Conquering the World (Wide Web) - 3/29/2009

March Madness is in full swing. The NBA regular season is winding down, headed for the playoffs. Baseball is also ready to get underway. While you watch the lack of underdogs in the Dance, notice the lack of parity in the NBA this year, and warm up to a long summer of scandal-ridden baseball here are some great links from around the web to keep you satisfied.


Alyssa Milano, Author and Scholar:
Friend of the Cartel, Alyssa Milano, has decided to take her love of the game of baseball and her love of its stars and turn it into a book. [Moon Dog Sports]

Brilliant Speech, But To No Avail
What if the coach from Hoosiers had spoken to the Boilermakers prior to Thursday's game against Connecticut? [Boiled Sports]

Bulls Finally Get Sidekick for Rose
John Salmons hasn't been in Chicago long after being traded from the Kings, but he has made the most of it so far and is putting up some solid numbers. [Pippen Ain't Easy]

Durant is a Beast, Says He Likes Oklahoma
Superstud Kevin Durant is pleased with the direction that the OKC franchise is taking. He sees a bright future, and as long as he wears one of those atrocious OKC unis, the Thunder could be dangerous.[The Boston Globe]

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Purdue Gets No Respect

This past week has been a roller coaster for the Purdue Boilermakers. They've had stellar first half performances, that end with late game meltdowns and they've won their last two games by only a combined score of 7 points (after a combined halftime lead of 23). Now, they face UCONN and must deal with the most athletic team they've faced all year.

But should Purdue even be in this situation? Should they be going up against the giants from Storrs? I say no, if only they could get a little respect.


Other than the Arizona Wildcats (a 12 seed), the Boilermakers are the lowest seed left in the dance. This might not seem like such a bad deal, other than you have to look at their resume. Not only did they compile a 25-9 record in one of the major BCS conferences, but they won the league's tournament. Though I'm a purist and don't consider the end-of-year tourney to be the championship, in some leagues Purdue would be considered that. And what did the Boilers get out of all this success? They received a 5 seed and had to go clear to the west coast to play in Portland.

This might not seem too bad. All teams have to travel great distances, especially if they're not a top seed, right? Nope.

Purdue's second opponent in the dance was Washington (located in Seattle, not too far from Portland). Neutral site, I think not. Well, at least the Huskies were a 4 seed. It makes sense that they might get preferential treatment, but how does that explain 8-seeded Ohio State (defeated by Purdue in the conference tourney) getting to play in their own state?

Geographic anomalies aside, seeding makes a huge difference of who you even have to face on your way to the Final Four. Let's face it, you don't have to be the best team in the country to win it all. All you have to do is win 6 games in a row. What teams wind up in your quadrant/side of the bracket make a huge difference. Now is UCONN the highest rated and most dangerous team in the tourney? I'd say no. But they are still a force to be reckoned with and quite a match up for a team that did as well during the season as Purdue did. Let's compare the Boilers' Sweet 16 draw with a similar squad. Kansas (25-7) only won one version of the Big 12 championship, but wound up with a 3 seed. Only being 2 seeds higher than the Boilers, the Jayhawks get to ride in the bottom side of the Midwest bracket and match up against a very beatable Michigan State squad. Meanwhile by virtue of being a 5, the boilers are forced to play the 1 seed a round earlier than teams like Kansas and Villanova.

I realize that as a Purdue fan I should just be ecstatic that they are in the Sweet 16 and leave it at that. But I can't help but feel that Purdue is rarely thought of amongst the nation's elite basketball programs, despite its great history, and often it appears to get little respect.

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Scott Martin Is Not Satan

Dark days for Purdue basketball, Cartel fans, and it could get worse. Two straight losses to start the Big Ten schedule, rival coaches doing the Hambone, underperforming 2009 recruits, injuries to two top players, a horrible slump for last year's team MVP, and now... rumors that, if they prove to be founded, would amount to a death knell for a program on the cusp of joining the super-elite nationally... E'Twaun Moore may be agitating for a transfer!? A heart can only handle so much. Where is Rowdy when we need a smile?

