I get to watch IU due to being married to an IU guy. I will say they always seem to get going first from the tip. As they rotate players, the other team starts climbing back into it. Phinisee is still not very strong with the ball from what I have seen and doesn't play as hard as Xavier. Outside of Race and Trayce, the other starters haven't been consistent. Race battles for every rebound and Trayce can be hard to guard at times. Once Iowa put their press on, IU kept leaving the ball with Race or ROb and they turned the ball over a lot. We will still need to be ready from the tip. I still think Purdue holds back a lot early to see where they are with fouls, because we usually are much more aggressive in second halves of the game.
IU's strength
- Thread starter Kelkel1972
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Solid assessment. To me it boils down to can any team consistently win against a quality opponent if they turn the ball over 25 times?? I know we struggled with Iowa's press as well and as painful/bad as that was, I can only imagine what the IU faithful felt watching that TO circus.
IU turned it over 25 times against Iowa!!!! That's awful . . . at any level! All other stats from the game were comparable; they shot it well, they rebounded ok, they were ok from 3, they were ok with FT's . . . the TO's KILLED them (I think Iowa had 12 steals)!
IU turned it over 25 times against Iowa!!!! That's awful . . . at any level! All other stats from the game were comparable; they shot it well, they rebounded ok, they were ok from 3, they were ok with FT's . . . the TO's KILLED them (I think Iowa had 12 steals)!
It wasn't even Iowa being amazing it was just Indinia falling apart. Race threw it to Iowa for a dunk before the half court line on one play, should have been an assist! A total laugher of a second half. Refs were crazy too. Tons of awful calls. Fran got a tech and I felt sorry for him.
Here are a few random thoughts I had from watching the Iowa game. This will be the first time a lot of Purdue players to visit The Hall of Calls. I hope they are focused and not bothered by the fans and cheerleaders jumping on the court to guard them, nor anything thrown at them on arrival, during and leaving the game. That said, IU is definitely capable of beating Purdue in the Hall if Purdue is not focused on O and D. On D it starts with Race and TJD as we all know. Both need a body on them to keep them away from the boards. Last night I saw an Iowa player a couple of times have a body on TJD out 10 ft or so, to only walk towards the rim for a rebound with TJD on his tail. Keep him and Race off the boards by holding them as deep as possible if out to 8-10 ft…make the others rebound. Purdue doubles the post and TJD is passing more than in the past when on the right side where he can go to his left in front of the rim. Do NOT double so far out unless you can really obstruct a pass to the weakside wing and baseline. TJD is giving it up much more than in the past. Maybe wait for him to dribble, if out pretty far. I do not see this as much of a problem when he is on the left side of the basket. There it is all about scoring. Still TJD is very dominant with his left hand and when combined with his explosiveness and quickness gets a lot of rebounds…and he is now trying to block everything. I think IU has more players capable of hitting on the perimeter than maybe the recent past, but outside of a couple (Kopp/Stewart) it appears the other are a bit streaky.
Still, this game is more about what Purdue does than what IU does. IU is going to come out of the gate in blitzkrieg fashion the first few minutes. There will be a lot of expended energy defending Purdue’s perimeter players trying to get a turnover, get the crowd going and play on some early nerves of Purdue. My preference is “less horizontal ball and player movement” (I look for them to jump the passes and handoffs early in the weave) and more vertical movement with player and ball. I’m fine with Purdue not taking a three unless it is just a very open easy one by a good shooter. I prefer Purdue getting early into the physical war that will be waged early and starting the engagement mentally early. Purdue rarely has a clear out for a perimeter player, but getting Jaden some room and walling up TJD and Race for a drive down the right side by Jaden is the kind of attack I want to see when available. The other vertical ball and player movement should go to Zach and Trevion. Zach will be okay on drop steps, but his soft low hooks in front of the rim might find TJD’s hand moving the ball into the second row. Anytime Zach gets at least one foot inside the arc, I would prefer he dunk it. Trevion stay mostly with his jump hook over his left shoulder. Both need to seek body of TJD to take up the slack rather than letting TJD work with a bit of space. If fouls, lack of focus or anything going on making Zach and Trevion in foul trouble or missing some chippies, a big advantage to IU. If Purdue owns the paint…the perimeter D will soften and the 3 pt shots will come. Anytime and every time there is a rebound and the opportunity is to get the ball in Jaden’s hands at half court and there is 2 defenders or less barely in front Jaden will score. He is that good in the open court. Jaden seems to relish what may appear to be a bigger game, but he cannot get going with the opposing crowd. He must stay focused.
We all know that Sasha hitting behind the arc can be a huge difference. I expect him to be under control and not it too much of a hurry to let it fly. His leadership in the Hall of Calls will be needed. Caleb, let's hope he is getting back in shape and provides some valuable minutes on the boards, running the court and being solid when doubling the post. Can Caleb give 8 pts and 8 boards? Mason, will be Mason…no worries about his effort and grit…just hope he finds the mark behind the arc 3 times this game and continues his FT shooting. Depending on how they defend Zach and Trevion, maybe Caleb and Mason get a couple of passes dumped down to them? Isaiah, is due to get lost between the big bodies and slip out to the baseline a few times or out on top. Isaiah hitting 2-3 behind the arc would be nice. Eric, has been through the wars and should provide mental stability to the youngsters…time to tune up the D and find the basket 3 or 4 times in what you know is your last time playing IU in the Hall of Calls. Ethan is going to be Ethan, doing the little things and making a big difference. His vision of the court, passing to the open man and feeding the bigs is needed…as well as him defending 2-4 mostly. Bigs must do the work early and passers…do NOT get lazy by not having the right angle to feed the bigs. They don’t need to release the seal they hold due to a poor pass…or maybe even a pass stolen.
