Demons Exercised
by BoilerTMill on Feb 13, 2011 3:59 PM EST
in Men's Basketball
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PrintLast year was all about a typo in an open thread. Someone mentioned that we were excersizing (sic) demons all over the Big Ten. It became a running game to warm up imaginary treadmills everytime another demon went down. Wins in Bloomington, East Lansing, Columbus, and our first regular season conference title in 14 years were all examples of that.
This year we have new demons that have been a little harder to slay. We hadn't beaten a top 50 team on the road (though Valparaiso moved to 49 in the latest RPI), and we hadn't won a game after trailing at halftime. That said, we can warm up the treadmill again.
This game was a sweet, sweet win where Purdue took control and owned the second half like they did for much of last year. For the first time we displayed a killer instinct we have been lacking. That culminated in E`Twaun Moore turning into The Assassin we have needed him to be. With 1:02 left and the Fighting Illini desperate for a stop down six, Moore worked the clock down and absolutely buried an 18-footer that was so demoralizing for the home crowd all you could hear in the arena was the ball going through the net.
People started gathering their coats and heading for the exits at that point. Smooge had ended the game with 14 second half points to announce that he is indeed still one of the best in the Big Ten. In person, it was a sweet shot to watch as I was right on line with the basket and the small Purdue contingent to my right going nuts after he splashed it.
Positives from the first Illinois game:
The Illinois athletic department - Once again, a big thank you goes out to Joe Kutsunis, Hail to the Orange, and the Illinois athletic department for today's credential. A great job all around.
JaJuan Johnson - JJ turned Mike Tisdale into a defensive liability and only Mike Davis had a prayer of stopping him. It is amazing to see up close how much abuse JJ takes when he goes to the basket. He had a few bad rolls early, but he delivered probably the dunk of his career in the second half with his 18 foot driving one-handed dunk with malicious prejudice. JJ played like a man today. Like a Big Ten Player of the Year.
Lewis Jackson - Coach Painter focused on LewJack's decision making now. He thinks that it finally matches his quickness, and it is really showing on the court with his recent games. 10 points and five boards makes him an offensive threat for the rest of the season.
Terone Johnson and Kelsey Barlow - Coach Painter lauded them for their defense, but offensively they were effective as well. Barlow was rebounding like a man possessed. I knew he had that type of effort in him and if he continues to do it he will be a huge asset. Few people can match his first step on the drive too. As for TJ, the two threes he hit were probably the biggest shots of his career so far. He is turning a corner at the right time of season. Both of these guys were fighters that gave us second chance points too. Their 18 points seemed bigger because almost every basket was a big basket that either gave us or continued our momentum. TJ's second three was the last time Illinois had it within one possession. We would lead by at least four the rest of the way.
D.J. Byrd and Ryne Smith - These two are examples of not how much you score, but when you score. They combined for three devastating three-pointers that killed Illinois runs. Ryno had multiple good looks but missed. I am fine with him shooting those after that earlier stretch this year. As for D.J., it appears he is a little banged up with a hip pointer, but he seems to hit at least one big shot per game. Do I hear a nickname of Big Shot Byrd in his future?
Rebounding - We outrebounded a bigger team on their home floor 28-11 in the second half. Read that line again. Folks, that is all about positioning, effort, and (in reality) very poor shooting by Illinois. This was your difference in the game, as we executed team rebounding. GDB absolutely needs to board like that the rest of the year. In fact, EVERYONE needs to rebound like that the rest of the year. We finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds, often tough ones in traffic too. Byrd had three offensive boards before he got hurt.
E`Twaun Moore - I had to save the best for last, but Smooge finally gave us the performance we were expecting. He's not all the way back yet, but he drove with the intent to get to the line and picked his shots better. Smooge has to be that guy wanting to take the dagger shot like he was today.
Negatives from the first Illinois game
Turnovers - We had 12, but most of these had to be in the first half, therefore it is a minor negative. When you score 81 on the road against an NCAA Tournament caliber team there is little to worry about.
Bruce Webber - I think he really botched this game. Brandon Paul was working early, but he only went to Tisdale on the low block once. It resulted in a basket and a foul very late, but you would think he would have tried this earlier when it was obvious we weren't going to play Patrick Bade and Sandi Marcius anymore.
Demetri McCamey - Did he play today? I'm not sure.