Few would deny that the Boilermakers wouldn't be in this quagmire had Scott Martin stayed. Martin probably would have been the difference between a loss and win in overtime games against Oklahoma and Illinois and the narrow slip-up at Penn State. With him, Purdue would be 14-1 and ranked top-five nationally. Instead, they're on the brink of imploding.

For a number of selfish reasons, it's become fashionable for Knuckleheads to hate, trash, and deny the existence of Martin. I believe the nickname "Knuckleheads" is tongue in cheek, but it seems apropos enough to me because Martin is a nice guy who had good reason to transfer. Let us look at the reasons he's hated, and why he shouldn't be:

1- Scott Martin just transferred because he was totally jealous of Robbie Hummel.
OK, Seriously?
Are you serious? How did this rumor even get started? The sad thing is, it seems like everyone believes it. Does anyone honestly think Scott Martin ever verbalized a feeling like this? Really? Yes, and Nate Minnoy only transferred because he was losing too much weight running all the sprints Coach Painter made them run.

2- Psh, Martin was soft, didn't play hard, and sucked at D anyways.
No, Really, You're not serious.
Just because Martin didn't lay out every time he took a lay-up and come up limping and grimacing for the next 15 seconds doesn't make him soft. No, he wasn't Brian Cardinal, but who besides Hummel and Chris Kramer compare to Cardinal? He battled on the boards, dove for loose balls, and Purdue still managed to rank second in the Big Ten in points allowed per possession with Martin playing 25 minutes per.

3- Martin is so selfish for leaving.
I don't EFFing believe you. You're really, truly glad Scott Martin left?
No, you're selfish for projecting your desires on an 18 year old kid. Martin doesn't owe any of us anything. In fact, his haters were all aware of that whilst drooling on their keyboards the summer he signed. He did Purdue and Matt Painter a favor by coming here in the first place, as do all recruits we offer (in retrospect, it doesn't feel like Kyle Williams was very charitable). Oh, and, were Dan Vandervieren and Jonathan Uchendu selfish for being run off transferring, too? I don't remember anyone minding. I actually believe Purdue fans wished them all the best.

4- What a traitor for going to Notre Dame.
You're in your fifties and anonymously trashing an 18 year old.
Scott Martin's decision to transfer was rational. He's a very talented basketball player with (arguably) a shot to make the NBA. He came off the bench as a freshman and likely would have again as a sophomore. Due to our lack of depth inside, he spent most of his time late in the season battling inside on the boards. His future position as a professional would surely be on the perimeter. Purdue probably wasn't going to be a place where he could log mega-minutes on the perimeter. He liked living close to home (that's why he chose Purdue). Notre Dame is a major conference program near his hometown. They're a solid program (who've recently produced more NBA players than Purdue). Their coach probably told Martin what he wanted to hear. He transferred to a school he's comfortable with, to a basketball team that better suits him, he's happier today, and he's probably better situated to pursue a career as a basketball player. It makes sense to me. More sense than pandering to the whims middle-aged people who only care about you because you play basketball.

5- Scott Martin? Who's that? Scott Martin doesn't exist.
You're so butthurt. Please please please just shut up.
I wish you didn't exist.

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Purdue Personals

Life in West Point can get lonely for a 23 year old male. Too young for the Lion's Club, too poor for the Steakhouse, and too healthy for the cemetery; there's just no place for me to make friends! So, the first thing I do every morning is read the J&C Personals. They haven't done me much good yet (I'm six rejections deep), but I have come across some interesting listings:

LOST CONNECTION WLTR
38 Y.O. strict disciplinarian WINNER seeking to add depth back into his life. You were a tall, blond, nice, unselfish southpaw. I watched you grow up, we took bus trips, I yelled at you, we visited the Capital… then you left. Let's play ball (again)! Text MARTbrokIN to (555) NDS-UCKS

HARD-WORKING LITTLE DEVIL
18 Y.O. QB, W. Laf, wants to stay close to home. Seeking relationship with mustached authority figure. I'm smart, tough, I don't lose, and I'd look great in gold and black. Don't miss out on the next-Josh Smith! Text Matt Lancaster at (555) ILO-VEPU

YOU'RE MY MAN
Shout out to my man Matt Painter. Tough going thus far this season, but I know you'll whip them into shape. Don't forget who brought you here. You're MY coach. Make me YOUR AD forever this offseason! How's $2.5 million a year sound? Let me know… Text Morgan Burke at (555) STA-Y@PU

