Big Ten Preview #6: PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

Purdue goes here at #6 despite it being equally likely they finish in any spot from #3 to #8 because, quite simply, there just isn't that much known.  What we know is Lewis Jackson is will be very difficult to guard, won't be a good shooter, but will have success using his incredible quickness to get into the paint and either score, get fouled, or set-up his teammates.  We also know Purdue will play very tough man-to-man defense.  But that's it.  Everything else is a question mark of varying degrees.

We almost know that Robbie Hummel will be good - and he'll have to be considering he's really the team's only consistent offensive threat - but can you say that about a guy coming off not one but two major knee injuries?  I caught a little bit of one of the Boilers exhibition games and he looked like the same old fundamentally sound, mid-range jump-shooting put it on the floor and go around a slower big guy player that he always was, but that was against sub-par competition and who's to say that knee doesn't weaken as the season goes along and the minutes pile up, or just plain gives out again?  If he's healthy all year he's an all league player, but if he has issues, Purdue has issues.

I don't even know who is going to score here besides Hummel and Jackson, because nobody else has ever had to with JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore around.  Ryne Smith will certainly be around to hit a bunch of three-pointers, but I'm not sure if he can create his own shot and without Moore helping on the perimeter and Johnson drawing doubles (although if Hummel is healthy he probably will) he's going find fewer open shots.  The rest of the team is a collection of unknowns, at least as far as offense goes.

On paper they're talented:  junior D.J. Byrd, sophomore Terone Johnson, and freshman Anthony Johnson were all top 100 type recruits coming out of high school and others - juniors Kelsey Barlow and John Hart, sophomores Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius and freshman Jacob Lawson all have things to offer but have some major question marks.  Byrd looks like he's on the Brian Cardinal express train to annoying hustleplayerville, Barlow is a freak athlete and great defender but his offensive game is lacking, Carroll is a big lumbering oaf, Marcius is a communits, Lawson is a great athlete but very raw offensively, and Hart started last season strong but didn't look like nearly the same player after returning from injury mid-year.

I expect the key for the Boilers - outside of Hummel's health of course - is the development of either Anthony or Terone Johnson.  Anthony redshirted last year but was the higher regarded recruit coming out of high school and did score 9 in Purdue's first exhibition game.  Both are supposed to be pretty good athletes who can score, and if either or both develop into a true weapon on that end of the floor Purdue will shoot up into the top 4 in the conference - once again, assuming Hummel's knee.

You know I probably could saved time and just typed Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel Hummel over and over again for this preview.

DWG Over/Under Conference Wins:  9.5

Tuesday Talkings - 4/28/2011

Do you guys have any idea how  hard it is to come up with things to write for a Twins/Gopher basketball blog when there's nothing going on with Gopher basketball and the Twins suck worse than your life does?   Seriously, before long most of the blog entries here are going to be like, "Hey, have I told you about my bunions? Oh, you're gonna love this story! So, I line up my cold cuts on the couch next to me, but as I'm stacking them up, they keep falling into my foot bath!"


You just watch, it's going to happen.  Although, once again due to the  Twins' ineptitude, I don't think anybody is reading anyway.  Yes, it must be due to the Twins' ineptitude.


Anyway, I'm just going to sit here and type things as I think of them.  You monkeys will read anything.


-  Speaking of reading anything, have you been checking out Grantland.com, Bill Simmons new sports and pop culture site? I like it overall so far, mainly because it gives you 4-5 new articles every day to choose from.  It's certainly been a mixed bag, with great stuff like Klosterman's great piece about a JuCo basketball game in North Dakota from 1988 (I know it sounds weird, just read it) mixed in with some complete garbage like this (hatchet job on stats using basketball as an example), this (brutally bad and rambling article that states it's point and then never comes close to touching on it again), and this (weird attack on Blake Lively that doesn't belong on this site - or anywhere, really) as well as some weird homer shit from Simmons about the Bruins.  Overall though, there are 3 or so pretty entertaining pieces per day and more good than bad, so I'd recommend making it part of your daily internet routine.  Or not, whatever.  Like I care.


-  Twins are winning 3-1 right now in the fourth.  Kind of a weird feeling.


-  Maybe we should talk some Big 10 hoops, eh?  Since that's kind of the whole reason I started this blog - well, that and boredom....maybe a little egotism.  Going to be kind of an odd year since there's so much talent leaving.   Of the three all Big Ten teams only Jared Sullinger, Jordan Taylor, Trevor Mbakwe, William Buford, Draymond Green, and John Shurna are back.   Only 3 of the 6 honorable mentions are back as well (wait, Lewis Jackson was honorable mention all Big Ten?  How is this possible?  Is there some sort of degree of difficulty modifier added due to being 5-foot-6?)

One of the players I'm most intrigued with this year is Illinois freshman point guard Tracy Abrams, who ranks as the #13 point guard  and #58 overall recruit according to Rivals.  As you probably are aware of, for some reason when Chester Frazier graduated Bruce Weber decided Demetri McNuggets was going to be there point guard and never bothered to get another one.  This led to McCamey putting up good stats (although he couldn't put up a single rep on the bench press at the NBA Combine) and constantly unraveling at the end of games because, as anybody could tell, he wasn't a god damn point guard.  Now, still thanks to Weber's complete inattentiveness to the position (Tubby -> Hi) they are giving the job to Abrams because he's the only PG on the roster.  Illinois has plenty of talent back so basically their entire season hinges on if Abrams can handle the PG position.  Always good to have your season's success hanging on whether an 18-year old kid can play the most important position on the court in his first year jumping from High School to major College ball.


