blew the roof off the place and sent the Ohio State fans streaming for the exits.

Everyone else - This was truly a team win. Chally had six boards and five points off the bench. He also made life difficult in the paint for Ohio State. LewJack played turnover-free basketball for 27 minutes of a championship game. He also had a key tie-up with Dallas Lauderdale that was very innocent, but Lauderdale acted like he couldn't believe the little man had the guts to grab the ball. It was a saavy play ebcause LewJack didn't really try to knock the ball away. He delicately placed his hand on top of the ball and ball only, and Lauderdale let him until the jump ball was called.Lewjack's only mistake on the day was an illadvised 3-point attempt just after that when we needed to run clock instead of rushing a three.

Marcus Green had a huge offensive putback for his only points. Even Bobby Buckets played some solid defense during his brief stint that allowed someone else to rest. We did not shoot the ball well, but everything else was flawless.

The seniors - This had to be especially sweet for Marcus Green and Bobby Riddell. They remember the losing. They remember coming to Indianapolis as freshmen and getting their heads handed to them. Bobby was actually the one that grabbed the trophy and carried it to the locker room. That had to be a moment for him that was about as sweet as his performance in the Penn State game at Mackey. As for Green, what perseverance! He deserved this day.

Negatives from the Big Ten Tournament Championship:

Perimeter defense - Diebler got loose too many times in the first half. Turner and Buford tried to repeat their performance from our game in Columbus. It is scary how we had so much trouble playing against their guards, but thankfully we won't have to see them again.

Field goal shooting - It didn't seem like it because we had 14 offensive rebounds to generate second chance points, but we didn't shoot well for most of the game. Having a sub-35% performance next week could mean an early ticket home even against Northern Iowa.

Up Next:

Is this a turning point? This is the first championship this still young team has formally won. It came with their 50^th victory as a group, so it was a milestone in both ways. Beating Northern Iowa will set a new high water mark for wins in a season, topping last year's record. It would also give us our 11^th straight opening round win in NCAA play. I am not a huge fan of where we ended up. I think a five was about a seed too low and I really don't like playing a major conference champ or major conference tournament champ in round 2. It is what it is though. If this team keeps playing like it did in Indy we can win those first two games.

I'll have more about Northern Iowa, Washington, and Mississippi State later in the week, but for now it is time to pick brackets and do ridiculous analysis. I think it is a very fair field, and the only mistake I saw was putting Arizona in instead of Penn State. I am Big Ten-centric though.

Speaking of picks, I am following in the steps of many SB Nation blogs and I have created a tournament challenge through yahoo. Feel free to sign up here and see if you can beat me. The group ID is 96124 and the password is: rails.

Danger awaits

BoilerTMill — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:47:58 -0000

Tonight is senior night. Other than the motivation to lock up a #2 seed in next week's Big Ten Tournament that is the only thing we have to play for tonight. These seniors have zealously defended their home court over the past three seasons, losing just four times in Mackey Arena during that span. Ohio State (2007), Duke (2009), and Illinois (2009) are explainable losses, but I still can't figure out how in the hell we lost to Wofford at home last year. What these guys have done in Mackey Arena is nothing short of astounding at times. It's like we are a different team, completely unbeatable, when things are working well at home.

Tonight's opponent is one that might be in a bit of a desperation mode. Northwestern has already likely locked up an NIT berth. If not, they will play in one of the other two postseason tournaments. It is rare for the Wildcats to even be thinking postseason in basketball, so this is a very positive season for them. A win tonight and Saturday in Columbus, however, could make them a little greedy for more. Getting both games would put them at .500 in conference play. If they can then grab a game or two in Indianapolis next week they just might have a chance to make the tournament as an at large depending on what else happens around the country.

One last time for the seniors...

Northwestern is a very hard team to figure out. They have played well enough to be a tournament team on many occasions this year. The home win over Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten challenge looks like the best the Big Ten got in that event at the moment. I was unable to do a formal Northwestern preview because of my grandmother's death on the date of game one, but Lake the Posts provided some help with a solid back and forth on January 15^th. Our reactions to that game were varied. I was relieved we had pulled of a win in a game we honestly had no business winning. Lake the Posts was disgusted as the Wildcats blew another close game late.

