Purdue Boilermakers 2011-12 Preview

Purdue Boilermakers (25-7, 14-4)

Reached Sweet 16 (lost to VCU 94-76).

Coach Matt Painter (112-56)

Projected starting five:

Sr. F Robbie Hummel (Three-time All-Big Ten selection)
Jr. G/F D.J. Byrd
Jr. G Kelsey Barlow
Sr. G Ryne Smith (85.5 percent free throw shooter)
Sr. G Lewis Jackson

Important departures:

JaJuan Johnson: 20.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg
E’Twaun Moore: 18.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 40 percent from 3-point range

Additions:

Fr. PF Donnie Hale (Rivals.com three-star player)
Fr. PF Jacob Lawson (Rivals.com three-star player)

Outlook:

The Boilermakers return only 47 percent and 62 percent of their points scored and rebounding, respectively. This is due to the loss of two starters, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, and the early season loss of Hummel. The addition of two physical freshman, 6’ 8” Donnie Hale and Jacob Lawson, and Hummel’s health will make the sky the limit for this team. Assistant coach Mike Jackson joins Painter’s staff this season and should help bring along the freshman talent.

Schedule highlights:

An interesting match up against Miami at the end of November could leave Purdue stunned if they don’t show up ready to play. A brutal stretch of conference play has them facing Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State in a span of twelve days. I see Purdue waiting until they make it to the National Tournament before really unleashing fury on their opponents and erasing a lackluster season from the minds of fans.

Prediction: Third

Next: Wisconsin Badgers
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Second Practice

Purdue: Without Hummel, Boilermakers Seek Validation

With a 24-3 record that includes four wins against the RPI top 25, Purdue appeared on pace to receive a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing junior forward Robbie Hummel to a torn ACL for the remainder of the season.

But with Hummel out, Purdue should consider the team’s record 0-0, at least until this weekend. The NCAA Tournament selection committee will be watching the Boilermakers closely to see whether the team that ends the regular season without Hummel resembles the team that played its first 27 games with the team’s second-leading scorer. Hummel was a critical piece to Purdue’s attack, averaging 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 36.4 percent from three-point range and 90.2 percent from the free throw line.

Purdue’s new season starts Sunday when Michigan State comes to West Lafayette seeking revenge for a 76-64 loss in East Lansing a few weeks ago. If the Boilermakers can rack up its seventh win against the RPI top 50, they will take a major step forward in validating a fantastic season, even with Hummel watching from the sidelines. And the Spartans might be the right team for Purdue to face in its first game without Hummel. Although the national runner-up from a year ago has a potentially potent roster, Michigan State has lost four of its past six games, and five of the team’s seven losses have been away from the Izzone.

After Michigan State, Purdue ends the regular season against Indiana and Penn State. If Purdue falls to the Spartans, the Boilermakers must bounce back against the Big Ten’s bottom-feeders to avoid dropping significantly in seeding. Penn State and Indiana have an RPI of 200 or worse. Considering that the Boilermakers have no losses to teams outside the RPI top 100, a loss to the Nittany Lions or Hoosiers would signify that Purdue is not as potent without Hummel.

The bottom line is that experts and fans won’t know what to expect until the Boilermakers return to action. However, if Tuesday’s come-from-behind win at Minnesota is any indication, coach Matt Painter will have his team ready to play stifling defense. And the team will likely continue to play efficient offense. The Boilermakers finished the Minnesota game with 45.3 percent shooting from the field, including 35 percent from three-point territory, while committing only seven turnovers. Purdue is one of the best teams in Division I at avoiding mistakes, and Painter will emphasize that the team has a slimmer margin for error without Hummel.

Weekend Tournament Quick Hitters

We have some quick hitters from Friday and Saturday at the NIT Season Tip-Off and Philly Hoop Group Classic, respectively.

NIT Season Tip-Off

• Tyrese Rice didn’t score in the first half of Friday’s win over UAB for Boston College. But he came alive after intermission, scoring all of his 24 points after intermission. While being on the floor was the first part of that, he also got help from his teammates, and not the kind that shows up in the stat sheet. Simply put, the Eagles moved the ball better in the second frame, and that changed everything at the offensive end. “It really started on the defensive end because of the stops, and then the others because our wings consistently ran hard and got up the floor,” said head coach Al Skinner. “And then created some openings, some opportunities for him, and of course, you know, he made some shots.”
• The Eagles also got a nice effort from improving freshman Reggie Jackson. An exceptional athlete, Jackson looks like the classic athlete who doesn’t know the game yet, but his improvement is noticeable. At times in the first half, he kept the Eagles in the game, setting up their second half run.
• A questionable call late in the championship game didn’t end with the call itself. Oklahoma was given a timeout after a 50-50 ball was up in the air, at a point where it seemed no one had possession as it came down. From what Purdue head coach Matt Painter shared after the game, the explanation he heard from the official was even more questionable. “You know,” Painter began, “to me sometimes things don’t go your way, but the explanation to me is still baffling. He said to me it was an inadvertent whistle, and so the ball now went to the possession arrow, and then Oklahoma had the possession arrow, so that’s why they had it.”
• While an obvious bright spot for Purdue was the play of Nemanja Calason off the bench, a more noteworthy one was that of freshman point guard Lewis Jackson, who scored 10 points and handed out four assists in 22 minutes. He showed that he’s capable of really making this team go, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he starts before the season is over.

