Illini Tale of the Tape: Purdue vs. Illinois, Part I (January 19, 2010)

It’s been a busy day, so today’s Illini Tale of the Tape will be just the first half of the Purdue-Illinois game from January 19th (sorry that’s as far as I got in film review this morning).

I will have the second half of this game on Writing Illini tomorrow, and then have the Illinois road game at Northwestern up on Saturday.

Thanks for the patience.

Where I Was for This Game: Coaching my eighth grade team, though I did get home in time to see the end of the first half and the entire second half.

What I Remember from This Game:

● Illinois getting lit up by some unfamiliar Boilermaker named John Hart (didn’t he used to be the General Manager of the Cleveland Indians?).

● Hart was such an unknown that the Purdue coaching staff forget to include him in the scorebook, which resulted in a rare technical against the Boilermakers late in the first half.

What Surprised Me/Stood Out Upon A Second Viewing:

● Forgot that Purdue got off to such a bad start in the Big Ten season. The Boilermakers had lost three straight games in the conference (against Wisconsin, Ohio State and Northwestern). I remember watching Purdue dismantle West Virginia on New Year’s Day and thought that this team was a legitimate Final Four contender. The Boilermakers still would be, that’s until star junior Robbie Hummel went down with a season-ending knee injury.

● Once this previous point was jostled back into my memory, I remember being very nervous about this game, specifically thinking that it would be highly unlikely that a team like Purdue (which had been in the top-5 weeks ago) would lose 4 straight in the Big Ten.

● Purdue hadn’t lost more than three in a row since Painter’s first season in 2006. The Boilermakers lost 5 straight games at one point in the 2005-2006 season. Since Painter’s first season, Purdue has been in the NCAA Tournament every year.

● Didn’t realize that Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter benched seniors Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant for this game. Apparently the apple doesn’t fall away from the coaching tree, as Painter’s mentor and fellow Purdue disciple Bruce Weber had also been tinkering with the Illini starting lineup early in the season. For this game, Weber would start the same five that began against Michigan State, Penn State, Indiana and Iowa, with Demetri McCamey and D.J. Richardson at the guard spots, Bill Cole and Mike Davis taking the forward positions, and Mike Tisdale manning the center.  As for Kramer and Grant, they would both enter the game at 16:35 of the first half, getting Ryne Smith and Kelsey Barlow.

Ok.

Let’s do this thing.

#15 Purdue Boilermakers (14-3, 2-3) vs. Illinois Fighting Illini (12-6, 4-1)

Announcers: Dave O’Brien and Steve Lavin.

Lavin starts the telecast saying that Purdue’s three-game losing streak can be attributed to three things: poor containment of the dribble (sounds similar to the Illini), lack of bench production (that wouldn’t be the case in this game) and a recent slump for center JaJuan Johnson.

For reference’s sake, here is the new Purdue starting lineup:

G Ryne Smith (Sophomore), G E’Twaun Moore (Junior), Kelsey Barlow (Freshman), Robbie Hummel (Junior), JaJuan Johnson (Junior); Head Coach Matt Painter.

● Demetri McCamey: The freshman Barlow blows by McCamey on the first Purdue possession, going from the top of the key to the right block and banking in a layup for a 2-0 Boilermaker lead. Misses a tough pop back at 18:44, early in the possession. Nice ball movement early, as he hits Davis off the curl for an open jumper that is missed, and then leads the break that eventually leads to a Tisdale jumper at 18:10. Gets blown by again by Barlow, who hits a tough shot in the lane and is fouled. Barlow misses the free throw (the foul was on a helping Cole) and Purdue leads 6-4. McCamey makes up for his defensive deficiency with an aggressive drive at 17:43, hitting a difficult teardrop in the lane to tie the game at 6. Looked like nothing was going to stop him there.