Unfortunately, Northwestern has only itself to blame for not having an NCAA tournament bid locked up right now. They are currently 16-11 and 7-9 in Big Ten play. They blew a big lead in their Big Ten opener at Penn State. They dropped a game to us at home that they easily should have won. In mid-February they had a particularly brutal stretch where they lost at Iowa, dropped a heartbreaking game at home to Illinois in which they had an even bigger lead than they did against us, then dropped another home game to Michigan in overtime. I fully believe that had they gotten just three of those five, maybe even two, they would at least be at the forefront of the discussion for an NCAA bid, if not in the field already. I know they would feel a lot better about it at 18-9, 9-7 with two games plus the Big Ten Tournament to play, especially since two of those wins would have been very good wins.

Northwestern's "should have been" season comes in a weird way because many of those stumbles were at home. This team has actually been pretty good, by Northwestern standards, away from Welsh-Ryan Arena. They've won at Michigan State. They pounded Indiana for their first ever win in Assembly Hall (and it should be noted that Indiana was a very tough out in Bloomington this year for better teams). They also were very competitive in losses at Stanford and Butler.

The key to tonight's game will be how well we handle their 1-3-1 pressure defense. That was a major point of contention up in Evanston and if they continually force us into dumb passes again it could mean trouble tonight. We had an uncharacteristic 22 turnovers in that game and most of the time we refused to move without the basketball to help the guy that was being trapped. It's not a hard concept. If the guy with the ball is being double teamed and is in trouble there is at least one guy open on the floor. It is therefore your job to get in a position to help the ballhandler since he can't get to you. We didn't do this up in Evanston and nothing frustrates me more than when we show a serious lack of basic fundamentals such as this.

As Boiled Sports said this morning: these guys won in East Lansing. They have an outside chance at the school's first ever NCAA Tournament and absolutely nothing to lose. They looked very good last week at Indiana and took care of business against Iowa last weekend to secure the NIT bid. Why not go for more if you have the chance?

Offensively I would say we struggled against Kevin Coble and Craig Moore since they each had 16 points, but they took a combined 29 shots from the field to get those 32 points. All told, northwestern had a pretty poor night shooting the basketball at 35%, especially since they concentrate on 3-pointers and easy backdoor layups with their offense. Northwestern was also undone in the end by poor free throw shooting down the stretch. We also need to keep an eye on guard Michael Thompson. He averages 10 points per game and leads them in assists at four per night. He had 20 in the win at Michigan State.

I think we should run against this team. We killed them on the glass last time 39-23 and they are not a high scoring team. If we run against them it does not allow their defense to set up. We proved we can run against teams last year against Baylor, so why not tonight? Defensively we allowed next to nothing in the final five minutes of the first game, so I know we will play with that same confidence. Much of that great goes to JaJuan, who had Northwestern fearful of venturing anywhere near the basket.

I think the first five minutes will set the tone of this game. If Mackey Arena is rocking and we come out focused to send the seniors off the right way Northwestern won't have much of a chance. We probably can't go much higher than a 4 seed in the NCAA's at this point, but we can certainly drop lower. Let's aim high. Purdue 70, Northwestern 55

FYI: There will be an open thrad tonight, but I won't be able to participate much except by phone, so it will be slow. Stop on by. the thread opens at 6pm

Senior Night

BoilerTMill — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:10:10 -0000

Chris Reid, Bobby Riddell, Marcus Green, and Nemanja Calasan courtesy of the Purdue Media Guide

Tomorrow night marks the final time four Purdue seniors will play at Mackey Arena. Since Purdue is on its way to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament it almost seems like success is an expectation once again. That wasn't the case when these four players stepped on campus, however. Each one of them has a different story, and as a result has left a unique impression on Purdue's basketball history.

