A loss tonight (likely in my opinion) will be annoying because all the pundits will claim "this" is why Purdue can't win in March. There will be many claiming Illinois' size and athleticism are just things Purdue can't compete with, with no mention that Purdue has beaten teams with that...
I wouldn't say Purdue has the "worst fans" but certainly typical fans, to be sure.
A lot of it is the frustration of 40 years without a Final Four comes bubbling up after disappointing losses. We are a basketball school and Purdue has a lot of "basketball school" things checked off, but just...
What amazes me is guys that typically get a huge buyout like that end up coaching somewhere else before the buyout is done, which usually lowers the total amount paid out. I guess they must love coaching. I don't love anything enough to lose $20M in exchange for "early retirement." If I were...
Really? I thought he's looked pretty good at times this season. He's been effective at spelling Edey for a few minutes at center so far this year. I think Kaufmann-Renn is a potential all-Big Ten big man, if given the opportunity.
I wouldn't go so far as to say Purdue was outplayed. Marquette is damn good. I think they wore Purdue down a bit near the end but Purdue did just enough to hold on. After running a murderer's row of teams in three days, I think we should just be happy the boys were able to win all three...
I did not watch, but looking at the box score, if we'd have hit just 75% of our free throws it would not have been very close. 48 attempts? Good god. Tennessee had 30. I guess it was a rugby game? :D
He's been up and down several times, already, in his time here. I'm sure he'll bounce back. I'm sure any struggles are not for lack of effort. I just hope he maintains his motivation so he can develop a consistency to reduce the difficult games.
Nice. Painter & Co. have been on a roll the last few years. It's nice to break the typical Purdue recruiting pattern of one great class followed by several years of middling classes. Maybe they are in the process of breaking out of the associated "rebuilding" cycle every few years.
Despite their last couple of seasons, I still expect MSU will round into form by the end of the season. Even after their disappointing season last year (by their standards), they were still the only (?) Big Ten team to make it to the Sweet 16.
Heide certainly looks good and his athleticism is tantalizing. However, there are days when Loyer looks like Larry Bird out there (and days when he ...doesn't).
C'mon, Boilers, jump one more spot. I want to break the tie for 29th in weeks ranked #1. It's kind of amazing how quickly we've gone from "never been AP #1" to me getting greedy for more. :D