Trading Places in the Big Ten

First appeared on February 1st, 2011
in The Lebanon Reporter

Though it probably felt like an eternity, John Boehner labored in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s shadow for four long years. While Pelosi got all the network interviews and Post headlines Boehner kept busy wiping down his father’s bar, a juke box in the corner blasting “Feelings” causing the tears on his cheeks to take on an iridescent, plutonium-like neon glow. But now the voters have spoken and Boehner and Pelosi have traded places. Boehner is the talk of the town while Pelosi is left to sulk in defeat at 30,000 feet in her private jet.


For one 48 hour period last week the basketball programs at Indiana and Purdue University traded places too. Ever since Hurricane Kelvin wrecked Bloomington, Purdue has been alone in grabbing headlines and national attention. The Boilermakers are perennially ranked and making deep tournament runs while IU has struggled for traction.

But for one 48 hour period last week the world was upside down. Black was white, left was right and broccoli tasted good without cheese. It all began with a road trip to Columbus. Though Boilermaker fans have certainly moved on, Buckeye nation will gladly remind them there is no word in the English language strong enough to describe the beating Purdue suffered at the hands of Thad Matta’s team.

At one time 31 points separated the two teams and the closest comparison possible for those who actually watched the State of the Union address would be a third grade AAU team scrimmaging somebody’s varsity. Thanks to incredible defensive pressure from Ohio State, the Boilers couldn’t find any offensive flow managing just 38% shooting from the field. Flawless rotations, lightning fast close outs and rock solid box outs limited Purdue’s chances all night.

But it wasn’t just their offense that was bad. For the first time in recent memory, Purdue’s defense wasn’t sharp either. What had been Head Coach Matt Painter’s calling card before Tuesday was suddenly nonexistent as Purdue gave up 66% shooting from 3 point range in the first half.

In fact it appeared as though the Boilers had jumped in Mister Peabody’s “Way Back Machine” and returned to 1989. While there the team hopefully took some time to avoid one disaster by helping the crew of the Exxon Valdez make a sharp right around Bligh Reef before setting up Tuesday night’s future disaster by attending a seminar on “how to play defense” put on by the coaching staff at Loyola Marymount.

As for trading places, Indiana’s performance against Illinois last week was unlike any Hoosier fans have seen in some time. Though not dominating in any fashion it was the most important win of the Tom Crean era as, for the first time, a Crean-led Indiana team defeated a ranked opponent by downing #20 Illinois 52-49.

Despite being bettered in almost every major statistical category, Indiana sustained their best defensive effort of the season holding the Illini to just 32% shooting. Toss in some timely baskets by point guard Jordan Hulls, who had a game high 18, and the most frenzied crowd Assembly Hall has hosted in years and Indiana had all they needed to capture a critical victory.

Crean gushed over Hoosier fans afterwards, “There is no place in the country that would support a program that has gone through what we have been going through…it was absolute bedlam in there.” Though we are still a couple years away from the two titans of basketball in the Hoosier state rivaling each other once more, for one 48 hour period Hoosier fans felt as though it actually were 1989 again.