Poor execution at 14:30. After Grant misses a three and Tisdale kicks the rebound to him, McCamey tried to hit the ball ahead; an Illini player was open on the other end, but McCamey made a one-handed pass that had little velocity and was easily stolen by Purdue. Playing a bit too fast as he has the ball knocked from behind and out of bounds at 14:15. Misses a quick three from the top of the key at 13 minutes. Was fading there. Gets burned by Barlow but strips the ball away at 12:26.

Gets a brief rest out of the under-12 and returns at 10:23 for Jordan. Misses a long three at the top of the key at 10:10, but Davis gets another offensive rebound. Can’t control the ball on the break after a Cole steal of Johnson. McCamey fumbles it away back to Purdue at 9:41. Great offensive follow at 8:27, as McCamey throws down a tough Richardson miss with the shot clock down. Great job of attacking the offensive glass and a tremendous burst of athleticism from the slimmer McCamey, who wouldn’t have been able to make that play when he was a huskier sophomore. Illinois leads 18-14 as Johnson immediately travels after McCamey’s tip in.

Gets a left-handed layup at 7:17 to roll in and put Illinois up 20-14. Poor spacing on that play as Richardson went baseline and McCamey cut down. I’m surprised Illinois was able to get that pass through, but the Illini did. A bit careless with the dribble at 6:52 as Grant pokes the ball away from him but fouls on the scramble. Nice back cut and bounce pass to Davis for a dunk at 6:27; Illinois leads 22-14. Gets called for a carry at 6:03 as Painter inserts John Hart afterwards. After a Jordan offensive board, McCamey turns the ball over on a drive; however, he catches a break as he appears to foul Moore, who loses the ball. Illinois comes up with it and McCamey is fouled on a layup attempt at 4:01. McCamey hits both free throws to put Illinois up 26-18.

Hits a difficult runner in the lane at 2 minutes to put Illinois up 28-22. Nice attack of the rim at 1:10, getting fouled on a dunk attempt off a loop pass from Jordan. McCamey misses both free throws though. Gets to shoot two more free throws, as a result of a technical against Purdue, which did not list John Hart in the official scorebook. McCamey hits both free throws to make it 30-26 ILL. Illinois then responds, as McCamey makes a great diagonal pass to Davis for an easy layup. Great court vision there. Illinois’ 32-26 lead is cut to four when Moore hits a runner over McCamey near the end of the half.

● D.J. Richardson: Nice curl in the lane and assist on a Tisdale bucket at 19:08. Was under control there. Great closeout on a miss by Moore with 17:20 to go.

Great hustle for a loose ball at 11:42, as Richardson is knocked to the floor by Purdue’s Matt Bade amidst the scramble. That foul leads to the under-16.

Misses a curl three out of the under-12. Good look from the top of key, and a nice square up. The shot simply didn’t go down. Rushes a baseline three at 10:23, shortly after a Davis offensive board. That was a quick shot, a catch and fire sort of play.

Goes baseline and somehow comes up with an assist on a McCamey layup with 7:17 to go. Poor spacing by the Illini there, as Richardson and McCamey were nearly on top of each other. Illinois will take it nonetheless.

Back in for Jordan at 2:41 and misses a rushed/forced layup off an Illinois inbounds play. Misses a dunk at 1:35 off an aggressive baseline drive. Got caught in-between there – should he dunk or lay it in? Tough break. Richardson can’t come up with a defensive board at 1:21 but then forces a Moore turnover.

● Bill Cole: Turns the ball over on the first possession, trying to force a backdoor bounce pass to Richardson. Purdue easily deflected that pass and then made a great save to take over possession of the ball. Nice recovery at 18:15. After Hummel missed a spinning layup against him, Davis stayed on the glass and blocked Johnson from behind, thus beginning an Illini break. Assists on a Tisdale jumper on that break. Buries an open jumper off the curl to make it 8-6 Illinois with 17:12 to go in the half. Great job of squaring up and shooting there by Cole, who has been known to pass up on some open shots in the past. Great shooting rhythm and off-the-ball movement there. Briefly loses Hummel on an out-of-bounds play at 17 minutes, and is a second late on the closeout as Hummel buries a corner shot to tie the game at 8. Very nice curl and pass on next possession, though Davis misses another open jumper.