The other player who I think will have the biggest impact on a team's success or failure this year is Brandon Wood of Michigan State.  Wood was a lightly recruited combo guard out of high school who signed with Southern Illinois and then transferred to Valpo.  He blossomed with the Crusaders, averaging 17 points, 4.5 rebs, and 3 assists in his last two years and lighting up North Carolina for 30, Michigan State for 24, and Purdue for over 20 twice in those two years.  He's eligible immediately since he's already graduated, and with the Spartans losing Kalin Lucas (expected) and Korie Lucious (unexpected) they're thin in the back court (unlike Draymond Green).  I fully expect Wood to end up being their primary ball-handler.  If he's a disaster Michigan State's season will likely be as well, unless Green can run full-time point forward duties.


Finally, I am curious to see how Jordan Taylor does with nothing around him.   He obviously had a monster season last year but he had Jon Leuer to help take a lot of the defensive attention off of him, and even Keaton Nankivil to help.  Now they're both gone and I know Bo Ryan and the gay Badgers always find ways to win and somebody always steps up but I really don't see anyone on this roster capable of becoming a viable second scorer.  It's all going to be up to Taylor, and he's either going to average 24 pts/8 rebs/7 assists per game or he's going to end up shooting in the low 30s percentage-wise.  Maybe both.  


-  For the record I am VERY unhappy with Emma Stone's new blonde hair.  Very unhappy.  I'm super glad I broke up with her now.  She's 10 times hotter with red hair, and that might be a low number.


-  Russell freaking Martin leads the AL in voting at catcher?  Jesus it's almost all Yankees.  Something needs to be done about this process.  Maybe it should be like having a baby should be and you have to pass some kind of competency exam first.   First, Martin doesn't even have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.  Second, he's hitting just .230, 8th among AL catchers with at least 100 PAs.  He ranks 6th in HRs and RBI amongst AL catchers and 5th in OPS.  I'm guessing this is simply a case of being a Yankee and having a name people recognize as having been really really good in the NL a few years ago.  Poor Alex Avila.  He's having a monster season so far (note:  I had no idea) and he'll have to catch a break to make the All-Star game.   Derek Jeter (who is actually having a worse season at the plate than Alexi Casilla) garnering more votes than Asdrubel Cabrera is actually a bigger travesty, but writing about Jeter being overrated is like telling jokes about airplane food at this point.


-  You can go ahead and put me squarely in the camp of "Josh Selby won't get it figured out."  Guy's got AND 1 All-Star written all over him.  Skip to My Lou 2 - The Reversoning.


-  Cliff Lee shut out the Red Sox tonight and allowed just two hits, which wouldn't really be all that surprising since it is Cliff Lee after all, but I was doing some digging into this game for gambling purposes (I ended up not wagering on the game) and it's actually amazing considering how the current Sox have done in their careers against Lee.  Marco Scutaro has hit .302 against him, Pedroia has hit .364, Darnell McDonald .400, and Adrian Gonzalez an incredible .700.  Kevin Youkilis hasn't hit him that well, but he's drawn 4 walks to 2 strikeouts and has a .400 OBP against Lee.  He's dominated Ellsbury and Varitek, but really based on history the Sox should have had some success against Lee.  Which once again proves that nothing makes any sense ever. 


-  You know, Daenarys Targaryen is a dead-ringer for Claire from Lost.  Check it:

 

I speak truth.


Like always.

Game Recap: Gophers 81, Northwestern 70 (plus Purdue mini-preview)

Who knew that putting a 6-11 guy, a 6-10, and a 6-9 behemoth, none of whom possess ball-handling skills that would rank higher than "6th grade" would result in Globetrotter ball breaking out?  Ralph Sampson, Colt Iverson, and Trevor Mbakwe started last night's game together and were in almost the entire time, spending much of it displaying interior passing that surpassed the realm of shocking and went straight into mind-boggling.  Did you know Colt Iverson could pull off a deft touch-pass leading to a Mbakwe dunk?  No you didn't, liar.

Combine the size of those giants (along with a 6-7 Rodney Williams playing shooting guard) with a Northwestern front-line that ranged from "slight and frail as a 12-year old girl with a skinned knee" to "mobile as an oak tree" and it's easy to see why the Gophers dominated the game.  They were layuping and dunking all over people's heads, leading to 53% shooting on a night they went 2-11 from three (the bigs were 15-24), while on the other end the Wildcats (more like Mildcats, am I right?) treated the area inside the three point line as if it were poison, chucking up 39 three-point attempts (61% of their shots) from behind the arc.  Despite getting cracked in the chin, John Shurna was the only player who seemed to try to penetrate at all, and on a night when the shots weren't falling (just 12 threes went in), it wasn't too difficult to shut them down.

Their switch to that dreaded 1-3-1 seemed to confuse the Gophers for a time, something it's done to no other team this year, letting Northwestern creep back and actually grab the lead at the half, but credit Tubby for fixing that issue in half #2.  Getting the ball to Sampson at the top of the key, where he essentially posted up, allowed him to turn and see who had the advantage on their man out of Mbakwe and Iverson, and get them the ball.  Credit Ralph, because as soft as he is on the interior at times, he is a good enough passer that they can get away with playing him at the 3 in these situations.

