EVANSTON, Ill. — Greetings everyone from Welsh-Ryan, where the question must be asked: If a college basketball game is played in the middle of the night the night before the Super Bowl and one of the teams involved has no fans, does it make a sound?
I kid, I kid.
Anyway, Purdue plays Northwestern tonight, and for the Boilermakers, for the second year in a row up here, losing is not an option.
If Purdue drops this one, its NCAA Tournament hopes — already involving a considerable degree-of-difficulty quotient — go on a ventilator; or the pillow goes fully over the face. Whichever graphic analogy you prefer.
There are must-wins, and there are can’t-loses, and this is a can’t-lose for Purdue if it wants to maintain credible hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament. Can Purdue lose games the rest of the season and still make it? Of course. Can it lose this one? Well, it’s the last bad loss left on the schedule, so very likely not. When you’re barely a .500 team as is and you haven’t won a road game in your league — and you’ve already lost to Nebraska — you’re already tip-toeing a minefield in skis, and this is the last landmine left in the regular season.
Purdue has to win.
Three thoughts.
’TRY NOT TO SUCK’
I don’t want to sound glib here, but Purdue is the better team, clearly. That guarantees it nothing. If it just plays well, it probably wins. Profound analysis, I am aware. Just saying that Purdue’s bad turnovers, bad shots, blown layups, misses passes for dunks, etc., would be part of Northwestern’s calculus here for an upset. That’s up to Purdue.
ENERGY
Doesn’t it sound so simple? That right after road games, Purdue can talk about how it lacked energy, again. Doesn’t it sound so simple then to fix? To just come out and be energetic? Obviously it’s been trickier than it sounds, because Purdue’s pattern of behavior away from Mackey Arena has endured.
For that reason, probably among others, Purdue will probably roll with its sixth different starting five of the season. Wouldn’t surprise me if Jahaad Proctor started over Sasha Stefanovic or Nojel Eastern, wouldn’t surprise me if Isaiah Thompson started over Eric Hunter and it wouldn’t surprise me if Matt Haarms started over Trevion Williams. Or any combination thereof.
It would surprise me if someone started over Evan Boudreaux, the guy who played nine minutes three games ago and seven the game before that.
Kind of shows you where Purdue is right now in its search for answers.
Purdue needs someone who’s going to show they’re sick of this and put a stop to it, and right now, it looks like Boudreaux is playing like that.
MAX OUT THE BIGS' VALUE
Purdue has to get Trevion Williams the ball on the interior against Ryan Young, and has to get Matt Haarms the ball in a variety of ways. Purdue’s lack of execution in getting him the ball in pick-and-roll is wasting him, and that’s on the guards. How much improvement you can expect on Feb. 1, though, I have no idea.
At some point, you kind are what you are.
Purdue needs its big men to be productive, and their production doesn’t lie just with them. It lies with the guards getting them the ball, and with the guards being ready to shoot when they make excellent passes to set up wide-open shots.
In a league full of great big men, this is one of the games where Purdue's advantage should be pronounced.
That’s what I’ve got.
Thanks everybody for putting off your Saturday night painting of the town red to follow along here. Please circle back later to check out our coverage.
We’ll have all our usual coverage afterward, and in the meantime, updates on Twitter at @brianneubert.
Please use this thread to discuss the game or do so however you wish.
Thanks for reading, as always.
I kid, I kid.
Anyway, Purdue plays Northwestern tonight, and for the Boilermakers, for the second year in a row up here, losing is not an option.
If Purdue drops this one, its NCAA Tournament hopes — already involving a considerable degree-of-difficulty quotient — go on a ventilator; or the pillow goes fully over the face. Whichever graphic analogy you prefer.
There are must-wins, and there are can’t-loses, and this is a can’t-lose for Purdue if it wants to maintain credible hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament. Can Purdue lose games the rest of the season and still make it? Of course. Can it lose this one? Well, it’s the last bad loss left on the schedule, so very likely not. When you’re barely a .500 team as is and you haven’t won a road game in your league — and you’ve already lost to Nebraska — you’re already tip-toeing a minefield in skis, and this is the last landmine left in the regular season.
Purdue has to win.
Three thoughts.
’TRY NOT TO SUCK’
I don’t want to sound glib here, but Purdue is the better team, clearly. That guarantees it nothing. If it just plays well, it probably wins. Profound analysis, I am aware. Just saying that Purdue’s bad turnovers, bad shots, blown layups, misses passes for dunks, etc., would be part of Northwestern’s calculus here for an upset. That’s up to Purdue.
ENERGY
Doesn’t it sound so simple? That right after road games, Purdue can talk about how it lacked energy, again. Doesn’t it sound so simple then to fix? To just come out and be energetic? Obviously it’s been trickier than it sounds, because Purdue’s pattern of behavior away from Mackey Arena has endured.
For that reason, probably among others, Purdue will probably roll with its sixth different starting five of the season. Wouldn’t surprise me if Jahaad Proctor started over Sasha Stefanovic or Nojel Eastern, wouldn’t surprise me if Isaiah Thompson started over Eric Hunter and it wouldn’t surprise me if Matt Haarms started over Trevion Williams. Or any combination thereof.
It would surprise me if someone started over Evan Boudreaux, the guy who played nine minutes three games ago and seven the game before that.
Kind of shows you where Purdue is right now in its search for answers.
Purdue needs someone who’s going to show they’re sick of this and put a stop to it, and right now, it looks like Boudreaux is playing like that.
MAX OUT THE BIGS' VALUE
Purdue has to get Trevion Williams the ball on the interior against Ryan Young, and has to get Matt Haarms the ball in a variety of ways. Purdue’s lack of execution in getting him the ball in pick-and-roll is wasting him, and that’s on the guards. How much improvement you can expect on Feb. 1, though, I have no idea.
At some point, you kind are what you are.
Purdue needs its big men to be productive, and their production doesn’t lie just with them. It lies with the guards getting them the ball, and with the guards being ready to shoot when they make excellent passes to set up wide-open shots.
In a league full of great big men, this is one of the games where Purdue's advantage should be pronounced.
That’s what I’ve got.
Thanks everybody for putting off your Saturday night painting of the town red to follow along here. Please circle back later to check out our coverage.
We’ll have all our usual coverage afterward, and in the meantime, updates on Twitter at @brianneubert.
Please use this thread to discuss the game or do so however you wish.
Thanks for reading, as always.
