Don't look now, but the Lions are on a tear. Winners of 6 straight, including wins at Breslin and Crisler. Pete better bring his hammer and be ready to smash some kitty cat skulls! There's no let up in this schedule.
On to Penn State
- Thread starter FirstDownB
- Start date
I'll say it now: I think that we beat Penn State handily at Mackey.
I am not sure about handily, but I agree we win. We are at home in front of the best 6th man in college basketball, the Paint Crew.
I think there's some sense of "relief" that we'll now be in the tournament. Well, we still need 18 wins most likely, and unless we win another on the road, that means winning out at home.
We certainly are capable of it - but Penn State is also the toughest team left on our home schedule. After a couple good wins, we certainly are not in a position to get cocky.
Some areas to point out:
1. We're basically opposites in terms of offense/defense. Purdue is at the top in scoring defense, Penn State is at the top in scoring offense. And both teams are in similar spots in the opposite stat respectively.
2. They don't shoot the 3 particularly well and don't defend it particularly well. However, Jones is a strong shooter from the perimeter so have to keep him in check.
3. Purdue has a slight edge in rebounding - although the differences in offensive shooting could play a role in that.
4. Penn State leads the Big Ten in steals (we're 3rd, but it's a noticeable drop off from Penn State to everyone else). This is notable because Penn State doesn't necessarily hold opponents to bad shooting, but obviously relies a lot on pressure.
5. Purdue and Penn State are both at the top of turnover margin.
Any time you're a not great offense going against a pretty great scoring offense, finding ways to close that potential gap is key.
Rebounding hard will be #1 - Penn State is good at defensive boards and taking away second chances, Purdue is good with offensive boards.
Penn State's defense relies on taking the ball away. They don't necessarily guard the perimeter that well, which is good for Purdue. Purdue's gotta take care of the basketball and not give Penn State extra possessions.
Overall, this is a team that on paper Purdue can play well against. However, it relies on keeping a small forward in check - something we've been hit and miss on. And while Penn State has 2 clear scoring leaders, it's a pretty balanced team after that -- you can't let a guy like Watkins eat you for dinner inside.
Penn State is on a roll and they aren't scared of coming into Mackey. Purdue's done a great job of really commanding the tone and pace of games lately. Hopefully Penn State doesn't have an unusually "on" night shooting wise.
We certainly are capable of it - but Penn State is also the toughest team left on our home schedule. After a couple good wins, we certainly are not in a position to get cocky.
Some areas to point out:
1. We're basically opposites in terms of offense/defense. Purdue is at the top in scoring defense, Penn State is at the top in scoring offense. And both teams are in similar spots in the opposite stat respectively.
2. They don't shoot the 3 particularly well and don't defend it particularly well. However, Jones is a strong shooter from the perimeter so have to keep him in check.
3. Purdue has a slight edge in rebounding - although the differences in offensive shooting could play a role in that.
4. Penn State leads the Big Ten in steals (we're 3rd, but it's a noticeable drop off from Penn State to everyone else). This is notable because Penn State doesn't necessarily hold opponents to bad shooting, but obviously relies a lot on pressure.
5. Purdue and Penn State are both at the top of turnover margin.
Any time you're a not great offense going against a pretty great scoring offense, finding ways to close that potential gap is key.
Rebounding hard will be #1 - Penn State is good at defensive boards and taking away second chances, Purdue is good with offensive boards.
Penn State's defense relies on taking the ball away. They don't necessarily guard the perimeter that well, which is good for Purdue. Purdue's gotta take care of the basketball and not give Penn State extra possessions.
Overall, this is a team that on paper Purdue can play well against. However, it relies on keeping a small forward in check - something we've been hit and miss on. And while Penn State has 2 clear scoring leaders, it's a pretty balanced team after that -- you can't let a guy like Watkins eat you for dinner inside.
Penn State is on a roll and they aren't scared of coming into Mackey. Purdue's done a great job of really commanding the tone and pace of games lately. Hopefully Penn State doesn't have an unusually "on" night shooting wise.
Hopefully he annoys him as much as he annoyed their stud guard a couple years ago.
I was wondering about that. But it would force EBo/Wheeler to matchup on a guard. I think you have to put Jelly on Jones and try to limit him and just try to keep Stevens out of the paint.
It'll be interesting to see how Painter handles it. History would probably lean what you're suggesting - put him on Jones and then you have some flexibility inside.
Of course the strategy can change if Tre doesn't have a great game and we struggle with Watkins.
Stephens is a tough match up. I hope we can jump on them early and get Watkins or Stephens in foul trouble. This would be a great win for us.Keep the train rolling...
