If you're like me, you're not big on the idea of spending money to watch internet broadcasts...The image quality is not-so-great, the audio is equally bad and the production quality is flat-out horrible. So, when given the opportunity to watch Purdue play Iowa State at 10:30 pm, Indiana time for a mere $7.95, I passed. Then once again Sunday at 8:00 versus Missouri State, I chose against it again. So, what did I miss?
I missed watching Purdue allowing ISU's power forward to take over the game which propelled the Cyclones to a sizable lead...then the Baby Boilers narrowed the gap just to lose 83-80.
Versus Missouri State, Keaton Grant and Tarrance Crump didn't play...Painter didn't say why, but he did say that nothing illegal took place. I'm guessing it was a curfew violation...especially since Purdue was playing in Las Vegas. The sad thing is those two guys are the players that I'd expect to be goofing around and breaking rules; after all, the precedent is there.
Hummel continues to play well, but seems to have become a bit of a scorer. Kramer played well too, but, an interesting stat I just read is that no single Purdue player has scored 20 pts. or had 10 reb. in a game this year. I guess it's a good thing that they're spreading around the wealth, but it also would seem that there's not one offensive leader...something this team seems to desperately need.
Just as I said back when Purdue barely beat Lipscomb a while back, this year is going to be a long year. While I'm excited about what this team might be with a season-or-two under its belt, I'm pretty sure now that the '07-'08 campaign is going to be a rocky one. I do think my Boilers will beat a team, or two, that they're not supposed to, but they're going to lose a whole bunch of games during the conference schedule. They have yet to show that they can beat anybody on the road...and at home, even Painter says they simply lack focus. Hopefully, this work in progress will come together quicker than I foresee...but it would take a whole bunch of growing up in the next few weeks for that to occur.
After beating Florida Int'l., here's how I see the Big Ten schedule unfolding...
| Jan. 5, 2008 | Michigan | W | ||
| Jan. 8, 2008 | at Michigan State | L | ||
| Jan. 12, 2008 | Ohio State | L | ||
| Jan. 16, 2008 | at Iowa | L | ||
| Jan. 19, 2008 | Illinois | W | ||
| Jan. 23, 2008 | at Penn State | W | ||
| Jan. 26, 2008 | Wisconsin | L | ||
| Jan. 30, 2008 | Iowa | W | ||
| Feb. 2, 2008 | at Illinois | L | ||
| Feb. 5, 2008 | Penn State | W | ||
| Feb. 9, 2008 | at Wisconsin | L | ||
| Feb. 12, 2008 | Michigan State | L | ||
| Feb. 16, 2008 | at Northwestern | W | ||
| Feb. 19, 2008 | at Indiana | L | ||
| Feb. 27, 2008 | Minnesota | W | ||
| Mar. 1, 2008 | Northwestern | W | ||
| Mar. 4, 2008 | at Ohio State | L | ||
| Mar. 9, 2008 | at Michigan | W | ||
Honestly, if the season goes this way, I wouldn't see it as that bad of a year...Purdue would have three conference road wins and would probably make the NIT...but I'm not big on saying next year's our year, and neither is Matt Painter. But, this year clearly is not our year.