Hi.
OK, now that we're in a semi-secure location where no one's feelings will be hurt, I can give you the real story of UNC-Wilmington: They are bad.
Like, they-struggle-to-just-dribble bad. You think I'm kidding.
These Seahawks were set up like a Thanksgiving turkey to be carved up by Purdue - wow, that's so original ? just like they had been by Richmond and Ohio before.
So this one was set up like a Wiffle Ball on a tee for the Boilermakers.
Good.
This team needs these games. The more it plays, the better it should get and the more success it experiences, the more success it might breed. That's just the way it works with teams in situations like Purdue's.
We've written before that there's a bit of an uneven-ness this season between the caliber of the non-conference schedule and Purdue's experience level. You wonder a bit if Purdue had a couple of these games before Bucknell, Villanova and Oregon State, maybe those games turn out different, but there's no telling, so no point in speculating.
At any rate, the timing was right for a slump-buster to come along.
Purdue came in a struggling basketball team and through the first 20 minutes against Wilmington, remained so. As of halftime, it wasn't swinging its Wiffle Bat.
Twice, in the first half, the Boilermakers created some cushion, leading by at least eight twice, then let their four-good-minute/two-awful-minute pattern take hold after both.
Had Terone Johnson not beat the horn with a three, Purdue would have been trailing at halftime in Mackey Arena to a team that just lost back-to-back games at Richmond and Ohio (not State) by a combined margin of 81 points.
Yikes.
Luckily for Purdue, it came to its basketball senses at halftime, Good Purdue subdued Bad Purdue for a while, and all was right in the world.
Again, this team was bound to deal with some inconsistencies. Get them out of your system now and in games like this, because those inconsistencies have already cost you three games.
What you're interested in seeing now from this team, in its infancy, is signs. Like you see toddlers learning their letters before they can read. You see plenty of signs because Purdue has played very well - very well ? in stretches, only to car-bomb itself with terrible portions of games, often at most inopportune times.
One of the obvious priorities early in the season was for Painter to figure out his roster's cluster in the post.
A.J. Hammons is showing glimpses ? and maintaining them ? of just awesome potential. "Potential" may not be the right word there, because he's showing he can do it now. Certainly, he's not where he needs to be, but he's getting better each time out it seems.
Travis Carroll was great against Wilmington, despite some sort of illness that had him croaking like a bullfrog in the post-game press conference.
(Earlier in the week, Painter sounded equally ill; when asked if he was sick, he predictably replied, "I'm sick of watching bad basketball.")
No, but Carroll was really good against Wilmington, level of competition very much being kept in mind when I say that. But there's a role on this team for him, whether the Internet likes it or not. He's busting his you-know-what, he plays smart and he can make a jumper. All good stuff.
He's shooting a modest 89 percent through five games, you know.
So where does that leave Sandi Marcius? He clearly came into the season on an upswing and should be Purdue's best rebounder based on his play in Italy and in practice and his skill set.
Not that Marcius hasn't done some good things thus far this season, but there are reasons he's now only averaging 10 minutes a game.
When asked after the game whether Marcius has taken a step back at all, Painter said, "I think those other guys have stepped forward."
Especially Hammons.
He was inconsistent from half to half Wednesday night, but what you have to understand with him is he has never before been genuinely featured as an offensive player since maybe his sophomore year at Carmel High School and even then maybe not to the extent Purdue's tried to get him the ball these past couple games.
He should keep getting better and better.
So should Ronnie Johnson. This has pretty apparently been a difficult transition for him. Of course it's been. But the more he plays
And that's why Thanksgiving-eve games against teams that can't dribble matter.
(Oh, and for those asking why Purdue plays games right before Thanksgiving like this: Take this year for example and consider that had Purdue not scheduled this game, it would have gone more than a week-and-a-half without playing a game. That's a long time to be ice. You'd probably have had to put the bird in the oven an awful long time to thaw out from that.)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
OK, now that we're in a semi-secure location where no one's feelings will be hurt, I can give you the real story of UNC-Wilmington: They are bad.