I'M YOUR BEST HOPE
You're the Kansan RB ranked first in the country. I'm the old, white guy with the backward Purdue cap stalking you the last few months. I want to buy you books and your own room (sorta), dress you up, watch you run, and see you off to the NFL. Let's make my your dreams come true? Text Bryce Brown to (555) PRT-YPLZ

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Purdue Message Boarders: I Don't Hate Out-Of-State Recruits, I Like Matt Painter

In the aftermath of my newfound near-unanimous popularity on Purdue message boards, this "open source sports" writer feels even dumber than usual.

Last week, when I posted my fact-based findings about the success of former Indiana schoolboys on the hardwood in college, the piece quickly and unfortunately made its way to said boards where fellow Boilermakers fans gasped at my (supposed) mordacious tone, cachinnated in response to my (supposed) demands, and clucked at my (supposed) censuring of Matt Painter.

One even went so far as to mournfully (and creepily!) satire my writing with an incoherent incident that you can view for yourself here. "If Purdue or Indiana could recruit two of the top-five players from Indiana every season, they'd continuously be Big Ten Championship contenders and reside high in the polls," I'd argued with (supposed) acerbic aplomb, unaware while typing that the sentence would be misconstrued as a call to ban out-of-state players from wearing black-and-gold.

To me, the point of the piece was simple and not-so-thinly-veiled. To others, it was a Magic-Eye challenge to read between the lines for sentiments that simply do not exist anywhere in my mind.

Because I am a Purdue fan, because I'm young and thin-skinned and do not want fellow Boilermakers to hate me over a misconception, and because I would rather not see any more attempts at Billy Buckles satire (that is what it was right?), I wish to add to, clarify, and clearly state the arguments I tried to express in my oh-so-famous piece (over 1,000 reads!):

1) Once again, if Purdue or Indiana could recruit two of the top-five players from Indiana every season, they'd continuously be Big Ten Championship contenders and reside high in the polls. I’d love for Purdue to get all of the top-five from Indiana every year.

I may be from West Point, Indiana (shout out to everyone in WePo!), but I understand that is typically not possible for many reasons, chief among them academics (see: Robert Goff) and competition (kids grow up fans of many different schools).

2) Indiana Mr. Basketball winners and the best player from the best team in Indiana are as sure a thing as you'll find in recruiting. I think my research validates that point, and it was the main idea that I wanted to express.

I tell my friends all of the time that I'm confident of a recruit if he is the best player on his team, and his team enjoys great success. I think it takes an extraordinary lead player to make a team elite in Indiana. I always bring up Josh McRoberts and Purdue's four freshmen from this season as examples of this. The consensus on McRoberts was that he was a top-five recruit nationally. Before seeing him play, I questioned the ranking since his Carmel teams were never much above average. Upon seeing him play against Greg Oden, I had no doubt that he was extremely overrated.

Purdue's freshmen, on the other hand, all led their teams to the top of the Class 4A rankings and gaudy records. They also passed the sight test. To me, each are important. J.R. Angle dropped almost 30 points a night, but Indian Creek wasn't anything special. His stats didn't translate into team success. I believe it's a valuable indicator.

3) Purdue missed out on about a dozen top-class in-state players this decade that common sense says would have loved to play in Mackey Arena.

I don't blame many of those on Matt Painter. He and his staff deserve dap for unearthing Chris Kramer. They were also on Scott Martin, Tyler Zeller, E'Twaun Moore and many others before other high-majors joined in the recruitment.

I was close enough to the team the last few years to know that Painter almost miraculously landed Dominic James and would have had it not been for Tom Crean and his damn Dwayne Wade anecdotes.

I know what you're thinking, "If you don't blame Painter, then why bring it up?" To shame the name of Gene Keady, of course. He got what he deserved, courtesy of Darrick Martin!

No, in all seriousness I wanted to illustrate the fact that as we passed on a lot of potential good players in our backyard the quality of our program fell. Even when we're not a national power program (as we're once again becoming today), I think Purdue can still be very good by feeding off of the talent yielded in-state.

