What the way the team played in the first half? No. The score may have been a bit closer in the first half but you don't score 19 points on the road and suddenly that is different at home. The issues with this team are the same ones that have plagued Purdue for a number of years now. When they fail to move on offense and use ball movement, the offense is flat out atrocious. At this point, I put the blame on CMP as it appears there hasn't been much change in offensive philosophy beyond working more inside-out with the quality of big men the program has had lately. At some point, Painter should look in the mirror and realize that he may have to change philosophy offensively if the players can't translate what goes on in practice to the court. Whether that is a total offensive change or a change in the way he is practicing and teaching.
Neither our Nova game nor the L'Ville game were as close as the final score. If L'Ville had any offense itself, they would have beaten us by 30. L'Ville is probably a 5 or 6th place team in the ACC. Duke, UVa, UNC, Cuse & Pitt are all better. Nova kept us at arms length most of the game. Yes, we made a nice run at the end of the game to have a chance to tie, but we were down 5-10 points most of the game. Would we beat L'Ville at Mackey.... with this team, I'm not sure. We almost lost to Ga State.
I always have to scoff at comments like this because they are so ridiculous. I am sure that UL just stopped playing as the score grew tighter and Nova stopped as well.
Not sure why you felt the need to jump into this thread with this. The OP is a known troll from the IU board and likes to provoke responses. You jump on TC3 while he is trying to respond to the troll.... WTF?
I think that's a little harsh, but I will say UL's play during the last 5-6 minutes was really undisciplined and contributed to Purdue getting back in it. The number of quick shots they took was astounding. I'd need to rewatch to know the exact time and score, but I recall at one point thinking if UL just held the ball for 30 seconds each possession and didn't score that Purdue would have almost no way to catch them. I thought they played right into Purdue's hand down the stretch, which is kind of uncharacteristic of a Pitino team.
Yes. If IU and PU's game were reversed I believe the outcomes would also have been reversed. I will give Crean credit for stacking the deck so to speak at home. He finds a way to bring back former teams, alumni etc. toi fire up the crowd and team. Not aware of any other team that does this to this extent. It works maybe once or twice a year.
I understand, but maybe it is time to let bygones be bygones. It sounds like you have addressed the issue on the FB board. Why let it bleed over onto the MBB board?
As bad as Purdue played in the first half, which was bad, they were within 4 pts of af a top 15 team, on the road with 2 minutes left in the game. Louisville hit two big shots to seal the deal. Purdue responded but UL made their free throws.I understand, but maybe it is time to let bygones be bygones. It sounds like you have addressed the issue on the FB board. Why let it bleed over onto the MBB board?
I can offer this, we all have opinions that we attempt to defend. Sometimes we are wrong, or events blossom in a manner we did not expect. We all get down the wrong path, but it takes some brass to admit it. It also is needless to point out someone else's flaws when we all have so many. We all want success for Boilermaker teams.
I will differ with your opinion on the UofL game. I was there, surrounded by very knowledgeable Card fans. They couldn't believe how often their really bad shooters were draining shots they normally miss (and conversely, how some of Purdue's best shooters were going 0-fer). At the end of the game they were unanimous that Purdue is a very good team, and they definitely wouldn't want to meet us again on a neutral court (let alone Mackey) where a simple reversion to the mean would result in a clear Purdue victory (in their opinions). I know that makes it just another "moral victory" for us, but it's clearly counter to any thought that Louisville is really better than Purdue.
I thought the same thing. I wondered if part of it was we did start to wear them down. They played good D against us, especially the bigs, but they had to work hard to do it, which is a credit to them. I think that fatigue, both mental and physical, affected their play on the offensive end. Towards the end they just didn't feel like working hard for a good shot and settled.
Actually I think your agreeing with my opinion. I said L'Ville is not that good. If we would show any heart & fight in a game like that (before the last 5 minutes), we would have won. I said UL is no better than a 5th place team in the ACC. If we play as lethargic as we did that night though, it's not going to matter where the game is... we will lose.
