The forces of good tipped off the 2010/11 season with great fanfare and jubilation against a guy named Howard at Mackey this evening. Sure, everyone was excited to see the BT Champs banner unveiled...but the fans were really stoked to know both J & Boilerdowd from the greatest site in all of the land were in attendance...and no one left disappointed.
Heightening the excitement -- at least for nerds like us -- was the unveiling of the gold uniforms for the first time in over four years.
Handsomeness abounded in the stands. But, the BS Handsome Duo was clearly overshadowed by Matty's Handsome pair -- JJ & Smooge. Johnson didn't score a ton of points, but his line was impressive: 10 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks...in 24 minutes. Had he played close to a full game, an odd triple double might have happened. His fellow senior teammate made noise with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 turnovers in 26 minutes. His stat line was solid, but his finish after Kelsey Barlow's steal in the early second half was monstrous.
Moments later, Barlow finished his own break by dunking over a half-assed Bison attempt to stop Purdue from scoring. Those were Barlow's only points, but what he didn't have in the box score, he made up by frustrating the opponent. Chris Kramer was widely hated because he frustrated opposing players with his stifling defense...Barlow will most-definitely be one of the most hated players in the league, not just because of his trash talking, but also because he simply antagonizes the opposing team. Hopefully Matty can channel this in a somewhat positive manner, or 12 will make his team pay with a tech or two during the season.
With around 13 minutes left in the game, Painter clearly made a decision that the day was pretty much done for Purdue's biggest two weapons, but Hart and Byrd thought it was their job to continue to pour it on after the seniors had yielded the floor. At around the 6:00 mark, Hart and Byrd began alternating three pointers. Five minutes later, the 15 point barrage was over...but the game was over well before the clock was close to 0:00. Both finished with 12 points and had nearly-identical stat lines in around 15 minutes of play each.
Terone Johnson impressed once again by scoring 9 points, with 3 assists, a steal and a block. Purdue's 11 man rotation was impressive as the depth came in waves and simply squashed the undermanned, poorly-shooting Bison from Howard. Marcius played solidly, but has the look of an enforcer who will eventually be as good of a basketball player as he is an intimidator. Travis Carroll played a similar role- he finished with 2 points, a block, four fouls and 8 rebounds in 15 minutes. I'm not sure if any one of the trio of Bade, Carroll and Marcius will scare opposing coaches this season, but collectively, they might be the perfect compliment for JJ. Where JJ is amazingly-athletic, agile and quick, the Three-Headed Center is strong, methodical and frustrating. I'm sure Matty will continue to develop his squad's depth whenever he has the opportunity...and there should be plenty of that during the month of November.
Next up, Alcorn State visits Mackey in three days.
Oh, one more thing, Boiler faithful -- a ton of people left the game early tonight. That's not really surprising to us because, as you know, we can't stand the softness of Purdue's general fanbase. It's pretty embarrassing...but sadly predictable. BUT, we expect a lot from the Paint Crew...and were pretty disappointed with the amount of students who left with minutes yet to be played. Hopefully this doesn't become the norm for the best student section in the nation.