LAHAINA, Maui - OK, Purdue is wheels up from Maui tomorrow and so am I in T-minus four hours, but first we look back at the past 72 hours and what they taught us about a team that came out to this proving ground, uh, unproven.
Understand this: Purdue remains a young team, whether you're as sick of reading it as I am writing it or not. There are going to be bumps in the road, inevitably, and consistency is always a difficult target to hit with so many 18-year-olds running around.
But what Purdue did in its resoundingly successful trip to Maui is show what it's capable of.
This isn't going to be a Final Four team, but what it can be is a rock-solid group with a chance to be competitive against most anyone, beat people in the Big Ten and do so with massive upside.
This is a high level of basketball, people. If you were sitting courtside for this game, you felt the intensity yourself. Not sure it was Big Ten level or NCAA Tournament level, but it was the highest level most of Purdue's players have played on.
It passed the test, playing five good halves out of six and coming away with a pair of valuable dubs, maybe even a coveted résumé win vs. BYU.
Can it propel Purdue forward? No telling the future, but sure, it could. It had that effect on the 2006 team and that wasn't a particularly young team aside from the two freshmen starting in the backcourt.
You'll recall Purdue got beat by a really talented Georgia Tech team with Thaddeus Young and Jarvis Crittenden, but bounced back to clobber perpetually down-on-its-luck DePaul and out-tough Oklahoma.
Sound familiar?
What we learned most about Purdue in Maui was that its tough. It will fight you and not fold. It's toughness in all its forms, today mental and physical, the physical part coming against BYU's Hanson Bros. front line and the mental part coming in having to battle back again and again. There were so many turning point junctures today where everything could have gone for Purdue the way of Kendall Stephens' pinky: Sideways.
Again and again, though, Purdue answered. Rapheal Davis and Jon Octeus are huge parts of this. Vince Edwards was ridiculously good today. Isaac Haas is a Deere product in the post and plays maybe even bigger than he is if that's possible, though he's got to learn to stop bringing the ball down around the basket.
This is a team with real potential, one that looked the past 48 hours to be ahead of schedule, but one that certainly has not yet arrived. Capability and consistency are two very different things.
But Purdue is capable.
That's the big-picture stuff. Here's the nuance.
Matt Painter has always been a matchups coach and that's why he recruited Vince Edwards, to madden opposing big men by making them guard and guard-like player.
Today you saw it in all its glory.
Edwards was brilliant, nothing short of it, not only in the plays he made - 25 points worth of them - but when he made them. He propelled Purdue in the first half, then made big plays in a second half when every possession might have been the game. If he doesn't go 4-for-4 at the foul line in the span of 15 seconds or so inside two minutes during regulation, Purdue probably loses.
Kid is diabolical. No fear at all.
We offered Purdue a helpful suggestion on Edwards' use here
Maui showed us that Purdue has a couple of budding standouts if not stars in Haas and Edwards.
Rapheal Davis has always been a leader-type but in words and example. Suffice to say when a team's best player carries out those things, even better. Davis played the best basketball of his career the past 48 hours. That's important.
When you want guys to emulate another guy it has to be good for them to be able to see that what that guy is doing is working.
Without Davis in Maui, Purdue would have been screwed quite honestly.
Hey look: Purdue is a good foul-shooting team.
It can be a really good foul-shooting team if it can get Haas up and running at a higher level, because he might set some sort of record for fouls drawn.
Today's anecdote, though, about Haas joining Painter and a few teammates at a local school to shoot extra free throws - by the way, these players are in HAWAII and this is what they're doing with their free time - is telling of what he is made of.
So was the other day's anecdote about him shooting free throws during Purdue's huddle coming after halftime.
Purdue has a really conscientious group.
The turnover problem isn't going away. Surprising. These guys aren't reckless types, but the Boilermakers keep turning it over and keep doing the opponents' scoring for it.
We'll put this plainly: It will be an emphasis upon Purdue's return to the Lower 48.
(Lower 48 right? I mean, Hawaii's not "Up" like Alaska is. Eh, you know what I mean.)
Purdue has some guys it's going to have to continue covering up defensively on the wing and people are going to start facing and driving more and more on Purdue's bigs if they have bigs who are able to do such things. Foul trouble for Hammons and Haas might be part of opponents' scouting reports and it's kind of way to neutralize Purdue's size advantage at the rim, pulling them away from it.
Of course, not every team has big men who can exploit that matchup.