Blake passed his first test as the team's new point guard, and really surprised me by still being able to score and get shots.  The freshman back-ups were used sparingly, but were effective enough at not screwing up to help get Blake the ball, and Rodney Williams played one of his better games as a Gopher, I thought.  He wasn't flashy, outside of that monster dunk that was #2 on Sportscenter's plays of the night, but he was very effective.  Although he had just four points, he chipped in 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks with just 2 turnovers (44 fantasy points) despite handling the ball more than usual.  I was impressed.

So the Gophers passed their first test post-Nolen, but a far bigger challenge awaits this weekend, traveling to West Lafayette to take on #12 Purdue.  I previewed the Boilers just a couple weeks ago, so you can read that here, but specific to this matchup I have a few quick questions:

1)  Who the hell is going to guard Lewis Jackson?  Seriously, I need to know.  Blake can't.  Rodney probably could, but then who guards E'Twaun Moore?  Maverick can't.  Hollins?  Armelin?  Go zone?  All I know is that even Al Nolen had a hell of a time keeping Jackson out of the lane (remember, Al's biggest successes when Jackson drove were either blocking his shot or stripping him of the ball, not keeping him out of the lane), so I don't have a clue how they're going to stop him from penetrating.  It'll be like a date with your sister.

2)  Will that 3-big lineup work again?  On offense, yes.  Purdue isn't inept on the interior, but outside of JaJuan Johnson (and that's a big "outside of" by the way), their two other size guys (Patrick Bade and Travis Carroll) don't exactly make big contributions (combined average of under 18 minutes per game).  Defensively, however, I'm not sure how it's going to work.  Hoffarber and Iverson will be liabilities, but Purdue isn't exactly the most athletic team in the conference (Carroll, Ryne Smith, DJ Byrd), but if they can play that 2-3 zone as effectively as they played it against the Wildcats they'll have a chance.  And besides, what's Tubby's other option anyway?  They have no choice but to go with Hoff, Rodney, Colt, Ralph, and Mbakwe for the majority of the game.

3)  Is Purdue overrated?  They rank #12 in both polls and #10 in Ken Pomeroy's statistical rankings, and I'm going to say slightly, and also very much at the same time.  Slightly, because I think they are a top 15 type team nationally based on watching them play.  Very much, because if you look at their results they've done basically nothing so far this year.  Outside of a win over Michigan State, they don't have a single win over a top 50 RPI team, losing in their other three opportunities, and they just got shellacked by Ohio State (although, realistically, there's no shame in that - the Buckeyes would have beaten any team in the country last night, including the NBA).  So although they look like a good team, they haven't really proven to be just yet.

4)  Can the Gophers win in Mackey Arena?  Can they?  Yes.  Will they?  I'd say probably not, but I got a funny feeling and it's not just in my pants.  The three bigs lineup has me feeling confident.  Maybe it's just the "shiny new toy" aspect, or maybe I'm a deranged homer, but I just don't see how Purdue can stop it short of Hoffarber shatting himself, and I don't see that happening.  So it all really comes down to if you think the Gophers can stop Purdue.  And guess what?  I think they can.

Minnesota 67, Purdue 64.

Live Game Blog: Minnesota Gophers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Alright, I'm not a true fan.  It's now 8:00pm, and I'm about to watch the Gopher/Purdue game.  I couldn't watch it live because I'm stupid enough to have two kids, and said kids take up too much of my attention for me to be able to pay any kind of attention to the game, so I Tivo and I wait.  Such is life.  So now I'm here with my remote, a box of Turning Leaf chadonnay, and a bowl full of beef-flavored ramen.  Since I'm clearly living the high life, I thought I'd invite you along with me.  I'm really hoping the Gophers can pull this one out.

19:28 - Colton Iverson (starting for Trevor Mbakwe) with a really nice move, taking the ball from the free-throw line to the block with two dribbles, backing in on whoever Purdue's dorky white center is, faking to the left and tossing up a nice jump hook to the right.  Swish.  Honestly that whole thing was a thing of beauty.  It's amazing how he can do that and then look like the fat kid who quit hockey to play basketball on the 8th grade B team the next trip.  I coached 8th grade B team once.  I know of what I speak, and it ain't pretty.

19:04 - Rodney draws E'Twaun Moore.  I love this.  Challenge Rodney and hope he steps up. 

18:18 - Ok, JaJuan Johnson has now hit a three-pointer and an 18-footer to give Purdue a 5-4 lead.  Hopefully Ralph will soon realize that you have to guard him on the perimeter as if he was a guard, not a typical plodding center.  And he just hit a turnaround 12-footer over Iverson.  This is ridiculous.  We on this blog have been calling him "The college KG" since his sophomore year (because we have such an eye for talent), but that might not be high enough praise. 

16:58 - And he hits a turnaround over Ralph.  This is just ridiculous.  I think "The college Jesus" might not be high enough praise.

16:16 - Trevor Mbakwe in to a nice ovation.  I approve of that.

15:53 - Rodney and Nolen can't decide if there's supposed to be a switch on a pick, leading to a wide open three-pointer for Purdue and a 12-6 lead.  I don't know if the Gopher players are dumb or if Tubby just can't coach, but this shit happens way too often. 

15:50 - By the way, how about everybody out there pays attention to flights from MSP to Chicago (either airport) leaving either the 17th or 18th of March and returning the 20th and then email me if you find something cheap.  Sound good?  Thanks guys, you're the best.

14:59 - Mbakwe draws the foul inside and that might have been against Johnson.  I'd know for certain if this announcing team was remotely competent, but instead they're busy telling us that the only way to stop E'Twaun Moore is to hope he gets food poisoning.  Really, jackass?  I know you're trying to be cute but it turns out you're just a retard.

