Purdue Is Still Alive In the Tourney!

Last night I went to Mackey Arena to once again follow Purdue in the tournament. This year instead of visiting Spokane, Houston, or anywhere else beautiful I would just drive across town to see them play. The CBI tournament is not the most prestigious this time of year, but the team still gets to play in Mackey. More importantly the young kids get more practice and game time. If Purdue can have a good tournament a .500 record and 20 wins could also be in the cards. I walked up to the stadium and sat in the Black Club Seats eight rows up. These were great seats closer to the action then I have sat for some time. I loved how close I was to the action, but the cost is also great. The stadium was far from full, and it was a different type of crowd. Hopefully as the wins in the tournament pile up the fans start coming. It would be nice if those who came from game one could keep that seat though. This is a pay to play tournament, and when it is all said and done I hope Purdue has to shell out some money. I don’t think that their would be much prestige to winning this tournament, but a win is far better than a loss. I normally post a photo gallery here instead of babble, but I thought that I would put my incoherent two cents in. A few more pictures from the game can be found on my Facebook page here.

Purdue vs. Penn State Photo Gallery

Today I went to the Purdue game against Penn State. It was an early game, and a panoramic shot of stadium like I had against Ohio State would not have looked very good. The crowd was very late arriving to say the least. The Purdue team seemed to wait until the crowd showed up to start playing as well. They toyed with Penn State for a while before putting them away late. I went to the game with some friends so I really did not take many pictures today. Here are a few that I took during the game though. I moved down to the lower bowl during the second half so you will see my perspective change a bit.

AJ Hammons was a force on both of the floor today

Anthony Johnson always looks sinister when playing hard. Here he fights for a ball with a much taller athlete

Jermaine Marshall gets a bucket early in the game

Donnie Hale going up to block Ross Travis

Terone Johnson getting fouled on his way to the hoop by Ross Travis

Travis Carroll with a put back after a rebound

Ronnie Johnson has been playing much better of late. Here he scoops the ball in for two more

The Paint Crew letting the crowd know what they think of IU

When AJ Hammons touches the ball he is starting to see more defenders

Ross Travis going up against AJ Hammons

Ross Travis going up against AJ Hammons

Ronnie Johnson with another drive to the hoop

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purdue vs. #15 Ohio State Photo Gallery

Purdue got off to a terrible start last night, and struggled to close the gap all night. The crowd was ready to erupt several times, but something always stopped the Boilers run. I did not take too many pictures last night, but here are some of my favorites. By the way the t-shirt idea by the athletic department was a great one, and it looked great. That is why two pictures from the opening moments show up right away.

The colors in the stadium stand out during the National Anthem

The stadium is shown off again here just before the tip

Ronnie Johnson battles Aaron Craft for the ball early in the game

Shannon Scott works to get a shot off over A.J. Hammons

Deshaun Thomas was a beast last night for Ohio State

Sometimes I felt just like Matt Painter

Ronnie Johnson had a pretty good game last night. Here he scores two more of his points

Shannon Scott with a very challenged shot attempt

DJ Byrd tries to get a shot off against Deshaun Thomas

Deshaun Thomas shoots into the bee

I thought this big reversal of a call towards Purdue could have been big, but things just did not work out

Terone Johnson goes up for the layup. A strobe went off at this time blowing out my shot. I thought that I would try and bring back some details in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purdue vs. #11 Illinois Photo Gallery

Here are some of my favorite shots from tonights game in Mackey Arena. This was a great game to be at, and I hope that I captured at least some of that here.

The opening tip

Brandon Paul hitting the three to set up a four point play

 

Brandon Paul completing a four point play

Tracy Abrams with a layup

DJ Richardson driving on Travis Carroll

Brandon Paul going in against Travis Carroll

Terone Johnson looking for room to drive

Terone Johnson passing to Jacob Lawson to complete a great defensive play

Jacob Lawson throwing it down to finish the great play

Rapheal Davis with a drive to the hoop

Terone Johnson with a layup

Terone Johnson putting the ball on the glass

Dj Byrd cans a three in the second half

Terone Johnson getting helped up after getting fouled

The start of Terone Johnson’s floater

The finish of Terone’s sweet floater

DJ Byrd getting an and one after a great inbounds play

Terone Johnson congratulates DJ Byrd after a great three point play

Jacob Lawson hitting some free throws to seal the game

DJ Byrd and his father celebrating the win

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purdue Shuts Down the Illini

 

Tonight I saw a great game in Mackey Arena. Purdue was not given a shot by many to win this Big Ten Opener against #11 Illinois. When I left home tonight I did so with the intention of being home a little early. When I sat in my seat at Mackey though I started to get that feeling. I have had those before so I quickly Tweeted my gut feeling that we were going to win. I was certain of it. As we kept hanging with Illinois the feeling started to grow a bit. There were moments of doubt, but Terone Johnson and DJ Byrd erased all doubt in the end. This is what you want to see. Two upperclassmen turning it on when the team needs them. Terone had a great game overall finishing with 25 points, and DJ  had some great plays down the stretch to seal the deal. That timeout sliding on the knees to keep the ball in Purdue’s possession was huge. The three point play he got on the next inbounds was even bigger. This was a great game that I am glad that I was able to see in person. To all of those who missed it tonight shame on you. I will have a photo gallery up later tonight after I get them all downloaded. In the meantime Boiler Up!

Purdue vs. Lamar Photo Gallery

Can I just start this off by saying that today was the craziest day that I can remember in a long time. First of all we were just coming off of the news that Butch Jones was not even considering Purdue. Our first choice was out the window. When this thing started Sonny Dykes was rumored to be the second choice. Since that time I have not heard his name come up in regards to Purdue. That left us with our third choice which was Kent State coach Darrell Hazell. I was really keeping up on this today as the rumors were building to the point where he looked to be our next coach. Then the lone Twitter confirmation came, and the internet went crazy. Of course that was followed by a denial which sent those that had jumped to be first into backtrack mode. It seemed as if the denial was planned because as the retractions were being written the news broke that Hazell was indeed going to be named the head coach at Purdue. Of course all of those who jumped too quickly at first, and then jumped too quickly at the denial were now once again beating their chests. I still don’t know what to think. It appears as if Hazell is now the coach at Purdue, but I will truly believe it now when I see him with Purdue gear on standing next to Morgan Burke. After the Matt Painter fiasco I am gun shy about believing anything that I read on Twitter.

Since this blog is menat to chronicle my sporting adventures lets get to the pictures from tonights game shall we?

My first tip on Mackey this year

Anthony Johnson get around a Lamar defender

Lamar Coach Pat Knight looks on from the bench

Dru Anthrop really brought it tonight, and the crowd gave him his due

Terone Johnson with a three

His brother Ronnie Johnson with a charge late in the first half

Dru Anthrop shoots a three

Terone Johnson with a floater

Terone Johnson getting fouled on a layup

Purdue Pete hangs out with the Purdue Pep Band

Freshman Donnie Hale with a free throw

I love what comes after this

Dru Anthrop with a nice pass

Terone Johnson gives me my first stiff arm picture in basketball

Terone Johnson right after the stiff arm