I wonder what happened to Watkins during the Minnesota game. It showed he only played like 6 minutes. He had 3 fouls, so he didn't foul out. He didn't get hurt did he?
could be an old age thing, he's like 24.
MSU and Iowa rolled into Mackey red hot as well...I don't know that I would expect the same outcome tomorrow night, but, I just say it for the sake of noting it.
I thought it was crazy that PSU was considering moving on from Chambers...I have always liked him and the way that he coaches and how hard his teams play.
Purdue has fared well against them...and, no reason that if they come to play tomorrow night and play as they have at home that they should not continue that...but, they need to set a tone early.
Early game...hopefully a good crowd still, and, a good environment.
Huge game for Purdue...I still think 17 is enough, but, I would love to get to 18...and, more so if it happened before the BTT.
Tony Carr...Nojel shut him down...twice in short order (once in Mackey, then in MSG).
Lamar Stevens, let me introduce you to...….
Nojel Eastern...…...
Your worst nightmare
Purdue by 15!!!
This will be a tough game without a doubt. I'm actually less confident of this game than I was Saturday.
He's got bi-polar disorder. Some games he's just not fully engaged and the minutes are best utilized by someone else.
I thought I saw a correction that took the "booing" out of the request.
I'm going to be interested to see our double strategy. Painter has doubled the post more often this year than in the past by my watch anyway. But normally the other big (usually Evan) is the double. Can't imagine we would play the rotation game with Stevens being able to create in the lane the way he does. So where does that double come from? And do we double Stevens when he's in the post? He's got such a good all-around game that he will be able to find the open guy. Obviously the matchup on Stevens is the key, but we also don't want guys like Jones or Dread going off.
Can they yell Boo-Urns?
The correction said the purpose is not to eliminate booing, but to stop the growing crowd that yells ‘sucks’ after each opposing player introduction.
Well, we lost to Illinois at home too - and not in the most competitive game.
At the end of the day, what Penn State or Purdue did a week or two ago is relatively meaningless. We've seen it all season - there's very little consistency in college basketball.
Obviously the problem with not winning this game is it leaves literally no room for error at home - we still play two tournament teams (and IU hehe). And our remaining road games are against 3 tournament teams. Only 1 of our remaining 7 games are against teams we're better than in terms of an NCAA resume.
Even with the recent run, Purdue's still on the edge of the field - in ESPN's last 4 byes. I don't think 17 does it unless you really want to be sweating it.
You are right in that what happened previously is pretty irrelevant...more so this year than ever before for that matter.
I have no idea what to expect...which really has been the case for most games admittedly this year. Big game and great opportunity certainly...arguably the toughest game remaining, but, also the greatest opportunity for another signature win as well.
Winning out at home is key, although, I am not convinced that winning at Columbus or in Madison is not possible (winning at Iowa...after what happened last week...is going to be REALLY difficult).
17 is the bare minimum...and, it would not be comfortable likely on Selection Sunday...but if they get to 17 (regardless of how they do it at this point), they would have some quality wins that would be really difficult to overlook, they would be in a decent spot in the conference standings, and, their resume would be a lot better than those for which they are likely competing with for a spot in the field.
If they manage to win out at home, that would get them to at least 18 though, and I just don't see any way that they don't make it if they get to 18 in the regular season.
Just saw that Myreon Jones missed their last game due to the flu. Don't know if he'll be available tomorrow.
Well we were favored in 2 of them but I'm not sure what your point is. We were also favored against Illinois and Texas.
I believe the point was, this team is highly unpredictable, and can be so in a very good way.
With our 7 remaining games against tournament quality teams, the good news is you can't have a "bad" loss, let alone multiple. The bad news is you're playing 7 teams that can also easily beat you if you don't come to play.
I think 18 is the magic number. 17 COULD work depending on the wins/losses (given Penn State's current stature, I think 17 would need to include Penn State though).
A win tonight takes some of the pressure off I would think based on who we have left.
I don't care how much we win by or whether it's ugly or whatever, just win tonight and go from there.
I don't care how much we win by or whether it's ugly or whatever, just win tonight and go from there.
I recall Watkins trash talking us when Carr was there. And Stevens. I haven't watched them this season. I expect some more thuggery this time too. We need to shut them up early.
I thought I read somewhere that there has only been one at large in the history of the NCAAs that has been less than 4 games over 500. If true, 18 wins gets us out of danger zone (pre-BTT)
there is power in numbers. If EVERY member of the Crew yells it ... well, someone's gotta sit in the lower bowl.
