SB Nation - JaJuan Johnson

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.

The State of the Balls

BoilerTMill — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:15:52 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

How will the balls hang with us?(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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I have a lot of respect for Purdue when it comes to facing the Cardinals. They were not afraid to go to Muncie last season and play on Ball State's home floor. This year's game was supposed to be the third game in a two-for-one deal, but the Cardinals agreed to move the game to Conseco as part of the Wooden Tradition when the organizers could not find an opponent for us.

Some might remember this summer that I campaigned, and even posted an e-mail address for the organizers, to have Notre Dame be our opponent. Since the organizers would do the scheduling and not the schools I saw it as the perfect opportunity to renew a long dormant series. The Boiled Sports guys and I took this a step further in last night's podcast by talking about a dream scenario where Indiana, Purdue, Butler, and Notre Dame would be the four teams every season. They would rotate playing each other, with Indiana and Purdue only playing in years where the Big Ten was too stupid to have us play twice in conference play. This makes too much sense, so it would never happen because the schools wouldn't agree to it. This is especially true with the national brand Notre Dame is developing. Why lose to a quality program like Purdue or Butler when you can develop a national brand by losing to Loyola Marymount.

I'll step down off my soapbox though. We get Ball State this year and I am sure the Cardinals will appreciate the national boost they get for playing in a name event like this. I'll be running a CoverItLive from Conseco thanks to the very good people on the media relations staff at the Fieldhouse, so let's see what we are up against:

2008-09 record: 14-17 (Lost to Buffalo in MAC Tournament 2^nd round)

2009-10 record: 3-4, 0-0 MAC

Blog representation: Over the Pylon (Primarily football)

Series with Purdue: Purdue leads 7-2

Last Purdue win: 68-39 at Ball State on 12/9/08

Last Ball State win: 72-52 at Conseco Fieldhouse on 12/18/99 (Purdue was ranked #24 at game time.)

Common Opponents: Valparaiso (W 88-78), SIU-Edwardsville (W 57-47), Central Michigan (January 17, February 13), Buffalo (January 28).

Ball State is a team that I have always felt should be better than it is. They haven't made the NCAA's since 2000, but their biggest claim to fame was losing 69-67 to a nearly unstoppable UNLV team in the 1990 Sweet 16. That UNLV team won three tournament games by 30 points, but barely survived the 12^th seeded Cardinals. Ball State had already upset Oregon State and Louisville. Had Ball State won, you would have seen the lowest seeded regional final in NCAA Tournament history against 11-seed Loyola Marymount (the famous Bo Kimble led team).

The Cardinals haven't had much national success since then. They made some noise in 2001 by upsetting UCLA and Kansas before falling to Duke in the Maui Invitational, but they were unable to sustain those wins into an NCAA bid. A nasty textbook scandal essentially gutted the team before the 2007-08 season and they are still recovering. They have gotten better each season though. They finished 6-24 with very few scholarship players in 2008. They improved to 14-17 last year, and could be in line to compete in a wide-open MAC this season. So far they have lost to Temple and Butler, while dropping close games to UC Davis and Tennessee Tech. They did grab a nice road win at Indiana State on December 9^th.

Where Ball State will struggle Saturday is the fact they are not a high scoring team. They average less than 63 points per game, which is not enough to beat us. This is without facing our defense, which is among the best in the country. 6'9" sophomore forward Jarrod Jones is a very promising young player from Michigan City, IN. he leads the Cardinals in scoring (14.6 ppg) and rebounds (6.6 rpg). He is strictly a post player who shoots better than 50% from the field. 6'2" freshman guard Jauwan Scaife is second on the team in scoring at 11.4ppg. This is a kid that was a key cog for nearby Muncie Central High for four seasons. As a freshman in high school he played against the great Oden and Conley Lawrence North team in the state championship game. The Bearcats were merely a speedbump against possibly the greatest team in Indiana High School history, but Scaife did play against pretty good competition all four years.

Scaife is an accomplished 3-point shooter. He leads the team in made triples, hitting 12 of 27 on the young season. He can also create his own shot and is good at getting to the foul line, hitting 88% from there. 6'4" junior Malik Perry is a reliable third option averaging 8.9 points per game. 5'11" sophomore guard Randy Davis from Plymouth, IN was a great scorer in high school, but he has become a distributor for the Cardinals. He averages 7 points and almost 4 assists per game. Davis is your stereotypical Indiana white boy that can simply shoot the basketball with great accuracy. After being held scoreless against Butler he has been in double figures each of the last two games. Most of his damage has come at the free throw line, where he is 29 of 37.

