Just rewatched most of the Purdue-Minnesota game and figured I'd draw out your agony as long as possible by sharing a few 24-hours-later thoughts
The turnover debacle was even more spectacular on replay than it was live, and looked to me like more an indictment of Purdue than a credit to Minnesota.
Yes, the Gophers' pressure affected the Boilermakers unlike anything seen in the first three quarters of play between these teams this season, but the common denominator between all those turnovers during the landslide was simply Purdue not being able or present-of-mind enough to simply catch the ball and secure it. It looked both timid and over-eager at the same time. Purdue lost its aggressiveness, but also got caught looking up the floor too quickly a couple times, an odd dichotomy.
And we can talk about lineups all we want, but Jon Octeus turned the ball over five times and got stuck in the backcourt, requiring a timeout to be called; Rapheal Davis fumbled a ball, then turned it over again, and just didn't seem to be himself the entire game; Vince Edwards turned it over, then fell down; Bryson Scott got stripped at midcourt for a pick-six; Basil Smotherman had a pass carom off two hands at his own foul line for another Gopher bucket; P.J. Thompson sent a cross-court pass FedEx to St. Paul for another turnover; and Kendall Stephens threw a shot-fake post-entry pass right to Minnesota.
It wasn't lineups. It was everyone.
Like a bad stomach virus going around, with an equally objectionable result.
It just was so opposite of what we've seen to this point in Big Ten play, that I stil have to stick to the word "aberration," just something random that happened for no apparent reason and will very likely not happen again any time soon.
Yes, Purdue lucked its way into a couple of threes off Octeus' bank shots, especially the second one, but the last four threes Purdue made were the four biggest and those were shots Purdue just flat-out stuck in crucial junctures, two of them by Kendall Stephens. Maybe that can serve as a jumping-off point for him.
That said, his issue does not appear tied to confidence. It has to be related to his finger. It would be too coincidental for it to not be when you look at his split between pre-Illinois and post-Illinois.
Purdue got beat, but aside from a couple instances in which Mo Walker flat-out took the ball at him and scored, A.J. Hammons was really good again.
He is really attacking the basket when he's within striking distance, as you saw with the many dunks he threw down in Minneapolis. No more timid fading-away one-handers like in non-conference, no more paralysis-by-analysis around the rim, all that led to his 45-percent shooting or whatever it was coming into Big Ten play.
He looks like a player right now who's just reacting, finishing around the basket, blocking shots and moving the basket as a reflex.
Big part of the reason he's been so good lately.
You're seeing some of non-conference Vince Edwards coming out too. He's making threes the past few games, attacking the basket while not forcing anything he picked up his rebounding at Minnesota. He's done a nice job as an inside-out passer lately.
How many players has Purdue had lately who would have made this play?
I have no opinion at all on the final Vince Edwards play. I could see there being enough contact to make a call and I could see there being not enough contact to make a call. No right answer, IMO, and no wrong answer.
But it was crazy to see everyone freeze. There is that loud sneaker squeak that maybe was the "whistle" both sides say they heard.
Yes, the Gophers' pressure affected the Boilermakers unlike anything seen in the first three quarters of play between these teams this season, but the common denominator between all those turnovers during the landslide was simply Purdue not being able or present-of-mind enough to simply catch the ball and secure it. It looked both timid and over-eager at the same time. Purdue lost its aggressiveness, but also got caught looking up the floor too quickly a couple times, an odd dichotomy.
And we can talk about lineups all we want, but Jon Octeus turned the ball over five times and got stuck in the backcourt, requiring a timeout to be called; Rapheal Davis fumbled a ball, then turned it over again, and just didn't seem to be himself the entire game; Vince Edwards turned it over, then fell down; Bryson Scott got stripped at midcourt for a pick-six; Basil Smotherman had a pass carom off two hands at his own foul line for another Gopher bucket; P.J. Thompson sent a cross-court pass FedEx to St. Paul for another turnover; and Kendall Stephens threw a shot-fake post-entry pass right to Minnesota.
It wasn't lineups. It was everyone.
Like a bad stomach virus going around, with an equally objectionable result.
It just was so opposite of what we've seen to this point in Big Ten play, that I stil have to stick to the word "aberration," just something random that happened for no apparent reason and will very likely not happen again any time soon.
That said, his issue does not appear tied to confidence. It has to be related to his finger. It would be too coincidental for it to not be when you look at his split between pre-Illinois and post-Illinois.
He is really attacking the basket when he's within striking distance, as you saw with the many dunks he threw down in Minneapolis. No more timid fading-away one-handers like in non-conference, no more paralysis-by-analysis around the rim, all that led to his 45-percent shooting or whatever it was coming into Big Ten play.
He looks like a player right now who's just reacting, finishing around the basket, blocking shots and moving the basket as a reflex.
Big part of the reason he's been so good lately.
How many players has Purdue had lately who would have made this play?
But it was crazy to see everyone freeze. There is that loud sneaker squeak that maybe was the "whistle" both sides say they heard.
