I just returned from the game...paid $200 outside AH for Sec. F row 10, a decent seat. Purdue looked more locked in, better tuned than IU with more discipline. They just seemed to have their act together, which comes down to coaching, I'm afraid. We played Purdue at the wrong time. They're peaking at the right time. It's one thing to lose to PU at home...that's bad enough but when you not only lose, but get taken behind your own woodshed and roughed up, that's really depressing. Then add in 20 years of waiting for Knight to return.... At no point after the initial 10 min. mark did I ever get a sense of IU being able to come back for a victory. Oh, sure, Purdue knew we would have a run in us somewhere in the second half but they always had an answer. Purdue looked pretty good. That Purdue's Williams kid is what DeRon Davis was supposed to look and play like by this time, his last season. That kid is huge and he's got a couple more years. Where does Purdu keep getting kids like this? For Williams and Haarms, we had no answer. Even that Hunter Jr. kid of theirs- the wiry one, was a surprise. The performance was disappointing.
That said, it was worth every penny to be there for Bob Knight. I choked up big time, but fortunately, didn't lose it entirely. The guy next to me told me the same thing. Wow, it was a special moment between Knight and all his faithful players. The stage was set. Then the team let us down by not competing against Purdue, and that's a double bite in the ass. Sadly, IU has now lost 8 or the last 9 against Purdue. That's a crock of "chit" in anyone's book. Archie hasn't beaten Purdue, yet, and it won't be happening in the return match at Mackey. That will make it three years of futility against our arch-rival.
Forgive me for rambling, but TJD does not have a nice touch around the rim. He has to learn to go up stronger while maintaining composure. He was over shooting the rock all afternoon. At least 6 of his points were point blank dunks. He needs to play with more finesse. He looks like he's over thinking it. Sure, he hit most of his free throws but he should have had more three point play opportunities than he did. It just doesn't seem like he's being utilized correctly. He usually ends up getting his points, but we can't depend upon him when we need him the most. I'm done until Thursday night, possibly another ugly sight.