14:30 - Austin Hollins with a nice take for a lay-up and the foul, cutting the lead to 14-12 (13 if he makes the free-throw).  Where the hell has he been?  And he misses the free-throw.  Hollins has been awfully non-descript for several weeks.  I know that's probably typical, but I liked it better when he was a tish more dynamic.

12:53 -  Looking like a white-boy shooting battle might be breaking out between Blake and Ryne Smith.  My money's on Blake.

12:03 - Noeln for three!  And we're tied at 17.  Do you remember in my preview of this game how I said D.J. Byrd was the new Brian Cardinal.  Well, he's in the game and he's rockin' black socks, a shooting sleeve, and some sort of tank top under his jersey.  He just looks annoying.

11:44 - I love how they have Magic Johnson talking about "content of character."  I love the guy, he's still my favorite all-time NBA player besides Billy Hoyle, but this is the guy who cheated on his wife for years and years to the point where he contracted HIV and was damn lucky he didn't end up giving it to her or his kid.  I really don't think a "content of character" piece is really the place for the Magic Man.

10:17 - This announcer is so bad I seriously want to kill him.  My head is literally exploding right now.

9:43 - God damn this ramen is hot!  Why you gotta play me like that, ramen?

9:00 - Nolen airballs a three.  That's more like it.  22-21 Purdue thanks to a DJ Dickface three-pointer.

8:31 - Chip Armelin just stole Moe Hargrow's move.  He got the ball on the break on a 2-on-2 situation, saw the Purdue's guy guarding him was a white dude, and just took it right at him and ended up scoring.  Hargrow used to do that every time.

7:48 - Lewis Jackson now abusing Al Nolen for back to back lay-ups.  That's not supposed to happen.  I thought Nolen was a better defender than that.

6:54 - Jackson splits the top of the zone (Nolen & Armelin) and finds Moore for a wide open three.  I know the guy is quick, but that's just awful.  Just awful.  Once again, either these guys are kind of dumb or Tubby is an overrated coach.

5:26 - Nobody bothers to pick up Barlow on the wing and he coasts in for a lay-up.  The amount of mistakes this team makes on a nightly basis is mind-boggling.  I'm starting to think they're more talented than I give them credit for, just because they can actually compete despite making so many dumb plays.

3:23 - Sampson gives the Gophers the lead back at 34-33 with a jump hook over Johnson, but the importantly is that he got the ball on teh block, ignored the double-team, and aggressively went for the bucket.  I don't even care that he made it, just showing that kind of aggressiveness is a good sign. 

2:45 -  Jackson tried driving on Nolen again, but this time Nolen blocks his shot and causes the jump ball.  Much better.

1:21 - Rodney misses an alley-oop dunk.  Freaking awesome.

HALF -  Gophers lead 41-40, and that was a great, great half of basketball on the offensive end.  Even their half-court sets are looking smooth and and working.  JaJuan Johnson (18 pts already) is ridiculously hot and making everything, but they've managed to take E'Twaun Moore out of the game for the most part (1-8 shooting).  If the Gophers keep playing like this the rest of the game, they're going to take this one.  That Lewis Jackson/Al Nolen match-up might be the key to the game. 

19:42 -  That play where Blake comes from the corner off a double-pick and curls to the free-throw line seemingly works every time.  I'm thinking his rep as a guy who only shoots threes leads to poor defenders on him, and when he takes that cut further inside they can't keep up.  With a sample size of tonight, that certainly looks to be the case, because Ryne Smith isn't going to win any defensive awards.

18:41 - Sampson goes to the deck to dig out a steal, and it leads to a three-pointer by Blake to give the Gophers a 46-40 lead.  They just have more energy right now, and Purdue seems near meltdown mode.  Of course, this is usually where the rug gets pulled out and the Boilers go on a 11-2 run.

16:59 - Lewis Jackson just hit a fadeaway three-pointer.  Lewis Jackson can't shoot, and never shoots threes, and only chucked up that one because of the shot clock about to expire.  Great.  And just to add insult to injury, announcer guy tells us that Jackson is back from injury and healthy and is hitting 45% of this three-pointers this year.  But, in reality, he's 1-5 on the season.  So this guy is still a jackdonkey.

16:11 -  Hoff from 28 feet.  Dude is dialed tonight.  I'm hoping we get a heat-check from 35, Jake Sullivan style.

15:14 - Hoff hits the jumper on that same curl pick play, and is fouled.  Tonight is his night, folks. 

15:14 - Of course he misses the free throw, because that makes total sense.  53-45 Gophers.

14:53 - Jackson beats Nolen again for the lay-up.  This is embarrassing for Al, for real.  It's also embarrassing for everybody else.  Where the hell is the help every time this guy gets in the lane.  He's 5 foot 9, somebody slide over and make him pass it, jesus christ.  I think I learned that in third grade.

13:37 - Purdue just took the lead 54-53 on two Johnson free throws.  Yes, they made up 8 points in a minute and a half.  I'd go into detail but it's depressing.  Let's just say that after a near flawless night from the team overall they've suddenly decided to do stupid crap on offense and stop playing defense.  My mood is darkening.

12:48 - Nolen just passed up a wide-open three-pointer because he missed his last two attempts.  God damn it's hard to win with a PG who can't/won't shoot.  And, as I type, he then steals a pass for an easy dunk to give them back the lead.  The love/hate is strong with this one.  He's the Sam to my Diane.