The Survivor - Marcus Green - Though Marcus will be joined by three other seniors for tomorrow night's festivities, his journey has been quite lonely. Marcus is technically the only player left from coach Matt Painter's first recruiting class. That class had a rough first season, going 9-19 and winning just three Big Ten games. That 2005-06 team suffered the ignominy of losing to Evansville, Loyola-Chicago, and getting swept by Penn State, Northwestern, Indiana, and Ohio State in Big Ten play.

Yes, Marcus, We love you.

Green set career highs that season for points and minutes played simply because we didn't have any other options. Both Carl Landry and David Teague were out with knee injuries. Even tight end Charles Davis, who had given some minutes the previous season after football was done, didn't come out as he concentrated on the NFL draft. Green stuck with the program though, even as the other six recruits in that class fell by the wayside. Here is the fate of those other six guys:

Nate Minnoy - Quit team after season. Eventually transferred to Central Michigan where he has not played this season.

Chris Lutz - Transferred to Marshall after 2006-07 season. Currently averaging 11.4 points per game.

Korey Spates - Kicked off team. Now plays at Division II Valdosta State.

Gordon Watt - Transferred from Boston College. Dismissed from team after second DUI. Now averages 16.6 points per game at Houston Baptist (D-I transitional member)

Marcus White - Transferred from Connecticut. Played half a season before a lingering back problem ended his career.

Tarrance Crump - JUCO transfer. Was suspended for 2005-06 season due to hit and run incident. Played the last two years for us and graduated as 2008's lone senior.

GBI did an excellent focus piece on Marcus Green yesterday in light of the honor he received by the student section at Saturday's Ohio State game. Marcus' game has reflected his tenacity. He's not our leading scorer or rebounder, but he has evolved to do all the little things we need each night in order to win. A play that stands out happened in the Michigan State game a few weeks ago. After missing a layup, Marcus physically ripped the ball from a Spartan player who had secured the rebound and put the ball in the basket before said player realized the ball was gone. It was only two points, but plays like that really affect the flow of the game. That is what Marcus does.

Most importantly, Marcus will graduate in May with a degree in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. There is no NBA for him, but he is still a success story. I wish Marcus the best after this season, and thank him for his contribution to Purdue.

The Townie - Bobby Riddell - I feel like I have known Bobby Riddell forever. Through my work with the Kokomo Tribune I covered Bobby a two or three times in high school since I always seem to get the Kokomo-Harrison game at Harrison. The kid was a pure shooter even then. In my opinion, there is always room for kids like Bobby who can simply fill the basket if they are open. That's what Bobby did from the minute he got on campus.

Like Marcus Green, Bobby had to play quite a bit that freshman season in 2005-06. He didn't have the benefit of a scholarship though. He came in as a walk-on with incredibly low expectations, but developed a penchant for hitting threes. Even then the student section went nuts whenever he scored, and his tendency to hit the 3-pointer gave way to the name Bobby Buckets.

He's far from physically gifted at 5'9", but man can the kid shoot. His seminal moment had to have come this year in the Penn State game at home. Robbie Hummel was out for the night and we needed a boost. Though Bobby's minutes were cut back drastically the past two seasons, we needed him on this night. In 24 minutes he gave us a career high 13 points, nailed three huge triples, and even had a coast to coast layup weaving through the defense. Bobby also had four assists in that game, and could have had a few more as perfect entry passes allowed JaJuan Johnson and Nemanja Calasan to get to the line.

I am one of the people that loves seeing Bobby Buckets play. I am very glad he has emerged as a key role player down the stretch here, expanding our rotation from 8 to 9 players and giving us keys moments of rest for the other guys. Bobby will graduate in May with a degree in Accounting. I thank Bobby for being a crowd favorite and getting to do what many only dream of. His hard work has paid off and it had to be a special moment when he was interviewed on the court aft the Penn State game to a standing ovation.

The Bosnian Bruiser - Nemanja Calasan- I was actually involved slightly with the recruitment of Nemanja Calasan. Chally is now a key component of our roster, but when he was trying to decide where to go once he was done at Midland Junior College we were unsure if we would get him. Kentucky wanted his services, but we desperately needed his size and strength considering we had little to no post presence returning. Fortunately, Chally chose us.