Philly Hoop Group Classic

• While NJIT’s losing streak gets plenty of attention, Monmouth also entered Saturday’s game without a win. They were 0-6, albeit against a very difficult schedule, so they were happy to get a win. The least difficult opponent they had played before Saturday is probably FIU, and that was a road game against a team not lacking in talent that has been hit by injuries.
• The biggest message Hartford head coach Dan Leibovitz gave his players after being thoroughly blown out by Niagara on Saturday is simple.   “They just took our aggressiveness completely away,” Leibovitz remarked after the game.   Not helping was the foul trouble of Michael Turner, their best defender and a real competitor. Turner fouled out early, then picked up a technical foul right after his fifth foul. While his presence alone wasn’t going to reverse a 40-point defeat, Leibovitz summed up his importance very succinctly: “Without Mike, our defense is out the window, plain and simple.”
• A couple of notes are in order about Niagara’s 103-63 win over Hartford. It is the largest margin of victory in the young Philly Hoop Group Classic’s history, and it also marked the first time they reached 100 points in a game in three years. The night before, they held a team below 50 points for the first time since 2002.
• While a lack of energy didn’t help, Towson clearly looked like a team trying to integrate four new starters into the lineup on offense on Saturday. The offense seemed to lack direction and the team as a whole looked lost on the court. Symbolic of the game was a play where Tony Durant moved after setting a pick, but didn’t look for a pass as the ball hit him in the back and led to an easy Penn State transition layup.  “With six new guys in the top seven or eight, at times our offense looks like it’s just chugging along, and we are,” head coach Pat Kennedy said. “It’s more of what we’ve got to correct offensively, and keep our defensive intensity up. Once we do, we’ll be in great shape.”
• Penn State’s backcourt of Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle is better than advertised. But the real key is going to be the play up front, and on Saturday the Nittany Lions got a nice effort from Andrew Jones and Jeff Brooks. Jones had eight points and 13 rebounds, while Brooks had six and five in 15 minutes off the bench.
• While it wasn’t quite the display he put on at Duke, Rhode Island guard Jimmy Baron certainly had fans buzzing with some of the shots he hit in the loss to Villanova. Whether it was a couple of deep threes, or off-balance mid-range shots as the shot clock ran down, fans who had heard about but never saw him were impressed by his 23-point effort on 8-15 shooting.
• Teams already committed for next year’s event include Delaware, St. John’s, Temple and Virginia Tech.

NIT Season Tip-Off Notes

NEW YORK – The pre-Season NIT gave us four solid teams for the Thanksgiving week event at Madison Square Garden. Oklahoma captured the championship over Purdue in an overtime contest that had March-like intensity. Taking a look back, each team did several things well yet needs other areas to be addressed.

Semifinals
Purdue 71, Boston College 64
Oklahoma 77, UAB 67

Consolation
Boston College 83, UAB 77

Final
Oklahoma 87, Purdue 82 (OT)

Boston College

What they did well: Bounce back from a tough semifinal loss. They competed well in the semifinal loss to Purdue, but with a relatively young team the disappointment of losing and getting back on track is a challenge. And they responded with a nice win over UAB in the consolation. They rebound and hit the glass hard, something that had Purdue coach Matt Painter concerned. And in Tyrese Rice they have an outstanding player who can literally change the course of a game, as he did in the consolation against UAB.

What they need: Something they showed in that consolation win over UAB. Simply. patience. Especially in running their sets. They were guilty in the second half of the Purdue game of what did what coach Al Skinner calls “over-aggressiveness on offense.” Basically, Skinner was saying the Eagles didn’t run their offense through and went one on one too early in the set. They got the message and it showed against UAB. “We talked about calming ourselves and not being in a hurry,” Skinner said. “We slowed down, saw the floor better and cut down on turnovers.”