Ball State is not an overly deep team, and that lack of depth will hurt them in a game like this. Thanks to our freshmen and the emergence of Mark Wohlford we can legitimately play 10 players. That number, like Spinal Tap, goes up to 11 if Sandi Marcius makes his season debut on Saturday. Aside from Jone they don't have much size, either. Terrence Watson (6.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg), Brawley Chisholm (5.9ppg), Pierre Sneed (3ppg), and Mo Hubbard (0.9ppg) round out the eight man rotation. As you can see, however, Hubbard and Sneed are hardly scoring threats.

Ball State shares the ball fairly well with 11 team assists per game, but they do not rebound well. That is to be expected with their overall lack of size. Only Watson and Jones are serious rebounding threats. If we neutralize them on the glass we should have an easy day. I am very much encouraged by the way we crashed the offensive glass against Alabama. That was a very underrated, but incredibly important part of our comeback.

Ball State is a pretty good 3-point shooting team, hitting a little more than a third of their long range attempts. They only shoot 43% from the field overall.

While Ball State is an improving team, the recipe for an upset just isn't there. They lack a go-to scorer that can take over a game (like Brandon Wood for Valparaiso or Aminu for Wake Forest). They don't shoot well from the field and they don't rebound well. Turnovers are an issue at 15 per game against much worse competition. In truth, we should only be worried if they start bombing away from 3-point land and that opens up the low post for Jones. If he can operate and get JaJuan Johnson in foul trouble (our Achilles heel) they might have a chance. It is still not a good one.

Keys to the game for Purdue:

Defend the three-pointer
Clamp down on Jones inside
Keep Davis off the foul line
Play Purdue-style basketball

Purdue 72, Ball State 52

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.

Stemming the Tide

BoilerTMill — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:02:30 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Can you find the SEC logo in this picture? This is how serious Alabama is taking this game. SBNation has no basketball photos for them. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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I am wondering who I pissed off in the blogging community this week. Twice I reached out to the resident Alabama blog here at SBNation to do some sort of a preview, but I was met with stone silence each time. It looks like we'll be headed into this game with my normal statistical analysis and that alone. That's okay. Maybe it is because we have no hope of keeping up with SEC speed since we're a slow Big Ten team.

Truthfully, I kind of view this as our first major test of the season. We break out the black uniforms for the first time. We beat a legitimate top 10 SEC team in Tennessee, but that was in a neutral venue. To maintain our high ranking and quest for a #1 seed we must have a win on the road in a hostile venue that is not in the Big Ten. A loss tomorrow night opens us up to all kinds of criticism. Suddenly the Big Ten won't be able to play on the road. Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota each lost non-conference road games as ranked teams. We cannot fall into that trap.

2009-10 Record: 6-2

2008-09 Record: 18-14 (Lost to Tennessee in SEC Tournament)

Blog Representation: Roll Bama Roll (Hasn't updated Basketball in a year)

Series with Purdue: Purdue leads 3-2

Last Purdue win: 83-73 on 3/19/94 at Lexington, KY (NCAA tournament Second Round)

Last Alabama win: 85-77 2OT on 3/23/01 at Purdue (NIT quarterfinals)

Last Game in Tuscaloosa: Alabama 97, Purdue 80 on 11/26/76

Common Opponents: Michigan W 68-66, Tennessee (January 19th)

I remember our last game against the Crimson Tide very well. Injuries to Rodney Smith and John Allison had decimated us in Big Ten play, forcing us to the NIT. Both had returned for wins over Illinois State and Auburn before a home quarterfinal against the Crimson Tide. Alabama survived a pair of overtimes and a Blackout of Mackey Arena that I attended in black shoes, socks, pants, and shirt. It was the last good postseason run by a Gene Keady coached team at Purdue. At least it meant I got three more home games as a student that year.

This year's Alabama team is different from that 2000-01 squad. Coach Anthony Grant has taken over and stresses full-court pressure from his defense. In a way, this will be a bit like our trip to Missouri two years ago. That experience, especially for our juniors and seniors that made that trip, will be invaluable. He is in his first season at Alabama, but in three years at Virginia Commonwealth he took the Rams to two NCAA Tournaments and had a first-round upset of Duke. He was also an assistant on Florida's 2006 National Championship team.

