My Two Cents: For Purdue, TBT Wins Are Good For All Involved
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — For the longest time, it's been about the name on the front of the jersey at Purdue, and not the name on the back. But that took a new twist on Sunday night during the winner-take-all TBT tournament taking place in a bubble in Columbus, Ohio.
The Men of Mackey team is branded as a Purdue ball club. The general manager (Ryan Kay) is a Purdue grad. So is Ryne Smith, the coach, and several players. The color scheme? All Purdue black and gold.
But when it became survive-and-advance time Sunday, it was a baller name Justin Dentmon that carried the load. Purdue fans scratched their collective heads, and had the same thought:
Who the heck is Justin Dentmon?
It's better to start with what Dentmon ISN'T. First off, he is not a Purdue Boilermaker. He played at Washington and has been a pro, mostly overseas, since 2009. He's experienced in this tournament, and it was a big deal that Men of Mackey scooped him up. He scored 33 points in the first-round win, and helped them advance to Tuesday's second-round game with No. 3-seed Boeheim's Army, a collection mostly of former Syracuse players.
Does it matter that Dentmon didn't play at Purdue? Of course not. Does Purdue still benefit from it? They sure.
Look, right now, there is no basketball to watch other than the TBT event thanks to COVID-19. The pandemic has shut the game down for months, and this is our first taste of hoops since mid-March. So people will watch, and what they saw was this Purdue-ish team winning a first-round game and getting another shot at that million-dollar prize on Tuesday.
Tuesday's matchup now, to the casual fan, is a game between Syracuse and Purdue alums. They won't know that Dentmon isn't a Purdue grad, or that Frank Gaines, who had 10 points, played at Fort Wayne. Men of Mackey is Men of "Mackey,'' as far as most people know.
There's still a long way to go to win the million-dollar prize, but at least people are talking. And that's always good for the Purdue rep.
Tuesday's Games
No. 6 Challenge ALS vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
No. 3 Boeheim's Army vs. No. 19 Men of Mackey, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday's Results
No. 23 Herd That 80, No. 10 Peoria All-Stars 65
No. 22 Sideline Cancer 93, No. 11 Team Hines 91
No. 19 Men of Mackey 83, No. 14 Heartfire 79
No. 15 Armored Athlete 98, No. 18 Power of the Paw 91
Saturday's Results
No. 9 Big X 79, No. 24 D2 74
No. 12 Brotherly Love 87, No. 21 Stillwater Stars 71
No. 16 House of 'Paign 76, No. 17 War Tampa 53
No. 13 Team CP3 76, No. 20 PrimeTime Players 74