Like, they-struggle-to-just-dribble bad. You think I'm kidding.
These Seahawks were set up like a Thanksgiving turkey to be carved up by Purdue - wow, that's so original ? just like they had been by Richmond and Ohio before.
So this one was set up like a Wiffle Ball on a tee for the Boilermakers.
Good.
This team needs these games. The more it plays, the better it should get and the more success it experiences, the more success it might breed. That's just the way it works with teams in situations like Purdue's.
We've written before that there's a bit of an uneven-ness this season between the caliber of the non-conference schedule and Purdue's experience level. You wonder a bit if Purdue had a couple of these games before Bucknell, Villanova and Oregon State, maybe those games turn out different, but there's no telling, so no point in speculating.
At any rate, the timing was right for a slump-buster to come along.
Purdue came in a struggling basketball team and through the first 20 minutes against Wilmington, remained so. As of halftime, it wasn't swinging its Wiffle Bat.
Twice, in the first half, the Boilermakers created some cushion, leading by at least eight twice, then let their four-good-minute/two-awful-minute pattern take hold after both.
Had Terone Johnson not beat the horn with a three, Purdue would have been trailing at halftime in Mackey Arena to a team that just lost back-to-back games at Richmond and Ohio (not State) by a combined margin of 81 points.
Yikes.
Luckily for Purdue, it came to its basketball senses at halftime, Good Purdue subdued Bad Purdue for a while, and all was right in the world.
Again, this team was bound to deal with some inconsistencies. Get them out of your system now and in games like this, because those inconsistencies have already cost you three games.
What you're interested in seeing now from this team, in its infancy, is signs. Like you see toddlers learning their letters before they can read. You see plenty of signs because Purdue has played very well - very well ? in stretches, only to car-bomb itself with terrible portions of games, often at most inopportune times.
One of the obvious priorities early in the season was for Painter to figure out his roster's cluster in the post.
A.J. Hammons is showing glimpses ? and maintaining them ? of just awesome potential. "Potential" may not be the right word there, because he's showing he can do it now. Certainly, he's not where he needs to be, but he's getting better each time out it seems.
Travis Carroll was great against Wilmington, despite some sort of illness that had him croaking like a bullfrog in the post-game press conference.
(Earlier in the week, Painter sounded equally ill; when asked if he was sick, he predictably replied, "I'm sick of watching bad basketball.")
No, but Carroll was really good against Wilmington, level of competition very much being kept in mind when I say that. But there's a role on this team for him, whether the Internet likes it or not. He's busting his you-know-what, he plays smart and he can make a jumper. All good stuff.
He's shooting a modest 89 percent through five games, you know.
So where does that leave Sandi Marcius? He clearly came into the season on an upswing and should be Purdue's best rebounder based on his play in Italy and in practice and his skill set.
Not that Marcius hasn't done some good things thus far this season, but there are reasons he's now only averaging 10 minutes a game.
When asked after the game whether Marcius has taken a step back at all, Painter said, "I think those other guys have stepped forward."
Especially Hammons.
He was inconsistent from half to half Wednesday night, but what you have to understand with him is he has never before been genuinely featured as an offensive player since maybe his sophomore year at Carmel High School and even then maybe not to the extent Purdue's tried to get him the ball these past couple games.
He should keep getting better and better.
So should Ronnie Johnson. This has pretty apparently been a difficult transition for him. Of course it's been. But the more he plays
And that's why Thanksgiving-eve games against teams that can't dribble matter.
(Oh, and for those asking why Purdue plays games right before Thanksgiving like this: Take this year for example and consider that had Purdue not scheduled this game, it would have gone more than a week-and-a-half without playing a game. That's a long time to be ice. You'd probably have had to put the bird in the oven an awful long time to thaw out from that.)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
