Thoughts on the Nova game

[vilehoopster]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

 

[Dakota Girl]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

Nash,
I have disagreed with most of what you have written over the last 8 months, but that is a fine analysis of the game and a very fair assessment of the individual player and coaching performances.
Dealing with Hart is a nasty task on both ends of the floor and that took its toll on Vince and Dakota. If this game improves our hi ball screen D then we will become much better as that was about all that really worked well for Nova after the first 10 minutes.
Great game and there is still upside for the season.

 

[tjreese]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

Well, I noticed the pressure didn't hurt Purdue and said I doubt it would this year. Remember that Purdue players are adjusting to their new players and Nova is a little more advanced in that...plus I really think losing Taylor hurts Purdue as he gives them length and some lateral quickness...not to mention depth in games and good practices. The press last year had nothing to do with Matt as the offensive production this year has nothing to do with Matt learning more than just throwing it into the posts. dribble penetration gets protected by the new rule emphasis...especially early. Later on, Purdue can belly up more... Good game...huge improvement over previous game...

 

[PaBoiler78]

Well, I noticed the pressure didn't hurt Purdue and said I doubt it would this year. Remember that Purdue players are adjusting to their new players and Nova is a little more advanced in that...plus I really think losing Taylor hurts Purdue as he gives them length and some lateral quickness...not to mention depth in games and good practices. The press last year had nothing to do with Matt as the offensive production this year has nothing to do with Matt learning more than just throwing it into the posts. dribble penetration gets protected by the new rule emphasis...especially early. Later on, Purdue can belly up more... Good game...huge improvement over previous game...

I thought we handled the pressure well last night, lost the game because of missed FT's, missing Taylor hurts. cause his length would have prevented some of those easy put backs by nova, Vincent better hang around for 4 yrs. and Cline you let the team down last night.

 

[gldendog]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

Did you watch the NCAA Tournament? Nova won it all because their physical style of play was allowed - as it usually is in the tournament. Nova's way of defending the post is fighting for position by FRONTING post entries. In this game they weren't allowed to do it at all. Paschall picked up 3 fouls in 1.5 minutes simply fighting for post position - as the color commentator pointed out. And Reynolds had 4 fouls for virtually the entire 2nd half. The refs weren't allowing them to front the post - so they stopped entirely and were at mercy against a 7'2 guy. You're gonna get games called like that - especially on the road the refs aren't as likely to let you play the style you want. When Big Ten play begins, those whistles will decrease. Always do.

 

[BBG]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

I mean this with all sincerity, this hands down might be your best post I have ever seen from you.

I agree with everything you said. Great post sir.

 

[RFSNES]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

 

[RFSNES]

Was Spoke in there with 13 Sec to go...he is a good shooter

 

[06boiler]

Boilers played well and will probably be in the top third of the Big 10 this year and top 25 at the end of the year. Would've been higher if I had confidence Haas could stay out of foul trouble.

That being said I think Nova is a overranked. They don't look like the #4 team in the nation. They are more in the 10-15 range which is still very very good. I think teams with legit big men, like we have, are going to give them serious trouble.

 

[gldendog]

Boilers played well and will probably be in the top third of the Big 10 this year and top 25 at the end of the year. Would've been higher if I had confidence Haas could stay out of foul trouble.

That being said I think Nova is a overranked. They don't look like the #4 team in the nation. They are more in the 10-15 range which is still very very good. I think teams with legit big men, like we have, are going to give them serious trouble.

Number of teams with offensive post bigs as experienced and polished as both Haas and Swanigan....probably zero. Your backcourt drags them down. Those bigs are terrific. If you think Nova isn't top 10 you are basically crazy. You played that game on your home floor and fans literally camped out for tickets. It was like a final four game in there. Do you know how hard it is to win on road in CBB against good teams in that type of environment?

 

[Do Dah Day]

Wi

Was Spoke in there with 13 Sec to go...he is a good shooter

With five guys on defense quicker than he is and all standing on the 3-point line and he isn't great at creating his own shot .... no, he wasn't in there.

 

[uelnesm]

Bottom line. Purdue rarely, if ever, wins a game like last night. Our history against non-conference elite teams is not good. This is both in the tournament and non-conference games.

Hopefully painter can correct this - I'm skeptical, but will cheer for it to happen

 

[Boiler_HD]

Let me start by saying get off Vince's, Dakota's and Painter's back. As a guy who is infamous on this board for complaining, I have no problems with any of those three. I thought Painter did everything he could have done with foul trouble and keeping Purdue in the game when things could have gotten out of hand. Also, as a guy who complain continually about how Painter can't teach a team how to beat pressure defense, well, last night he proved me wrong. We were excellent against their press. People didn't notice this because nothing bad happened and there was nothing to notice.

Vince and Dakota played very hard and at a very intense level against great competition, and you know what, they made some mistakes and they missed some shots. That is the random chance of the game. They are five of our top players, complete team-first players; they need to be on the court. We love how we get so many assists per basket, well a big part of that is Vince and Dakota. I would argue that those two are far and away our best two at feeding the post, and on this year's team, the post needs to be feed. Also, as for Vince, I think for the second year in a row, he is playing a little out of position on offense so we can get our five best players on the court.