His defensive philosophy is to cause full court pressure and generate offense from defense. Alabama averages almost 8 team steals per game. They are scoring about 73 points per game. That tells me that they aren't lighting up the scoreboard, but they aren't afraid to score either. Their schedule thus far has yielded some interesting results. They have a couple of quality wins over Michigan (when the Wolverines were ranked #15) and Baylor in the Old Spice Classic. The two losses came against Florida State in the same Old Spice Classic and in the season opener against Cornell. Those losses aren't as bad as you think. Cornell and Florida State were both NCAA Tournament teams a year ago and are favored to be again this year. It might be wise for us to take an Andy Bernard look-alike with us just to be safe.

Alabama is led in scoring by 6'5" senior guard Mikhail Torrance (15.1ppg) and 6'9" sophomore forward JaMychal Green (14.4ppg). Both players should be interesting matchups for us. Torrance will remind us of the bigger guards that Tennessee had. Green is almost strictly a post player who could be a tough matchup if JaJuan Johnson gets in foul trouble. Torrance is also a playmaker, leading the Crimson Tide with 45 assists in eight games. That is better than five per game, so he does look to get his teammates involved. Green leads the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game. Perhaps a more apt comparison for the two is that they are like DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris at Michigan. When the two teams played Sims and Harris outscored Torrance and Green 42-31, but the Tide won the war.

6'6" freshman forward Tony Mitchell (10.3ppg, 4.5rpg) is a nice complimentary player for the duo. He is a reliable third option that had 23 against Jackson State earlier in the year. Bigger name opponents have kept in check though. 5'9" guard Anthony Brock (8ppg) is a dangerous 3-point shooter, hitting 12 of 26 attempts in just six games played. Senario Hillman (7.8ppg, 2.6apg), Charvez Davis (7.4ppg), Justin Knox (5.2ppg, 4.4rpg), and Chris Hines round out Alabama's main rotation. Ben Eblen has also played in all eight games, but averages less than 10 minutes.

Alabama does not have an overwhelming amount of size, relying on quickness from its guards. Knox is a 6'9" junior from Tuscaloosa, while Hines is 6'8". This relative lack of size translates to just 35 team rebounds per game. JJ should have some room to operate in the middle, but that can change quickly if he gets into foul trouble like he did against Tennessee. The Crimson Tide averages a modest 12 turnovers per contest.

Brock and Davis are the main three points hooting threats. Each player hits better than 41% from long range. Davis is more a specialist from long range with 41 attempts and 17 makes. Torrance is also an excellent free throw shooter (36 of 39). If Alabama has a late lead they will look to get the ball in his hands, but he will already have it a lot anyway. Knox and Torrance are the only players over 80% as free throw shooters, and they barely get the team average over 69%.

This is a very balanced basketball team. Other than Torrence they don't rely on any one player to do everything. Torrance also spreads himself nicely between scoring and distributing the basketball. They have the early look of being an NCAA bubble team come March. As a result, they are going to want this game pretty badly for their resume.

It is a good test for us as well. The Big Ten is shaping up that every game not involving Indiana, Penn State or Iowa will be a battle. Even the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers have had their moments this year. Alabama is probably at least as a good as a Michigan, Illinois, or Minnesota in the middle of the Big Ten. Therefore, winning this game will be a good sign for those opponents. Since this is our first road test it will be interesting to see how our freshmen respond in a hostile environment. We are a long way from the days of our epic road losing streak though.

Keys to the Game for Purdue:

Handle Alabama's helter-skelter press
Don't let the crowd get involved
Keep JJ out of foul trouble
Keep shooting well from the perimeter
Limit second chance opportunities

PREDICTION: Purdue 74, Alabama 68

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.

Purdue Boilermakers and the Last Crusade

BoilerTMill — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:24:31 -0000

More photos » by Al Goldis - AP

It pains me to write bad things about a fellow KHS alum on the court, but Brandon Wood has some growing to do. (AP Photo/Al Goldis)

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In a way, I feel sorry for Valpo. The Crusaders have played maybe the toughest schedule in the country so far. They have already faced preseason top 10 teams in North Carolina, Michigan State, and Butler. They still have us to face this week, plus a rematch with Butler down the line in conference play (maybe even twice with the Horizon League Tournament). You have to give Homer Drew credit for facing a daunting schedule, but the Crusaders have been unable to recapture the 1998 Bryce Drew magic. Their move up in conference to the Horizon league from the Summit League has not gone well, either.

I do feel like I know this team well though. They are stocked with young talent from both in-state and international destinations. This team could be very dangerous in about a year or two, but they are struggling right now against the weight of a tough early schedule.