That's where the fun begins. One of the many temp job I have had in the past four years was answering phones at the NCAA's eligibility center. It was a fun job, as I was involved in assisting players, parents, and schools with getting kids eligible. Academically Chally was fine, but in his native Bosnia he had sat the bench with a professional team for a couple of games. This led to an amateurism issue and I was the one who fielded a call from the Purdue compliance department one day asking about his status.

Amateurism is a funny thing with the NCAA. Normally it is a slam dunk approval process as long as the student fills out the form online and signs the questionnaire. If there is an issue, like there honestly was in Chally's case and it was documented, it can take quite a while to get all the information necessary before a player can be cleared to play. Amateurism can hang a player up just as much as an academic issue too. Because it took so long to get all the necessary information there were serious questions on whether Chally would get to play last year at all.

Eventually, those issues were resolved, but they cost Chally the first two games of last season. Since then he has become a valuable contributor and a player that can give us an unexpected 10 to 15 points at any time. He's a hard worker and we definitely would not be where we are without his contributions. Chally will graduate in May with a degree in Criminal Justice and Law. I thank him for coming to Purdue and inspiring some students to proudly display the Bosnian flag for every home game. Chally, I'll accept my thank you for helping you in a very small way to get eligible by continuing to watch you play with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

The Consummate practice professional - Chris Reid - In two seasons Chris Reid has scored just three points. He had a basket against Northwestern on senior day last season and added a free throw against Arkansas-Pine Bluff earlier this year. When we recruited him from Butte Junior College he knew he likely was not going to see much actual playing time. We needed a big body in practice for Calasan and JaJuan to train against and Reid fit the bill.

I would like to have seen him play a little more this season, but that hasn't been the case. We really could have used him last week against Michigan, but Chris is just one of those guys that makes his contributions during practice when few people are in the stands. That means he embodies the spirit of Purdue basketball by being the ultimate team player. It would be a shock to see him play more than a minute in any game the rest of the season, but he is still a valuable member of this team that will be missed.

Chris will graduate in May with a degree in Sociology. I will remember him as the brave man that wore the short-shorts during Mackey madness this season. Chris, you're a good guy ad I thank you for your contributions, but please don't ever wear those shorts again.

Making Mackey a Nutcracker

BoilerTMill — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:00:09 -0000

Saturday afternoon we go for payback.

On March 4^th last year we headed to Columbus needing a win in order to stay alive in the race for a Big Ten championship. The desperate Buckeyes knocked us off 80-77 in overtime and cost the Baby Boilers a share of the Big Ten championship. They didn't even have the decency to parlay that win into an NCAA berth. A loss to Michigan State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament sent them to the NIT, which they eventually went on to win.

This guy has the right idea (courtesy of Everyday Should be Saturday)

2008-09 record: 18-8, 8-7 Big Ten
2007-08 Postseason: Won NIT 92-85 over Massachusetts in final.
2007-08 Final record: 24-13
Blog Representation: Around the Oval , Buckeye Battle Cry , Eleven Warriors , Men of Scarlet & Gray , Buckeye Blog

We find ourselves in a similar situation again. The Buckeyes stand in our way of playing for a share of the title next week when we go to East Lansing. Of course, we still need the Spartans to cooperate and lose another game, but that is moot unless we take care of business. Ohio State is the toughest of two challenging home games before that showdown. I call them the toughest because, like Illinois, they present a huge matchup problem for us. There are certain teams that just match up well with better teams and give them fits. Ohio State is one of those teams. Like Illinois, they tend to have streaky outside shooting. That is often the difference between a win and a loss for them. They have enough size inside to give us problems which only amplify their good shooting performances.

