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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Purdue vs. Ohio State Rd 2

PURDUE (6) Pts RB A Stls Fg% 3pt% FT%
PG Chad Austin 17.0 3.6 3.1 1.2 0.416 0.359 0.768
G Kenny Lowe 10.1 2.4 1.7 0.8 0.442 0.398 0.863
F Cuonzo Martin 13.1 3.8 2.0 0.6 0.472 0.451 0.777
F Carl Landry 17.4 7.1 1.2 1.0 0.602 0.232 0.714
C Brad Miller 12.0   6.7   2.5   2.0   0.572 0.259 0.754
B: G Willie Deane 14.4 3.6 2.4 1.4 0.426 0.355 0.763
F Robbie Hummel 11.9 6.1 2.6 1.2 0.489 0.464 0.882
F Brian Cardinal 12.0 5.7 2.1 2.0 0.461 0.365 0.761

Austin: Strong guard that was the go-to guy on this team.  Liked to post up his man and could blow by him.  His clutch basket at the buzzer to beat IU in Bloomington has immortalized him.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1997, 1998
Lowe: This was a guy whose first two years were spent just being the fifth man on the floor.  His last two years were plagued by injuries but he somehow single handedly carried them his senior year.  Pretty much erased other team's best player as a defender.  Honors: Defensive Player of the Year 2003, 2004
Martin: This is a 6'6" guy with no real position.  He played center when Glenn Robinson was on the team and after he left he moved to "scorer".  His senior year averaged over 18 a game and became the Big Ten's all time leading 3 point shooter.  He's a nice compliment to Austin.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1995
Landry: JUCO transfer whose time in W. Laf may best be remembered as being one of two players who could actually play.  Averaged 19 a game and was a heck of a rebounder.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2007
Miller: A much better NBA player than college.  Skills include great passing, good shooting, and was pretty careful with the ball.  However he was not a game changer, something this Purdue squad needs to advance far in the tournament.  
Bench: Willie Deane led the Big Ten in scoring his senior year.  When he was hot, he was HOT but when he wasn't he did little to affect the game in other areas.  Robbie Hummel was a 1st team all-conf as a freshman and fills up the stat sheet.  Brian Cardinal or "the janitor" is the hustle machine.

Strengths: FT shooting, 3pt shooting, defense 
Purdue has no individual who can really take over instead having several guys who have "moments" therefore relying on intense defense to force turnovers and create fast break opportunities.  Cuonzo Martin is a career 45% shooter from 3 and everyone else save Landry will venture out there as well.  No weaknesses on the line so save your fouls.

Weaknesses: Lack of dominating scorer, depth
No Big Dog on this team so points may be hard to come by.  If Martin is double teamed will Austin be able to create enough opportunities to keep Purdue in the game?  Hummel is a solid player but you don't really want to rely on him for big minutes.  Cardinal is a solid player but in crunch time he can take some maddening shots.

OHIO STATE (3) Pts RB A Stls Fg% 3pt% FT%
G Scoonie Penn 15.4 3.8 4.0 2.1 0.415 0.345 0.754
G Michael Redd 19.6 6.2 2.5 1.6 0.447 0.318 0.648
G Ron Lewis 13.2 4.1 2.0 0.9 0.418 0.330 0.796
C Terence Dials 11.9 6.6 0.7 0.7 0.558 0.000 0.648
C Greg Oden 15.7   9.6   0.7   0.6   0.616 0.000 0.628
B: G Mike Conley 11.3 3.4 6.1 2.2 0.518 0.304 0.694
G Brian Brown 10.7 3.5 2.9 1.0 0.467 0.378 0.723
C Ken Johnson 8.3 5.8 0.5 0.3 0.539 0.000 0.629
Penn: Dynamite in the backcourt.  Not a big passer but was actually better than Redd in college.
Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1999, 2000; Player of the Year 2000
Redd: Redd could score but actually was a better passer in college.  He was not the player you see today in the NBA.  However, when teamed with Penn this backcourt went nuts.  Took Ohio State to the Elite 8 in 2000.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2000
Lewis: This G/F is a nice compliment to the big men.  He can rebound a little, play a little defense, and shoot the three.  The team's best FT shooter.
Dials: A lumbering giant who didn't have a lot of skills offensively but was just so big teams couldn't stop him.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2006; Player of the Year 2006
Oden: We know a lot about this guy.  Polished in the lane, very good rebounder, but Ohio State will count on him to be an enforcer since they are lacking a stopper on the perimeter.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2007; Defensive Player of the Year 2007
Bench: Mike Conley, another freshman NBA lottery pick, is an impressive substitute to have on the bench, guard Brian Brown won 1st team honors in 2002 largely due to his offensive efficiency, and center Ken Johnson gives OSU three 7 footers that won first team honors.  Johnson is the most one dimensional of the three, leading the conference in blocks at least two times.

Strenghts: Size, size, size, and familiarity on the perimeter
This team is HUGE.  Oden, Dials, Johnson will clog the lane making life hell for opponent's big men.  After having spent 3 years as teammates in Columbus, Penn and Redd start together in our tournament, a trait several teams wish they had.

Weaknesses: Free throw shooting, three point shooting
This team's free throw shooting stinks.  Only two guys are over 70%.  If the game is close OSU could be in a bit of trouble.  Also, there are no real threats from three.  When OSU is playing the giants and the outside shot isn't falling the lane is going to be very crowded.

What to Expect:
A boring, low scoring game with several shot clock buzzers ringing in your ears.  Ohio State and Purdue both will stress slowing it down.  Ohio State will have trouble running with the bigs so they will be forced to work it down low.  Purdue will be sending double teams left and right trying to confuse Ohio State while Lowe works his magic on Penn or Redd.  Expect both teams to work inside out and in Ohio State's case inside again.

Matchup to watch:  Carl Landry vs Greg Oden
Seeing as how this matchup really happened, it will be fun to watch again.  Landry will get his points but Oden will get his boards.  Which stat is more important will be determined by  how everyone else plays. 

1 comment:

Ryan Mueller said...

Too many chiefs and not enough indians on that Buckeye team. I feel the lack of chemistry will be the teams vice and allow Purdue to jump out to a big early lead. Ohio Stat will then panic and possibly self-destruct. Huge expectations cause a lashing out on the bench among the players and a loss of focus on the task at hand. The Train pulls an upset and puts Ohio State in it place. This is a football school with no basketball tradition. Half the players on the Buckeyes roster just have dollar signs on their mind.

Final Score: Purdue 67, Ohio State 62