2009-10 Big Ten basketball

[PurdueSTL]

Pretty good weekend for the Big Ten:

Purdue demonstrates they belong among the nation's elite (so far) by going into Tuscaloosa, enduring an absolutlely euphoric atmosphere with the Mark Ingram Heisman announcement, and storming back from a 16-point second half deficit to take down a very athletic Alabama team;

That Bama team lost to Cornell. I'm not saying it's not good to win away but don't get carried away with the level of competition.

That Bama team also took down Michigan..... Purdue caught them at the absolute worst time (for Purdue)...the arena was electric because of the Heisman hoopla, and they were sky-high in the first half.

Alabama is very young and obviously very erratic, but I have no problems at all in matching the quality of that Purdue win up against any other Big Ten road win so far this year....the SEC as a whole (save for Kentucky) is probably a bit down this year, but I won't be suprised to see Alabama make a lot of noise in that conference.

[phins]

To be fair, Michigan has kind of sucked thus far this year. A road win over a "name" team with a good crowd is always a nice win though.

It becomes a better in in my eyes because of how they handled adversity. Once Alabama jumped on them, they kind of made Purdue look what people perceive as "Big Ten-ish" and that was what was impressive to me. They made adjustments, and showed they were clearly the better team, even in their house with that atmosphere.

[slide_into_first]

Bo Ryan is the best coach in Amurrica

[Richie Allen]

Bo Ryan is the best coach in Amurrica

Coaches with the best winning percentage in Big Ten games with at least 5 years in the league.

1. Bo Ryan
2. Bob Knight
3. Tom Izzo

[PurdueSTL]

My Boilermakers finally display a pulse with a gutsy win in Champaign.

Welcome back to relevance, Jajuan Johnson...

Welcome to the big stage, Johnny Hart!

Welcome to the starting PG job, Kelsey Barlow!

[phins]

Bo Ryan is the best coach in Amurrica

Coaches with the best winning percentage in Big Ten games with at least 5 years in the league.

1. Bo Ryan
2. Bob Knight
3. Tom Izzo

That's impressive right there...

[Faceman]

My Boilermakers finally display a pulse with a gutsy win in Champaign.

Welcome back to relevance, Jajuan Johnson...

Welcome to the big stage, Johnny Hart!

Welcome to the starting PG job, Kelsey Barlow!

Your Boilermakers have the best talent in the Big 10. It was only a matter of time before they started clicking. They looked pretty good in the 2nd half. Of course, Illinois' defense is terrible, so that helps, but still, I look for big things from PU down the road.

[ghostrunner]

IU beat Minnesota the other day. And the fans stormed the court. Normally that'd mean a facepalm, but the Big Ten record is already better than last year. Actually, it's still facepalm worthy.

[PurdueSTL]

My Boilermakers finally display a pulse with a gutsy win in Champaign.

Welcome back to relevance, Jajuan Johnson...

Welcome to the big stage, Johnny Hart!

Welcome to the starting PG job, Kelsey Barlow!

Your Boilermakers have the best talent in the Big 10. It was only a matter of time before they started clicking. They looked pretty good in the 2nd half. Of course, Illinois' defense is terrible, so that helps, but still, I look for big things from PU down the road.

- Purdue's perimeter shooting has wavered between passable and awful most of the year;
- Johnson is too often foul-prone, and there's nothing in the way of quality size to spell him on the bench when he gets into trouble;
- No Lewis Jackson severely hurts Purdue's ability to break down/beat defenders off the dribble to create easy looks; and
- Purdue has too often been dominated on the boards....

Other than this, I totally agree with you

As an Illinois native, I relish ANY Purdue win in Champaign, and it was VERY heartening to see freshmen like Barlow and Hart step up and contribute--Barlow especially, because of his ability to take his man to the hoop...

I'd like to think this team now realizes the level of effort it will need every time out if Purdue is to deliver on its huge potential.

[phins]

IU beat Minnesota the other day. And the fans stormed the court. Normally that'd mean a facepalm, but the Big Ten record is already better than last year. Actually, it's still facepalm worthy.

Double facepalm for that.