Purdue has to be - and should be - better than that.
I know that at the end of the game at Penn State today, the Boilermakers had more points than the Nittany Lions. But that fact doesn't smear Wite-Out all over the half dozen or so instances in regulation in which Purdue lost this game, transgressions it got away with today against a team that's winless in conference games for a reason, but won't down the line against somebody better.
There were crucial possessions simply thrown away, crucial possessions simply handed to Penn State on the offensive glass and crucial free throws missed over and over again.
(Ironic that it was shoddy crunch-time free-throw shooting that won this game for Purdue, and I'm not just talking about the game-tying three.)
Kendall Stephens made a heroic play, the stuff quasi-legends are made of. That was Reggie Miller stuff. Not just the actual execution of the shot, but the presence of mind to dash to the arc instead of pursuing the quick two, which would not have ended well.
It was that presence of mind he lacked on prior key possessions, first when he casually dribbled into a tie-up with no apparent plan, costing Purdue a possession, then when he shot a running fade-away off one leg with a chance to tie the game, what seemed at the time like the last shot Purdue wanted in what looked then like its last chance.
But proponents like myself of fouling late in the game when up three - though Patrick Chambers' miscalculation was doing it way too early, with like nine seconds left - were left with egg on their face when Stephens saved the day with his corner three, so reminiscent of the shot Terone Johnson made last season, when Purdue also laid waste to Penn State in most soul-trampling fashion.
Purdue played down to its competition today for about 39 of 45 minutes, before delivering when it absolutely had to. Credit the Boilermakers for that, for making the game's deciding play and simply breaking their opponent in so doing.
Purdue can be better than it showed for most of the game, should be better, you could say.
Today was what Purdue needed to see: A.J. Hammons (21 points) and especially Stephens (22) were really good, and Purdue should be hard to beat any time that happens, especially when it's making jump shots like it was in the second half, when it was 9-of-15 from three. Yet it still took a minor miracle to win.
Why?
Well, D.J. Newbill was big-time, splitting Purdue's ball-screen defense over and over again to get to the rim and making difficult pull-up jumpers off the dribble, many of them contested.
Purdue knew the Big Ten's leading scorer would get his points. Thirty-seven was not what it had in mind, however.
Otherwise, Purdue nearly beat Purdue with turnovers, bad foul shooting and lapses from its strength on the boards.
Seems to me like this group might have a bit of a collective concentration issue.
I'll give you a small example: How is that Hammons can fumble so many passes on offense, yet go up in traffic with one hand so often on the defensive glass and absolutely steel-trap the basketball? That's not a "hands" issue. It has to be a concentration issue. On offense, he has more to think about than just securing the basketball and it leads to a wandering mind, it would seem.
That's a small example.
How is it a team with the bulk of its roster - including all of its ball-handlers - making three-fourths or better of their foul shots this season have a game like today collectively? It wasn't the big men missing the free throws today, when the Boilermakers were 7-of-15 at the foul line prior to overtime, when they figured it out and won the game at the stripe.
How is it Purdue can look pretty good defensively at times, then give up so many seemingly quick, easy baskets at others and be so shoddy so often in transition defense?
Seems like a concentration issue to me.
I am no psychologist, however.
It was a long, strange trip, but at the end of the day, Purdue got what it wanted, needed actually.
A loss today would have been a bitter pill. Scratch that: It'd have been a shot glass full of battery acid.
When teams can play badly and still win, there's good and bad to that.
Purdue can celebrate a surreal win for a few hours but must not lose sight of all the reasons it had to win the way it did in the first place.
Random awkward note: Kudos to the unsung hero of Purdue's game today, Dakota Mathias.
FYI: I was not at the game today. Stacy will have our on-site coverage.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
This post was edited on 1/17 4:40 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
I know that at the end of the game at Penn State today, the Boilermakers had more points than the Nittany Lions. But that fact doesn't smear Wite-Out all over the half dozen or so instances in regulation in which Purdue lost this game, transgressions it got away with today against a team that's winless in conference games for a reason, but won't down the line against somebody better.
(Ironic that it was shoddy crunch-time free-throw shooting that won this game for Purdue, and I'm not just talking about the game-tying three.)
Kendall Stephens made a heroic play, the stuff quasi-legends are made of. That was Reggie Miller stuff. Not just the actual execution of the shot, but the presence of mind to dash to the arc instead of pursuing the quick two, which would not have ended well.
It was that presence of mind he lacked on prior key possessions, first when he casually dribbled into a tie-up with no apparent plan, costing Purdue a possession, then when he shot a running fade-away off one leg with a chance to tie the game, what seemed at the time like the last shot Purdue wanted in what looked then like its last chance.
But proponents like myself of fouling late in the game when up three - though Patrick Chambers' miscalculation was doing it way too early, with like nine seconds left - were left with egg on their face when Stephens saved the day with his corner three, so reminiscent of the shot Terone Johnson made last season, when Purdue also laid waste to Penn State in most soul-trampling fashion.
Purdue played down to its competition today for about 39 of 45 minutes, before delivering when it absolutely had to. Credit the Boilermakers for that, for making the game's deciding play and simply breaking their opponent in so doing.
Purdue can be better than it showed for most of the game, should be better, you could say.
Today was what Purdue needed to see: A.J. Hammons (21 points) and especially Stephens (22) were really good, and Purdue should be hard to beat any time that happens, especially when it's making jump shots like it was in the second half, when it was 9-of-15 from three. Yet it still took a minor miracle to win.
Why?
Well, D.J. Newbill was big-time, splitting Purdue's ball-screen defense over and over again to get to the rim and making difficult pull-up jumpers off the dribble, many of them contested.
Purdue knew the Big Ten's leading scorer would get his points. Thirty-seven was not what it had in mind, however.
Otherwise, Purdue nearly beat Purdue with turnovers, bad foul shooting and lapses from its strength on the boards.
Seems to me like this group might have a bit of a collective concentration issue.
I'll give you a small example: How is that Hammons can fumble so many passes on offense, yet go up in traffic with one hand so often on the defensive glass and absolutely steel-trap the basketball? That's not a "hands" issue. It has to be a concentration issue. On offense, he has more to think about than just securing the basketball and it leads to a wandering mind, it would seem.
That's a small example.
How is it a team with the bulk of its roster - including all of its ball-handlers - making three-fourths or better of their foul shots this season have a game like today collectively? It wasn't the big men missing the free throws today, when the Boilermakers were 7-of-15 at the foul line prior to overtime, when they figured it out and won the game at the stripe.
How is it Purdue can look pretty good defensively at times, then give up so many seemingly quick, easy baskets at others and be so shoddy so often in transition defense?
Seems like a concentration issue to me.
I am no psychologist, however.
It was a long, strange trip, but at the end of the day, Purdue got what it wanted, needed actually.
A loss today would have been a bitter pill. Scratch that: It'd have been a shot glass full of battery acid.
When teams can play badly and still win, there's good and bad to that.
Purdue can celebrate a surreal win for a few hours but must not lose sight of all the reasons it had to win the way it did in the first place.
Random awkward note: Kudos to the unsung hero of Purdue's game today, Dakota Mathias.
FYI: I was not at the game today. Stacy will have our on-site coverage.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2015. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
This post was edited on 1/17 4:40 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
