Purdue 2010-11 College Basketball Predictions
November 16, 2010
The Purdue Boilermakers 2009-10 year ended with a loss to Duke in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, but with three highly gifted seniors returning and a great nucleus of young talent, Purdue was considering National Championship this season. Those outlooks took a stunning turn for the worse, as senior forward Robbie Hummel re-injured his knee and is lost for the season. There is no question that Purdue is a better team with Hummel on the court, but they have dealt with his being out of the lineup in the past.
There is still a lot of talent left on the roster, and you can expect head coach Matt Painter to have this team fully prepared and ready to go this season. With Hummel out of the picture look for the other seniors E’Twun Moore and JaJuan Johnson to really step their game up and lead this team. Experts still have the Boilermakers rated No.8 in the country, and Purdue did just blowout Howard 76-40 in the first game of the season.
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Frontcourt: Johnson is a really tough matchup for opposing teams. He has an array of moves in the paint, but he can also go outside and make jumpers as well. Johnson averaged 15.5 points, seven rebounds a game last season, but is also very sound on defense with his ability to block and alter shots. In the Boilermakers first game, sophomore Patrick Bade started at power forward in place of Hummel, but freshmen Travis Carroll and Sandi Marcius also got plenty of playing time too.
Backcourt: The Boilermakers started three guards against Howard, and with little depth down low, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Purdue go with a similar lineup a lot this season. Moore led all scorers with 16 points, and that is about what he scored per game a year ago. Moore’s shooting percentage really took a hit last year when Hummel got hurt, but it didn’t seem to effect him in his first contest. Junior point guard Lewis Jackson does a strong job of distributing the ball and can penetrate to the rim in a flash, but can’t shoot well enough to be a legit scoring option.
Junior Ryne Smith started at the other guard spot, but it might not be long before freshman Terone Johnson takes that role over. Johnson posted 9 points in just 20 minutes against Howard, and to start the season figures to really give the Boilermakers a spark off the bench. Sophomores Kelsey Barlow, D.J. Byrd, and John Hart will battle for playing time off the pine this season. Byrd and Hart each knocked down four of five three point attempts against Howard and ended up with 12 points a piece.
Pick – 3rd Big Ten: At first I had Purdue slotted to win the conference this season, but without Hummel, I moved both Michigan State and Ohio State ahead of Purdue in the Big Ten projections. A lot of the season will depend on the play of their three newcomers, Carrol, Johnson, and Marcius. If these three can come in and produce immediately, with the way this team locks down on defense, they could still win the Big Ten and make an impact in the NCAA Tournament.
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