2011/12 Observation Deck

[Burgz]

Some Purdue players got in a bar altercation last night. DJ Byrd got a PI and is suspended for at least the Michigan State game. Kelsey Barlow's kicked off the team. **** me.

let's gooooooooo

but that sucks for boilermaker fans, with Hummel's nagging injuries and now this it's hard for their recruiting process enough already, not to mention IU's recent resurgence

but if they were foolish enough to get into a bar fight then it should beg the question whether or not you would want them on your team

[InspiredLebowski]

let's gooooooooo

but that sucks for boilermaker fans, with Hummel's nagging injuries and now this it's hard for their recruiting process enough already, not to mention IU's recent resurgence

but if they were foolish enough to get into a bar fight then it should beg the question whether or not you would want them on your team

No one really knows what happened. Barlow got "asked to leave" the bar and did. A while later Byrd and couple other guys (including Hummel) went back to the bar because Barlow left his wallet apparently, the bouncers told them to leave. Byrd was drunk and tussled with a bouncer or something. A state cop apparently rolled by at the right time, perfect storm scenario. Byrd got released after like 4 hours, he couldn't have been THAT drunk. Barlow's a weirdo, it was only a matter of time for him really.

[Burgz]

No one really knows what happened. Barlow got "asked to leave" the bar and did. A while later Byrd and couple other guys (including Hummel) went back to the bar because Barlow left his wallet apparently, the bouncers told them to leave. Byrd was drunk and tussled with a bouncer or something. A state cop apparently rolled by at the right time, perfect storm scenario. Byrd got released after like 4 hours, he couldn't have been THAT drunk. Barlow's a weirdo, it was only a matter of time for him really.

damn. a lot of coaches would probably say "you shouldn't have put yourself in that situation" in this case

losing Barlow hurts though, that's an athletic wing gone just like that

Purdue's got two 4star recruits coming in next year they always do a good job of grabbing home grown talent. I think they just need a couple of good years strung together injury free to draw some out of state recruits. This'll just be a bump in the road

speaking of Indiana state recruits, Spartans grabbed Gary Harris. Rated 5 star, not sure if he is worth the billing from the highlights i've seen, got any dirt on him?

[InspiredLebowski]

I'm not worried about Painter's recruiting. It's better than Keady's has ever been. The classes post Hummel/Johnson/Moore weren't great, but next year's got 3 top 100 guys and another that's hovering right around 100, and 2013's already got 3 more 4 stars (for now, Bryson Scott may end up a 5, Basil Smotherman'll drop I assume). That's better than Keady ever did in consecutive years.

It sucks not getting the big top 15 type guy, but Painter's been on plenty of them super early, he was Derek Willis's (UK 2012) first offer, was on Branden Dawson since like 8th grade. Purdue's just not "sexy" and has that no Final Fours since 1980 stigma still. People forget Painter's still only 41 and one of the top, I don't know, dozen or so coaches in the country. That whole flirtation with Mizzou thing over the summer got him and his staff raises (which the assistants REALLY needed, they've lost good recruiters because they got better pay elsewhere), a BIG recruiting budget bump (Painter was paying for rental cars out of his own ****ing pocket), and they just spent 100+ million on Mackey renovations and new facilities. They were way behind the times in what it takes to be a top tier program, now there's no excuses.

Anyway, Harris is absolutely worthy of being a top 12ish recruit. He's far and away the best 2 in his class and is a quality kid from a quality family. He's a coach's dream. Both his parents went to Purdue, Purdue and IU and obviously State were his final 3 and neck and neck. Obviously missing on him really hurt. Dawson was supposed to be a strong Purdue lean until Izzo swooped in, him and Harris would've been outstanding in West Lafayette.

[Burgz]

I'm not worried about Painter's recruiting. It's better than Keady's has ever been. The classes post Hummel/Johnson/Moore weren't great, but next year's got 3 top 100 guys and another that's hovering right around 100, and 2013's already got 3 more 4 stars (for now, Bryson Scott may end up a 5, Basil Smotherman'll drop I assume). That's better than Keady ever did in consecutive years.

It sucks not getting the big top 15 type guy, but Painter's been on plenty of them super early, he was Derek Willis's (UK 2012) first offer, was on Branden Dawson since like 8th grade. Purdue's just not "sexy" and has that no Final Fours since 1980 stigma still. People forget Painter's still only 41 and one of the top, I don't know, dozen or so coaches in the country. That whole flirtation with Mizzou thing over the summer got him and his staff raises (which the assistants REALLY needed, they've lost good recruiters because they got better pay elsewhere), a BIG recruiting budget bump (Painter was paying for rental cars out of his own ****ing pocket), and they just spent 100+ million on Mackey renovations and new facilities. They were way behind the times in what it takes to be a top tier program, now there's no excuses.