Great double and steal of Johnson at 9:41. Good help there for Davis, who was matched up against Johnson for the first time in the game. Does a great job of recovering after McCamey fumbles the ball on the break, taking a charge against Barlow on the Purdue break. Good position defense on the posting Hummel at 9 minutes; unfortunately, Hummel goes through Cole, who had his arms straight up and gets called for the foul. Hummel hits both free throws to make it 16-14 in favor of Illinois.

● Mike Davis: Good activity at 18:44, as Davis crashes the boards and tips at a McCamey miss. Davis misses and then the ball is batted over the top of the backboard, where it gets lodged between the shot clock and backboard. Illinois retains possession. Misses an open baseline jumper at 18:32 after McCamey made a great bounce pass off the curl. Active early with 2 defensive rebounds and an offensive board. Misses another baseline jumper at 16:40, with the play set up off a nice curl and dish from Cole. Illinois gets lucky on the break as Ryne Smith misses an open three – Illinois struggled to find Smith there.

Back in at 14:15, replacing Tisdale. Nice offensive rebound of a Paul miss at 12:10 will lead to a Keller two seconds later. Hasn’t scored yet but is doing a good job on the boards – has at least 5-6 rebounds in the first 8 minutes.

More good work on the offensive glass, securing a rebound off a missed Richardson three at 11:22 and ensuring an extended possession. Another offensive board at 10:27, after Tisdale misses a half hook. Is then fouled after Richardson misses a three seconds later. Pulls in a long offensive board after McCamey missed a three at 10:08. Spectacular activity from Davis, who may not be scoring but is still contributing in other areas of the game. Turns the ball over at 9:57 as he drove middle and tried to hit Griffey on a bounce pass; the problem was the Illini freshman had cut to the basket just before the pass. Misses a half hook in the lane at 7:55 – good, controlled move off the bounce, just can’t get the ball to go into the ocean right now.

Allows penetration to the slower D.J. Byrd at 6:57 but does a good job of recovering and knocking the ball out of bounds off Byrd. Finally sees the ball go through the hoop as McCamey sets him up for a baseline dunk at 6:22 and a 22-14 Illinois lead. Unable to come up with the defensive rebound after a Hummel miss at 5:40; Purdue will eventually turn the ball over (that’s 3 straight possessions with a turnover for the Boilermakers).  Badly air balls a half-hook on the right baseline at 4:08. Rushed that shot and was bothered by contact. Commits an over-the-back foul at 3:38, leading to the under-4. Johnson will miss the front end of the one and one out of the television timeout.

Gets an easy lay in with about 30 seconds left when McCamey finds him under the basket. A great delivery by McCamey from the top of the key as Illinois leads 32-26.

● Mike Tisdale: Wins the tip. Already matches the number of shots (1) and points (2) that he had against Michigan State when he hits a baseline hook at 19:08 to tie the game at 2. Good patience on the baseline there from Tisdale, who has traditionally matched up well against Purdue. Just as I write that, Tisdale plays terrible defense on the other end, fronting Johnson way too passively and allowing an easy post entry for a two-hand slam and 4-2 Purdue lead.  Nice job of running the secondary break and filling the middle at 18:10, stepping into and hitting a free-throw-line jumper to tie the game at 4. Johnson hits a tough half hook to the baseline at 16 minutes to tie the game at 10. Tisdale’s defense was alright; Johnson simply gave him a great ball fake to the middle before going baseline.

Misses a half hook at 14:46. Had the same move earlier in the possession but wasn’t ready or quick enough to shoot. The shot clock was down there, and Tisdale seemed a bit rushed and bothered by Johnson, who was playing physical with a forearm to the back.

Misses a baseline jumper at 10:58. Good move there – dribbled to the middle and then reverse pivoted to the baseline. Just didn’t hit the shot. Both teams get on the floor for the rebound, with a tie up ensuing and the possession arrow in favor of Purdue. Misses another half hook, this time on the right baseline, at 10:27. Getting more post touches than usual, and usually hits these shots.

