Boilers' brand of ball brutally effective
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Purdue doesn't want the attention. The Boilermakers aren't interested in reading, listening or watching anything about their game.
Not yet. Not until Indianapolis, when they're in front of more fans
who really appreciate what it is that the Boilermakers do so well.
|  | | Rodney Smith rises to engulf a shot put up by Gonzaga's Mark Spink. |
"Nobody at ESPN did anything on us," senior wing Mike Robinson said. "Keep
it up. It gives us momentum."
Sorry, Purdue. The time has come to finally give the Boilermakers their due after a 75-66 victory over Gonzaga on Thursday in the West Region. They'll face Big Ten rival Wisconsin in the region final Saturday for the right to go to the Final Four.
Boiler ball isn't pretty, probably not that exciting to play, but it works for the players and their veteran coach, the crafty, determined Gene Keady.
Purdue has suffered through neglect for decades, but more than ever
this season. The Boilermakers had five seniors and one fourth-year junior in
their top six. Yet, they weren't the "It" team nationally, let alone in the
Big Ten. The focus was more on 1999 Final Four teams Michigan State and Ohio
State, the new hot team, Illinois, and, of course, Indiana.
The Boilermakers missed out on tying Michigan State and Ohio State for the Big Ten title by one game, and it still didn't matter. Purdue was seeded sixth in the NCAA Tournament, and once eighth-seeded
Wisconsin got through to the Sweet 16, the Boilermakers were even a Big Ten
afterthought in their own region.
"We had no pressure, none was on us with them here," Robinson said.
The Boilermakers probably didn't have any at home, either. In Indiana, Purdue still can't dominate the headlines, not with another controversy swirling with Bob Knight and the Hoosiers.
"Nobody expects us to do well," said Purdue senior Brian Cardinal, maybe the tournament's hardest-working player. "We're like Coach Keady. We're intense and play hard. But we're not going to be like Michigan State and dunk on you. We'll just play hard and do what coach wants us to do."
What they do very well is make it exceptionally hard for opponents to get shots
off; they rebound at both ends; and they convert mid-range shots.
After a few furious minutes to start the game when Gonzaga got out on the fast break, the Bulldogs couldn't get in any kind of flow. The Boilermakers outrebounded the Bulldogs 25-13 in the first half in building a 35-22 halftime lead. Gonzaga had outrebounded both Louisville and St. John's to get to the Sweet 16.
The trend continued in the second half. The Bulldogs cut the lead to five at one point, but the Boilermakers got three shots on one possession and finally converted. Gonzaga couldn't get second-chance points, not when Purdue had 20 offensive rebounds and got to the free-throw line for 30 attempts, compared to Gonzaga's 11.
"We thought we were the team that could slice you up, but they're the masters at it," said Gonzaga center Axel Dench. "They're solid and they're patient. They ran everything. At the end, we had no legs."
The methodical fashion in which Purdue dictates tempo becomes as much as a mental drain as a physical one. The Bulldogs, who were bounced around inside, also were fatigued just trying to get off shots or compete for rebounds.
"They just kill you on the boards," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "Everyone one of them."
Keady said his team this season might be his best listeners ever. They might be the most loyal, too. Each one of the players spoke passionately of getting Keady to his first Final Four.
"As long as we play hard and go to the boards, we can win," Cardinal said. "And when we play defense like that, we never lose control of the game."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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