The Orange Krush - Taunting Robbie Hummel is weak sauce. So is sitting down at timeouts.
Up next:
Finally, we have a good road win, so now it is time to lock up a good NCAA Tournament seed by defending our home court. We have no chance of winning the Big Ten unless we take the next two against Wisconsin and Ohio State. Wisconsin is important because we need to finish ahead of them in the Big Ten in order to get a protected seed in Chicago. Ohio State is important because it could get us back in the Big Ten race. If we get both I have a hard time seeing us getting worse than a three seed.
There are demons to exercise here too. Keaton Nankivil is a beast at Mackey Arena while Jordan Taylor is playing fantastic basketball. Jared Sullinger is a huge demon that dominates like no other. We have confidence now. Let's keep it going.
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Webber on offensive rebounds
“They just took it to us. there is always one point of the game where they turn it up and they did that. We did a good job on JaJuan in the first half, but the second half he got in a rhythm. When guys like (Terone) Johnson and (Ryne) Smith hit big shots they are hard to stop.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
1-0 in when T-Mill is credentialed
and 1-0 when i nearly neuter myself.
lets hope we can get t-mill credentialed more often because its less painful.
Only ones I Have confirmed for the rest of the year is Big Ten Tourney
Was 1-1 there last year. 1-0 at Mackey last year too.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
when smooge made the 3 to put us up 37-36
i tried a sweeping fist pump and brought it in too close. my fist met my cherries and i met the floor for a couple of minutes.
by HawkeyeBoiler on Feb 13, 2011 4:36 PM EST up reply actions
Just to check, perhaps the timing is important too
Like when Purdue gets their first lead in a while. Wouldn’t want you hurting yourself for no reason.
by Beavis Beefcake on Feb 13, 2011 4:44 PM EST up reply actions
its a running joke around here.
poor word choice and bad grammar amuse us.
by HawkeyeBoiler on Feb 13, 2011 4:35 PM EST up reply actions
As do images of demons wearing leg warmers and headbands
Sweatin’ to, of course, some of the worst music ever.
by Beavis Beefcake on Feb 13, 2011 4:45 PM EST up reply actions
First thing,
great win for you guys this afternoon. A well played 2nd half. Good luck against those dastardly Badger-demoncizers this week.
"I'm not a psychopath, Anderson, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research." - Sherlock Holmes
Negatives:
John Hart – Missing two WIDE OPEN looks late in the first half. Come on, man.
Positives:
The dribble drive is finally coming together.
Great response on this from Painter
He talked about open looks int he presser and he was like, “I can’t really scream at them and say ‘hit it’”.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
If I'm John Hart
I’m spending lots of time getting my jump shot back.
Ignoring the missed shots, his defense was excellent.
Hart
The guy looked great at the beginning of the season. He looks really bad since coming back from his injury. Don’t know if his injury is bothering him or if he just got thrown out of his groove. Earlier in the season he would nailed those two open looks.
by Frank Drebin on Feb 13, 2011 7:39 PM EST up reply actions
and to think....
those could have been partially contested 14-footers.
Hoosier by birth, Boilermaker by the grace of God
by sea.of.white on Feb 13, 2011 11:13 PM EST up reply actions
nice to see us close out a game
McCamey looked really lost out there.
Go Boilers- take out the Badgers!
by GreenBayBoilermaker on Feb 13, 2011 5:33 PM EST reply actions
Taunting Hummel
What exactly did they say? I remember last year when we gave MSU a whoopin’ at the Bres the Izzone was chanting “Brokeback Hummel” at him. It’s so classless.
by Jackson Brunner on Feb 13, 2011 5:56 PM EST reply actions
Orange Krush
They really mocked Rob’s injuries?
That’s bad karma man.
Be a Hero. Be a Legend. Be a Boilermaker.
I wouldn't sweat it
In the first half, when we literally could not hit the broad side of the barn, the Orange Krush could not manage to put together the “air ball” chant. Rhythm was totally off. Kinda pathetic.
So yeah, mocking an injured player must have looked pretty good after messing that up
Hoosier by birth, Boilermaker by the grace of God
by sea.of.white on Feb 13, 2011 10:44 PM EST up reply actions
The biggest Negative
Was watching the Boilers flop against the full court press. They couldn’t adjust and turned it over about 4 times- should have been one or two more at that.
