Matt Painter and Purdue enter a season marked with high expectations. But, in a season-opening 82-50 win against Detroit, E’twaun Moore found himself on the bench at tip off, having lost his starting spot for what’s been called a violation of team rules during practice. Painter laid down the law and swiftly. While Moore’s digression may or may not be an isolated incident, with the cascade of transfers in recent seasons (none more surprising than Scott Martin) at the very least, it’s worth keeping one eye gazed on Purdue’s chemistry as they steam into a season as Conference favorites.
Many Thanks Skip Myslenski
With heavy heart, Hoopraker deleted the link to the Chicago Tribune columnist Skip Myslenski yesterday. In August, the Tribune Company made good on its promise to cut staff and, regrettably, Myslenski was the heave-ho.
Suffice it to say, Skip Myslenski was the best writer to cover Big Ten Basketball and one of the best sportswriters of his generation. He elevated the game and its subjects, never succumbing to the bombastic drivel that’s become the norm today. While perhaps savings coin for their bottom line, leaving an exceptional writer like Myslenksi in the dust while newspapers fawn over charlatans like Jay Mariotti further undermines all that was once good about print journalism.
Spartans Fill It Up
In a 100-62 trouncing of Idaho, Coach Izzo made official his first starting lineup of the season: Raymar Morgan, Goran Suton, Travis Walton, Chris Allen and Kalin Lucas. With a team that will be comfortable going nine deep, Izzo has a plethora of flexibility on both ends of the court, with Delvon Roe and Marquise Gray in the frontcourt and Korie Lucious and Durrell Summers in the backcourt. While Purdue chalked up three turnovers against ex-IU and Kelvin Sampson Assistant Ray MacCullum’s Detroit team, Spartan fans will still be happy to see only 9 turnovers, albeit against the Rebels.
Like Hoopraker, wife of Spartans Weblog is a fan of Austin Thornton. We, however, thought Thornton, with his 4.0 high school gpa and smooth jump shot, was a perfect fit for Northwestern.
Northwestern Starts Two Frosh
An encouraging sign from Coach Carmody in Northwestern’s 81-39 opening night win over Central Arkansas was a starting lineup of Kevin Coble, Michael Thompson, Craig Moore and two highly regarded frosh, forward John Shurna and seven-foot center Kyle Rowley.
Mike Davis Lights Up
We knew we liked Illinois’ Mike Davis. With a 20 point, 14 rebound game in a 72-53 win against the mighty Texas A & M-Corpus Christi Islanders, he’s on is way becoming quite an offensive weapon for Coach Weber. Despite our ill-advised soft-spot for the unfilled potential of matriculated Brian Randle, Davis will be a significant upgrade for the Illini. With a committed Demetri McCamey, he’ll make the team better.
Who the hell is Todd Martin?
Left by J Money on November 17th, 2008