Picks up a bad foul at 7:37, following Moore on a hedge at the top of the key. That’s only Tisdale’s first. Moore follows up by missing a quick jumper. Loses the ball in the post on a step-through at 5:08. Had to work hard for that move, and was bothered again by contact. Probably got away with a travel there as he took a very long step. Purdue gets on the break after the play and Johnson is fouled by McCamey on a layup attempt. Johnson hits both free throws to cut the Illinois lead to 22-16 with 5:04 to go. Illinois is unable to clear the defensive boards at 4:32, and Tisdale fouls Johnson on a put back attempt. That’s two on Tisdale. Johnson hits both free throws to make it 24-18 Illinois.

● Jeff Jordan: In at 14:15 for D.J. Richardson. Makes an aggressive drive and draws a shooting foul at 14:02. Makes one of two free throws to make it 11-10 Illinois. Good active hands nearly leads to a steal at half court at 11:50. Great job of hitting the floor for the loose ball.

A bit slow to recover on Barlow at 10:46, as the Boilermaker freshman gets baseline and hits a tough banker over the outstretched hands of Tisdale, who was about a half second late there. Illinois leads 16-12.

Back in at 5 minutes. Great back cut and layup at 4:40 puts Illinois up 24-16. Nice offensive rebound off a Davis air ball at 4:08.

Throws a nice loop pass at 1:10 to McCamey, who is fouled on the play.

● Brandon Paul: In for Cole at 16:35. Aggressively attacks the basket on his first possession of the game, getting into the lane and throwing a wild banker off the glass for a 10-8 ILL lead. It looked like Paul traveled there, and he was definitely out of control on that play, but the struggling freshman will certainly take any basket that he can get these days.

Good weak side help defense at 13:51 as he deflects an over-the-top pass intended for Johnson. Davis was fronting too high, but Paul was there to deflect it to the Illini. Follows up by getting out and filling the lane, hitting a transition three for a 14-10 Illinois lead at 13:35. Great shot selection there and a good job of stepping into the shot. Playing with confidence early as he skies and rips down a rebound after another missed three by Purdue with 13:17 to go. Misses a slashing layup off a good cut at 12:11 – got to finish that one. Was a bit too fast off the nice pass from McCamey.

Misses a curl jumper off the inbounds play out of the under-8. Misses the jumper but follows up with an offensive rebound. He is fouled on the put-back attempt. Paul misses both free throws though. Has the ball knocked out of bounds on an aggressive drive at 4:18. Follows up by missing a curl jumper off the inbound – the ball is lodged between the rim and backboard. The possession arrow stays with Illinois.

Misses a long three at 3:07, as Illinois’ offense was going nowhere and Jordan overdribbled and got caught up in the air (which he often does). Hummel gets the long rebound and leads the break, hitting Johnson on an alley-oop slam for a 26-22 game. Misses a wild floater at 2:43; rushed shot there. McCamey’s initial entry pass was nearly stolen as Purdue is picking up its defense. Allows penetration to John Hart, who hits a difficult banker at 50 seconds to cut the Illini lead to 28-26. Ten seconds later, the horn goes off as McCamey is dribbling the ball. Turns out that Hart was not listed in the scorebook, which results in a technical against Purdue. Some coach forgot to do that, and assuredly is going to hear about that from Painter, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday. Paul misses a 75-foot heave at the halftime buzzer.

● Dominique Keller: In for Davis at 16:35 of first half. With the shot clock running down, Keller is a bit out of control as he drives the lane and picks up charge at 15:34, leading to the under-16 timeout. Kramer was guarding Keller on that play and was grimacing there. Apparently, he had a bad ankle coming into this game. Hits a soft one-handed half hook in the lane at 12:03 to put Illinois up 16-10.