The only reason it didn’t hurt us- was because Illinois was so totally messed up offensively at that point- that they couldn’t capitalize.
I hope Painter works on this- because I am sure that other teams will have noticed…
they might
(and probably should) but they aren’t typically a good pressing team. We did look like we had never ever seen anything like it
by GreenBayBoilermaker on Feb 13, 2011 6:10 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
ug...
When they finally swung the ball around and broke the press – resulting in an open dunk – it was like… huh? Ball movement? Who would have thought that would work better then cowering in the corner…?
I think they know what is on the agenda for practice tomorrow
Hoosier by birth, Boilermaker by the grace of God
by sea.of.white on Feb 13, 2011 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
Carroll
Anyone know why he got benched? Painter seems to show distinct favorites between the 3 big white dopes over the course of the season, but it doesn’t seem to be based on their on-court play. Maybe practice performance? I thought Carroll was playing well earlier, but he hasn’t seen the court in a while in place of Bade and the Croatian. To me, that’s a losing trade-off. Carroll at least shows me promise, the other two show me nothing.
agree
the substitution pattern seems strange. I think Carroll has shown the most of those 3 and I don’t think we can get by with a 4 guard line-up against good, big teams. I am disappointed that he is back on the bench. I don’t think he deserves to be based on how he did when he was playing. It must be practice.
4 game stretch
I was going to write this after the IU game but forgot to get around to do it. After the first Wisconsin game I was looking at the next 4 games and it made it somewhat similar to what a 4 game stretch would [probably] be for us come tournament time. IU being a first round game against marginal competition, Illinois being the pesky 2nd round game. Wisconsin (as of now) being a sweet 16 team and opponent, and Ohio State being a team that we would have to beat to make a magical run.
So far we’ve gotten to what we’ve been accustomed to the last couple of years. Now beating Wisconsin, whom “experts” will probably be clamoring for them as a 2 or 3 seed now, may not be as important because of the familiarity of the team. However it’s important to see if this team can put together a streak against good teams. Ohio State will be the beast of the streak. but we all know that.
I wish the Big Ten would schedule their games more like the Big East does since it gets you ready for the quick turnaround after games 1 and 3, however it hasn’t fazed big ten teams that badly… you still have to win the game.
To your call once more we rally...
by H Dot Jones on Feb 13, 2011 8:08 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
Didn't think of that.
Rec’d for thoughtfulness. Well done, good sir.
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boilermaker Blog
you're thinkin'.
To your call once more we rally....
by BoilerPaulie on Feb 14, 2011 7:20 AM EST up reply actions
Kinda feel bad for the Illini
not because we beat them in Champaign….. that was awesome.
I feel bad because McCamey, Tisdale and Cole managed to scratch together 16 points – 3 senior starters. Worse than that, is the total lack of leadership out of this trio. Reading Mike Davis’ comments…. wow. He has to be so pissed. Demetri has to be the disappointment of the Big Ten this year. Just totally non-existent. Tisdale at 7-1… had as many rebounds as 6-3 Ryne Smith. Yeah. And Cole…. Cole’s numbers made McCamey look good. Pretty sad for 3 seniors that should be tearing it up. Anyone think MSU and UofI would each be 6-6 in the Big Ten at this point?
On the other hand, the Illini have met their future. Brandon Paul lit us up. That’s all there was to it. He should have earned his starting spot tonight.
Hoosier by birth, Boilermaker by the grace of God
Oh! and Smooge....
10 of his 20 points were front the line. I can get used to that type of stat. If he’s taking 12 foul shots, then he’s playing aggressive and that’s when he’s effective. If we aren’t drawing fouls, then we’re settling for bad shots.
Hoosier by birth, Boilermaker by the grace of God
read the first paragraph again
Thanks for playing…
To your call once more we rally...
by H Dot Jones on Feb 14, 2011 12:09 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
haha
To your call once more we rally....
by BoilerPaulie on Feb 14, 2011 7:28 AM EST up reply actions
Rebounds
This team is such a better rebounding team compared to last year. I think we just exploited Illinios weaknesses, McCamey, their 40 min effort abilities and rebounds. I just wonder how this will translate to taller strong rebounding teams such as Duke
HUGE HUGE GAME
Maybe sdome of you don’t know just how important this game was, but I’ll give you my thoughtson why this is such a huge win.
