EAST LANSING, Mich. - To win here in East Lansing tonight, Purdue has to rebound in more ways than one.
For one thing, it has to shake off the disappointing, Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football finish at Ohio State and put its best foot forward against Michigan State. Nothing about this Purdue team says Sunday night's loss will linger.
Then Purdue has to literally rebound.
If they don't, they will get trucked on the glass and probably lose.
A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas have to be big tonight on the boards and on offense. For them to be good on offense, the guards will have to fight through pressure to get them the ball. Post-entry turnovers can be disastrous tonight. So all parties must be careful.
But what Purdue needs most, IMO, is for its 7-footers to be the physical authorities, the tone-setters, on the backboard so that Branden Dawson is not.
Hammons has to be influential in this game. There's almost no way around it.
You know who else has to be? In my opinion, Vince Edwards.
For one thing, he has to battle Dawson. He can't out-jump or outmuscle Dawson, but maybe he can out-smart him. And maybe he can make him work on the perimeter on defense some, thus keeping him away from the rim. We'll see if Purdue tries to do anything there. I don't know. Just guessing, but this is set up that if Edwards plays well, it might really give the Boilermakers a bump.
(I'd also wonder if Purdue's Troy Williams game plan might come back out: Make him hit jump shots.)
Michigan State has not played Purdue this season and obviously not seen Edwards prior to this season. What they've seen on film the prior two games has been a complete non-factor.
Edwards hasn't been as overtly impactful as he was earlier in the season during Big Ten play, but he can at least create an element that can really impact this game, maybe.
Additionally, I think Purdue has to play this game in the paint offensively, getting the ball inside and to the basket. It won't be easy because Michigan State will be physical on the perimeter, but the closer the ball gets to the rim, the more Purdue plays to its strengths. And the shorter the rebounds, the less likely Michigan State is getting in transition and shooting open threes, a grave concern for Purdue.
I like Purdue's chances. Michigan State doesn't have an offensive player that would really scare me, aside from Dawson as an offensive rebounder. There's no Adreian Payne or Gary Harris out there.
We'll see. It's there for the taking for Purdue, but the Spartans need this game just as much and this has classic Rizzo written all over it. Just when you think his team is cooked, they play their best, most physical, most spirited game and whoever's on the other side of it has no chance.
We'll see.
Discuss the game in this thread or wherever.
We'll bring you a ton of stuff afterward video, a game story, Wrap Video and blog.
Follow along on Twitter for in-game updates.
For one thing, it has to shake off the disappointing, Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football finish at Ohio State and put its best foot forward against Michigan State. Nothing about this Purdue team says Sunday night's loss will linger.
Then Purdue has to literally rebound.
If they don't, they will get trucked on the glass and probably lose.
A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas have to be big tonight on the boards and on offense. For them to be good on offense, the guards will have to fight through pressure to get them the ball. Post-entry turnovers can be disastrous tonight. So all parties must be careful.
But what Purdue needs most, IMO, is for its 7-footers to be the physical authorities, the tone-setters, on the backboard so that Branden Dawson is not.
Hammons has to be influential in this game. There's almost no way around it.
You know who else has to be? In my opinion, Vince Edwards.
For one thing, he has to battle Dawson. He can't out-jump or outmuscle Dawson, but maybe he can out-smart him. And maybe he can make him work on the perimeter on defense some, thus keeping him away from the rim. We'll see if Purdue tries to do anything there. I don't know. Just guessing, but this is set up that if Edwards plays well, it might really give the Boilermakers a bump.
(I'd also wonder if Purdue's Troy Williams game plan might come back out: Make him hit jump shots.)
Michigan State has not played Purdue this season and obviously not seen Edwards prior to this season. What they've seen on film the prior two games has been a complete non-factor.
Edwards hasn't been as overtly impactful as he was earlier in the season during Big Ten play, but he can at least create an element that can really impact this game, maybe.
Additionally, I think Purdue has to play this game in the paint offensively, getting the ball inside and to the basket. It won't be easy because Michigan State will be physical on the perimeter, but the closer the ball gets to the rim, the more Purdue plays to its strengths. And the shorter the rebounds, the less likely Michigan State is getting in transition and shooting open threes, a grave concern for Purdue.
I like Purdue's chances. Michigan State doesn't have an offensive player that would really scare me, aside from Dawson as an offensive rebounder. There's no Adreian Payne or Gary Harris out there.
We'll see. It's there for the taking for Purdue, but the Spartans need this game just as much and this has classic Rizzo written all over it. Just when you think his team is cooked, they play their best, most physical, most spirited game and whoever's on the other side of it has no chance.
We'll see.
Discuss the game in this thread or wherever.
We'll bring you a ton of stuff afterward video, a game story, Wrap Video and blog.
Follow along on Twitter for in-game updates.
