Eastern...

[Boiler Buck]

Just a man among boys on D. That is B1G defensive player of the year D.....at times.....in the first half of Ball State. Two guys I like to watch CE on offensive side and Eastern defensively......and both are just as enjoyable and play at that special level.

 

[DrEss]

Nojel is the man tonight!! Tremendous game.

 

[BoilerInChiTown]

Yes. Nice to see him getting more confident and have a break out game. He will only get better...

 

[Boiler Buck]

Continuing to tear it up again in the second half.....difference maker.

 

[OhioBoiler51]

He's a stud! High praise when Hummel says he could become the best Purdue defender EVER!

 

[D A Y]

I’m impressed with him all around tonight.

 

[BoilerBulldog]

Yeah. The thought he won’t be starting anytime soon is just way off base. I don’t care if he never hits a 3 pointer his entire career, he’s a baller.

 

[Esox54547]

Yes great game Nojel! He earned the game ball tonight!!

 

[Fansince72]

Well ,Mom should be very proud tonight ! Nojel played a helluva game.

 

[purduepat1969]

Congrats to Nojel on a fantastic game!

 

[bodog57]

I've seen Jovan Price, Tony Jones, Chris Kramer, and I hate to miss others.

However, I don't believe I've seen the likes of Eastern when it comes to just shutting down the other teams best player.

Game changer...well done young man!

 

[PU pit bull]

What respectful young man on the post game radio interview too...……...good kid, good Boilermaker

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

Persons was all quiet on the Eastern front (second half - goose egg) after 19 in the first.

Great energy and boost from Nojel Eastern's all-around game/effort.

 

[SegregationOfDuties]

Nojel could have been a significant contributor last year had he been given the chance.

 

[mathboy]

Nojel could have been a significant contributor last year had he been given the chance.

I guess we can speculate, because we can never know. I'm alright with that.

I would point out that we are only allowed to have 5 players on the court at e time, so he would have to have replaced someone, probably PJ. If you recall, PJ won a good number of games for us too. Also, Nojel 2017 was not the player Nojel 2018 is, so it is tough to draw a direct comparison.

 

[Boiler Buck]

Nojel could have been a significant contributor last year had he been given the chance.

Well PSU and a guy named Carr might disagree with you.

 

[Purdue0034]

Nojel may be the best defensive player I have ever seen. His performance last night against Persons and last year against Tony Carr were something special. Keep it up young man! Boiler Up!

 

[Mandeville LA]

I am not chiming in because I am blown away by Nojel’s play tonight, it should be expected. He is not a selfish player and last year he did what the coaches asked him to do but I could see he had way more to his game. This year more min, more confidence, more freedom in the offense equals what we saw tonight.

That said, his defense was better than I thought and I thought he was really good. Not sure I have seen a guy that big move his feet that quick, ever.

 

[FirstDownB]

Nojel may be the best defensive player I have ever seen. His performance last night against Persons and last year against Tony Carr were something special. Keep it up young man! Boiler Up!

Like everyone else I am pleased with what I saw last night. It was a great individual defensive performance. I’ll save some projection until we see more games against a variety of teams and players. One bugaboo we’ve had defensively in recent.. well many years.. is teams with small, quick guards, particularly teams that pick and roll you to death. That is not Ball State. That is not Persons (or Carr). Due to his size and athleticism, NE will continue to be great aagainst anybody he can stay with. Looking down the schedule, the Texas matchup and Shaka Smart will be very interesting. But I think it will be good for us as a team regardless of outcome.

 

[northside100]

Just a man among boys on D. That is B1G defensive player of the year D.....at times.....in the first half of Ball State. Two guys I like to watch CE on offensive side and Eastern defensively......and both are just as enjoyable and play at that special level.

The hyperbole on this board cracks me up. Nojel didn’t stop being a good player when he had less than a stellar game against Fairfield and he shouldn’t be crowned defensive player of the year after one stellar performance against Ball St. Much like Haarms, he’s a very talented sophomore taking on a much larger role this year, which will likely result in some ups and downs early in the year. So congrats to Nojel on a great game, I hope this boosts his confidence and serves as a launch pad for more strong performances. More importantly, I hope this reinforces his belief in himself so that when more off nights occur (which they will), he can roll with that and move on as part of the development process.

