Needed a blue pill......

[Boone]

Beating the Xmas rush. Not idiotic to note he's criminally undersized for his position and underskilled.

[StillWarriors]

Got up and started jacking threes (blue pill:)..). That's when Purdue went on their run.

The back to back open corner missed 3s by Ross followed up by a Purdue 3 from the corner was the turning point.

[TVDirector]

Ran out of gas. 
Great effort, no complaints. 
If anyone told me MU would be up most of the game and pretty late at that under these circumstances, I'd have chuckled at best. 
Smell it- taste how close- learn and move on. 
This team has promise. 

[StillWarriors]

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.

100%

[MU82]

• 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.

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.

++ 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.)

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

We massively outrebounded a good rebounding team.

Our best scorers are our worst defenders. For all their scoring, Jop and Kam had multiple blown assignments leading to open threes for Purdue.

Can you imagine a half when Joplin and Jones get hot at the same time?

We will not see anyone like Edey again this season. Sanogo is probably the closest and Edey has 6-7 inches on him. His presence alone alters shots at the rim.

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.

Freshmen (and new to D1 transfer) looked a little shell-shocked this game. First college road games will do that to you.

For all our crowing about having a deeper roster, Shaka played 6 guys 21+ minutes, 1 guy 10 minutes, and 3 guys 5 minutes or less. Purdue had 10 guys play double digit minutes. They were fresher down the stretch and it showed.

Lots of open looks, none of them falling. I don't think that will continue all season. In their last game Purdue went 2-19 from three. A game later they are 9-27. Bad shooting nights happen.

I love what Oso has become. I was head over heels when he moved the Mountain and scored in the second half.

This loss will look good by the end of the season. Historically, Painter's teams improve as the season go on. Purdue isn't winning the Big 10 this season but they'll finish somewhere in the realm of a 5-10 seed. Road wins against tourney teams are never easy. We looked like we belonged.

[MU82]

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.

[Billy Hoyle]

The back to back open corner missed 3s by Ross followed up by a Purdue 3 from the corner was the turning point.

Yep. Right after we had three possessions thanks to offensive rebounds. That's when the run started.

Showed great heart that last 90 seconds.

[GoldenEagles03]

"Joplin will finish with 21 points" would have been the most unbelievable thing you could have told me at halftime

and Marquette will lose...

Even crazier

[DoctorV]

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.

Yup.
Jop led the team in rebounding, but I'm not sure how, and Kam was tied for second with 6 along with TyKo.

Can't harp on any of those guys for the defensive effort and rebounding today.

[GoldenEagles03]

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.

[DoctorV]

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.

Sounds like it'll be tougher than facing Edey

[tower912]

MU lost their first road game of the year to a team that rarely loses at home.   Next.

[Silent Verbal]

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.

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. 

[Newsdreams]

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.)

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.

[Newsdreams]

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.

Nice to bring Howard in the conversation. Kam can do whatever he wants, Shaka loves him, too bad he is a chucker. Joplin will write a letter and transfer, book it.

[We R Final Four]

I thought Shaka went with OMAX too long late in n the game. He eventually went back to Jop....but 3 minutes too late.

[tower912]

Jop was on fire from the field.  The only one who was.   And he was rebounding.  He flat out blew several defensive assignments and looked gassed.

So, again, Shaka told us. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

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.

Did i saw anything suggesting that? Pipsqueak is a reference to his height, he's 5'10.

[MuggsyB]

I thought Shaka went with OMAX too long late in n the game. He eventually went back to Jop....but 3 minutes too late.

I mentioned that Jopliin should have gotten back into the game sooner in the game thread.  What really worries me is that for the most part this was a game where we got quality shots and we rebounded about as well as possible. Against physical defensive teams on the perimeter we could be in a world of hurt.  It's not like we played Houston or really a great defensive team.  Personally I think Purdue is very average regardless that Mackey is a tough place to win.  They'll improve during the year but I honestly don't expect much from them this season.

And as far as this "we're a defensive team" narrative the fact is Purdue pretty much scored on every possession down the stretch.  Our press did not generate turnovers at all outside the very beginning of the game. I like that we got the tempo sped up but pressing late hurt us multiple times.  We need a balance. 

[tower912]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xuOVfUSfwY

Shaka's thoughts.

[BallBoy]

Both Kam and Joplin need to figure out how to play the whole game. Kam played the 1st half and then took the second half off comparably. Joplin took the first half off but then went to work in the second half.

Kam scored 16 of his 19 in 1st half
Joplin scored his 21 in the second half. Too much hot or cold.

[Dr. Blackheart]

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.

What you and others are saying about the switch to small ball with the Big Guy on the bench. He returned right when Purdue was shooting free throws to go up and then it was Edey time.

MU has lost 8 in a row now away from MKE. Lost three of the four factors (except OR%, who would have thought it?), but end of the day, you usually need to win eFG% on the road. In a low tempo game, you can't just forget your offense and force up shots and that was what happened in the last 5-6 minutes.

I look forward to Florida to get off the snide. I am happy with the effort but as I said preseason, it's gonna be uneven in the wins and loses until the bench catches up. COLE

[dgies9156]

Team looked decent for the bulk of the game. I was impressed that they stayed as close as they did.

Nonetheless, champions win games like this. A very winnable contest that we surrendered largely due to inexperience. Things will improve.

Shaka is an incredible class act and I hope he is here and successful for years to come.

[GoldenEagles03]

Sounds like it'll be tougher than facing Edey

I think Mississippi State is better than Purdue. Neutral court vs. Road court. Could be the difference.