Four wins gives Boilers
title
By Andrew Hershberger
Assistant
Sports Editor
Purdue is only four wins away from the Big Ten
title.
That’s how the men are going to have to look
at things if they have any hope of hanging with their conference brethren
at Conseco Fieldhouse starting Thursday. The Big Ten is wide open this
year — four-way champions Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State and Illinois
each have five conference losses — so no one is untouchable.
The Boilermakers are capable of bringing their
game together. Look no farther than Saturday’s 92-57 whipping of
Penn State. Their offense clicked on all cylinders. All five starters
scored in double digits and they shot 54 percent from the field, including
an impressive 8-of-15 from beyond the 3-point line. Their defense was
in top form, holding the Nittany Lions to just 40 percent shooting,
forcing a season-high 24 turnovers and stealing the ball a season-high
13 times.
I can almost hear you through the paper, "yeah,
yeah, but that was Penn State. Whooping on the last-place team isn’t
that big of a deal."
Indeed, Penn State isn't exactly Ohio State, a
team the Boilermakers haven't had much success against. Then again,
Purdue has beaten good teams in the past.
That’s probably what has been the most frustrating
thing about the Purdue team this season: one game they tear the stuffing
out of one of the top 10 teams in the country (see Illinois Jan. 9.
We won 84-75) and the next game they get shellacked by an inferior team
on their home court (see Minnesota Jan. 12. We lost 87-71 with essentially
the same lineup). Then there are games like Saturday, where they put
everything together, but it just happens to be the worst team in the
conference they beat.
So here’s how the men will win the Big Ten
Championship: they have to execute with resolve and urgency, the kind
they apparently felt against Penn State. For the most part it's self-evident
because there is urgency — lose in Indy, and their season (or career)
is over.
Purdue especially needs to feel that sense of urgency
on the defensive end. Dead last in the Big Ten in team defense, the
Boilermakers should look to their offensive strengths to help them out
on defense.
Coach Keady is right to yell at his team when they
stand on the perimeter, firing threes: a good team penetrates and draws
the foul, or dishes out to spread the defense when the fouls stop coming.
It’s simple basketball strategy: players with
three or four fouls probably aren’t going to be as aggressive on
either end of the court, making it easier to execute the game plan,
whatever that might be.
Purdue did this excellently against Penn State,
getting 36 free throw attempts and converting on 30 of them. Penn State’s
three best players — Jan Jagla, Brandon Watkins and Sharif Chambliss
— had four, four and three fouls respectively at the end of the
game. Watkins and Chambliss still scored in double figures, but were
a combined 10 of 25 from the floor and had nine turnovers between them.
Jagla was 1 of 2 from the field for 2 points, a rebound and five turnovers.
In wins earlier in the year, this formula also
held true. Against Illinois, the Boilers went to the line 46 times,
hitting 35. Frank Williams and Brian Cook nearly fouled out; Robert
Archibald and Sean Harrington did.
Against Iowa Jan. 26, Purdue got to the line 26
times, while Iowa only got nine attempts. Purdue won the game, 73-68.
If guys like Willie Deane, Rodney Smith and John
Allison can get to the line nine or 10 times a game, it means their
defenders won’t be on the floor very long. It means more offensive
options, allowing everyone on the team to move the ball more freely.
It means the opposition won't be willing to attack as much on offense,
lest they pick up a clumsy charging call. It also means — gasp
— Purdue will be well on their way to winning the Big Ten Championship.
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