I don't think the officials were terrible, but they sure didn't help us any. But do remember that Nova had as terrible of foul problems as we did. That is gonna happen a lot. Swanigan and Haas are gonna foul a lot of people out. But my big complain about the refs is that Josh Hart absolutely got the All-American treatment, completely protected him. I mean, all he has to do is jump right into a defender and he gets two free throws. And he absolutely dragged a pivot foot on a couple drives that weren't called.

On that topic, no player in the history of Purdue, possibly NCAA basketball, will ever get more fouls called on him that he never committed than Haas. It drives me crazy. At least he didn't get the usual foul called on him for just raising his hands and calling for the ball and the defender then flops, but his first two fouls called on him were ridiculous. The 2nd one where Hart just jumped directly into Haas, Haas stood there with his hands straight up. What more can he do.
? To avoid a foul call does he have to run off the court? I don't get how dumb refs are some times; it like they know nothing about how basketball is played.

I think our biggest reason for the loss was Nova, mostly Hart, getting layups on drives. There's no way we can match that sort of offensive production. We can't give up layups and have a chance to win; but we did time after time, especially at the start of both halves. It looked like VCU for a while there. Why can't we on defense, at the least, keep the other team from getting layups, I don't get it.

With that said, how is it as the game was winding down, Nova's coach couldn't do something, anything to keep us from just throwing it into Haas for layups. If I were him. I would have dropped a couple players in and taken my chances with threes and whatever. Haas wasn't gonna miss those layups. To me, that just seemed stupid of Wright to me, but he won, so I guess he's a genius.

Carson must come in ready and willing to fill a role. He can't come in planning to take over the game, score a lot, and make great plays. He must play within his abilities and experience and then develop. He can't force things. He will quickly get much better, but he, and we, must be patient.

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more. He is a great shooter, but he is slow, and we couldn't have slow on the court last night. He is a terrific role player and will help a lot, but people on here seem to think he will be a huge difference maker. He was a role player for Michigan, whom we have been better than lately. Why would he come to Purdue and suddenly be All-Big Ten? I don't get it.

Well written!

 

[B1GBBFan]

Purdue showed out and hung tough with a top 5 team at home. A few years ago that would have been an easy double digit win by an elite opponent at Mackey, improvement.

A few thoughts:
- Hart is an All American and will get that treatment most of the year. Other top players have received the treatment early this season.

- The refs seem to be calling games tight. This is just like the start of last season but they'll start to swallow the whistle more as the season goes along. This hurts Purdue's style of defense and their slower guards on the perimeter.

- Haas and Swanigan will win a lot of games for Purdue this season. Haas started dominating the game on the low block late but couldn't convert at the line. If he makes a few of those Purdue has a chance to win with the last shot. Swanigan is competing for B1G POY and a first round selection. I'm interested to see how these two play against opponents with similar size and skill.

- Purdue only had 16 points on 15 shots by guards. They only had 2 FTA. College basketball is dominated by guards. Purdue doesn't rely on the dribble drive but the guards will have to do better to get opponent's guards in foul trouble and create distance to make shots and entry passes.

- Purdue lost the game by not dominating the rebounds (Haas has to have more than 3 rebounds. Nova - 30 Purdue - 33. Losing the turnover battle. Nova - 11 Purdue 15 And at the FT line Nova - 18/22 Purdue - 12/19 The good news is that is all correctable. It's still early in the season and Purdue can learn from this one possession game.

Purdue still has another "tier 1" opponent and several other "tier 2" opponents to get resume building wins. Win at Louisville and a few of the "tier 2" games and Purdue will have a nice OOC resume for a top 4 seed in the NCAAT. Best of luck Purdue!

 

[BoilerBF]

Finally, why all the love for Spike. What did he do so great that people are saying he should have played more.

In 16 minutes of play Spike had 4 assists to one turnover. Purdue played its best basketball of game when Spike was on the floor, +12 in plus/minus category. Best on entire team.

So to answer your question, many wanted Spike to get more minutes because we were winning while he was on the floor.

 

[Dryfly88]

In 16 minutes of play Spike had 4 assists to one turnover. Purdue played its best basketball of game when Spike was on the floor, +12 in plus/minus category. Best on entire team.

So to answer your question, many wanted Spike to get more minutes because we were winning while he was on the floor.

Yes!

 

[12jlkhgfdlk]

As a Villanova fan who is happy to get out of town with a win, I was very impressed with Purdue's defense, and Purdue fans should be as well. Nova didn't play its "A" game, largely because Purdue wouldn't allow us to get into an offensive flow. So we not only got a good resume building win, but we also walked out of Mackey a better team than when we walked in.

 

[boiler-deuce]

I can't imagine finding anything negative about last night. Other than the depth problem that I already knew existed. The ball handling against the press was superb. I don't think we'll be seeing teams toss that out to win a game in the end this year. Our back court could be a bit better at keeping handlers in front of them to keep the pressure of our bigs. Without those driving plays that put Hass and Biggie in a position to cover that,nothing really to worry about. Probably improves with Clines return anyway. So...Top5 team, down to the last play. Meh. Great game. I'm happy.