Gene Keady may still be coach today had he offered Shane Power, Andre Owens, Avery Sheets, Anthony Winchester, Peyton Stovall, Stanley Burrell, and Brandon Crone.

(Message boarders… Please notice I said may. That is a very loaded may.He probably wouldn't still be coach. PLEASE don't start three threads calling me out for moronically, definitively stating that if Keady had stood outside Mad Mushroom after school on signing day in 2002 and offered five West Lafayette High School nerds walking by scholarships, Purdue would be coming off their sixth straight national title.)

4) I think Matt Painter has done an incredible job at Purdue, and I actually fear the day soon may come when he is priced out of West Lafayette. What he has done thus far at Purdue bears a striking resemblance to the early career of Billy Donovan (With the obvious difference being that Purdue had a much more storied history than Florida, but do high school kids today care?).

The two spent a similar length of time as assistants, possessed similar head coaching experience prior to landing a major gig, attack recruiting with ardent zest, and seem keen on playing up-tempo basketball with pressure defense. Painter's development of Carl Landry, David Teague, and Keaton Grant has been remarkable; I can't wait to see how the three freshmen from last season progress this year.

Donovan has turned a handful of mere four-star recruits into NBA lynchpins. If Painter can produce similar tournament success (Donovan took Florida to the championship game in his third season as head coach of the Gators), he'll be a major target for any deep-pocket program- if not NBA team- with an opening. I hope that day comes soon, and I hope when it does Morgan Burke can find the $3 million a year required to lock up Painter.

5) Despite my professed profound admiration for MP, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world to question him, or any coach for that matter, from time-to-time. And I doubt he really cares what I think.

No, no, no, I know he doesn't care what I think. What do I think? Losing very nice kids who get lots of playing time like Scott Martin and Chris Lutz is a worrisome trend that can't continue.

6) I hate the expression "Baby Boilers."

7) Plymouth's Randy Davis wouldn't have been a waste of a scholarship at Purdue* (don't worry, he's not related to Jamaal). Same goes for Winchester's Tyler Koch.

8) I really hope I didn't forget anything...

*Comment sure to trump everything stated above and start message board furor that ends in Knucklehead torch-laden march outside my house and yet another amended "open source sports" posting.

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History Suggests Purdue and Indiana Should Focus Basketball Recruiting In-State

Purdue was just putting the finishing touches on an epic slide in 2005-2006. After over a century of success, the basketball program officially bottomed out with a 9-19 season, a year after going 7-21.

Matt Painter's first season as head coach couldn't have gone much worse.

It didn't have to be that way. Although the drawn-out conclusion to Gene Keady's career as head coach hurt the program's ability to recruit, the real reason for the slide was that Purdue was passing on the right personnel.

One look at Purdue's '05-'06 roster tells the whole story: just one recruited scholarship player from the state of Indiana, Matt Keifer, was playing.

To be fair, David Teague was out for the year after tearing his ACL, and Chris Hartley was playing after arriving as a walk-on.

Every other player from that disappointing team arrived from outside of Indiana's borders.

Can it be blamed on the fact that Purdue was simply unattractive to recruits worthy of playing in the Big Ten?

While it's understandable that the Boilermakers didn’t scoop up the five-star talent during this period, there's no excuse for missing out on a host of other possibilities who went on to excel at mid-majors after being shunned by Purdue.

During the '05-'06 season, many players from Indiana at smaller schools were outperforming players brought in from out of state to play in Mackey Arena.

From less than 10 miles away in Lafayette, Avery Sheets was putting the finishing touches on a very successful Butler career, and Peyton Stovall averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for Ball State as a sophomore.

AJ Graves and Brandon Crone became nationally recognizable names while leading Butler up the top-25.

George Hill averaged 19 points, six rebounds, and 3.6 assists as a freshman at IUPUI.

Had Purdue correctly assessed the talents of these former Indiana All-Stars, the program wouldn't have been in such a sorry state.

In '06-'07, Purdue brought in four scholarship recruits, and just one, the lightly-heralded Chris Kramer (the only Hoosier-native of the group), was a real difference-maker in what turned out to be a surprisingly good season.

The cupboard was bare afterwards, but the future looked good.

