Game Thread: OU vs. Purdue

[blackandgold]

Here is a game story from the Lafayette paper: www.jconline.com/article/20101122/SPORTS02010201/11220327/Purdue-s-depth-too-much-for-Oakland

Only one anecdote from the Oakland side:

Oakland coach Greg Kampe thought Moore was the difference-maker.

"I have to give that kid all the credit in the world," Kampe said. "He played an unbelievable game. Without him, they could have been in trouble.

"Benson and JaJuan Johnson kind of canceled each other out. It's tough when you have a chance to come into a place like this and can't get it done."

Interested to know what people think about the Benson/Johnson match tonight who saw the game beyond looking at a box score. I'm not sure it was a canceling out, even though Benson had a pretty good second half. I was just bummed about his positioning, as the guards tried to get him the ball but it wasn't in prime position, and as soon as Benson had to put the ball on the ground, there were (what seemed like) four guards collapsing on him from below and Johnson from above. It sucks having that target this season, not going to lie. I still think Benson is doing his best to rise above, but his teammates need to get him the ball quicker in my mind. He had positioning several times on the block but didn't get a pass or didn't get a good pass.

There are also videos of Johnson/Moore and then Matt Painter at the post-game press conference here:

www.purduesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/112110aaa.html

[nate]

Ok well now that I am over a frustrating yet well played OU loss, I will give my thoughts after the game.
-The guard play was solid through the first half.
-The turnovers and lack of perimeter defense killed us once again. Teams shoot out of their mind against us, because the perimeter defense is invisible.
-Ledrick deserved more playing time, because he hustles and doesn't give up on the play. I'm not the greatest Ledrick supporter from the standpoint that he has some errant shots, lack of shot consistency, and becomes tunnel visioned with the ball. But his hustle and never give up attitude is the best on the team.
-Kito needs to get the ball faster and quicker. By the time he gets the ball in the 2nd half, the game's pace has already been set.
-Will picked up slack and really showed how valuable he can be in Summit League play.
-Bader showed yet again how a year of redshirt really helped.
-Reggie looked similar to the Reggie of UMKC.
-Ilija....enough said.
-I am happy that the game was in reach the entire game, but I am disappointed that we couldn't finally pull out a much needed win from a confidence perspective. I think this will help boosts the team confidence, but a win would have really helped.
-Purdue is a great team that has a depth and it really showed near the end of the game. We really need to either play Corey or bring Maynard back, in my opinion. We lack that extra big body and I think it could hurt us later in the season.

[blackandgold]

With the quick game turnaround, I wanted to get up a post on my trip to Purdue prior to "moving on" to thinking solely about Wright State. For anyone interested, as always, here is a link:

grizzliesgameplan.blogspot.com/2010/11/on-road-boiler-country.html

[dantheman]

I feel everyone is drinking the cool-aid a bit after this loss.
Yes, I believe they played decent versus a great team, expecting a split with Tennessee, MSU and Illinois is setting the bar far too high. Yes, I believe we should be able to play with anyone, but to expect is a bit much. Don't know a ton about Tenn (other that than the fact that Pearl runs a very dirty program) but I do know that Illinois is scary good. Much better than I thought. I really feel that this MSU team might be Izzo's best.

That said, this game will pay huge dividends. The crowd was tremendous there, and the pressure was unbelievable. Seriously. We may not see pressure like that again all year. The refs let ALOT go off the ball and I think it will toughen us up. I was really happy with Reggie Hamilton and Travis Bader. More than the things that show up on a box score, Reggie was able to get through a few times and made some things happen. Bader continues to look incredibly comfortable in there. I was a little disappointed with how overwhelmed Valentine looked in his stint. He literally looked scared out there. Hope to see some improvement in the coming games, even in limited minutes. I think he might have had 2 dribbles before passing the ball off.

Could not agree more that Mackey is an incredible place to see a game in terms of sightlines. Very solid.

[exodus1500]

Nov 23, 2010 11:01:45 GMT -5 dantheman said:

I feel everyone is drinking the cool-aid a bit after this loss.
Yes, I believe they played decent versus a great team, expecting a split with Tennessee, MSU and Illinois is setting the bar far too high. Yes, I believe we should be able to play with anyone, but to expect is a bit much. Don't know a ton about Tenn (other that than the fact that Pearl runs a very dirty program) but I do know that Illinois is scary good. Much better than I thought. I really feel that this MSU team might be Izzo's best.

I am not sure that people are expecting a win out of those three games, but like I said, It gives me hope we can possibly win one. I am expecting a win over UofM.

[dantheman]

As am I. That is the one exception. This is the year we really should beat Michigan if we are to make the case that we should be taken seriously