11:37 - Iverson with literally the worst defensive play I've ever seen to give Johnson a three-point play.  He's half-fronting him and decides to try to steal the entry lob but half-way there realizes he can't get it and stops, but by then he's so far out of position he's really just rubbing up on Johnson's hip and giving Johnson a wide open layup and instead of saying "Fuck it, I fucked up" and letting him score, he kind of pelvis-checks him but not hard enough so he can't score, just perfectly hard enough to get called for a foul.  Brilliant.

10:51 - You know what would be really god damn awesome?  If they could avoid allowing Johnson to catch the ball when he's already in the lane.  You're allowed to push him out before the ball gets there, girls.

10:09 - Nolen again passes up the wide open three.  Even if he misses he really, really needs to shoot that shot.

9:44 - Sampson might actually be retarded.

8:14 - Chip Armelin is suddenly everywhere.  Announcer guy wants us to know that Chip Armelin "did a great job of pulling out."  That's what Mrs. W said last night.

7:47 - Steal by Nolen, then Rodney decides to just glide with the ball and not really bothering putting it on the floor.  Turns out the refs don't like that very much.  We're tied here at 61 folks.  Barn-burner.  Need more expensive fancy wine.

7:25 -  Remember in Major League how Willie Mays Hayes had to do pushups every time he hit the ball in the air?  I'm starting to think Mbakwe should do push-ups every time he doesn't get a rebound.  Good lord.

7:00 -  Nolen with his patented "drive into the lane pick up the dribble with no idea what to do and turn it over."  I don't like this Nolen.  I like the gooder Nolen.

5:55 - Nolen with the rip right out of Moore's hands, leading to a lay-up and possible three point play by Rodney.  This is the Nolen which is the good one.  He's like some kind of god damn two-face.  In fact, I'm going to roll with it.  He even kind of looks like him:

4:35 - Sampson gives the Gophers the lead with a nice hook in the lane, which naturally leads to these announcers having to gush about his dad and then show footage of him from when he played for Virginia.  I can't even express how old that has gotten, I can't even imagine how much our Ralph must hate that.  I'm surprised he hasn't gone all Oedipal yet.

4:12 - We're down to 14 on the shot clock before Nolen passes the ball.  Timeout, Gophers.  Thank god.  Tubby is a master at drawing up out-of-bounds plays after a time-out (see:  Ohio State game).  This is sure to lead to points.

4:00 - Apparently the play was for Sampson to can an 18-footer.  Ok then.  Sampson jumpers are kind of like a handjob from a fat chick.  It's not really what you want, there are better options, and it's not the way things are supposed to go, but if it works you'll take it and be happy.

3:34 - Tied again.  Time to figure out a way to get the Hoff a look.  Or Nolen, who had another wide open three and this time didn't turn it down, and buried that sumbitch.  Hey, if Lewis freaking Jackson is going to be perfect from the free-throw line even though he only shoots 60% on the year and is going to hit a fall-away three, we get to have Nolen hit a couple treys.  It's only right.

2:05 - Gophers 70, Purdue 67, Boilers ball and a timeout.  Great googily moogily, this game reminds me why I love college ball and specifically the Gophers.  Please don't make me remember why I hate them.

1:45 - After Ryne Smith misses a wide open three (thank you), Purdue grabs the board and it leads to Moore with an open three from about 23 feet.  He hits backboard first and it clangs away.  Seriously, something is wrong with Moore.  This is three straight just awful shooting games.  I mean, it's good for the Gophers and all, but wow.

1:12 - Hoff drops the ball out of bounds.  Shit.  Still a three-point game.  Wow, not off Hoff.  Should have been a foul and if not should have been Gopher ball.  Yuck.

0:53 - Rodney blocks Jackson's shot and it ends up Gopher ball.  Remember how I talked about how when Jackson drives there needed to be people coming to help?  If you don't recognize how I'm a bonafide god damn genius I'm going to drive to your house and shoot you to death.  With logic and trivia.

0:30 - White guy on Nolen!  White guy on Nolen!  Drive! Drive!

0:27 - Yes!  He drives and is fouled.  Ha ha, stupid white people.  Go play hockey.

0:25 - Naturally, Nolen misses.  Did I mention it was 1-and-1?  Freaking great.  Guaranteed E'Twaun Moore three-pointer here, even though he hasn't hit shit all night.

0:10 - Timeout Purdue because the Boilers are running around like a bunch of guys playing in an intramural league who decided to go get blitzed before their game.  Which I assume is all of them.

0:10 -  Announcer guy's big plan is for Ryne Smith, the smallest guy on the court other than Lew-Jack, to set a single screen to get JaJuan open for a three-pointer, even though he's not actually a three-point shooter.  God this guy is a freakin' idiot.

0:00 - Ball game.  Gophers win 70-67.  Apparently Matt Painer went to the Tubby Smith school of drawing up plays because Purdue ended up with DJ freaking Byrd shooting up a forced three pointer.  Brilliant. 

Awesome awesome win for the Gophers.  I said this wasn't a must-win, but getting it here is just so big.  Not only does it give them another marquee win, but it proves that they are a quality team, something that has been in question since Puerto Rico.  I'm a very happy guy right now.

And by the way, check out what this guy predicted this game's score to be (at the bottom).

Game Preview: Minnesota Gophers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

Can you be an NCAA title contender with two stars and a bunch of role-players?  I was one of many to write off the Boilers chances after Robbie Hummel went down with yet another injury, but they are looking awfully good thus far this year.  And although I can't remember the last team that was so reliant on two players (JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore score 50% of the team's points), those two might be good enough and might have the perfect complimentary pieces around them to make a big run come March.