Last, but not least Brandon. We all know he has the tools. We all know he should be hungry. We all know or expect him focused on D and grabbing a few boards. If he has time and it is a good shot, we all know he is capable as well. Let's go Brandon...Purdue needs you. This game is even more important to IU than the recent past. It is a chance at beating their rival in their Hall of Calls and breaking that losing streak to Purdue. Look for IU to play as hard as possible. First, is the Illinois game and that game is bigger for the conference and it will be very hard pulling that one out as well with anything other than full effort and focus. What a week starting tonight.
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Do NOT get sped up Purdue. Play your pace, but try to get vertical early
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IU plays very physical on defense. They grab and shove and all of the things Keady teams used to do but now their fans call it toughness. Funny how that has changed. The point however is we need to be just as physical and on offense we need pump fakes and pass fakes, back door cuts and guys running the baseline. IU is susceptible to all of these due to their aggressive defense. Run the bigs all night and then let our bigs dunk on their backups or TJD when he is winded. Trace plays a ton as he usually plays with the second string. The second string is horrible ans I look to see our backups running the score up on them during these times. Hunter needs to drive more and Newman needs to make his threes while Tre feasts down low. Morton cannot guard Trace so maybe keep Gillis and Furst as our fours and let Morton relieve Sasha.
We better be ready to play because losing this game is just not acceptable this year. We need to hand them losses for the next decade so their children understand clearly the hierarchy of each basketball program.
There is a thread on their board saying Bates will be better than Ivey and some IU fans are comparing him to MJ or Kobe. For perspective, Ivey averaged double figures last year when he was the age of a HS senior (even missing time with foot injury in non-conference). Meanwhile Bates can't see the floor for an average B1G team......
It's when I read stuff like that I want Purdue to roll into B-town and absolutely blow the doors off that place. I know it's always a tough game and could even be an L, but man would it be sweet to give that fanbase a taste of reality on how far apart the 2 programs have separated. Woodson and that staff are lipstick on a pig and it's only a matter of time before it starts to show.
It's when I read stuff like that I want Purdue to roll into B-town and absolutely blow the doors off that place. I know it's always a tough game and could even be an L, but man would it be sweet to give that fanbase a taste of reality on how far apart the 2 programs have separated. Woodson and that staff are lipstick on a pig and it's only a matter of time before it starts to show.
My worry is IU does play tough "D". This could come down to more of a "Matchup" problem than a "Talent" problem. If their "D" gives us fits and we don't contain their guards......we're in a heap of sheit in the Hall of Calls.
I think if Purdue owns the lane, not just a bit better, but owns the lane Purdue will be fine. Outside the Hall of Calls and possibly having Bo do the game IU has more concerns. Foul trouble to Trevion or Zach and Purdue can still be effective. Foul trouble to TJD and IU has problems. IU has nobody like Jaden. What IU mostly has is the Hall of Calls, TJD and Race and the random player that could have a great game against Purdue
I think the guards for IU are a crap shoot as to who may have a good game. I'm more interested in Isaiah hitting the 3 ball to give more space for Jaden and the Bigs. I thought Hunter took a step forward last night as did the whole team on D intensity. I really like Mason looking to shoot a bit more and it was great for Caleb to get some minutes as it was for Brandon . I just think the guards for IU need to be contained enough for an average game. If Purdue plays with focus and intensity and eliminates a lot of offensive rebounding by the Race and TJD and overplays a half a body on TJD right side when 8 to 10 feet out and straight up on the blocks or just a slight lean to hinder TJD using his left will be good. TJD can score on either side if deep, but not the same if he has to dribble. Isaiah and Hunter just need to be solid on D and hope for a little offense from the 2 IMO
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I would gladly trade Zach or Trevion for TJD for foul trouble. Purdue still has a solid 5. Part of why I want PURDUE constantly feeding Trevion and Zach when able. Force the refs to call the ffouls
edit again-can't get out of sync in the rest of the game by looking inside, but it has to be a priority until IU starts to collapse to protect their bigs more...
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haha that was great. Mackey is an awesome place to watch bball games. Great atmosphere there. And yeah IU does indeed suck.
I’ve watched a few IU games this year and I think you guys are on it. We need to win the turnover battle and out Rebound them. We can’t allow the role players to go off.
Offensively, We are a good enough team to win. I think it’s a matter of being aggressive and making our FT’s. They won’t have an answer for Zach.
Offensively, We are a good enough team to win. I think it’s a matter of being aggressive and making our FT’s. They won’t have an answer for Zach.
Indinia fans already whining about the officiating for the game. They’re also anticipating a large Boiler crowd in Simon Malls Hall, since their attendance has plummeted over the last decade as their student body stopped caring and their waiting list for season tickets evaporated. Many, many tickets are available.
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