That's because the '07-'08 recruiting class was composed of four top-100 in-state freshmen (two JUCO-transfers were added late).

Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore, Scott Martin, and JaJuan Johnson were the impetus behind what has been the most surprising of turnarounds in terms of both the level Purdue has ascended to and the short time it took.

"Baby Boilers" annoyingly became a linchpin of the vocabulary of college basketball analysts when Purdue turned out to be a threat for the Big Ten Championship on the backs of the freshmen, a fact all the more surprising when considering that they were not even the best four newcomers from Indiana last season.

Eric Gordon was ranked second in the country coming out of high school and averaged over 20 points for Indiana.

Jeff Teague and Matt Howard were certainly more productive than Johnson and arguably rank better than Martin.

In summation, the high school class of 2007 from the state of Indiana was loaded.

While it may be fair to suggest that it was a good year for Indiana recruits, it would be an incorrect slight to suggest that a class of this caliber was a one-off event.

Two prospects you can count on to develop into top college players every year are the Indiana Mr. Basketball and the best player from the Indiana 4A State Championship game (some years they are one-in-the-same).

Here's a year-by-year look at what Indiana's Mr. Basketball winner's have produced since 1990:

1990—Damon Bailey: The state's all-time leading scorer, Bailey averaged 19.6 points and was a second-team All-American as a senior.

1991—Glenn Robinson: After academic problems wrecked what would've been his freshman season, the Big Dog became the most dominant player in college basketball for Purdue and went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

1992—Charles Macon: Macon initially enrolled at Ohio State, but ended his career at Central Michigan. He averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds as a senior for the Chippewas.

1993—Maurice "Kojak" Fuller: Fuller stood just 5'7", but possessed big-time ability. Unfortunately, personal problems landed him in prison.

1994—Bryce Drew: Drew led Valparaiso to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament before a six-year NBA career.

1995—Damon Frierson: Twice named second-team All-MAC at Miami, Frierson averaged 18.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists as a junior.

1996—Kevin Ault: Ault helped Steve Alford put the Bears' program on the map. He started as they went to the Sweet 16 in the program's only NCAA appearance.

1997—Luke Recker: Despite a helter-skelter career that saw him attend Indiana, Arizona, and Iowa, Recker managed to graduate with nearly 2,000 career points.

1998—Tom Coverdale: Coverdale was a three-year starter for Indiana who helped the Hoosiers reach the title game in 2002.

1999—Jason Gardner: Gardner started all four years at Arizona and was at times considered one of the best players in the country.

2000—Jared Jeffries: After hoisting the Hoosiers to the national title game, Jeffries turned pro and is currently playing for the New York Knicks.

2001—Chris Thomas: Thomas posted career averages of 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists at Notre Dame. He currently plays professionally in Spain.

2002—Sean May: May was Most Outstanding Player in leading North Carolina to the 2005 National Championship. He is a member of the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA.

2003—Justin Cage: Cage started over 100 games as Xavier elevated themselves from a mid-major into a Top-25 staple during his career.

2004—AJ Ratliff: Ratliff's career at Indiana started promising, but personal problems led to him being dismissed from the team as a senior.

2005—Luke Zeller: The 6'10" Zeller has failed to establish himself at Notre Dame as anything more than a reserve.

2006—Greg Oden: Widely considered the best center prospect that his generation will see, Oden carried Ohio State to the title game as a freshman and was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

2007—Eric Gordon: Gordon led Indiana in scoring as a freshman and was recently drafted No. 7 overall.

Now a breakdown of the best players from the 4A and single-class state champions over the same time period:

1990—Bedford North Lawrence: Mr. Basketball Bailey

1991—Gary Roosevelt: Mr. Basketball Robinson

1992—Richmond: Woody Austin's brother Chad led Richmond. Chad went on to star at Purdue for four seasons.

1993—Jeffersonville: BJ Flynn was a contributor for four years at Louisville, and the Cardinals made three Sweet 16 appearances in his career.

1994—South Bend Clay: Lee Nailon was one of the top players in college basketball at TCU before enjoying a six-year NBA career.

1995—Indianapolis Ben Davis: Mr. Basketball Frierson

1996—Indianapolis Ben Davis: Unique case in that they were un-ranked before the tournament.

