Hoopraker

The March road trips of the Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers, if they are to be of the long and winding variety, depend on rising above distractions, NCAA inexperience, and the best of the vaunted ACC. With two Big Ten bulls-eyes planted on the much patted backs of North Carolina and Duke, those weary of the continued maligning of the conference may get a chance for sweet revenge.

Hardly Callow Youth

Though Baylor coach Scott Drew (Butler ‘93) remembers Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin as day campers at his father’s Valparaiso summer camps, on Thursday afternoon he will be able to assess firsthand how well they and their youthful Boilermaker teammates have aged from a basketball standpoint.

While those who have observed them closely have already drawn favorable conclusions, Purdue’s frosh in name only will at last be introduced to the fans beyond the Midwest. Suffice to say, Bliss’ upperclassmen laden Bears will discover that the Big Ten’s second place team plays a brand of smart, disciplined basketball that is mature beyond its years. And though many are trying to put Painter’s Boilermakers into the “year away” box, this is a team capable of more than token March showing.

The Frolicking Bears

Baylor brings the bruise of an opening round loss against the Big 12’s worst team in its conference tournament, a game in which Colorado scored 17 points in the second overtime to win. This was hardly an aberrant defensive performance for a Baylor team that surrenders 74.4 points per game, good enough for dead last in its conference.

Drew’s team, spearheaded by five speedy and athletic guards, succeeded in the Big 12 and elsewhere by outrunning and outgunning opponents. The Bears have been involved in six 100-point and five 90-point games this season, including a 100-90 loss to Bill Self’s Kansas on February 9. When things are going well for the Bears, they are the ones dictating tempo and their preferred tempo is track meet.

Welcome To The Big Ten Grindhouse

Perhaps a better predictor of Thursday’s matchup is the Bears’ 67-64 loss to Washington State on November 30th. Like Bennett, Painter is not one to concede things on the defensive end. The Boiler guard corps with its length and physicality should provide a good test for their eager to gunsling Baylor counterparts.

One of the things Hoopraker observed at last weekend’s Big Ten tournament in Indy was the close proximity at which Purdue defends. Boilermaker defense is literally chin-to-chin, chest-to-chest by default. Not only was it discomforting to many of their well acquainted Big Ten foes, it is not likely to make unaccustomed teams like Baylor very happy either. And making it more deadly, the Boilers do not commit cheap fouls. They defend very physically, but with great control.

Purdue’s saavy and patience on the offensive end will also ensure a game that finishes well south of NBA point totals. Indeed, this will likely be a grindhouse game in the Big Ten tradition where smarts and execution are put into stark relief by a lower possession, slower ballgame. While Hummel, Martin and company know how to probe a defense deep into the shot clock in order to yield high percentage looks, it remains to be seen how well Drew’s Bears fare at the same task.

Who Got Gordon, But Was It Worth It

Having indulged in much gloating and Bruce Weber bashing since their luring of Eric Gordon to Bloomington, the Hoosier fan base and the program many of them have followed blindly into Swamp Sampson face a March reckoning of whether their prized catch’s six-month allegiance was worth the trouble.

Failing to win a Big Ten regular season title and bowing out to the conference’s sixth-seeded Gophers despite playing in front of a home-state sea of Crimson, the Hoosier season and the star around which it has revolved get one more opportunity to become more than just a scandal-plagued, overhyped afterthought.

March Is For Closers

Friday’s game against Arkansas gives Gordon and his Hoosiers a chance to turn the tide of three losses in its last four games and perhaps begin to write a redemptive March story. For a Hoosier team that has considerable talent, inside-outside superstars, and a coach whose interim status belies great experience as both a head coach and twelve years at the side of Bob Knight, a spring swan dive should not be so easily excused.

While one is assured that senior D.J. White will leave everything he has on the floor, it is the play of their newest McDonald’s All-American and homestate hero that will be most integral to their success. With the latter half of the Big Ten season souring his jumpshot and turning him into a drive first, pass last free agent, Gordon needs to rediscover the complete game that made him such a hot commodity last summer.

Despite Quinn Buckneresque strength and an off-the-dribble game that requires constant double-teams, Gordon has fallen into a pattern where he looks for his own shot to the abandonment of the team game. Certainly no one is going to complain when he’s making high percentage scoring opportunities for himself and continuing to make free-throws.

But given the degree that defenses are keying on him, it behooves him to start throwing more dimes and thereby broadening the Hoosier offense attack. As Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State prove at their best, it’s much harder to guard a team that can score from five points on the floor.

Hype Or The Real Deal

The games of March go a long way to determining what players and teams are made of. Hoosier partisans, Big Ten fans, and NBA scouts alike will be looking to see if Gordon possesses more than just a good tool kit, but also the kind of mettle and big-game leadership that the best players have in abundance.

And this year’s Indiana team, if they can get their head space right, has the kind of combustible mix that could do serious damage in the brackets. A confident, team-on-his-back Gordon, a down-low beast like White, and a potent band of swingmen in Bassett, Crawford, Ellis and Stemler; if these elements can somehow coalesce and rise against the adversity of the last few weeks in Hoosier country, Tyler Hansbrough and his Tarheels have good reason to be afraid.

If the Hoosiers do not respond to the challenge, the bleak near future for the program will not be softened even temporarily and the short stints of Kelvin Sampson and Eric Gordon will leave nothing but damage and hollow feelings. Perhaps this would be the just result, but for the sake of loyal Hoosiers like D.J. and Dakich and the conference at large, it would be interesting to see a Big Ten scare put into the ACC’s darlings.

Posted by DJ Elsass on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 12:08 am.