In at 4:32, getting Tisdale, who now has two fouls. Gets matched up with Moore at 3:48 and is blown by, allowing a layup. Illinois now leads 26-20 as Moore has finally gotten on the board and Purdue has scored for the first time in about 7 minutes. Misses an open three on the other end, and Davis is called for an over-the-back foul at 3:38.

Picks up a needless reaching foul behind the three-point line against the shooting deficient Kramer. Purdue is in the bonus, and Kramer hits both free throws to make it 28-24 ILL. Kramer looked like Karl Malone on the first free throw, taking his precious time.

● Tyler Griffey: In for the first time at 10:23, getting Tisdale. Misses a tough leaner at 9:12. That shot went in and out; a nice job of cutting to the hoop there as Richardson found Griffey with a difficult pass. Nearly comes up with an offensive rebound at 7:53 after a Davis miss. Griffey looked like he was raked across the arms on the rebound attempt. No foul is called, but Purdue steps out of bounds during the scramble, leading to the under 8.

● Bruce Weber: The game is tied at 10 at the under-16. Illinois has looked great on offense, moving incredibly well off the ball. Credit Weber for getting Tisdale and Davis looks early – Tisdale is 2-for-2, Davis 0-for-3. Got to get these guys involved. Defensively, the Illini aren’t anything special, as McCamey has allowed too much penetration and there have been a few minor breakdowns. With that said, Illinois with much better energy than it displayed in the second half in the previous game against Michigan State, with Cole off to a nice start and McCamey doing a strong job of running the point.

Illinois leads 16-10 at the under-12. The Illini are on a 6-0 run as Paul has provided some nice energy off the bench. The Illini picked it up defensively on the last possession before the under-12, with Jordan nearly stealing the ball at half court and Richardson then drawing a foul on a loose ball. One thing that is bothersome: Purdue is getting a lot of penetration and open looks from three. Thankfully, the Boilermakers have gone cold, missing 7 straight shots, 5 of which had to be from downtown. Illinois needs to improve its ball containment, and McCamey could do a better job of being a little more controlled on offense, though I like his interest in this game.

Up 18-14 at the under-8. You get the feeling Illinois should be up 10-12 points in this game as the Illini are the more active team and doing a great job on the boards. Unfortunately, Illinois has missed some good looks, actually missing six straight before a McCamey tip in. Purdue is hardly filling it up on the other end, going 5 minutes without a basket until a Barlow banker at 10:37. Purdue’s only other points in this segment came on two Hummel free throws. Got to love Illinois’ activity (especially Davis on the offensive boards) thus far, but also feel nervous that this game is only a 4-point advantage. Illinois is only shooting 32%; Purdue 33%. The Boilermakers are 0-for-6 from three while Illinois is 1-for-5. Illinois does have 8 bench points compared to 0 for Purdue.

Out of the under-8, Painter is seen screaming at his Purdue players. According to Erin Andrews, Painter is not happy with his team’s lack of urgency. Moore and Hummel have been quiet, and Johnson hasn’t gotten enough looks. In the next four minutes, Purdue doesn’t look any different, failing to score until the 3:48 mark when Moore banks in a layup. That basket ends a seven-minute Purdue scoring drought; give credit to the Illinois defense and Purdue missing some open shots. Illinois leads 26-20 at the under-4, though this game feels like it should be bigger. Illinois hasn’t exactly been tearing it up offensively. To be honest, though, Illinois is getting some good interior looks and not making them. Purdue has started to hit its offensive boards, and has stayed in the game at the free throw line.

Illinois leads 32-28 at the break. The Illini catch a bit of a break and some momentum with the Purdue technical for not having Hart in the book. Illinois gets four points out of that possession, but Moore responds with a banker. Purdue seemed to wake up in the last four minutes there. Painter says at halftime that Illinois played harder than Purdue; he’s right, but the Illini only lead by four points. Illinois’ inability to shoot at a higher percentage from the field is the difference between a bigger lead at the break and what appears to be a more tenuous margin.

Coming tomorrow: the second half of Purdue at Illinois.

Thanks again for your patience.

Until then.