Defend That, Digger: The Season Debut
by BoilerTMill on Nov 16, 2010 9:54 AM EST
in Men's Basketball
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PrintI admit it. Running this feature this year is going to be tough. The Big Ten is getting a ton of respect as the toughest conference in the land. Three teams are currently in the top 10. Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota are legitimate Sweet 16 candidates and probably NCAA locks. The top six teams are going to fight a war among each other and be in the top 25 all season long, and that is before Northwestern pulls off an upset or two to get in the NCAA's. Penn State with a guy like Talor Battle is always going to be a threat for an upset if a team is sleeping, while Indiana will be better.
What that means is that the teams that only have one game against Iowa and Michigan (like Purdue) are at a slight disadvantage because they miss one of the easier games of the year. Purdue only gets Michigan once this year, in Ann Arbor. Illinois also only gets the Wolverines once. Wisconsin and Penn State only get Iowa once, so those four teams have the toughest schedule in the conference.
Still, I want to keep this feature going. My goal is to do it live with Digger when GameDay comes to Mackey for the Michigan State game. I've already been in contact with ESPN for some preliminary talks too, so there is definitely a chance of this happening. As we get closer to the game I'll post the e-mail where we can do an online petition to get me on GameDay for a live Defend That, Digger.
So, without further ado, here is the premier of Defend That, Digger for the 2010-11 edition, featuring the embarrassing losses around the country for all these teams that are supposed to be amazing because of conference affiliation and/or history.
Exhibit A: Indianapolis 79, #20 Tennessee 64 - There is never any excuse for a major conference program to ever lose to a Division II team. It is made worse by the fact that Tennssee was an Elite 8 team a year ago that suffered worse player losses than us. I don't care if they were play man-to-man (Syracuse's excuse last year), zone, box and 1, or the unorthodox quadruple-team the guy with the ball. These major conference teams have way too many advantages over smaller division teams to ever lose. Besides, we easily handled Indianapolis, and we obviously should have given up on our season entirely when Robbie went down. Defend That, Digger!
Exhibit B: Stetson 89, Wake Forest 79 - With all respect to the Hatters, Stetson was 7-22 a year ago while The Demon Deacons won a game in the NCAA's over Texas (who, remember, was a sure National Title contender with elite talent, unlike Purdue, according to Gary Parrish). Yes, Wake lost a first-rounder in Al-Farouq Aminu (whom JaJuan Johnson owned). They also lost their point guard Tony Chennault to injury. This is still an ugly loss for the ACC. Defend That, Digger!
Exhibit C: Kennesaw State 80, Georgia Tech 63 - That makes the Atlantic Sun 2-0 against the mighty ACC. Kennesaw State wasn't even in Division I until the 2005-06 season. I'll give the Yellow Jackets credit for having the balls to go play them on their home floor, but this is still a bad, bad loss for a team that won a game in the NCAA's a year ago. Defend That, Digger!
Exhibit D: Ferris State 63, Indiana 61 - I'm sorry, but there is video evidence that this is the true score of the game. Ferris State got its game-winner off in time and the Hoosiers were bailed out by the officials. Maybe with Cody Zeller Indiana can beat Division II teams in regulation. Defend That, Digger!
Red light or no, the clock on the inset is a live shot of the game clock.
That's all for now, but I am sure there will be more ammo next week.
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This is going to sound a little weird...
But, kudos on the blog. As an IU fan, I may not be the prime audience for your blog and probably disagree with you a fair amount on some issues, but have been impressed with you coverage and commentary. I also went to high school with Courtney Moses, so I enjoy the features on her and you guys really have something special.
As far as the IU game goes, while it never should have been that close and was a little embarrassing even though we won, I will defend the score a little. I sat almost court-side for that game and witnessed the final seconds. When it was in-bounded, Jeremiah tipped the ball and thus the clock should have started then. It did not and, instead, started when the Ferris State player caught the ball. With 1.4 seconds, there was the tip, the catch, the dribble, the spin, and the shot. To the naked eye, I thought he had made it in time. But it is my understanding that they may have seen the Jeremiah tip on the video and changed it (much as referees did in last years’ Butler-Xavier game). Like I said, it was embarrassingly close, but was a legitimate win. I’m not meaning to start a debate, but this is just what I saw at the game.
Thanks for visiting
My grandmother grew up near Swayzee, so I know that area well. I’m originally from Kokomo.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
by BoilerTMill on Nov 16, 2010 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
Change is Strange
Who would have thought in the 70’s and 80’s that an IU fan would come to a gathering of Purdue fans, to argue that his team “fairly” beat a Div III team in overtime (“a legitimate win”). Strange.
Stranger is the fact that Purdue won as many non-conference games last year, as IU had total wins in the past 2 years.
Lucky for IU, Ferris St is not in the Big Ten. Even I miss Uncle Bobby.
by Boilers2Indy on Nov 17, 2010 11:03 PM EST up reply actions
I think this season will be one big "Defend that Digger" for Purdue
Made the mistake of watching the College Basketball Preview on the Duece last night. Even Mrs. DG&B said “I don’t know why you do this to yourself, they’re only going to piss you off.” And cue Jay Bilas in 3, 2…. “Purdue is probably a top 20 team. They won’t compete for the Big Ten title and they won’t get past the Sweet Sixteen. They’re just not that good.” All I can say is that I look forward to a few more “upsets” over 12, 13 or 14 seeds.
In Wake’s defense, they are terrible. Picked to finish last in the conference, very little experience on the floor and a new coach with a worse record than the one they let go. Wake struggled last night with Hampton and made just enough plays to put it away but not before Hampton had chances to tie with less than a minute to go.
As for Tennessee, I look forward to the invasion of Volunteers screaming about how stupid we are, that it was only an exhibition game and how orange is the only color houses, cars or pets should ever be painted.
Lord, jager me strength.
by doublegoldandblack on Nov 16, 2010 12:37 PM EST reply actions
Tell me about it
I got a bunch of e-mails from SI promoting their college basketball preview. I am growing very weary of the same type of stuff: “A sweet 16 is possible, but there is no chance at a Final Four”
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
I’m sure the same thing was said about Butler last year. Obviously, Purdue doesn’t have a dominant team talent-wise, but they do have good players and 2 players that can carry them on any given night. Even with Hummel, we weren’t garanteed a Final Four spot. Yes…our chances were better because he makes us a better team…but basketball, like alot of other sports, is a game of match-ups. So..if Purdue gets the right bracket and gets favorable match-ups they are talented enough to compete against anybody in the nation. Thats all you want as a coach is the ability to compete. Purdue is capable of getting hot and playing good basketball at the end of the year (when it counts) just as Butler did last year. Let Painter and his staff do their job and we can just sit back and enjoy. BTFU!!!!!!!!!
by boilerball5 on Nov 17, 2010 10:13 AM EST up reply actions
for future editions
apparently Digger has picked Florida to win the national title, and despite their pounding at home tonight by Ohio State, he’s sticking with that prediction.
Unfortunately when Purdue beats MSU or OSU
the media will chalk it up to how poorly MSU and OSU played. And when some of the lower tier teams pull upsets it will expose the Big Ten as a weak conference. Yet, when this happens in the Big East or ACC it is a testament to how much talent and depth those conferences have. Bottom line the media likes NBA type scores and will never admit that a game won 65 to 60 may be because the Big Ten plays defense.
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