 

[oldboiler52]

Nojel is a team first guy. IMO guy's like him and PJ are always under valued by the fans . This I know you cannot win without them .

 

[tjreese]

He's a stud! High praise when Hummel says he could become the best Purdue defender EVER!

No question his athleticism and atitude make him so effective on D. I struggle a bit when someone says "ever" on anything, but Nojel has the ability to make a claim that he was as good as anyone on D. When I read (I was at the game) what Robbie said I imagine that in Robbie's mind...the best defensive player ever must consider the ability for NOjel to guard multiple positions, because if you go by position only, there were players as good as Nojel in "certain" positions, just not for mulitple positions...and so overall Nojel can be one of the greatest if not greatest defenders when his time at PUrdue is over.

 

[Boiler Buck]

The hyperbole on this board cracks me up. Nojel didn’t stop being a good player when he had less than a stellar game against Fairfield and he shouldn’t be crowned defensive player of the year after one stellar performance against Ball St. Much like Haarms, he’s a very talented sophomore taking on a much larger role this year, which will likely result in some ups and downs early in the year. So congrats to Nojel on a great game, I hope this boosts his confidence and serves as a launch pad for more strong performances. More importantly, I hope this reinforces his belief in himself so that when more off nights occur (which they will), he can roll with that and move on as part of the development process.

I am guessing then......you did not like Robbie Hummel's hyperbole comments about Eastern's play in the second half either.

 

[Purdue0034]

I did think Nojel played a great defensive game last night. Everytime the other team had the ball I just watched Nojel on defense the whole time and not any other player. He was very disruptive and almost constantly. If you weren't watching him the entire defensive sequence you wouldn't probably realize just how well he did. Now to be in the ranks of best ever and all time, etc., he will need to do the same game in and game out; but I think he has the potential. As he gets more playing time I think he will also improve on being able to anticipate what the other team is trying to do which will allow him to be even better and get even more stops and turnovers.

 

[RawfNader]

Nojel may be the best defensive player I have ever seen!

Lmao. Can’t make this up.

 

[Purdue0034]

Lmao. Can’t make this up.

Obviously you didn't watch the game last night and you are likely an IU troll; so run along back to the rock you crawled out from under! By the way, when Eastern is covering your little freshman Romeo, it is not going to end well for IU.

 

[tjreese]

Obviously you didn't watch the game last night and you are likely an IU troll; so run along back to the rock you crawled out from under! By the way, when Eastern is covering your little freshman Romeo, it is not going to end well for IU.

Romeo doesn't bother me in that game...I'm more concerned about their bigs. I think Purdue will be fine in the 1 - 3 spots...

 

[Purdue0034]

Romeo doesn't bother me in that game...I'm more concerned about their bigs. I think Purdue will be fine in the 1 - 3 spots...

I agree with you. I just had to put in a little dig to the IU troll questioning Eastern's defensive prowess.

 

[RawfNader]

Obviously you didn't watch the game last night and you are likely an IU troll; so run along back to the rock you crawled out from under! By the way, when Eastern is covering your little freshman Romeo, it is not going to end well for IU.

Best defensive player EVER. I’m sorry but that’s not even laughable. Somewhere beyond that.

Shut down a Ball State player for one half a game... Wasn’t trying to start an argument, but cmon. That’s ridiculous.

The way you talk about Romeo makes it even more apparent you have no idea what you’re talking about. I expect zero points from Romeo with Nojel guarding him. Nothing less from the greatest defensive player ever. Just wow.

 

[Treed1967]

Best defensive player EVER. I’m sorry but that’s not even laughable. Somewhere beyond that.

Shut down a Ball State player for one half a game... Wasn’t trying to start an argument, but cmon. That’s ridiculous.

The way you talk about Romeo makes it even more apparent you have no idea what you’re talking about. I expect zero points from Romeo with Nojel guarding him. Nothing less from the greatest defensive player ever. Just wow.