1. Breaks 4 game losing streak away from Mackey
2. Even with E’Twuan’s limited minutes because of foul trouble, we dominated
3. 80+ points show we have a balanced offense
4. After tonight, I think Barlow is going to he NBA in 2 years. The man has superb talent i.e. speed with rebounding, going to he basket. Is he another Rodney?
5. Tonight’s win sets up up for a huge game Wednesday against Wisonsin. Big win Saturday are they going to have a let down? Home at Mackey…I love our chances.
6. A win would set us up for a nice revenge game against Ohio State… Maybe just maybe we pull out a win?
7. JJ …not much to say…he is unreal
8. E’Twuan goes about his business and pulls down 20 points in limited minutes. Love it
Barlow
I agree with a lot of what you said but I would probably disagree about Barlow. There is no denying the young man has a ton of athleticism but he is very one dimensional on offense. If he has any hope of going to the next level he is going to have to develop an outside shot. The problem I see is that the NBA has plenty of athletic guards who could keep Barlow in front of them so he would have to develop the ability to knock down shots to keep guys honest. If I’m defending Barlow I play off a good 5 feet and dare him to take jump shots. SImple scouting should tell you how to defend him. Hopefully he works in the off season to develop a shot because he could be a huge player for us in the next 2 years. The upside is there so hopefully you are right.
I'd have to agree with BoilersFan
While Barlow is very athletic, he’d need to develop a jump shot before he has a chance in the NBA. He definitely has the potential, he just needs to work on a couple things. His free throw shooting has improved dramatically since last year which shows us that he is working hard at it. I’d be thrilled to see him develop into phenomenal player.
I could not agree with you more everywhere else, though. We needed this win as much as Illinois did. We wanted it more, though. Yesterday’s game was very “assassin-like” for E’Twaun. I looked at the stats and saw that he had 20 points. I hope he’s getting back to his silent self.
All in all, this team looked a lot more like who they were at the beginning of the big ten season than they have the past two weeks. If they can keep this us, then that will be very good news for us.
by Danulas on Feb 14, 2011 9:57 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
about Wisconsin....
Ryne and Terone will have to step up huge…also Bade and Carroll against Nankovil and Brusuwitz (sp). I truly think that Terone can hang with Jordan Taylor. I also think that Purdue won’t get off to another slow start against Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin and Purdue are equally matched (surprise surprise). The only problem I see is Leuer going off, which he could.
To your call once more we rally...
by H Dot Jones on Feb 14, 2011 11:44 AM EST up reply actions
Biggest win of the year.
Great game by the boilers. If they could bring that 2nd half intensity to the first half of the game they’ll win it all. I hope this win gave the boilers a big confidence boost, and I’m hoping the next two games show the world how good these guys really are and how hard this team works.
Some points (mostly very good):
1) JJ – absolutely dominated. Dunk fest, with at least 3 really impressive slams, including a drive up the lane slam I don’t think I’ve seen him do all year. I think he realized no one could really guard him and just took advantage. Better hands. Still can’t believe he got blocked by Davis on that one shot. No one from Illinois could really get physical with him and that always helps.
2) Smooge – once again silently gets his 20 pts. Really good outside shooting early opened up his inside game, and he was able to drive to the basket several times.
3) LewJack – once again bringing a great game, controlling the offensive end. Made a lot of really good decisions, especially on transition. When the Illini got back on D during transitions, he didn’t force the ball, brought it back out.
4) Byrd – played very smart and very hard today. Really banged the glass when we needed it, didn’t make many mistakes with the ball on the offensive end. Hope the hip pointer doesn’t take him out. I can see him emerging as the leader of his class if he can stay healthy.
5) Barlow – one of the few guys who doesn’t seem to get tentative late in the game. Played a pretty solid game again, shooting very well.
6) Smith – good passing, good perimeter D, smart with the ball, saved a couple of TOs with his effort. Was guarding Tisdale at times and his fast hands kept Tisdale off the ball and unable to use his height. Had a couple of big shots from deep, and a nice layup and near-assist to Moore.
7) TJ – made a few good shots, developing some confidence from 3, and never seems to break down mentally. I think he’ll be very good in the coming years.
8) Marcius – nice to see him get into the game and take a shot, even if he missed.
