GoldandBlack.coms top athletes: No. 10
Anationalchampion,aprofessionaldraftpick,all-Americans,All-BigTenselectionsandsomeconferencechampionshighlightourannuallistofPurdue'sathletes-of-the-year.
WestartourlistwithTeroneJohnson,asGoldandBlack.comtakesasubjectivelookatthetop10Boilermakersfrom2012-13.
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Bio:JuniorwhoseabilitytotakeovergamesoffensivelyboostedtheBoilermakers
Summary:Withseveralkeyperformersbeingunderclassmen-includingbrotherRonnie-TeroneJohnsonwascountedupontobealeaderandaconsistentcontributorforMattPainter'sBoilermakers.
Johnsondoesn'tnecessarilycounthimselfasuccessinthoseregards,especiallyafterPurduedidn'tfinishabove.500forthefirstsincePainter'sfirstseason.Beingacompetitor,hestruggledtofindvalueinhisindividualperformance,eventhoughhewasnamedathird-teamAll-BigTenpickbyleaguecoachesandledPurdueinscoring(13.5ppg).
ButtherewaslittledenyingJohnson'simportanceandimprovement.
Hehadcareer-highsinthree-pointandfreethrowpercentages,making35percentofthreesand65percentfromtheline.Evenwithmoreattentionandopponentswell-scoutedonhisabilitytogettotherim,Johnsonstillhadsuccesscreatingandsinkingfloaters.
Thatsparkedhimtosomecan't-be-stoppedgamesasajunior,includinghismonster32-pointgameagainstMichiganonMarch6.Init,Johnsonmade12-of-17shotsinanarrowfive-pointlosstotheeventualnationalrunners-up.The32pointswerethemostscoredbyanyplayerintheBigTenlastseason.
TheyalsocameduringanicefinalrunbyJohnson.Inthelast11gamesoftheseason,heaveraged15.6points,hadninedouble-digitscoringgamesandmade46percentofhisshots,including41percenton37three-pointers.
But,inthestoryoftheseason,Purduewononlyfourofthosegames.
"Ithinkitkindofgetsovershadowedbecausewe'relosing,"Johnsonsaidduringtheseasonofhisindividualperformance."Someofthegoodthingsgetovershadowedwhenyoulose,butifyoupullthatwinoutalotoflittlethingsgetglamorized.
"IfeellikewhetherIscore30points,have10rebounds,whenwelose,IstillfeellikeIhadabadgame.Icouldhavedonesomethingbetter.Ithinkthat'showitshouldbeacrosstheboard."
Analysis:Johnsonadmittedlywasn'tasgoodofaleaderashecouldhavebeenlastseason,strugglingtobreakoutofhiscomfortzoneandbemorevocal.Butheknowsit'sarolehemustseizeinhisfinalseason.
It'sagoodsignthatJohnsonwenttoworkhardontheweakareasofhisgame-freethrowandthree-pointshooting-andsawthoseextrasessionsresultinaboostinnumbersasajunior.
He'stakingthatsamedoggedapproachtoimprovementthisoffseason,fueledbytheteam'sstrugglesayearagoandhisdesiretolimitarepeatperformance.
"Idon'tthinkanybodywhoplayedlastyearordidn'tplaylikedseeingwhathappened,"Johnsonsaidthisspring."It'saboutturningitaroundnowandbeinghere(inMay)isjustpartofit."
Countdown:
No.10:TeroneJohnson
No.9:June18
No.8:June19
No.7:June20
No.6:June21
No.5:June24
No.4:June25
No.3:June26
No.2:June27
No.1:June28
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