2008-09 Record: 9-22 (Lost to Wright State 68-56 in Horizon League Tournament

2009-10 Record: 3-5, 0-1 Horizon League

Blog Representation: ValpoFans.proboards.com

Series with Purdue: Purdue leads 13-1

Last Purdue win: 12/28/08 59-45 at Purdue

Last Valparaiso win: 12/22/65 114-96 at Valparasio

Common Opponents: at Ball State (L 88-78), at Michigan State (L 90-60)

Valpo has three wins, but two were against non-Division 1 teams in IU-South Bend and Arkansas-Fort Smith. The one Division 1 victory came against Georgia Southern 97-89. That may have been the only game in which the Crusaders were favored. They played North Carolina fairly tough in the Dean Dome, but ultimately fell 88-77. They have enough raw scoring talent to make a game of this if they are hitting their shots.

Personally, I couldn't be more statistically proud of their leading scorer. He is 6'3" shooting guard Brandon Wood (21ppg) and he is one of my beloved Kokomo Wildkats. He originally committed to Southern Illinois where he played very early in the 2007-08 season before an injury sidelined him the rest of the year. He transferred to Danville Community College last season before popping up at Valpo this season. He is an excellent scorer, but that can sometimes be a hindrance. Some examples:

Example #1: In his first collegiate game back in 2007 he had an impressive debut with 15 points against Northern Illinois. His coach, however, was disappointed with his play on the defensive side of the ball. He would only play 6 games with the Salukis before getting injured and transferring.

Example #2: I really hate to knock the kid, but I saw him play quite a bit for the team that I value even above Purdue. He has a me-first attitude. His senior year at Kokomo he led the North Central Conference in scoring. That is no small feat, as it is one of the top high school basketball conferences in the country, let alone Indiana. Unfortunately, Kokomo was 5-16 that season, their worst in school history. It was painful to watch. Brandon finished as one of the top 10 scorers in school history (a program that has played basketball for 106 seasons and has more sectional titles than anyone else), yet they have gotten better without him. A prime example was the Zionsville game his senior season.

I was covering this game and Brandon was suspended for the first quarter because he missed a practice (to attend the SIU at Butler game). Once inserted in the second quarter he showed a very poor attitude on the floor. He fouled out in less than 10 minutes of play, collecting just 2 points. Kokomo was down 18 when he left the game for good, but came storming back to cut the lead to one before falling late. His teammates at the time did a lot of standing around waiting for him to do his thing, but in that game they realized they could win without him. As a result, those freshmen and sophomores he played with won a sectional last season as juniors and seniors, beating Jesse Berry on his home floor in round 2.

I say all this because I can already see Valpo turning into Kokomo with Brandon Wood. He is a dynamic scorer. He had 30 against UNC and 39 in the win over Georgia Southern. They aren't winning games though. He had 24 of Valpo's 60 at MSU, but they lost by 30. In the last game Butler held him to a season low of 7. The kid can shoot the three well and he is excellent on the drive, but good defenses will frustrate him. He doesn't look to involve his teammates either. He has taken 116 shots from the field against 8 assists.

It pains me greatly to write these things about the kid because he is one of my Kats, but they are the facts. As Kokomo's offense began to revolve around him more and more in 2006 and 2007 they got worse and worse. Once he left, they got better. Here are Kokomo's records for the three years he played varsity, and the three years since he left.

2004-05 - 14-11 (Brandon was a sophomore role player, Kokomo advanced to the elite 8 before losing to state runner-up Muncie Central)

2005-06 - 10-11 (Brandon starts becoming #1 option, Kokomo loses in first round of sectionals)

2006-07 - 5-16 (Brandon is the number one option. Worst Kokomo season ever.)

2007-08 - 13-9 (Loses to Lafayette Jeff in sectional final)

2008-09 - 15-8 (wins sectional, loses by 3 to Marion in regional)

2009-10 - 2-0 (averaging 73.5 ppg with balanced scoring)

One factor could be that Kokomo had three coaches in his three main years. Mike Wade was a good coach who became athletic director after the 2004-05 season. Rick Baumgartner (won a state title in 2001 at Muncie South) was an ass who never connected with the program or the fans in 2005-06 and left after one year. Wood also had a shoulder injury that hampered him near the end of the season. Brian McCauley (current coach) took over in 2006-07. It was his first coaching job and he was a former player for the Kats in the mid-90's. He is doing a great job now, but struggled in that first season.This may have stunted Brandon's growth as a team player, but it did help him develop as a scorer.