Sir no need for this my son had his moment it is what it is and next game up.

 

[RawfNader]

Sir no need for this my son had his moment it is what it is and next game up.

This isn’t a knock on your son. It’s a knock on the ridiculous comment from the poster above.

 

[mathboy]

This isn’t a knock on your son. It’s a knock on the ridiculous comment from the poster above.

I do agree that the poster was exaggerating. That is easy to do after winning a tough game. I say cut him some slack, because it is on the Purdue board. If he had posted this on the national board, I would expect someone to call him on it. Here, it's okay to be enthusiastic about the home team.

Now, here is the bad news. I say this having watched Romeo, and acknowledging that Romeo is a great college player. Nojel is a very good defender, and if he guards Romeo, Romeo will have a hard time scoring. He will score, but it will be on switches and screens, or scrambles. One-on-one scoring will be a struggle against Nojel. Romeo is not tall enough or fast enough or experienced enough to get past Nojel. Just ask Tony Carr.

 

[atmafola]

I do agree that the poster was exaggerating. That is easy to do after winning a tough game. I say cut him some slack, because it is on the Purdue board. If he had posted this on the national board, I would expect someone to call him on it. Here, it's okay to be enthusiastic about the home team.

Now, here is the bad news. I say this having watched Romeo, and acknowledging that Romeo is a great college player. Nojel is a very good defender, and if he guards Romeo, Romeo will have a hard time scoring. He will score, but it will be on switches and screens, or scrambles. One-on-one scoring will be a struggle against Nojel. Romeo is not tall enough or fast enough or experienced enough to get past Nojel. Just ask Tony Carr.

and especially not strong enough. That boy Nojel is well-built. Mom, what were you feeding him?

 

[NC_Trojan10]

I do agree that the poster was exaggerating. That is easy to do after winning a tough game. I say cut him some slack, because it is on the Purdue board. If he had posted this on the national board, I would expect someone to call him on it. Here, it's okay to be enthusiastic about the home team.

Now, here is the bad news. I say this having watched Romeo, and acknowledging that Romeo is a great college player. Nojel is a very good defender, and if he guards Romeo, Romeo will have a hard time scoring. He will score, but it will be on switches and screens, or scrambles. One-on-one scoring will be a struggle against Nojel. Romeo is not tall enough or fast enough or experienced enough to get past Nojel. Just ask Tony Carr.

We shall see.

 

[RawfNader]

We shall see.

I’d put my money on Romeo all day over Nojel.

Again, we shall see. That is if Nojel even guards Rome.

Also - I didn’t bring IU into this, before someone goes off saying “this is a Purdue board”

That comment deserves to be called out no matter Where it’s posted lol. Better than Gary Payton etc etc

 

[Dandelion1972]

I've seen Jovan Price, Tony Jones, Chris Kramer, and I hate to miss others.

However, I don't believe I've seen the likes of Eastern when it comes to just shutting down the other teams best player.

Game changer...well done young man!

Good, glad to hear.

But Tony Jones was a special kind of defender. Their best guard could go up for a 10 -15 foot jumper and Tony would block it!

Only frustrating thing was when the officials would call a foul, because it didn't seem like it was possible to get up there and block it legally.

 

[Mandeville LA]

I’d put my money on Romeo all day over Nojel.

Again, we shall see. That is if Nojel even guards Rome.

Also - I didn’t bring IU into this, before someone goes off saying “this is a Purdue board”

That comment deserves to be called out no matter Where it’s posted lol. Better than Gary Payton etc etc

 

[arcb102000]

Rawf is the Corvair of posters here.

 

[Purdue Grad in Texas]

Gary Payton was a fantastic defender, but with all due respect to "The Glove," give me Coop every day and twice on Sundays.

What I really like from Nojel Eastern is that he seems to genuinely enjoy and relish the opportunity to defend....that's a big part of it. He's only a sophomore and going to get even better. But.....we shall see.

 

[tjreese]

and especially not strong enough. That boy Nojel is well-built. Mom, what were you feeding him?

You can see it...he is much more toned after a year at Purdue lifiting. he was strong before, but not much body fat today...