cthomas

The best thing about West Lafayette is driving out of it. Seriously!

Our women must win. Double dose of Boiler tears this weekend. Tastes like fine wine.

I would really hate to lose Gunn. I think he can be a tremendous player going forward. I understand that every kid worth his salt believes he is better than the guy playing ahead of him. The shock of being the go to guy in high school to being down the depth chart in college has to be jarring. However, patience and commitment are usually rewarded but hard to learn. Regardless of all that, as much as I like CJ, he needs to be where he is happy.

You mean on the year?

Will be fascinating to see how it plays out. I'm not convinced that Edey will be on TJD in the first place. Purdue has size available with Furst and Kaufman to kind of mix and match. Painter is no dummy so I'm sure he has a plan. Hopefully, we have a better one.

To me, the biggest risk for Purdue would be allowing us open threes off rotation break downs from doubling TJD. Defending straight up makes it more of a grind it out in the paint type of game which I think favors them. And draining threes ignite the crowd way more than anything else.

I'm not sure they do, especially early. TJD has not had great success against Edey and we have been inconsistent at best from three. I think they test the waters straight up just to see what we can do. I would let TJD and Thompson have anything they wanted out on the floor. For our part we better have UNC level pressure on their guards. If not, this game is already over.

If I was a little younger, I'd take on that task. Are there any perks or 'benefits'? Asking for a friend.

CMW talks constantly about being aggressive on defense. That our identity is defense first. Maybe being so up front about it has caused officials to anticipate that we will foul more often.

Would that be to the knee?

Saturday should tell us a lot about how good they are. Will definitely be the toughest environment they will play in all season.

Everyone knows that Saturday will be the biggest game of the year. I worry about the teams focus on the games on each side of it. Lose tonight because of focus and we could be staring at another three game losing streak. Hope we can be all in tonight, take care of business, and then take down the Boilers. Maturity test straight ahead.

I don't like crows. They give me the creeps. So I try to avoid saying things that might land them on my plate. I am always more pleased by the things I don't post, but think, than anything that is posted.

For that to work, Edey has to go out on the floor with him. More than likely Purdue will be happy to let TJD have whatever he wants away from the basket. I think Painter is too smart to challenge him away from the bucket.

Maybe the others aren't doing more because they don't have to. They have several kids we wanted so they can't be too bad. Defending the giant has to start with stifling pressure on the guards. Allowing them to just throw the ball in to him unimpeded is a losing proposition.

CMW has COVID and they have a depleted roster. What the hell is going on? I just want to get a win and get out of there without someone getting injured from falling off their stupid elevated floor.

To hear anyone from MSU complaining about physical play is beyond ludicrous. That from a program that used football pads in practice to emphasize physical play. It's fine to play that way but not fine to whine about it when it comes back at you.

At some point that will be a good thing.

At this point, I think he is a high risk to move on to the NBA. It's not just potential anymore, he is demonstrating his ability. He has the measureables also. Enjoy him while he is here.

I like what we are doing with the portal. Trying to compete with the top programs for high school kids is never going to work out in sufficient numbers for us to be competitive. Our best bet is getting good players looking for a fresh start.

The IU women keep getting better and better. I remember when Purdue was the women's team in Indiana. Not anymore. Building a dynasty here with a national championship sure to come.

With NIL, the line between the two is becoming very blurry. As an NBA coach, Woodson was equal parts coach and talent manager. He is learning. CMW knows basketball at every level. At the end of the day, success or failure often comes down to the talent needed to play a particular way.

I have thought this all along but have been reluctant to state it in front of the mob. He has a vision for IU basketball and it is an NBA style offense. He doesn't have the players to make it work the way he wants, but he can't stray from the style if he hopes to get the guys he needs. The top kids care most about the style of play. Listen to their interviews and that's what you will hear. IU can't run a play based or motion style offense and attract the kids CMW wants. A free flowing read and react style is what great high school kids are looking for. And their best chance to get to the next level. If he can get the guys he needs, CMW can be great at IU. If not, there will be another coaching search.

They are getting too many open looks from 3.

I hadn't really thought about that as a contributing factor, but it may be. This sport has turned into something that I barely recognize.