UAB

What they did well: Use athleticism to their advantage. UAB is a not a half court, grind-it-out team with a number of wide bodies. They thrive in transition. Good ball movement and penetration are their strengths and they showed both, especially in the first half of the semifinal matchup with Oklahoma. Lawrence Kinnard, a 6-8 forward, can play inside or out. Robert Vaden is a talented swingman and Paul Delaney III can score, run the team and defend. This is a group, big men included, which can all get out and run the floor.

What they need: Toughness. Even coach Mike Davis stressed this following the consolation loss to Boston College. Against Oklahoma it was a case of being worn down by the Sooner size and too much Blake Griffin. The Eagles of BC brought another challenge in the form of Tyrese Rice. “We knew (Rice) could go off,” Davis said, “and he did.” Scoreless in seven first half minutes and with two fouls, Rice exploded the second half with 24 points to lead the Eagles. Paul Delaney III, UAB’s best backcourt defender, missed the BC game with an injury. Regardless, Davis wouldn’t use or accept this as an excuse. Part of that toughness Davis alluded to is the ability to rise and respond to the challenge of a great player like Rice. “We’ll just go back and watch film,” Davis said, “and try to get better from all this.”

Purdue

What they did well: Defend and take care of the ball. Well, for the most part. The Boilermakers play a tough man-to-man defense with sound principles and good communication. In the latter part of the Oklahoma game there were breakdowns. The Boilermakers are not susceptible to the ill-fated turnovers. They have a versatile big man in Robbie Hummel who can play on the perimeter or inside. E’twaun Moore is a good perimeter shooter who can go on a game-changing streak. They looked very sound in their win over Boston College. In the final they were doing a lot of the same until the last eight minutes and overtime.

What they need: Consistent help from another big man. Robbie Hummel is a good player but the 6-8 forward could use a hand, especially in the paint. In the semifinal JaJuan Johnson did a nice job posting up inside and working near the basket, but in the final he was a virtual non-factor. On the other hand Nemanja Calasan had a big game for the Boilers in the final. Calasan, a senior forward, had 20 points and 8 rebounds to go along with the unenviable job of defending Blake Griffin down on the blocks. Purdue needs either Johnson or Carolan, preferably both, to step up on a consistent basis.

Oklahoma

What they did well: Maintain poise. In the first half against UAB, the Sooners trailed. They regrouped in the second half and gradually wore the Blazers down in the semifinal meeting. Purdue offered a more rigorous test. Oklahoma was down nine with less than eight minutes to go. Again, they didn’t panic, and possession by possession trimmed the lead to force overtime. In the extra session they sealed the verdict to earn the championship. “They were in a rhythm,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said, referring to Purdue, “and our guys just kept responding and found a way to get going.” A big part of that poise factor was Blake Griffin. The outstanding Sooner sophomore had better games per Capel but did not force anything all afternoon.

What they need: Something they received the latter stages of the Purdue contest. Balance. With marquee player and inside threat extraordinaire Blake Griffin (18 points, 21 boards) doubled down on the blocks, the Sooners didn’t force the issue. Rather they utilized the guards, notably Willie Warren (22 points), to penetrate and take advantage of the extra attention afforded Blake Griffin. In addition, Blake’s older brother Taylor, “played like a senior,” in the words of Capel. The elder Griffin’s contributions as well as good guard play is something Capel’s team will require on a regular basis.

Tournament MVP: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

All-Tournament:
Taylor Griffin,Oklahoma
Tyrese Rice, Boston College
Lawrence Kinnard, UAB
E’Twaun Moore, Purdue

Big Ten Notebook: The Big Ten is Down? Not So Fast . . .

Who says the Big Ten is down? Through the first few weeks, the conference has one loss as a whole, and that loss was to Duke.

I admit, the competition isn’t of the highest level, and most of the games have been on Big Ten courts, but there aren’t the Division II losses or stunner upsets that have shown up this time of the season in years past. Does this mean the Big Ten will be represented heavily in the polls or send seven teams to the dance? Obviously not. But it may mean that the conference as a whole is rebounding from a couple of saggy years. The conference basement definitely won’t be as ugly this year, and early wins by the middle-tier teams are optimistic.