Maybe put Edwards more at that matchup 5 to shorten games on the foul trouble front for the centers?
All predicated on matchups, obviously, but we're speaking generally.
Purdue won a potential resume game today getting almost nothing on offense from Kendall Stephens. Won't happen often. Great sign for Purdue.
Great for Stephens too he showed he can really impact games other ways. His D in OT was huge.
Purdue has a defensive identity now. Zone might be on the backburner, but not dead. The Boilermakers' man-to-man defense was as good or better than it's been in years (not that that's saying much).
Octeus is a godsend (again) and Davis has really come of age as a defender.
OK, I have to go. If I can get wireless at the airport may add more
Understand this: Purdue remains a young team, whether you're as sick of reading it as I am writing it or not. There are going to be bumps in the road, inevitably, and consistency is always a difficult target to hit with so many 18-year-olds running around.
But what Purdue did in its resoundingly successful trip to Maui is show what it's capable of.
This isn't going to be a Final Four team, but what it can be is a rock-solid group with a chance to be competitive against most anyone, beat people in the Big Ten and do so with massive upside.
This is a high level of basketball, people. If you were sitting courtside for this game, you felt the intensity yourself. Not sure it was Big Ten level or NCAA Tournament level, but it was the highest level most of Purdue's players have played on.
It passed the test, playing five good halves out of six and coming away with a pair of valuable dubs, maybe even a coveted résumé win vs. BYU.
Can it propel Purdue forward? No telling the future, but sure, it could. It had that effect on the 2006 team and that wasn't a particularly young team aside from the two freshmen starting in the backcourt.
You'll recall Purdue got beat by a really talented Georgia Tech team with Thaddeus Young and Jarvis Crittenden, but bounced back to clobber perpetually down-on-its-luck DePaul and out-tough Oklahoma.
Sound familiar?
What we learned most about Purdue in Maui was that its tough. It will fight you and not fold. It's toughness in all its forms, today mental and physical, the physical part coming against BYU's Hanson Bros. front line and the mental part coming in having to battle back again and again. There were so many turning point junctures today where everything could have gone for Purdue the way of Kendall Stephens' pinky: Sideways.
Again and again, though, Purdue answered. Rapheal Davis and Jon Octeus are huge parts of this. Vince Edwards was ridiculously good today. Isaac Haas is a Deere product in the post and plays maybe even bigger than he is if that's possible, though he's got to learn to stop bringing the ball down around the basket.
This is a team with real potential, one that looked the past 48 hours to be ahead of schedule, but one that certainly has not yet arrived. Capability and consistency are two very different things.
But Purdue is capable.
That's the big-picture stuff. Here's the nuance.
Today you saw it in all its glory.
Edwards was brilliant, nothing short of it, not only in the plays he made - 25 points worth of them - but when he made them. He propelled Purdue in the first half, then made big plays in a second half when every possession might have been the game. If he doesn't go 4-for-4 at the foul line in the span of 15 seconds or so inside two minutes during regulation, Purdue probably loses.
Kid is diabolical. No fear at all.
We offered Purdue a helpful suggestion on Edwards' use here
Maui showed us that Purdue has a couple of budding standouts if not stars in Haas and Edwards.
When you want guys to emulate another guy it has to be good for them to be able to see that what that guy is doing is working.
Without Davis in Maui, Purdue would have been screwed quite honestly.
It can be a really good foul-shooting team if it can get Haas up and running at a higher level, because he might set some sort of record for fouls drawn.
Today's anecdote, though, about Haas joining Painter and a few teammates at a local school to shoot extra free throws - by the way, these players are in HAWAII and this is what they're doing with their free time - is telling of what he is made of.
So was the other day's anecdote about him shooting free throws during Purdue's huddle coming after halftime.
Purdue has a really conscientious group.
We'll put this plainly: It will be an emphasis upon Purdue's return to the Lower 48.
(Lower 48 right? I mean, Hawaii's not "Up" like Alaska is. Eh, you know what I mean.)
Of course, not every team has big men who can exploit that matchup.
Maybe put Edwards more at that matchup 5 to shorten games on the foul trouble front for the centers?
All predicated on matchups, obviously, but we're speaking generally.
Great for Stephens too he showed he can really impact games other ways. His D in OT was huge.
Octeus is a godsend (again) and Davis has really come of age as a defender.
OK, I have to go. If I can get wireless at the airport may add more