Valpo has some other fine players that compliment Wood's scoring strengths. Brandon McPherson (13.1ppg, 3.3 apg) is a very talented 6'2" senior guard. He is a winner too. He was a teammate of Greg Oden and Mike Conley when they were owning Indiana high school basketball a few years ago. Cory Johnson (16ppg, 6.9 rpg) is a 6'7" junior forward that provides scoring balance and depth. Wood, Johnson, and McPherson are the top options by far, scoring drops off dramatically after them. Howard Little (7.1ppg), Michael Rogers (5.3ppg), Ryan Broekhoff (4.1ppg), Matt Kenney (3.5ppg) for the rest of a seven man rotation.

As you can see, Valpo is top heavy, but is not a deep team. That is why they have struggled against the better teams they face. They also do not rebound well, averaging only 30 per game. They can shoot the ball very well. They hit at a 46% clip from the field, 71% from the line, and 37% from long range. Unfortunately, their lack of size (Johnson is the only regular at 6'7" or better) means that they won't get many second chance points and can't establish an interior game against bigger teams. That means to win games Wood and McPherson have to shoot the lights out of the gym.

I like Valpo's offensive talent, but I don't see them winning for the reasons listed above. Who is going to challenge JJ on the defensive end? JaJuan Johnson can essentially own anything within five feet of the rim and as long as he isn't in foul trouble he can be there to stop Wood's drives. Offensively we should give him the ball and let the big man eat with dunks and short jumpers. Whoever is playing against Wood on offense could have a career day as well. As much as he works at scoring he struggles on the defensive end. I am hoping Homer Drew will get him to work on this aspect because he can be a very talented basketball player. It doesn't look like it is hitting home yet though for his entire team. Valparaiso has yet to hold a Division 1 team under 80 points. We just cracked 101.

Keys to the game for Purdue

Dare Brandon Wood to score 50 and beat us personally
Dominate the middle like we should
Watch out for Wood slashing to the basket
Maintain tough perimeter defense
Don't fall asleep

Prediction: Purdue 92, Valparaiso 62

"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.

Around the ACC: 12.2

MRickman84 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:36:20 -0000

It was a rocky start to the Challenge with the ACC going 0-3 with the UVA, State and Wake losses, but the conference bounced back a bit in the second slate of games. Today will decide whether the ACC will win its 11th straight ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

NC State 53, Northwestern 65

So what was going on in this game? Two starters for State--Scott Wood and C.J. Williams--both had 0 points in a combined Tossed in with Javi Gonzalez's performance, those three starters combined for 3-21 shooting. Tracy Smith had an inspired game with 23, but Michael Thompsons's 22 points and Northwestern's 49% shooting (43% from 3) were enough to give the Wildcats the W.

Wake Forest 58, Purdue 69

We all know how this turned out. Nothing to see here. Turnovers, Purdue making 14 more FTs and the Boilermakers taking 12 more shots than the Deacs really told the story. E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel combined for 54 points in the win.

Maryland 80, Indiana 68

This one was close for a long time, but the Terps pulled away in the last 5 minutes. Greivis Vasquez continued his poor shooting, going 4-14. He's gotta figure this out and fast, although he had 23, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. 13 of his 14 pionts came off FTs. Vasquez's shooting has obviously suffered, but he is becoming a better point guard overall and is making better decisions (1.83 A:TO). Milbourne had 19 and 7, while Eric hayes added 14. Indiana did not shoot well at all, but Maurice Cheek led Indiana with 19 points in the loss.

UNC 89, Michigan State 82

In a rematch of last year's National Championship game, the Tarheels absolutely blitzed Michigan State in the first half, shooting lights out and looking unstoppable. The Spartans settled down in the second half, cutting the lead down, but in the track meet, UNC just had too much firepower. Ed Davis had a career game with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Larry Drew looked really strong, adding 18 points and 6 assists. UNC shot 58% while Michigan State shot 2-20 from beyond the arc.

Virginia Tech 70, Iowa 64

Props to Iowa for hanging tough in this game. Iowa is not a very good basketball team at all, but they played inspired basketball yesterday. It didn't help the Hokies' cause that they shot 4-15 from deep, but they committed only four turnovers and looked under control the whole game. Malcolm Delaney had 18 points and 5 assists. I don't know what to make of this VT team, but 5-1 with a loss against Temple doesn't look terrible. Let's see how they look in the rest of their non-conference schedule.

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