Some early season observations:

• Apologies to Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas, but Penn State has the fastest backcourt in the conference. Sophomore Talor Battle looks like a potential all-league pick, averaging over 20 points per game. He’s shooting close to 60 percent from the field, has made 13 threes, and has committed just four turnovers. Stanley Pringle has similar numbers and may be faster end-to-end. They have been able to outrun their opponents thus far, and if that translates to the Big Ten season, the Nittany Lions could flirt with a winning conference season.
• Michigan beat UCLA not with a Beilein barrage, but with its pesky 1-3-1 zone defense. The Bruins were perplexed all night, and the Wolverines made enough plays on offense to win. Manny Harris is my favorite player in the league – in four contests, he’s gotten to the free throw line 39 times and made 34. His aggressiveness will give teammates wide open looks from deep, and Harris is averaging 4.5 assists as well. Beilein has been bringing DeShawn Sims, the Wolverines’ best interior player, off the bench. He can provide an instant spark with his intensity and inside-outside game. They are a team to watch.
• It hasn’t been the prettiest start in Bloomington, but Tom Crean has opened with a pair of wins at Indiana. They were clearly juiced for an opening night win over Northwestern State, but really struggled with IUPUI a few nights later. The inconsistency was to be expected, but if the Hoosiers don’t take better control of the ball (37 turnovers vs. 34 assists in the two games), the winning won’t last long. They face Notre Dame, Wake Forest and Gonzaga in their next four contests.
• Purdue has a stronger grip on the ball. They’ve dished out 73 dimes in their three wins as opposed to 39 turnovers. The box scores tell a story of complete balance: no one is playing more than 26 minutes per contest, but nine are getting in for 13 minutes or more. Six players are averaging 8 or more points per game. What does that equal? Three wins by an average winning margin of over 28 points.
• I have serious hot and cold concerns with Michigan State. They opened by crushing Idaho by 38, but were not impressive in a win against IPFW. The Spartans should dominate the acronym teams. They say a win is a win, but for a team projected to win the conference and challenge for a Final Four berth, a close win against IPFW almost seems like a loss.
• It’s hard to judge after one game, but freshmen sensations B.J. Mullens and William Buford didn’t start on opening night for Ohio State. Buford still managed 13 points and Mullens seven, so I’m not concerned. If Thad Matta has enough confidence in Dallas Lauderdale and Jon Diebler, who started in place of the freshmen, Ohio State might be better than we think.
• Mullens and Buford aren’t the only contributing freshmen. Iowa is being carried by them, and Anthony Tucker is leading the way. The outside specialist is 16-37 from long distance in four wins and averages a team-leading 16 points per game. Freshman backcourt mate Matt Gatens is averaging double figures as well and playing over 30 minutes a contest. Freshman big man Aaron Fuller is also starting and contributing for Todd Lickliter. Disclaimer: I do not expect these numbers to continue throughout the conference slate.
• Also unblemished to this point: Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Northwestern.

Early Honor Roll

Best Win:

• Michigan 55, UCLA 52. The Wolverines, as previously mentioned, held UCLA to 42 percent shooting and created 17 turnovers. That sounds more like a UCLA line than a Michigan one.
• First Runner-Up: Illinois 69, Vanderbilt 63. The conference’s best road win.
• Second Runner-Up: Northwestern 81, Central Arkansas 39. Why mention this sleeper? Did you think Northwestern could beat anyone by 42? Me neither, and Central Arkansas even has a win over UNC-Greensboro.

Biggest Scare:

• Wisconsin 60, Iona 58 (OT). Since there’s been only one loss, a close win is the scariest it gets. I imagine the Badgers will play better next time.
• First Runner-Up: Indiana 60, IUPUI 57. Acronym teams can hang with this year’s Hoosier squad, apparently.
• Second Runner-Up: Minnesota 72, Colorado State 71. Would the Gophers have won if CSU’s best player, Marcus Walker, wasn’t hit by a car the day before?

Player of the Week:

• Manny Harris, Michigan. 24 ppg, 6 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.8 spg, 34-39 FTs
• First Runner-Up: Talor Battle, Penn State. 20.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, 2 spg, 13-24 3s
• Second Runner-Up: Raymar Morgan, Michigan State.

Line of the Week:

• Craig Moore, Northwestern, 11/22 @ Brown.
  • 11-15 FG, 9-13 on 3s, 31 points. Broke his own school record with those nine treys.
• First Runner-Up: Manny Harris, Michigan, 11/12 vs. Northeastern
  • 6-9 FG, 1-2 3s, 13-14 FTs, 26 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists. As efficient a game as one can play.
• Second Runner-Up: Colton Iverson, Minnestoa, 11/15 vs. Bowling Green.
  • 6 points, 8 rebounds, 9 blocks. His blocks were more than half of the Gophers’ school record 17.
• Third Runner-Up: Jermain Davis, Illinois, 11/17 vs. Texas-San Antonio.
  • 0-4 FG, 0-1 3s, 10-10 FT, 10 points. Encouraging that a guard gets to the line ten times and makes them all, even when the shots aren’t falling.