Kolek planning to go pro
Got up and started jacking threes (blue pill:)..). That’s when Purdue went on their run.
They were good looks, but Chase should've followed Kolek in because he would've been able to throw down a monster dunk. That possession was a killer.
Purdue got lucky. We were clearly the better team for 35 minutes, then they escaped. Really handled Edey well. He got numbers, but considering what a mismatch he was, we did fine. Kolek's rebounding has really helped mitigate the loss of Justin Lewis. Maybe he's not healthy yet, but Wrightsil looks out of his depth. Kam and Jop have an explosive, DJO/Jae kind of vibe. They could be a special scoring combo. We need to find ways to finish, but if we do we can compete for this league in a down Big East. Oso gave me a lot of hope tonight. Did fine defending Edey, and Point Oso was a clear success.20+ wins & NCAA tourney is clearly the expectation.
TAMUI do know, Newsie is right on you knowing ball.
The back to back open corner missed 3s by Ross followed up by a Purdue 3 from the corner was the turning point.
“Joplin will finish with 21 points” would have been the most unbelievable thing you could have told me at halftime
Yeah, on defense it was like Jop and Kam were on skates. Hope they gradually improve on that end. But they did combine for 15 rebounds, so that's really good, and we obviously need their offense.
Not to look ahead to Monday, but Mississippi State will be our toughest test of the early season.They have a 10 man rotation, 8 of which are Seniors. Big football-player looking team with a bunch of guys playing above the rim. They clearly have a good weights program.They play a slower tempo but do press from time to time. Their 2 best players are their front court duo of Tolu Smith and DJ Jeffries that combine for nearly 30 a night.An old physical team will be a huge challenge. I think both Marquette and Mississippi State are the 2 best teams in this 4 team tournament. Tough matchup for the Golden Eagles.
Tip of the hat to the little pipsqueak on Purdue's roster. Edey needed a wingman and he came up in a big way. Some of those shots were garbage but he managed to flush them anyway.
I don't know about Purdue getting "lucky" -- I mean, they hit their 3s down the stretch and we didn't, and they played good D most of the night -- but otherwise I agree with all of your points.A couple more:++ Purdue actually got back into the game and took the lead while Edey sat on the bench. It was their small lineup, which let them switch more effectively against our pick-and-roll and other stuff we were trying to do, that beat us down the stretch.[b/]++ Not sure about the criticism Kolek has received from some. (Not you, obviously.) I thought he played his arse off, ran the offense damn well (1 TO and 11 assists in 39 minutes), made a few tough driving shots, and scrapped for rebounds to help us actually win the board battle against a team with a 7-4 center. He was credited with 0 offensive rebounds but I can remember at least 3 he kept alive that others got as we had 15 (!!!) offensive boards (to 6 for Purdue). He went 0-for-4 from 3 and that hurt, but I have no other problems with his game tonight. If every MU player had done his job as effectively as TK did his, we'd have won going away.++ As tower said, gotta make wide-open 3s. We missed a bunch of them. ++ All in all, I'm encouraged. Narrow road loss in a very tough environment against a good (not great, but good), well-coached team -- one with a 7-4 center, some shotmakers and good defenders. My expectations have not been reduced at all after this one.++ Oso short-armed one late (obviously worried that Edey would block another) that we really needed, and he missed a couple other push shots, but I was really impressed with his all-around game. I can see why Shaka was so high on him handling the basketball. ++ Need more from O-Max. It's not realistic to expect him to be a star, but we need more than that.++ Got a total of 2 pts and 2 rebs from the 4 guys new to the team this season. There won't be any odes to Ross, Jones, Gold and Wrightsil after this one. (Doesn't mean some or all of them won't be real good players for us down the line.)
Pretty sure he played all 20 in the second half and he played fine. Kam has some really questionable early in the shot clock 26 footers. Love Kam, but he's a better shooter in the rhythm of a possession than just launch a 26 footer Markus Howard styel.
If by “little pipsqueak” you mean Braden Smith, the guy was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball last year. It’s not like Matt Painter threw Cam Marrotta in there.
I thought Shaka went with OMAX too long late in n the game. He eventually went back to Jop….but 3 minutes too late.
Exactly, Purdue didn't get "lucky". We were actually doing better with Edey in the game MU's interior D made him work hard and he looked exhausted. Painter is a hell of a coach so he adjusted, went small and ran with us, they made a run and kept it within reach. Edey came back to the game fresh and our interior D was not as quick. MU missing open 3's on final stretch, two factors, rushing 3's plus tired legs. We would be extremely better if Kolek could hit 3's at least at 30%. Kolek needs D's to really worry about him from deep.
Sounds like it’ll be tougher than facing Edey