Johnson, the best player in the Big Ten in my estimation, is the team's leading scorer (19.4 per game), rebounder (8.3 per game), and shot-blocker (2.5 per game).  He is so versatile with the ball that he's nearly impossible to stop.  He has a variety of moves on the inside, can hit a stand-still jumper out to 18 feet, and has a really nice turnaround that's very reminiscent of Hakim Warrick.  He's also one of the best rebounders in the conference, on either end, and he's going to make Sampson/Mbakwe work and work hard on both sides of the ball.  Really the only weakness I can think of is that I don't recall him being particularly adept at putting the ball on the floor, so if the Gopher defenders can get out on him on the perimeter and force him to give up the ball, then try to keep him off the block, the Gophers do have at least an outside shot at controlling him - although he's scored in double digits every game this year.

Moore (18.8 pts, 6.0 rebs, 3.1 assists, 1.7 steals per game) is just as big a concern, if not bigger given the Gophers' lack of perimeter defense this year.  Moore can score from anywhere - he's an excellent shooter from three (42%), has a quality mid-range game, and can put the ball on the ground and drive.  He's struggled the last two games from the outside (1-8 from three combined, just 15 total points), and the Gophers will need that to keep up.  Even if his shot isn't falling, however, he does enough other things on the court with his rebounding and ability to find open teammates that he can still have a big impact on the game.

Simply put, limit those two and you have a chance.  There is, however, one other major concern I'll point out, and that's junior guard Ryne Smith.  Simply put, he's Hoffarber/Diebler in black (uniform, not skin).  Since fellow shooter John Hart went down to injury, Smith has really stepped up his game.  Since Big Ten play started, he's been unconscious.  In Purdue's four conference games he's shot 5-6, 2-7, 5-5, and 6-9 from behind the line for a 67% accuracy mark, and is averaging 17 points per game in those four contests.  All he does is shoot threes, but he does it extremely well (52% overall for the season).  With all the attention that Johnson and Moore draw, he's going to get open looks.  Against a team like Minnesota and their poor perimeter defense, he's going to get even more.

The last two individuals I want to mention for Purdue and Lewis Jackson and D.J. Byrd.  Jackson is the lightning quick midget point guard who is almost impossible to keep out of the lane.  He's not much for shooting (just 1-5 on threes this year), but uses his quickness to get lay-ups and short floaters as well as set up teammates for open looks (4.2 assists per game).  He's basically a slightly better offensive version of Al Nolen without the defense.  Byrd, on the other hand, is the next in the Brian Cardinal/Chris Kramer line.  I mention him here not for you to fear him, but rather to warn you that you are going to be annoyed by him.

As a team, the Boilers are formidable as well.  They rank 24th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 2nd in defensive, and the only thing they don't do well is that they're slightly below the national average in free-throw percentage (68.1% vs. 68.6%).  In fact, they are so solid on defense the only metrics they don't rank in the top 50 nationally in are blocked shot percentage (86th) and steal percentage (153rd), but that doesn't really matter since apparently they just make you throw the ball out of bounds all day (24th in turnover percentage).  It's going to be tough going on the offensive end for your beloved rodents.

It's going to be tough all around.  Purdue is an outstanding team, and their would be no shame in losing this one, which is why it's not a "must-win" game.  It is, however, a "must-compete" game.  All we've seen out of this team since the West Virginia game (other than controversy) is poor performances against bad teams at home, and decent showings against good teams on the road.  This is the Gophers' first opportunity to take on a good team at home, and they need to come out strong, play well, and keep this one tight if not win it.  A three-point loss will convince me we have an NCAA caliber team, while a 15-point loss will have me making my NIT ticket reservations.

If the Gophers can limit at least one of Johnson or Moore while keeping the three-point line in check, continue to be a strong rebounding team, get out in transition and run whenever they can to avoid the half-court game, and get the ball into the bigs in the paint when they are in the half-court offense, they can win this.  A lot of ifs, yes, but this is the kind of game a good team can use to make a statement.  I am positive I am making a mistake, but something tells me this is exactly what the Gophers are going to do.  It goes against everything in my pessimistic nature, but:

Minnesota 70, Purdue 66.

Monday Mumblings

Of course the big news today is Joe Mauer winning the MVP, and it nearly being unanimous.  I'm just curious about the guy who voted for Miguel Cabrera instead.  It seemed the consensus #2 candidate was Mark Texeira, not Miguel Cabrera.  But let's look:

Cabrera:  .324/.396/.547, 34 HRs, 104 RBI
Texeira:  ..292/.383/.565, 39 HRs, 122 RBI

Pretty close, right?  But by voting for Cabrera, this dude is saying he values things like average and on-base percentage over home runs and rbis, which is actually pretty refreshing.  But at the same time it's completely bizarre, because Mauer beat everybody in those stats.

If some ass clown had voted for Tex based on home runs and RBI, it wouldn't have surprised me one bit, as wrong as it would have been.  I was actually expecting Jeter to end up with a 1st place vote as well, since people are morons who want to make out with him all the time, but Cabrera?  You can't even use the "playoffs" argument since the Twins did that miracle comeback thing to steal the playoff spot.  I can't come up with any conceivable argument, and I've looked at this in every stupid way possible, to vote for Cabrera.  Boggled.

