Some random thoughts:
1. Haven't often seen Purdue play with such purpose offensively in the past few years. IU allowed certain things and Purdue attacked those things mercilessly, specifically the berths Indiana was allowing around the perimeter, which really allowed Rapheal Davis, Bryson Scott, etc., to get heads of steam and get downhill off those high screens and hand-offs. Those guys are tough to stop when they get momentum to the basket.
How much of that was strategy to sag off those guys to overload the post and how much of it was just unintentional bad, soft defense, probably somewhere in the middle the truth lies.
2. Purdue was so good in transition, and so eager to do it, like they were just out there playing and being athletes, if that makes sense. But at the same time, it was really good in the halfcourt and was ready for everything IU did. When IU first went 2-3, Purdue got three straight great looks for Isaac Haas at the rim, almost surgically. Vince Edwards and Dakota Mathias can be pretty good zone-offense players. When Indiana went 1-3-1 in the second half, PJ Thompson thought about it for a sec after a pass fake, then stuck a three. PJ Thompson was an overlooked guy in this game who really did some good things.
3. Weird how Purdue got every bounce in the first half off the rim underneath the band - seriously most of their baskets that half rolled around, the types that could pop out, but none did. In the second half, Purdue had two threes come out on the opposite basket. Pretty much all their other field goals were straight down the middle. Hate to bring up the luck factor, but Purdue also got away with a couple passes for assists that IU got a fingernail on when any flesh at all might have meant a turnover. Most games those breaks are gonna even out.
4. Defense was more impressive on replay than even live and live it seemed like no contest.
Four plays stick out ...
• Rapheal Davis rides a shot-hungry James Blackmon Jr. to the corner off the dribble, forcing him into a difficult fade-away from like 18 feet and Davis gets his hand up at the last moment to challenge without even coming close to fouling. Shot missed badly. Couldn't have played it better.
• Troy Williams gets the ball right under the basket on Kendall Stephens, but Stephens bodies him up, gets as physical as you can ever expect Kendall Stephens to be, stays upright and uses his length and deters to über-athletic forward from getting a shot up.
• Yogi Ferrell comes off a ball screen and gets confronted by Dakota Mathias, who does an unbelievable job moving his feet to level out Ferrell's dribble and keep him contained until Ferrell tries to give it up behind him to a teammate who zigged instead of zagged. An IU throwaway.
• Can't remember who the Hoosier was, but they went right at AJ Hammons, who blocked their shot and controlled it in one fell swoop. It was as much a steal as it was a blocked shot and a play that acted as a microcosm of the day for Indiana.
5. Basil Smotherman's Eurostep is a thing now apparently. Wow. Starting calling him Manu.
1. Haven't often seen Purdue play with such purpose offensively in the past few years. IU allowed certain things and Purdue attacked those things mercilessly, specifically the berths Indiana was allowing around the perimeter, which really allowed Rapheal Davis, Bryson Scott, etc., to get heads of steam and get downhill off those high screens and hand-offs. Those guys are tough to stop when they get momentum to the basket.
How much of that was strategy to sag off those guys to overload the post and how much of it was just unintentional bad, soft defense, probably somewhere in the middle the truth lies.
2. Purdue was so good in transition, and so eager to do it, like they were just out there playing and being athletes, if that makes sense. But at the same time, it was really good in the halfcourt and was ready for everything IU did. When IU first went 2-3, Purdue got three straight great looks for Isaac Haas at the rim, almost surgically. Vince Edwards and Dakota Mathias can be pretty good zone-offense players. When Indiana went 1-3-1 in the second half, PJ Thompson thought about it for a sec after a pass fake, then stuck a three. PJ Thompson was an overlooked guy in this game who really did some good things.
3. Weird how Purdue got every bounce in the first half off the rim underneath the band - seriously most of their baskets that half rolled around, the types that could pop out, but none did. In the second half, Purdue had two threes come out on the opposite basket. Pretty much all their other field goals were straight down the middle. Hate to bring up the luck factor, but Purdue also got away with a couple passes for assists that IU got a fingernail on when any flesh at all might have meant a turnover. Most games those breaks are gonna even out.
4. Defense was more impressive on replay than even live and live it seemed like no contest.
Four plays stick out ...
• Rapheal Davis rides a shot-hungry James Blackmon Jr. to the corner off the dribble, forcing him into a difficult fade-away from like 18 feet and Davis gets his hand up at the last moment to challenge without even coming close to fouling. Shot missed badly. Couldn't have played it better.
• Troy Williams gets the ball right under the basket on Kendall Stephens, but Stephens bodies him up, gets as physical as you can ever expect Kendall Stephens to be, stays upright and uses his length and deters to über-athletic forward from getting a shot up.
• Yogi Ferrell comes off a ball screen and gets confronted by Dakota Mathias, who does an unbelievable job moving his feet to level out Ferrell's dribble and keep him contained until Ferrell tries to give it up behind him to a teammate who zigged instead of zagged. An IU throwaway.
• Can't remember who the Hoosier was, but they went right at AJ Hammons, who blocked their shot and controlled it in one fell swoop. It was as much a steal as it was a blocked shot and a play that acted as a microcosm of the day for Indiana.
5. Basil Smotherman's Eurostep is a thing now apparently. Wow. Starting calling him Manu.
