In the grand scheme of things, I was pretty happy with the way we played today. E'Twaun Moore came out on fire (and stayed that way) to give Purdue an 11-2 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game. Over the next 34 minutes, IU played Purdue dead even to still have this game in single digits with 3 minutes to go in the game (57-66). So, they played to a score of 55-55 during those 34 minutes. Pretty impressive considering this was the first trip into Mackey Arena for all these players and Purdue is ranked #21 in the country.
IU never truly threatened in this game. They did get the lead down to 6 points at one point in the second half, but the lead was right around 9-11 points for almost the entire game. It was just good to see them play solid basketball after the slow start.
Verdell Jones was outstanding again and is this team's best player right now. Jones had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. I'm really, really, really impressed with how Verdell has played the last 2 games.
After struggling in recent weeks, it was good to see Tom Pritchard have a good game. 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. He didn't do a whole lot to stop JaJuan Johnson, but he did seem to have his early season form back in this game. Some nice moves, nice tip-ins, and did a great job of stepping in passing lanes to grab 4 steals.
Taber made a nice contribution with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Between Taber and Pritchard, they combined for 4 tip-in baskets in the first half alone to keep the Hoosiers in the game.
Nick Williams was the benefactor of some good passes for some easy lay-ups, but other than that, he was not much of a factor in this game. He was in a lot of foul trouble and only played 17 minutes. Williams has not been doing a whole lot in the last couple of games, so I think he needs to step it up.
Dumes did not start this game and was pretty erratic throughout the day. He could not seem to control the ball anytime he drove and he had some defensive lapses that allowed Moore to get good looks.
Matt Roth was not much of a factor and was just 1-5 from the arc. Ever since his explosion of nine 3-pointers against OSU, teams have given him a lot of attention and have been able to shut him down.
Story was up and down but finished with a nice contribution of 9 points and 4 assists.
Once again, turnovers and FT shooting hurt the Hoosiers. IU had 16 turnovers and a lot of them were the bad variety that led to Purdue fast-breaks. From the line, the Hoosiers were a woeful 6-13. Purdue was terrible at the line as well and that helped keep IU in the game. For the game, Purdue was 18-33 but that final number was helped by Purdue finally hitting several FTs at the end of the game. Throughout most of the game, Purdue was also shooting under 50% from the line.
I thought a key play in the game was in the 2nd half when Kramer got a steal and went in for a layup. On the play, it looked like Dumes not only slapped his arm but then also gave him a shove in the back. Kramer made the layup and went down hard due to the shove in the back by Dumes. It almost looked like a borderline intentional foul, but the officials didn't even call a foul. Unfortunately, this no-call really got the crowd into the game for the first time and Purdue ended up going on a mini-run with the crowd really into it.
Another horrible piece of officiating came shortly after that play when a Purdue player clearly double-dribbled. There was no call and Purdue ended up hitting a 3 on that play. Big Ten officials really are a complete joke.
In the end, it's another loss for the Hoosiers, but a pretty solid effort.
Odds & Ends:
* Faces in the Crowd: Mike McCarthy, Cam Cameron, and John Harbaugh (Crean's brother-in-law) were seated behind the IU bench (NFL Combine going on in Indy).
* Wayne Larrivee referred to Malik Story as Malik Sealy once.
* Robbie Hummel got "Verdelled" by a screen from Pritchard. I'm not real sure Hummel should even be out there with his back injury, but that's Purdue's problem if he ends up paralyzed.
* Jim Jackson -- hated him as a player because he was so good at Ohio State, but like him as a commentator. He gave some props to Calbert. It's been nice to both see Calbert at Thursday's game and hear him talked about today. I consider him the greatest Hoosier of all time.
Next Up: IU hosts Northwestern next Wednesday at 5:30pm CT. One of our poll questions currently has nearly unanimous voting that IU will not win another game. But if they are going to win one, Wednesday should be their best chance.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
IU 67 Purdue 81
In the grand scheme of things, I was pretty happy with the way we played today. E'Twaun Moore came out on fire (and stayed that way) to give Purdue an 11-2 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game. Over the next 34 minutes, IU played Purdue dead even to still have this game in single digits with 3 minutes to go in the game (57-66). So, they played to a score of 55-55 during those 34 minutes. Pretty impressive considering this was the first trip into Mackey Arena for all these players and Purdue is ranked #21 in the country.
IU never truly threatened in this game. They did get the lead down to 6 points at one point in the second half, but the lead was right around 9-11 points for almost the entire game. It was just good to see them play solid basketball after the slow start.
Verdell Jones was outstanding again and is this team's best player right now. Jones had 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. I'm really, really, really impressed with how Verdell has played the last 2 games.