Anyway, Harris is absolutely worthy of being a top 12ish recruit. He's far and away the best 2 in his class and is a quality kid from a quality family. He's a coach's dream. Both his parents went to Purdue, Purdue and IU and obviously State were his final 3 and neck and neck. Obviously missing on him really hurt. Dawson was supposed to be a strong Purdue lean until Izzo swooped in, him and Harris would've been outstanding in West Lafayette.

I think AJ Hammons may be a big boost for the program too. Not sure if he's 100% last time i checked he wasn't. They need to wrap him up, not sure how sure his verbal is but his conditioning is red flag from the get go, other than that a solid 7 footer will always be a boost to to ANY program

I like the talent coming out of Indiana right now as a whole though.

[InspiredLebowski]

Yeah, Hammons is definitely going to help, Purdue's bigs this year are absolutely pathetic, there's been maybe 6 entry passes all year because they just can't do anything with the ball on the block. Far as I know he's good to go and while he's still not Chris Kramer in the play hard department he's come a long way this year at Oak Hill and has talked about coming to Purdue because the staff'll push him hard and he wants that, so he knows he needs to work harder. Talk's cheap, but that's a good sign.

State's obviously in great shape. Dawson sticks around for a 3rd year and Harris a 2nd and they get Jabari Parker that's a 30+ win team easy and probably a title favorite.

[Maniak]

What games are worth watching today?

[Burgz]

What games are worth watching today?

Ohio State v Michigan is a big one tonight

Minnesota at Northwestern is going on right now, it's actually a pretty good matchup

[Dolphin]

I'm scared to get too excited about this team because it usually leads to a great let down in the tournament lol, but I gotta say I was never this high on the Spartans teams that went to the final four 2 and 3 years ago.

Green. Just amazing. Dawson? Wow. Thornton has shot great recently. Hopefully him and Woods can both be shooting well at the same time come the post-season. Same goes for Nix and Payne. Again we see one play well while the other doesn't do much.

I liked seeing Appling towards the end drive and make some baskets. That will be important in the tournament when a game is tight and the offense breaks down. He will need to go Kalin Lucas (ala vs Kansas and Lousville a few years back) at times.

The defense and rebounding was very good as per usual.

[Burgz]

I'm scared to get too excited about this team because it usually leads to a great let down in the tournament lol, but I gotta say I was never this high on the Spartans teams that went to the final four 2 and 3 years ago.

Green. Just amazing. Dawson? Wow. Thornton has shot great recently. Hopefully him and Woods can both be shooting well at the same time come the post-season. Same goes for Nix and Payne. Again we see one play well while the other doesn't do much.

I liked seeing Appling towards the end drive and make some baskets. That will be important in the tournament when a game is tight and the offense breaks down. He will need to go Kalin Lucas (ala vs Kansas and Lousville a few years back) at times.

The defense and rebounding was very good as per usual.

Appling came in last year as a scorer but he's made a great transition to a pass first pg. however i think he's gone to extreme in that regard, he needs to start looking for his own shot

Dawson is absolute raw athleticism. He has nice touch around the basket but has absolutely nothing outside of 8-10 feet (not uncommon for freshman). He's a three year guy i think, Izzo is gonna turn him into a defensive beast as long as he stays

Draymond Green, i cant sing enough praises about him. He has such a competitive spirit, it's unparalleled in the conference.

Hummel brought the goods early but he couldnt find his stroke from downtown. If a couple of those went down the result may have swayed the other way

The difference was the second half definitely, MSU defense was in elite form. Dawson got some great PT and showed he could produce on both sides of the ball. tough loss for the boilermakers

[Balla_Status]

Watche my first Aggie game yesterday. What a terrible season we've had. Thought we were going to pull off the upset.

[irondarts]

Interesting breakdown from the Duke-BC game.

[C-A-T-S]

A win is a win but I felt like Duke just went through the motions, we have a huge game coming up Thursday, I hope it was just the after State comeback hangover and pre FSU game syndrome.

[Burgz]

Interesting breakdown from the Duke-BC game.

[InspiredLebowski]

Nova's stomping UConn right now