1997—Bloomington North: Kueth Duany was a starter and captain for Syracuse when they won the national championship in 2003.

1998—Indianapolis Pike: Rodney Smith started his last two seasons at Purdue and was a key player.

1999—Indianapolis North Central: Mr. Basketball Gardner

2000—Marion: Zach Randolph led Marion to victory over Jeffries and Bloomington North. Randolph starred in his freshman season at Michigan State and currently plays with Jeffries on the Knicks.

2001—Indianapolis Pike: Mr. Basketball Thomas

2002—Gary West Side: When Chris Hunter went to Michigan, he was said to be teeming with unrealized potential. People never stopped voicing his talent as his reputation exceeded his production all four years.

2003—Indianapolis Pike: Mr. Basketball Cage

2004-06—Lawrence North: Future Mr. Basketball Oden and future No. 4 overall draft pick Mike Conley Jr.

2007—East Chicago Central: Purdue's Moore

What does this history lesson serve to illustrate? No Mr. Basketball and no player that leads a big school team to a state championship should ever be passed on by Purdue or Indiana.

The state of Indiana isn't just stacked at the top. The classes are deep with future high-impact college players.

You can throw out the national recruiting rankings and say with some assurance that if Purdue or Indiana could recruit two of the top-five players from Indiana every season, they'd continuously be Big Ten Championship contenders and reside high in the polls.

A quick look back at recent Indiana All-Stars shows that there were dozens of All-Conference types that Purdue and Indiana missed on this decade after the Dukes and North Carolinas swooped in and stole the obvious stars.

2000: Jeffries, Randolph, Brody Boyd, Shane Power, Andre Owens

2001: Thomas, Chris Hill, Teague, Vytas Danelius

2002: May, Hunter, Kiefer, Sheets, Rodney Carney, Dedrick Finn, Anthony Winchester

2003: Cage, Stovall, Stanley Burrell, Brandon Crone

2004: Ratliff, Graves, Courtney Lee, Hill

2005: Josh McRoberts, Zeller, Dominic James, Deonta Vaughn, Armon Bassett

2006: Oden, Conley, Luke Harangody, Kramer, Vaughn Duggins

2007: Gordon, Moore, Hummel, Martin, Teague, Johnson, Howard, Ben Botts

Of the 34 players listed above between 2000-2006, only three moved to West Lafayette and just two played for the Hoosiers.

It's not hard to draw a connection between those numbers and the gradual downward slide the two programs suffered through during that time.

It's also perhaps worth reminding that a big in-state haul in 2007 paid early dividends for all three teams this season in propelling them to successful campaigns, while also stocking Purdue and Butler for the future.

The question is, have the Boilermakers and Hoosiers learned their lesson or will they once again foolishly covet thy neighbor's recruits while the ones residing in their borders are more than good enough?

A quick look ahead at the policies of Painter and his counterpart Tom Crean seems promising:

While just one of Purdue's three incoming recruits hail from the Hoosier state, Painter missed out on two big men he aggressively tried to recruit in Mr. Basketball Tyler Zeller (to North Carolina) and, star of the Class 4A State Champions, Brownsburg's 6'7" Gordon Hayward.

All four of Purdue's commitments for the high school Class of 2009—Franklin Central's Patrick Bade, Cathedral's Kelsey Barlow, Lawrence North's Jeff Robinson, and North Montgomery's DJ Byrd—are from Indiana, and Danville's Travis Carroll pledged for 2010 in mid-June.

Crean's 2008 class has been a patchwork, last-minute job, but he's got Tipton's Derek Elston and Bloomington South's Jordan Hulls waiting to sign in 2009.

We'll find out soon whether Crean makes in-state recruits a priority for 2010.

The state of Indiana features a handful of uncommitted top-100 talents in Lawrence North's Justin Martin, New Albany's Donnie Hale, and Blackhawk Christian's Russell Byrd.

The Hoosiers have reportedly already offered Byrd, while Purdue is said to heavily covet Hale.

How the final geographical make-up of those classes looks for the two rivals may go a long way in determining whether Painter can extend his time at Purdue as long as Gene Keady's, and if Tom Crean can be successful where Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson were not.

Mid-majors around the country are holding their collective breath.

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