Of the five teams jockeying for an NCAA bid the Buckeyes are probably in the best shape. The win earlier this week over Penn State was key because it was the only game between the two this year. Ohio State also swept Michigan and split with Minnesota. They are so far 1-4 against the top three in the league (Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State), but they have avoided a bad loss in conference play. I don't count losing at Northwestern as a bad loss, and as long as Ohio State wins at Iowa next week and at home against the Wildcats in the season finale they will have 20 wins, 10 in conference, and likely be on the good side of the bubble because of their non-conference work.

Getting a season sweep of Purdue, therefore, would be icing for them, and it would likely move their seed up a little. Aside from missing Robbie Hummel when we went to Columbus, our biggest problem was containing their guards. Evan Turner and William Buford flat out abused us with their ability to drive and score. The duo combined for 48 points on 19 of 29 attempts from the field. That was an absolutely embarrassing effort by our defense and cannot be tolerated. It is even more troubling that we just let Manny Harris go nuts against us. Many of his shots were contested though, and he may have simply had a phenomenal night.

When Buford and Turner weren't finishing B.J. Mullens was there to clean things up. He had 17 points on 8 of 9 shooting off the bench and we essentially turn the game into a layup and dunk drill for them. Turner's line is even more impressive when you consider he had 12 assists, mostly to Mullens and Buford. We have to lock down on Turner. He put on an absolute show the first time. Our defense should be offended and they need to make it their mission to stop him.

Statistically it is amazing that we got that game to overtime. Ohio State shot 60% from the field, outrebounded us by 16, and allowed just two offensive rebounds. JaJuan had a career high 30 points to keep us alive in that one, but like everyone else he was a non-factor on the glass. It is very plain what we need to do. We need to rebound better and we need to hassle them into a poor shooting night. A 60% night from the field against our defense is a gross statistical aberration, or at least it was until Thursday night. If it happens again, this time in Mackey Arena, it may be time to panic a little headed into the tournament.

We will have two key factors on Saturday that we did not have in Columbus. First, Robbie Hummel will be back. His mere presence on the floor seems to make us better. Second, Bobby Buckets will be playing some minutes. He has done very well since being asked to play against Penn State. He did not play the first time around as we opted to go with a seven man rotation. By the overtime we had nothing left (though Ohio State essentially played just seven men as well). Calasan had better not wimp out again because Thursday night proved just how much we need his presence with Johnson. If we lose those two again we have absolutely no size and we can expect Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale to put on a show of dunks.

The same things we failed to do on Thursday apply in this game. We have to step out and contain heir guards, preventing them from driving to the basket. We also cannot let JaJuan get in foul trouble or we will get torn apart on the interior. We absolutely have to have a better rebounding effort this time around. Marcus Green is critical in this area, especially since he has been playing better of late. He was a virtual no-show in Columbus.

An Ohio State-centric preview can be found at Eleven Warriors, as they are a bit apprehensive about the game. The bottom line is that Ohio State likely isn't as desperate as Michigan is for an NCAA bid. A win at Purdue would lock one up for them, but a loss is far from disastrous as they have to like their chances with Northwestern and at Iowa to finish the season. They also know they are going to get a chance to prove themselves in the Big Ten Tournament against a fellow bubble team in round one. At the moment, however, they may want to avoid the #6 slot. Yes, that gives some bubble team a free shot at Indiana, but it also means a longer road in Indianapolis and a matchup with Michigan State, Purdue, or Illinois. Considering the Spartans, Boilers, and Illini could very easily end up tri-champions the six seed is not a comfy spot.

It is a bit of a reverse scenario in that we now need this game more than Ohio State does to meet our personal goals. Because of that and the fact we are playing at home I think we'll pull this one off. That means everyone needs to cheer like hell for Illinois on Sunday. I would even turn the blog blue and orange if it would help. Purdue 71, Ohio State 64 (*Special Note: Ohio State is the only team in the Big Ten that has a winning record overall against Purdue. They are now 80-79 all-time against Purdue)

On one final note, I want to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who has helped out the Paint Crew in their challenge against the Izzone to raise money for Coaches vs. Cancer. I don't know how much yesterday's FanPost helped, but more than $1,000 were raised in 24 hours. If anyone saw that and contributed, I thank you immensely.