Refs: Actually let both teams play, mostly good calls. Actually called a player for fouling on the steal when McCamey very obviously got all hand on his takeaway attempt. We will do better in games when the refs can properly officiate.
Rebounding: really improving, especially on the offensive end. Finally getting some second chances.
Size: Had a big problem with it last year, this year it really isn’t fazing us.
Some things I still didn’t entirely like to see:
- Calling TOs. Two quick TOs early in the game, the first when down 7-0 which isn’t all that bad, but given that we quickly got back into the game, probably the right decision. As a result, Smith got a 5-second because he didn’t want to waste a third TO. Then with 2:30 left in the game in the press, it’s like we forgot that we had 3 TOs left. Stupid to not use them.
I prefer to see coaches save TOs for late in the game, let the players play out of runs, and then only call them after they score, not after the other team scores. Keeps the focus on defensive intensity. Other than that, the coaching has been excellent. Once again Painter seems to be making good adjustments at half, never seemed out of the game.
- Inability to break the press. This is going to be a problem against a good pressing team. We tend to get tentative when teams break out the press. You need to attack the press.
- This group still seems to sort of die down the stretch (except for that late 18-footer from Smooge). Illinois squandered multiple opportunities to get back into it late. I don’t think it’s conditioning, but it’s like we’re playing Prevent or something, we start playing that slowed-down burn offense and I think it takes us out of our game.
One other thought about LewJack
Dude is averaging more than 10 ppg since the beginning of the year, and mind you in tougher games against Big Ten opponents. So yes, we have a third scorer. (And a fourth, and fifth, and sixth, and seventh…)
Handling Pressure
A negative in this game was not being able to handle full court pressure late at the end of the game. This is why a team like kentucky or tennessee (if they make it) scares me in the tournament. We made some poor passes late at the end of the game in the corner where we were trapped. If I was painter I would work on that in practice by having 6 defenders (not 5) and full court pressing for at least 30 min of practice.
Illini Crowd
I was at the game. A friend and I were inspired by the Wisconsin win and we jumped in a car and headed down, and we were not disappointed.
To anyone else that was there:
Who thought that the weakest big ten crowd they have seen in a while? They could not get up for anything, only when they had a dunk or some other high energy play that dead people would cheer for. And the people sitting around me had no idea what they were talking about when they were yelling for charges and other fouls.
This game made me proud to be a boilermaker fan, because at least our old fans know what is going on in the game.
I've been saying for several years now that Assembly Hall is overrated as a venue
and the Orange Krush are overrated as a student section. Now, I realize the years between Dee Brown/D-Will/Head and McCamey/Davis/Tisdale sucked, but come on…they weren’t that bad. Stand by your team.
"Hey Jay, what time is it?"
"9:30"
"AND IU STILL SUCKS!"
by Boiler Bandsman on Feb 14, 2011 8:35 PM EST up reply actions
mmmm
Don’t really think full-court pressure will be an issue. LewJack made a bonehead play on the traveling call, but I think he was expecting a foul. And I actually don’t think Illinois really played the final minutes very well except for the full-court pressure.
Come tourney time, I think LewJack and E-Twuan can handle any press. And Barlow will be a plus if he has his head in the game, hopefully, but we all know how that goes.
But, contrary to some, I just don’t see how Hart fits in. Even next year, as we will be getting Anthony Johnson. He played terrible defense, getting out of position regularly and fouling, and he’s not hitting his shot. Who are you going to sit to play him? TJ, Ryne or even Kelsey, since he is on the floor at times with LewJack now? I just don’t see it. And he makes us way too small playing any other position.
Too much mid-level talent
I think Matty is seeing all the mid-level talent on the bench as interchangeable parts. I’d be willing to bet he intentionally gives them all a stretch of games to see some PT to keep them from getting too discouraged, and hoping he’ll see a spark. However, he’s not seen enough from any of them to solidify a 6/7/8th-man position. I’d be curious to see how our top-10 rotation looks in playing time compared with other teams in the Big 10. It seems we have a lot more players coming off the bench in close games than any other team we face.
5 second call
Matty needs to have his players pay attention and appeal to the officials when the defender is overstepping the end line. I saw this a couple times during inbounds plays against the Illini, and this same thing happened in the OSU game where we had a 5-second call go against us.
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