Lastly on MVP, I haven't been able to find the the actual full breakdown of the votes/points, but according to ESPN's "Others receiving votes" section, both Mike Cuddyer and Jason Kubel received votes.  There's not way that a hot 1-month stretch out of Cuddy would vault him ahead of the season-long excellence Kubel showed, right?  RIGHT?  Someone tell me when you find the voting breakdown.

-  Sticking with the Twins for a minute, Shooter had this little ditty in his "column" today:

It wouldn't be surprising if the Twins tried to make a deal with the San Diego Padres for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, 28, who in 141 games last season batted .255 but hit 18 homers with 88 runs batted in. Starter Glen Perkins would seem to be the bait.

 Now, it's Charley Walters here, so I'm guessing this is more him taking a name that was bandied about last year and tossing a rumor at it, but it's worth a short look at because Kouzmanoff's name seems to keep coming up.

Walters, of course, hits on average, home runs, and rbi, the relevant stats if this was 1988, but since we are no longer in the dark ages, let's look further. 

The Kouz hit .255/.302/.420 this year, and was about an average fielder range wise, although is .990 fielding percentage was obviously outstanding, and a major league record.  Those aren't great numbers, but I don't much care for Glen Perkins anymore, so I'd be willing to do that deal depending on Kouzmanoff's contract.

Which brings me to the real problem - I can't for the life of me find any details of his contract, and one site actually says he's a free agent.  Now, would it shock me if he was actually a free agent and Walters had no idea?  No, it would surprise me one bit. But I won't assume that, as much as I want to, and for now I will just say that pending his contract, I would be interested in a Perkins for Kouz swap.  If he's going to cost $5 million or less, I want him.  And if he's on the open market, and I don't think the Pads would resign him since they have prospect Chase Headley coming up to play 3b, I be willing to pay more like $6-$7, as long as it's just for two years or so - enough time for Valencia to properly marinate.

Thanks to intrepid reader Kate J. for the tip.

-  Hey, you guys remember how I told you Cincinnati would be all awesome this year, and how you should have watched them today in the Maui Classic?  Well, they rolled a pretty good Vandy team (ranked #24 with a win already over St. Mary's) 67-58, and believe me the game wasn't nearly that close.  I really hope you got in on the Bearcats when they were 200-1 to win the National Title, because that number is going to go way, way, way down.  Might as well jump on it now before it gets to like, 10-1 before the tournament starts.

-  Since we're talking about things I watched tonight, I also want to mention that although I hate Pitt, and I loathe them, and specifically Pitt point guards - from Brandin Knight to Carl Krauser to LeVance Fields, hate them all - but I think I might really like this kid Travon Woodall, and I'm kind of wishing I had picked him in my fantasy league (last four picks:  Ralph Sampson, Courtney Fortson, Mikhail Torrance, Jon Leuer - I feel dirty).  He's a sophomore, and although he wasn't a highly ranked recruit when he came out, and didn't make much of an impact last year, he's killing it this year.  Coming into tonight, he was averaging just 7.7 points per game, but added in 7.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds, and then tonight against Wichita put up 19 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals and just seems to be moving at a whole different speed than everybody else out there - almost Rico Tucker like.  Well, I like him.  And I'm actually giving him his own tag.  Yeah, that's right.  With luck I can grab him next round (only 3 left!)

-  This Lewis Jackson injury is going to be a big deal, mark my words.  It makes me a bit nervous that Boiled Sports seems to disagree with me, since they cover Purdue hoops and my opinions are basically of the "JaJuan gives me a boner" type, but they seem to be pretty split on this one over there.  Of course, as seen by the post above and my continued Rico Tucker love, I seem to have a real affinity towards lightning quick, slightly out-of-control point guards.  I know I'll miss him at least.

-  The television program "The Big Bang Theory" is simultaneously the most underrated and overrated show on TV. 


-  Finally, since I'm keeping this short tonight, I'll close with an email from studly reader Stan N.:

Minnesota Golden Gophers--what a ridiculous mascot. Maybe Minnesota Golden Mosquitos would be more appropriate. There's plenty of them in Minnesota too, and a mosquito is more intimidating than a gopher--at least they get more attention. When you're facing Wolverines, Badgers, Wildcats, Hawk(eye)s, etc. what can a Gopher do? I guess their record speaks for itself. Although I'm a Minnesota alumni and support its sports teams, I can't support Goldy the Gopher. I wish we could impeach Goldy and substitute a Timberwolf(I guess that's already taken), a Lumberjack or anything else that would command respect.

I'm not entirely certain about a Lumberjack, since that seems pretty gay, but I'm pretty on board with this.  Any chance we can get rid of Goldy altogether?  Snacks and Bogart, you are both lawyers, can we file a class-action or something?

When Doves Cry

Yep, that's pretty much what we've come to at this point. It's probably time to realize the Gophers are a thoroughly mediocre team after dropping a game at home to Purdue 70-62, a score I almost called. In a game which was made even worse by rush-hour like traffic both before and after, the Gophers followed up their sloppy effort against Northwestern on Sunday with an even sloppier, uglier, lazier effort last night. A lot of that can be credited to Purdue, who is a fabulous defensive squad, but if you're a national ranked team with aspirations on a good seed in the NCAA tournament you find a way to get it done, especially when you're at home.

An ugly game was made even uglier by Heavy Handed Hightower who, along with those other guys, called a ridiculous 49 fouls leading to a total of 61 free throws between the teams. The Gophers were actually right there in the rebound battle (losing 32-29) and forced the Boilers into 17 turnovers to just 14 for the home team. Unfortunately, none of that matters when you shoot just 28% (3-19 from three) and allow the other team to shoot 47% (6-11 from three).

