What else could explain the fans rushing the court after Purdue beat Wisconsin this afternoon? Seriously, it's a Big Ten conference game. In January. You've beaten this team at home every time but once for the past 30 years. Is it really that big of a deal? I guess Wisconsin fans should be flattered - 10 years ago no one storms the court after beating Wisconsin at home.
I recall the fans at Indiana storming the court last year after they beat Wisconsin, and having the same reaction. Tough times in Bloomington lately too, I guess.
I think what I'm trying to say is that storming the court should be done in only very rare instances. For example, if Northwestern or Penn State were to beat a top-5 team - that's grounds for a storm. 10 or 15 years ago, Wisconsin was in that same category - I think I recall Wisconsin fans rushing the court after they beat #2 Minnesota at Madison. That's appropriate - Wisconsin basketball had been garbage for decades and this was probably the biggest win in any of these fans' lifetimes.
If you're Indiana or Purdue, I honestly can't think of a scenario where storming the court in the regular season is appropriate. Aren't you supposed to be proud, historic programs? Act like it.
If Wisconsin beats Indiana at Madison next week (could happen) and the fans storm the court (highly unlikely), I'll call them out too.
A couple of quick thoughts about the game:
- Did anyone ever teach Trevon Hughes about not picking up your dribble when you have nowhere to pass the ball? He must have done that 5 times in the Purdue game.
- To be honest, I feel most comfortable when Joe Krabbenhoft has the ball in his hands. Maybe it's a South Dakota thing.
- Purdue is going to be good for a couple of years - as the announcers said, they've got a bunch of "four year freshmen" on this team (a backhanded compliment - it means none of these guys is good enough to jump early to the NBA).
- Jon Leuer is going to be pretty good - but he's a train wreck at times on the floor. And make a free throw, for God's sake.
- I think Flowers got hacked on that last play, but since no one on UW (other than Bohannan) is able to make two free throws, it wouldn't have mattered.
- Speaking of the refs, this was a horribly refereed game. And this isn't me being a sore loser - the bad calls went both ways, and in no way am I blaming the refereeing for this loss. They called all this ticky tack garbage 40 feet from the basket, but then let the teams murder each other under the basket when going for rebounds.
- That big guy from Bosnia or whatever on Purdue seems like a douche.
6 comments:
You're a South Dakota homer
I'm the best player from South Dakota EVER!
Lets see hard times. Yep. Haven't been good since The Big Dog won three straight confrence titles, which was like two decades ago. Now beating a #11 not a big deal to many but if wiscionsin beats a #10 MSU in a nail bitter after loosing to Indiana @ home and @ OSU lets see how the Kohl Center reacts.
P.S. It was a terrible game they both should have lost.
Matt. A pretty spot on summary of the game. It was just a tough game to watch. No flow. Was Flowers fouled? Probably. Was it a good no call? Probably. I thought of it this way. If the situation would have been flipped and a foul was called on the Badgers in that situation, I would have thought it was ticky tack. As you mentioned, he would have only hit 1 FT anyway.
I am trying to think how many times the fans have rushed the court in Madison in the past 13 years. I know we rushed the floor after beating #2 Minnesota in 1997 to secure our 2nd NCAA bid since the 40's. They rushed the floor against Michigan in 02 when they won a share of the Big Ten title for the first time in 50 some years. Again rushed the floor the next season afte rbeating Illinois to win the title outright. I do not recall any other instances of rusing the floor at the Fieldhouse/Kohl Center.
Cobra, spoken like a true Purdue grad.
I doubt the Kohl Center fans rush the court this season, unless they win the Big 10 title. I guess I should amend my prior statement - rushing the floor after winning the conference championship is acceptable.
Oh, and after seeing Indiana get beat by UConn at home, I'll admit to Brad that the Big 10 sucks this year from top to bottom.
I only caught the highlights on the news, but it was clear that Flowers was hammered on the last play. If the rest of the game looked like the 3 second clip I saw, then I'm glad I missed it.
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