tjreese

not sure where to put this, but in previous decussions about the Purdue, North Texas game someone recognized Steve Lutz and was interested in him Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein Sources: Texas A&M Corpus Christi is expected to hire Purdue's Steve Lutz as its next head basketball coach. 1:49 PM · Apr 6, 2021·Twitter for Android

Well, obviously I'm unaware of boar hunting. Many of my trips were layoffs in the airports many times. 😉 I have been to San Marcos, San Antonio and Del Rio as well as Brownsville and McAllen, but apparently don't understand the flavor of Texas. I thought there were a lot of boars in Texas and that sometimes so plentiful that were causing quite a mess for some farmers. Don't understand the context of do not go there...unless this site gets flooded with boar hunting. 😉

NT played very well. Before the game I thought it would be close and low scoring, but thought PUrdue would pull away in teh second half. INstead NT played very well. Shot lights out, got the loose balls, scrapped and showed a lot of mental toughness. I'm not sure I can name a phase that NT never outplayed Purdue. Anyway, your team showed heart and toughness. Good luck the rest of the way and build on this for next year. Enjoyed discussing ball with all of you and wonder if any of you do any boar hunting. ? ;)

Interesting...thank you! There is a perception and have no idea how it was started...maybe due to the quick improvement of Baylor that Scott Drew might not be up and up, but your coach is respected and obviously thinks the world of Scott and so I found that of interest. Scott's father coached in Indiana for several years (Homer) and Scott's brother Bryce also a coach was a player and so the whole family was immersed in basketball. I didn't realize NT lost Rubin and that will be a blow if there are tight whistles everywhere forcing the bench for major minutes and not playing D is not NT's way and so that depth loss could be an issue...if not with Purdue, but the next game maybe. Anyway, most Purdue fans suspect a slow, grinding battle since I don't think NT gets into a scoring race with Purdue and it is easier to slow down a game than to force one faster. Regardless of what happens tomorrow I think both sides believe that NT has the right coach that has won at all levels and that many good days lie ahead for North Texas. I didn't realize he may have been at Texas Tech with a potential overlap with Bob Knight.

This is from a pay site, but I don't think I'm really doing any damage to the pay site with sharing this little tidbit about your coach from Matt- "Matt Painter says North Texas does a lot of different things stylistically on defense and can change considerably from game to game, which might help Purdue or hurt Purdue. Gushed about Grant McCasland as a coach" just wanted to share

As Boilergal74 said he is capable of hitting them, but in a close game it "should" be a consideration if he is scoring at will. When he is really engaged and playing well his concentration level is focused and he can hit them...even when really tired. However, if not totally focused and a bit tired he is capable of missing as his stats show. You can usually tell by watching if he gets some arm lift on the ball before thrusting towards the basket he will make them, but if there is little lift and just flips his wrist...it will be a miss. He is VERY effective backing into the lane and going over his left shoulder for a jump hook in the lane. I suspect Simmon needs to deny because if Tre is focused and can get to where he wants it take a really physical player to keep him from getting there once he gets the ball. I think I saw that he gets about 39% of the touches...and he doesn't play the whole game and so that says...he is a focal point for Purdue. His FT shooting has always been a concern for me in a close game, but for the most part it hasn't affected games like you might think it would.

My introduction as a youngster to college basketball was in the first picture...Hinkle fieldhouse. I was attending games 60 years ago. I have a brother-in-law that played back then who has his picture located between (Bobby Plump---who the movie Hoosiers is about) and Gordon Hayward. That gym served for MANY years where the high school state championship was held. Since Indiana went to class basketball, there has been quite a notice in attendance drop, but it still is a favorite and treated as such like Texas and football...and BTW, Texas as a state has been quite good to Purdue with football players over the years. Farther down in the link you can find Mackey Arena...where Purdue plays. It is an amazing site to watch a game as all seats are good as is the product...and noted for being quite loud! 😉 It has reached 116 decibels...close to an airplane! For any interested the following link is a couple of minutes a few years ago in mackey when Purdue 11 beat Ohio State 2 to see how loud and involved the crowd is at mackey...which I assume is similar to football in TExas...except the noise bounces off the walls in mackey and can be deafening and intimidating to a team visiting... just an example of Purdue game at home

That was the point of the video...Purdue respects North Texas. I also thought some that may not have an idea of what a coaching staff may do would appreciate all the work that goes on behind the scenes. No, if North Texas wins it will not be a result of sneaking up on Purdue. 😉

I should have read before answering. 😉

Steve handles the D for Purdue. The other black coach without the mask will become the head coach for Penn State next year. Steve will probably be gone in a year or two. Matt is getting some limbs off his coaching tree out there.

Thought your fans might enjoy this video when teams were announced and the work Purdue staff is putting into studying North Texas...just in case someone thought Purdue didn't take North Texas serious you can see coaches and analyst at work https://twitter.com/FinalFour/status/1371804799994359814?s=20

They may not know who Purdue is playing yet...or consumed with who IU might hire as a coach. 😉

I expect your team to come out of the gate focused. You have an old team whereas Purdue is one of the youngest teams in the country. Matt (Purdue coach) has already said your coach is a good coach and in the past when he has talked about other coaches, he was proven correct. Matt is a straight shooter and is well known for his blunt honesty, which no doubt cost recruiting failures years ago, but now that his rep is out....players respect that. I expect NT to not be lacking in energy or effort and well focused due to the maturity. However, since Purdue players know they gave away another win against Ohio State, I expect effort and better focus from Purdue. It has been somewhat common that Purdue has not played a full forty minutes most games, but has also shown an ability to be very good in segments or runs in a given half which is the youth on display. I've seen enough games over the years to know that North Texas can beat Purdue, even though Purdue is favored. What I do know is that once that ball is tossed, the game takes on a life of its own and "most" of the game comes down to the players. It is the psychology of the game that coaches are always trying to figure out...reading the team...what buttons to push and how to do it for different players. Coaches do what they can, but we all know that each of our teams have degrees of focus over the different games and yet the coaches try to keep all on edge. It is always a bit unknown how teams will come out. In one respect the older team players sense this might be their last time playing adn could feel pressure, but will be focused, if not tight. Younger players will not typically be as tight, but perhaps not as focused. I expect NT to really sag and help as they can on Purdue's bigs and defend Purdue as I have previously stated, If not Purdue will not be like WKU with Blassey not seeing the ball much(by Purdue's standards)...Purdue will get the ball inside almost every possession if NT doesn't prevent the entry. What happens from that point...who knows...but Purdue isn't shy about the bigs scoring. Your coach is fully aware and no doubt prefers Purdue shoot from the outside...which is what I expect early...and if not hitting...the whole game. Hope that when the game is over all players walk off the court not wondering what if, but knowing they gave it all they could with a sense of satisfaction immune from the result as much as possible.

You may not be in Indiana if you don't see a basketball goal in most driveways. 😉 For the size of population Indiana produces a LOT of college talent. However, that less dense population base but talented players have 4 major programs competing for players. You have Purdue, then you have our little brother IU, Notre Dame and Butler and then smaller programs as well.