Once again - don't sleep on Purdue
- Thread starter BosCat
- Start date
I think PU fans are probably pretty uptight about this one. First, they were traumatized by Chase's 3:47 reign of terror, and Edey's bloodied arms. Then HIM went John Wick on them back in December. Who will torment them next?
Hard to sleep on them when they give you nightmares. And it is so much fun to see them going home crying
It pains me to say it, as Choo Choos are so annoying, that Mackey is, IMO, the toughest environment for opposing teams in the B1G.
IL or MSU have rabid student sections amplified by being behind the benches. Mackey does not give away such prime locations. Hell, they won't even put individual seats in that building, making it a very 20th century uncomfortable fan experience. The students wrap around behind both baskets. There are so many of them, and they are so active. So loud and active. All game long.
The one guy I work with who is an alum is an awesome and very humble dude. Still, overall, annoying fu**s. Choo choo!
IL or MSU have rabid student sections amplified by being behind the benches. Mackey does not give away such prime locations. Hell, they won't even put individual seats in that building, making it a very 20th century uncomfortable fan experience. The students wrap around behind both baskets. There are so many of them, and they are so active. So loud and active. All game long.
The one guy I work with who is an alum is an awesome and very humble dude. Still, overall, annoying fu**s. Choo choo!
We should have no illusions...this is easily the toughest game on the schedule, and even if NU makes it to the NCAA championship game, that opponent/location will presumably be "easier" than this opponent/location. On the plus side, NU has proven they can beat this team and get in the heads of Edey/Smith and others (for all of the talk on Hammer and Rails that Smith deserves to be on the Cousy finalist list and will have something extra for NU tonight as a result, he DID have six turnovers the last time the teams met), but if they can do it when Purdue is at home and has momentum is another beast entirely.
The Boilers are very good and almost unbeatable at home. The last look at the game’s line was PU -13. I do think NU covers. The two teams played to a regulation draw in Evanston in December. Give Purdue a 15 point swing, going from a hostile to extremely friendly venue. Comparing the December 1 game to today’s, Purdue’s rotation and general play going into today is pretty much unchanged. On the Cats’ side, Barnhizer is healthy and can shoot effectively again, and Nicholson has come back to form as a post defender and offensive option if Edey leaves the rim to stop Buie as he attacks the basket. PU’s one weakness on defense is susceptibility at the perimeter to a team that has a PG who can attack with 3 teammates who can shoot. They can’t both stop the ball and cover all three, largely due to Loyer’s weakness. With Barnhizer able to shoot again, Purdue will have trouble covering all the Cats’ shooters. In addition, Edey will need to decide whether to leave the rim to stop Buie (last game he didn’t and it was fatal) and leave Nicholson free for lobs. Nicholson should also fare a little better on the defensive end. He is one of a handful of B1G bigs who is capable of only being routinely beaten but not annihilated by Edey. In short, the Cats’s offense matches up better this time than it did in December, and Edey should be a few points short of the 35 he had in Evanston. Give the Cats 7-8 points as a result, cutting the margin from my starting point of 15 to 7 or 8. The other wildcard is how the game is officiated. The December game was called very tight, clearly to PU’s advantage. It could be called that way again, but anything more tolerant works to NU’s advantage. I really see this is a single digit game, though still a large enough digit that Purdue prevails.
This is the wildcard, though I'm sure the Purdue fans would disagree that they had the advantage (I agree with you FWIW). If a single foul is missed on Edey, Purdue fans think the officials are against them!
Last year’s game was a “let them play” that worked for NU. December’s was a tightly called game that worked for PU. I didn’t have a problem with either, it’s just basketball that different crews have different thresholds. In both games, the calls were pretty consistent.
If we make it three straight, the caterwauling from PU fans will drown out the heavy equipment sounds from the dismantling of Ryan Field.
One of the betting prognosticators that is trying to get me to sign up for their service has Purdue -14 as their play of the day. Wow!
LET THEM PLAY. PLEASE. JUST ONCE.
The games are so much more enjoyable when big guys are allowed to bang into each other, like they did for 50 years. Nicholson is, unfortunately, completely at the mercy of the referees. I do not want to have to see Chris Collins saying "What's he supposed to do?" to a Painter-blind referee crew.
Watching zebras call fouls on large people for brushing up against a giant is the worst thing in college basketball, now that the "flopping to draw a charge" problem has been eradicated.
The games are so much more enjoyable when big guys are allowed to bang into each other, like they did for 50 years. Nicholson is, unfortunately, completely at the mercy of the referees. I do not want to have to see Chris Collins saying "What's he supposed to do?" to a Painter-blind referee crew.
Watching zebras call fouls on large people for brushing up against a giant is the worst thing in college basketball, now that the "flopping to draw a charge" problem has been eradicated.
Gotta give Painter a ton of credit for turning the monster into a martyr.
I don't get how thats even possible, but somehow he has done it.
When a player displaces a defender thru physical contact, that is either an offensive foul or a no-call.
It should never be a foul on the defender. And yet here we are.
I thought I would re-up this pregame post since I think it was a pretty accurate prognostication. The Boilers were lucky to escape last night: the Cats match up against them better than any other team in the B1G, and I would guess on a neutral court win 6 or 7 times out of 10. Due to the absence of transitivity, that doesn’t mean the Cats are better than Purdue. On a neutral court Purdue consistently beats every other B1G team, while the Cats would lose a majority of games against the Illini and break even against Wisconsin.
It is a shame Buie’s floater didn’t fall before the buzzer, and (referring to the thread title) that the Cats fell asleep covering a screen with about 2:30 to go after taking a 5 point lead. Either would have allowed them to avoid the drama around the two big blown overtime calls.
Yup. You can post up and back a guy down as long as you get the defender to move his feet. But Edey just plows guys like snowplow.