After struggling in recent weeks, it was good to see Tom Pritchard have a good game. 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. He didn't do a whole lot to stop JaJuan Johnson, but he did seem to have his early season form back in this game. Some nice moves, nice tip-ins, and did a great job of stepping in passing lanes to grab 4 steals.
Taber made a nice contribution with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Between Taber and Pritchard, they combined for 4 tip-in baskets in the first half alone to keep the Hoosiers in the game.
Nick Williams was the benefactor of some good passes for some easy lay-ups, but other than that, he was not much of a factor in this game. He was in a lot of foul trouble and only played 17 minutes. Williams has not been doing a whole lot in the last couple of games, so I think he needs to step it up.
Dumes did not start this game and was pretty erratic throughout the day. He could not seem to control the ball anytime he drove and he had some defensive lapses that allowed Moore to get good looks.
Matt Roth was not much of a factor and was just 1-5 from the arc. Ever since his explosion of nine 3-pointers against OSU, teams have given him a lot of attention and have been able to shut him down.
Story was up and down but finished with a nice contribution of 9 points and 4 assists.
Once again, turnovers and FT shooting hurt the Hoosiers. IU had 16 turnovers and a lot of them were the bad variety that led to Purdue fast-breaks. From the line, the Hoosiers were a woeful 6-13. Purdue was terrible at the line as well and that helped keep IU in the game. For the game, Purdue was 18-33 but that final number was helped by Purdue finally hitting several FTs at the end of the game. Throughout most of the game, Purdue was also shooting under 50% from the line.
I thought a key play in the game was in the 2nd half when Kramer got a steal and went in for a layup. On the play, it looked like Dumes not only slapped his arm but then also gave him a shove in the back. Kramer made the layup and went down hard due to the shove in the back by Dumes. It almost looked like a borderline intentional foul, but the officials didn't even call a foul. Unfortunately, this no-call really got the crowd into the game for the first time and Purdue ended up going on a mini-run with the crowd really into it.
Another horrible piece of officiating came shortly after that play when a Purdue player clearly double-dribbled. There was no call and Purdue ended up hitting a 3 on that play. Big Ten officials really are a complete joke.
In the end, it's another loss for the Hoosiers, but a pretty solid effort.
Odds & Ends:
* Faces in the Crowd: Mike McCarthy, Cam Cameron, and John Harbaugh (Crean's brother-in-law) were seated behind the IU bench (NFL Combine going on in Indy).
* Wayne Larrivee referred to Malik Story as Malik Sealy once.
* Robbie Hummel got "Verdelled" by a screen from Pritchard. I'm not real sure Hummel should even be out there with his back injury, but that's Purdue's problem if he ends up paralyzed.
* Jim Jackson -- hated him as a player because he was so good at Ohio State, but like him as a commentator. He gave some props to Calbert. It's been nice to both see Calbert at Thursday's game and hear him talked about today. I consider him the greatest Hoosier of all time.
Next Up: IU hosts Northwestern next Wednesday at 5:30pm CT. One of our poll questions currently has nearly unanimous voting that IU will not win another game. But if they are going to win one, Wednesday should be their best chance.
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5 comments:
Forgot to mention that IU won the battle of the boards 34-29. Continue to be impressed with the way this undersized team rebounds. I wish it would translate into wins, but if future teams with more talent can continue to rebound well, it will translate into wins in future years.
cook:
trying to decide who i hate more: keady or dough boy? very tough. Calasan reminds me of an older Vlade Divac. Our FTs flat out drive me crazy. TO's- what can you say? verdell is making me a believer. i just can't figure out where he'll fit in. i don't really think at PG. Bobby Riddell makes me laugh. the Paint Crew? again, not sure which is worse, Paint Crew or Boiler Up? look at it this way, i'd rather be a fan of a crappy IU team than be a Boiler!
I hate dough boy more.
I like Verdell at PG, especially as the outlet guy after a miss because he has great court vision while pushing the ball up the floor. I also like the match-ups he gets against smaller guards that he can shoot over.
By the way, I just watched the Live Blog coverage of Bloomington South playing Detroit Country Day (Ray McCallum Jr's team). Hulls led a 4th quarter comeback for South to win the game. Sounded like Hulls was huge in the clutch and finished with 27 points.
Just realized I was the subject of a poll question. I wonder how many people thought Tome Earth was one of Cook's "sleeper" recruits that just signed with IU.
Speaking of IU, I stopped by the HPER while I was in Bloomington. The place has not changed a bit. I remember Cook tearing his ACL during our intramural game there. That was the second injury I witnessed on the basketball court at IU. The more memorable one goes without saying. The infamous Scopel hand-breaking. I wish I had it on tape.
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