It's time to ramp down projections and temper your hopes and dreams, as it's becoming clear that maybe this Gopher team just isn't as good as it had appeared. They can't guard or score against the really good teams. I'm not saying they are a bad team, far from it, but after the Wisconsin win expectations really rose, my own included. It's time to realize they are basically a bubble team, looking at a 7-11 type seed if they get in and possibly one victory in the tournament. That is the new level of success we should hope for. Pretty much exactly where we were going into this season. Still a good team, but my hopes have been dashed. Let me pose something, perhaps the win over wisconsin wasn't an indication of how good the Gophers are, but how bad the Badgers are. I just blew your mind.

Anyway, here's some stuff:

Halftime Show: That was awful. When it's a bunch of girls running around jumping and flipping about like the Fargo-Moorhead Acro Team it's awesome. When it's two dudes doing the same thing, it's just gay.

Lewis Jackson: I don't know that I've ever seen anybody as fast as this little midget. His numbers aren't all that impressive this year or anything, but I have no idea how that's possible since he appears to be completely and totally unguardable. He did turn it over five times last night, but I think that's just the kind of thing you have to take sometimes with a guy like this. Not even Nolen could stay in front of him, and I didn't think that was possible. Speaking of unguardable...

Al Nolen: He's still unguardable as well, and can get to the paint anytime he wants. Here's the problem, he gets in too deep, and has no idea what to do. He either needs to start pulling up for a jumper, commit to getting to the rim and just keep going, or pass it back out before he gets in too deep. He seemed to have two modes last night, either drive and stop and have no idea what to do once he got in the lane, or keep charging in. He keep charging in thing has it's place, and last night it worked thanks to the refs as Nolen had 17 points, mainly thanks to his 10-10 on free throws. The stopping in the lane thing, however, has got to stop. He's got a ton of talent, and other than his 3-14 shooting and the driving and stopping thing, he had a great line (17pts, 6rebs, 4assists, 3steals). He's starting to become quite the enigma.

Poor Unsuspecting Girl: This was just some poor girl Snake pointing out to me, vulgarly referring to her as "Trim." Then she turned around, and was clearly no older than thirteen and wearing braces. I hope you enjoy prison Snake, say hi to Tweeder for me.

Lawrence Westbrook: I'm pretty upset with myself for defending Westbrook in the comments of my last post, he really played a very lazy game last night. He got lost on defense a few times, and even seemed to have trouble handling the ball - like he couldn't quite dribble correctly, more like an 8 year old girl than a nationally ranked team's leading scorer. One play was completely inexcusable - I don't remember exactly the situation, but a ball was heading out of bounds of the Boilers and in Westbrook's direction, rather than grab it, he lazily waited for it to go out of bounds, when instead a Purdue player ran over and saved it to a teammate. Just inexcusable. I honestly think he might have the flu or mono or the HIV or something, because I've never seen somebody play with less energy.

Ralph Sampson: One of the lone bright spots last night, Sampson finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds and won the coveted "Boston Scientific Heart of the Game." I still think this guy has the most potential out of any of the newcomers, and he seems to be gaining confidence. His outside jumpshot is pretty much completely random, either it's on or it's way, way, way off, but I have faith in him. All American in two years?

Devoe Joseph: I really liked how he tried to take over the game offensively for a stretch when the Gophers couldn't seem to score. It showed he has a scorers mentality, despite being used mainly as a PG - including playing the 1 when he and Nolen were in together. It wasn't his best game, but I saw something I really liked - much like when I watch that stats lady walk across the floor.

Green Guy: Honest to christ, what the hell was that? I don't even get it. Am I just old? I think it's pretty much just kind of stupid and weird. If you're going to be weird, at least make sense. Like, I get the guy who dresses like a cow, and I get the guys who painted their chests. It's demented and sad, but I get it. I don't get the gorillas (they aren't found in barns - you don't make sense) and I really don't get the green guy.

Travis Busch: Busch played 12 minutes which is far too many against a team like Purdue. I get that you want to mix it up a bit when things aren't working, but how about giving Devron Bostick more than 8 minutes? He might be our most complete offensive player, so why not give him more of a shot against a good defense? Sorry, I know I'm not allowed to question Tubby, my bad. The only memorable thing Busch did was when he blocked the shot of a 5-5 midget, then backed away from the ball which allowed the midget to grab it and throw it over to Hummel for a wide open three pointer, which he thankfully missed. You'd think a guy with all that grit and hustle would know to grab the ball, and probably dive at it even when not necessary.

Cross Country Hat Wearing Guy: This dude sat in front of us, wearing some kind of cross country hat, which was completely unformed and the back tab thing wasn't tucked in so it stuck out like some kind of reverse antenna. Every single timeout he had to stand up. It may not sound like much, but when me, Snake, and Snacks all noticed it separately, it's clearly pervasive and completely irritating. Just stay in your god damn seat, you damn hippie.

JaJuan Johnson: I said I was a bit concerned about Johnson, and didn't think Iverson could handle him and hoped Sampson could. Turns out nobody could. "The College KG" led Purdue with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and tossed in five blocked shots just for kicks. Completely unstoppable force. Big Ten Player of the Year.


Paul Carter: I didn't much notice Carter, and other than a very short stretch where he grabbed a steal and blocked a shot or two, he didn't do much, but the important question is: Who would win in a bar fight, Westbrook or Carter? Official bar type fight, where whatever weapons you can find (broken bottle, pool cue) are available? Snake says Carter, I say Westbrook.