I just made it home to Indianapolis. I'm assuming Zach Edey is still in Mackey Arena signing autographs. I'm sitting down to dictate the post game presser and some quotes from yesterday, and it's just really hit me what a moment that game was tonight.
It's funny the duality of Purdue, of Matt Painter, of the basketball program that's been built and re-built and now #1 in the country again. I'm struck by just how monumental this win tonight is/should be/won't be because of a lot of things.
First off, the fact that no other Big Ten team has gone undefeated for three straight non-conference slates is really remarkable. Not Tom Izzo. Not Gene Keady. Not Bob Knight. Not Bo Ryan. None of it. Only Matt Painter and this current Purdue program can say that. And they didn't do it the easy way. This year alone Purdue has taken down Xavier (43rd in Kenpom), Gonzaga (21st) Tennessee (6th), Marquette (12th), Alabama (7th), and Arizona (3rd). Last season Purdue beat Marquette (finished 10th in Kenpom last year), West Virginia (19th), Gonzaga (8th), and Duke (18th). Three seasons ago, when this streak started, Purdue played and beat North Carolina (16th end of that season in Kenpom), Villanova (10th), N.C. State, Butler, and Florida St..
It's mind-boggling what this Purdue program has accomplished under Matt Painter throughout his tenure, but especially these last six seasons. Carsen Edwards' teams to Jaden Ivey to now Zach Edey's teams now. It's three straight years at #1 for a program that had never been #1. It's an NBA Lottery pick led team to a team led by the National Player of the Year who was just picking up a basketball for the first time around the time Purdue was a free throw away from the Final Four.
You know, I was talking to Ethan Morton yesterday about if he gets frustrated by the questions about March - that it's only December and I've probably asked him about it five or six separate times already this season. How it all leads to that - March - and he really put it in a great way - they did this to themselves. Purdue has had so much success that it's really made the losses in March staggering - how can a team this good that's done all this have these blemishes?
And it sucks to view this season, last season, Matt Painter's entire career through those lenses. Because what this team pulled off - what Mason Gillis, Zach Edey, Ethan Morton, Caleb Furst and now Braden Smith and TKR and Fletcher Loyer have done transforming this program into a powerhouse - it's almost unheard of.
When's the last time a school was deemed a new blue blood? When has a team been this dominant this consistently in college basketball? Purdue is close to it if not already, a new age Blue blood. As old Blue Blood's wither and struggle, Purdue thrived in a basketball landscape that's been formed into something that shouldnt' favor them.
And yet, the one thing missing is all that really gets talked about. That's the narrative. It's frustrating. It's maddening. I can't imagine how that has to feel personally, and I feel like I've asked in a thousand different ways to almost everyone on the team that question is some way - how do you stay focused or hungry for anything but that redemption in March.
Because at this point it feels like even these historic achievements are now just being stacked up against what might be or placed as hurdles ahead of this team in the tournament. A bit like Purdue is seeing how much they can accomplish historically and it mean nothing because the March success doesn't follow.
That's a tough narrative to make sense of. It's the nature of a sport that decides its greatest glory in such a win or go home fashion. That's the madness.
I wish these moments didn't seem smaller because I know they'll have to weigh against whatever happens in March for Purdue and Matt Painter.
Most seasons, there are stories that exist throughout. Chapters that can close. Things that can be moved on. But this season is hanging open, wet with ink, ready to be changed depending on one game in March.
I don't know if other people feel that? I'll be honest - I struggle not constantly writing about that. But tonight, I'm trying to remember that the stories of these players and this team and this coach aren't zero--sum games.
There's a kid waiting 90 minutes to get an autograph from Zach Edey, and Edey won't leave without making sure that kid's story gets one.
If I had a good wrap up line this would probably be some kind of article, but I think it's just don't let the cynicism overrun the present of a story. Purdue is telling a really good story right now. I hope you're all enjoying it.
It's funny the duality of Purdue, of Matt Painter, of the basketball program that's been built and re-built and now #1 in the country again. I'm struck by just how monumental this win tonight is/should be/won't be because of a lot of things.
First off, the fact that no other Big Ten team has gone undefeated for three straight non-conference slates is really remarkable. Not Tom Izzo. Not Gene Keady. Not Bob Knight. Not Bo Ryan. None of it. Only Matt Painter and this current Purdue program can say that. And they didn't do it the easy way. This year alone Purdue has taken down Xavier (43rd in Kenpom), Gonzaga (21st) Tennessee (6th), Marquette (12th), Alabama (7th), and Arizona (3rd). Last season Purdue beat Marquette (finished 10th in Kenpom last year), West Virginia (19th), Gonzaga (8th), and Duke (18th). Three seasons ago, when this streak started, Purdue played and beat North Carolina (16th end of that season in Kenpom), Villanova (10th), N.C. State, Butler, and Florida St..
It's mind-boggling what this Purdue program has accomplished under Matt Painter throughout his tenure, but especially these last six seasons. Carsen Edwards' teams to Jaden Ivey to now Zach Edey's teams now. It's three straight years at #1 for a program that had never been #1. It's an NBA Lottery pick led team to a team led by the National Player of the Year who was just picking up a basketball for the first time around the time Purdue was a free throw away from the Final Four.
You know, I was talking to Ethan Morton yesterday about if he gets frustrated by the questions about March - that it's only December and I've probably asked him about it five or six separate times already this season. How it all leads to that - March - and he really put it in a great way - they did this to themselves. Purdue has had so much success that it's really made the losses in March staggering - how can a team this good that's done all this have these blemishes?
And it sucks to view this season, last season, Matt Painter's entire career through those lenses. Because what this team pulled off - what Mason Gillis, Zach Edey, Ethan Morton, Caleb Furst and now Braden Smith and TKR and Fletcher Loyer have done transforming this program into a powerhouse - it's almost unheard of.
When's the last time a school was deemed a new blue blood? When has a team been this dominant this consistently in college basketball? Purdue is close to it if not already, a new age Blue blood. As old Blue Blood's wither and struggle, Purdue thrived in a basketball landscape that's been formed into something that shouldnt' favor them.
And yet, the one thing missing is all that really gets talked about. That's the narrative. It's frustrating. It's maddening. I can't imagine how that has to feel personally, and I feel like I've asked in a thousand different ways to almost everyone on the team that question is some way - how do you stay focused or hungry for anything but that redemption in March.
Because at this point it feels like even these historic achievements are now just being stacked up against what might be or placed as hurdles ahead of this team in the tournament. A bit like Purdue is seeing how much they can accomplish historically and it mean nothing because the March success doesn't follow.
That's a tough narrative to make sense of. It's the nature of a sport that decides its greatest glory in such a win or go home fashion. That's the madness.
I wish these moments didn't seem smaller because I know they'll have to weigh against whatever happens in March for Purdue and Matt Painter.
Most seasons, there are stories that exist throughout. Chapters that can close. Things that can be moved on. But this season is hanging open, wet with ink, ready to be changed depending on one game in March.
I don't know if other people feel that? I'll be honest - I struggle not constantly writing about that. But tonight, I'm trying to remember that the stories of these players and this team and this coach aren't zero--sum games.
There's a kid waiting 90 minutes to get an autograph from Zach Edey, and Edey won't leave without making sure that kid's story gets one.
If I had a good wrap up line this would probably be some kind of article, but I think it's just don't let the cynicism overrun the present of a story. Purdue is telling a really good story right now. I hope you're all enjoying it.
