A few final musings from Purdue's 80-60 win over Northwestern, because I know how you like musings.
• Great game today for Isaiah Thompson and Eric Hunter. As good as Sasha Stefanovic and the bigs were, it was those two that sort of carried Purdue through the second half. Lots of timely plays in a game where Purdue needed other people to step up.
Hunter was excellent as a facilitator today. My gut's always kind of told me that Jaden Ivey's emergence last season sort of marginalized him in some regard and that's been an adjustment. He looked in command today, and Isaiah Thompson's dime to Ethan Morton for his Shawn Kemp impression just made the season highlight video.
Did either Thompson or Hunter turn the ball over today?
Purdue doesn't ask much of them when Ivey's on the floor. Without him, both were needed today, and both of them delivered.
• Trevion Williams got a little carried away with the passing at times today, but he was especially good on the glass. A lot of his rebounds, they were threes. Those long rebounds can often put big guys at a disadvantage, but his instincts and quickness to the ball really showed up today. He claimed a lot of would-be 50/50 balls.
• Caleb Furst seems to be coming on again. Opportunities have been sort of limited for him lately, but he made his opportunities against Northwestern.
• I can't for the life of me understand why Northwestern opens the game with Pete Nance guarding Zach Edey and Ryan Young coming off the bench. This is coaching malpractice, if you ask me. Nance is not the most physical young man. A really good player, but he's not a functional post defender against giants and he's the player you need most at the offensive end. Exposing him to fouls and fatigue just boggles the mind.
Young could have at least thrown his body around and made Purdue's bigs work on defense.
• For a school with lots of smart kids, this Northwestern team has a really flawed basketball IQ. They've been prone to atrocious shot selection at times this season. That botched fast break was a total trainwreck at the worst time for them.
• Have to think Brandon Newman may have put some pressure on himself today. Tough deal for him to get this sort of opportunity and things just don't go his way at all.
• Probably the last thing you wanted to see today was Zach Edey miss his first/only two free throws.
• The more time that passes, the more it resonates just how fluky the loss Thursday night was. Now, that can go both ways. IU missed 10 free throws and actually put a ball in its own basket, but if Purdue just doesn't get Trayce Jackson-Davis in foul trouble, it almost certainly wins. If Purdue doesn't do the same favors for Rob Phinisee as it did for Johnny Davis — big difference between those two players — it wins. If Purdue just plays with any measure of poise after a great start, it wins. The power of Assembly Hall, I guess.
• Suck it, Tom Brady.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
• Great game today for Isaiah Thompson and Eric Hunter. As good as Sasha Stefanovic and the bigs were, it was those two that sort of carried Purdue through the second half. Lots of timely plays in a game where Purdue needed other people to step up.
Hunter was excellent as a facilitator today. My gut's always kind of told me that Jaden Ivey's emergence last season sort of marginalized him in some regard and that's been an adjustment. He looked in command today, and Isaiah Thompson's dime to Ethan Morton for his Shawn Kemp impression just made the season highlight video.
Did either Thompson or Hunter turn the ball over today?
Purdue doesn't ask much of them when Ivey's on the floor. Without him, both were needed today, and both of them delivered.
• Trevion Williams got a little carried away with the passing at times today, but he was especially good on the glass. A lot of his rebounds, they were threes. Those long rebounds can often put big guys at a disadvantage, but his instincts and quickness to the ball really showed up today. He claimed a lot of would-be 50/50 balls.
• Caleb Furst seems to be coming on again. Opportunities have been sort of limited for him lately, but he made his opportunities against Northwestern.
• I can't for the life of me understand why Northwestern opens the game with Pete Nance guarding Zach Edey and Ryan Young coming off the bench. This is coaching malpractice, if you ask me. Nance is not the most physical young man. A really good player, but he's not a functional post defender against giants and he's the player you need most at the offensive end. Exposing him to fouls and fatigue just boggles the mind.
Young could have at least thrown his body around and made Purdue's bigs work on defense.
• For a school with lots of smart kids, this Northwestern team has a really flawed basketball IQ. They've been prone to atrocious shot selection at times this season. That botched fast break was a total trainwreck at the worst time for them.
• Have to think Brandon Newman may have put some pressure on himself today. Tough deal for him to get this sort of opportunity and things just don't go his way at all.
• Probably the last thing you wanted to see today was Zach Edey miss his first/only two free throws.
• The more time that passes, the more it resonates just how fluky the loss Thursday night was. Now, that can go both ways. IU missed 10 free throws and actually put a ball in its own basket, but if Purdue just doesn't get Trayce Jackson-Davis in foul trouble, it almost certainly wins. If Purdue doesn't do the same favors for Rob Phinisee as it did for Johnny Davis — big difference between those two players — it wins. If Purdue just plays with any measure of poise after a great start, it wins. The power of Assembly Hall, I guess.
• Suck it, Tom Brady.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
