Win out!

[rgarlitz]

Three very tough games left, but I still think that if Purdue can finish the regular season 24-7 (12-6), our guys will be in reasonably good shape heading into the B1G tournament.

For once I don't think our B1G seed will be that big of a deal. I just want our team to be hot going in. It's going to be one wild weekend.

 

[rasrar]

I think we can win out,but we need Mich St. to either drop a game, or for Wisconsin to win all their games before playing us to have a top 4 seed.

I think the double bye is important because fatigue tends to play a role at some point in the tournament.

 

[FLAG HUNTER]

would be nice to win out, but I think how we do in the BIg tournament will show what Purdue is made of

 

[TC4THREE]

This is realistic goal. Tough to achieve but I hazard to guess we'll be favored in each of the remaining games.

I'm not all that concerned about a top 4 seed for the BTT. I sometimes think that good teams that had to play Thursday at the BTT have an advantage on Friday because they got to knock the rust off and adapt to the court in an easier game on Thursday while the top 4 team comes in on a delay and playing their first game at whatever venue we're at in a given year.

I'm sure by the time you'd get to Saturday or Sunday you'd be happy to have the rest but I have no problem with us playing a Thursday game if we have to.

 

[BoilerDeac]

would be nice to win out, but I think how we do in the BIg tournament will show what Purdue is made of

Call me pessimistic, but, at this point, I think we have a pretty good idea of what this team is made of.

 

[FirstDownB]

Call me pessimistic, but, at this point, I think we have a pretty good idea of what this team is made of.

That's not pessimistic.. It's realistic! This is a top 20ish team with a lot of good pieces but also some obvious flaws. The outcomes have become quite predictable. In the last 11 games since the Jan 10 debacle at Illinois, we are 8-3. In all 8 wins we were favored. In all 3 losses we were the dog. Money line, anyone???

Given that, we will either go 3-0 or 2-1 to finish and likely win 1 or 2 in the BTT and another 1 or 2 in the NCAAT. Whether that is a disappointment goes back to personal expectations, but since the January wake up calls the trajectory really hasn't changed.

 

[rgarlitz]

Fair enough, FirstDownB.

Still, IMO this year's B1G tourney will be a knock-down-drag-out with no clear-cut favorite and at least 6 or 7 teams capable of doing serious damage. I just want our team to be as sharp, as focused, and as hot as possible going in.

The Thursday bye would be great, but like TC4THREE said, it sometimes helps to play on Thursday.

I think Purdue is capable of sweeping its last three regular season games, and that's what I expect.

 

[FearTheTrain]

I see us finishing 2-1 and then doing well in the BTT making the finals. That would be decent momentum for the tourney, and we would just have to hope for some decent match ups. I dread us getting a 5 seed and playing a 12 seed with solid guards from a lesser conference.

 

[DrEss]

I see our Boilers having about 5, 6 tops, games left in this season. I guess I am on the pessimist/realistic side of the fence.

 

[TopSecretBoiler]

I'm not so pessimistic. Look at our losses. It's not like we got buzzsawed for the most part. Purdue just didn't play hard. Even at iu we shot 58%. The other major thing is we are healthy (knocks on all the wood). This is a big deal coming down the stretch. We just watched Robert Johnson go down. I don't know if he's hurt or not but if he is, that will really hurt iu. We get some home games here to get some swag back. We can do it.

 

[cprh9u]

I see our Boilers having about 5, 6 tops, games left in this season. I guess I am on the pessimist/realistic side of the fence.

3 left in regular season, I think we should fully expect 2 in B1G tourney play in Indy and at 1 or 2 in NCAAT. 5 is the bare minimum (losing 1st game in B1G and NCAA tournaments) but I think 7 should be the least. No reason not to win a neutral B1G game against an average team and no reason to lose again in the 1st round of the NCAAT with the size and experience we have.

 

[CRBoiler]

I see a fairly wide range of possible endings to this season.

Depends on a few things...

• There is still time to flip the intensity switch on for good rather than just a half here & a few minutes there, but will the team do that?
• Ray can climb out of his funk (especially when playing away from home) and finish strong, but will he?
• The team can play to its strengths (bigs, defense, assists, rebounding) AND ALSO be ready to change gears if needed. Coaches need to dig deep IMO to figure out some options / ways to mix things up if a particular game calls for it. We just need to have some different looks for when a team is shutting down our usual, predictable game plan. Will they do it?
• etc.

These things are doable - if we are able to accomplish them, then I could still see us going further than most people think is still possible. On the other hand, if we fail to finish the season with character, we could have a mediocre or even poor finish.

The coaches & team have another full week to prepare for Maryland and also make some general adjustments. Man, I hope they get things sorted out... the intensity gap in the IU game was the worst part for me - need to do better on that AT LEAST.

Boiler Up!