YPSILANTI, Mich. ? Well, one thing is clear: The notion that this might be a reloading season for Purdue as opposed to a rebuilding one has been shoved into oncoming traffic.
You might have been wishing for the same fate for yourself ? I kid, of course - if you were able to access ESPN3's broadcast of Saturday afternoon's pillow-fight between a couple of teams who couldn't score to save themselves, a game that resulted in another bang-your-head-against-the-wall loss for Purdue.
No one could have reasonably expected this team to be the proverbial well-oiled machine from the outset this season, not with so many inexperienced players and so many experienced ones fitting into revised job descriptions.
But this group had the summer and it had Italy and the hope was that things would come along quickly.
As Purdue's 4-5 start have illustrated, that hasn't happened, though your interpretation of "quick" lies in the eye of the beholder.
The Boilermakers aren't getting beaten by better teams. Well, not always. There's not a game Purdue's lost that it couldn't have easily won. There's a whole bunch it should have won.
Today it lost because it was helpless against a zone, but it wasn't helpless against a zone because it didn't know what to do. That might have been part of it. But more so, Purdue was helpless against a zone because it couldn't execute some of the most basic fundamentals of basketball.
Cue the manager from "Bull Durham": Basketball is a simple game. You dribble the ball. You pass the ball. You catch the ball.
In other words, when you're feeding the post against a zone, don't throw it a foot past a 7-footer's outstretched hand. That happened. When you're dribbling into a pass-off to a teammate bracing to attack the basket, don't throw the ball at his ear. That happened, too.
Make no mistake about it: Purdue's not losing because it doesn't have ability. It has plenty of it, though it could clearly use more scoring punch.
Purdue doesn't have many/any dynamic offensive players. Ronnie Johnson can be one day and A.J. Hammons is obviously going to be tremendous as a low-post player, but they're still just puppies. Terone Johnson isn't far off in the sense he can score in a variety of ways. But when the you-know-what hits the fan, does Purdue have that guide dog who can make something happen when nothing's happening?
What Purdue has is a lot of parts. Some of them are very talented, but very young.
D.J. Byrd is in a funk, a royal funk, ever since that first half at Clemson. What that showing might have done is raise opponents' awareness to where he's now Public Enemy No. 1 on their scouting reports, without the other shooters he was able to play off last season, nor the favorable matchups.
Maybe there's something to that, but more likely, he's just in a slump, a terrible, terrible, 1-of-17 slump since halftime at Clemson.
Last year, it was around Christmas that he seemed to really settle in with his surrounding cast, find a rhythm and maintain it. This year, the first half at Clemson has been the outlier. Purdue needs more from him. But some things around him have been so dysfunctional, it no doubt affects everyone.
Point guard play's been at the heart of Purdue going from the stingiest team in the country to one of the most generous.
Didn't realize how good Lewis Jackson was, did you?
But it will come. Just keep telling yourself that if you're a Purdue fan.
This season's going to be a different one.
Thus far, it looks like Purdue's going to be a very good rebounding team, uncharacteristically. Of course, the best way to squander 50-rebound games is 20-turnover games. Also uncharacteristically, Purdue's been atrocious with the ball.
But it'll come. It's just going to take a while.
Matt Painter's a damn good coach. Coaches don't just turn into dummies.
He says his team is listening, even though it might not look like it on game days.
Again, Purdue has the ability and it has a good coach.
So it will come.
Whether it will be next week, next month or even next year that's a question that's now very much on the table, though.
But in the meantime, Purdue simply can't let losing become OK.
Since Painter's first season at Purdue met its end, his teams have never struggled like Purdue is struggling now.
In that locker room, it can't become acceptable among the players. David Teague wouldn't have allowed it to. Chris Kramer wouldn't have allowed it to. Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson wouldn't have either.
So now what?
"This will test our team's character," Dru Anthrop said.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
You might have been wishing for the same fate for yourself ? I kid, of course - if you were able to access ESPN3's broadcast of Saturday afternoon's pillow-fight between a couple of teams who couldn't score to save themselves, a game that resulted in another bang-your-head-against-the-wall loss for Purdue.
No one could have reasonably expected this team to be the proverbial well-oiled machine from the outset this season, not with so many inexperienced players and so many experienced ones fitting into revised job descriptions.
But this group had the summer and it had Italy and the hope was that things would come along quickly.
As Purdue's 4-5 start have illustrated, that hasn't happened, though your interpretation of "quick" lies in the eye of the beholder.
The Boilermakers aren't getting beaten by better teams. Well, not always. There's not a game Purdue's lost that it couldn't have easily won. There's a whole bunch it should have won.
Today it lost because it was helpless against a zone, but it wasn't helpless against a zone because it didn't know what to do. That might have been part of it. But more so, Purdue was helpless against a zone because it couldn't execute some of the most basic fundamentals of basketball.
Cue the manager from "Bull Durham": Basketball is a simple game. You dribble the ball. You pass the ball. You catch the ball.
In other words, when you're feeding the post against a zone, don't throw it a foot past a 7-footer's outstretched hand. That happened. When you're dribbling into a pass-off to a teammate bracing to attack the basket, don't throw the ball at his ear. That happened, too.
Make no mistake about it: Purdue's not losing because it doesn't have ability. It has plenty of it, though it could clearly use more scoring punch.
Purdue doesn't have many/any dynamic offensive players. Ronnie Johnson can be one day and A.J. Hammons is obviously going to be tremendous as a low-post player, but they're still just puppies. Terone Johnson isn't far off in the sense he can score in a variety of ways. But when the you-know-what hits the fan, does Purdue have that guide dog who can make something happen when nothing's happening?
What Purdue has is a lot of parts. Some of them are very talented, but very young.
D.J. Byrd is in a funk, a royal funk, ever since that first half at Clemson. What that showing might have done is raise opponents' awareness to where he's now Public Enemy No. 1 on their scouting reports, without the other shooters he was able to play off last season, nor the favorable matchups.
Maybe there's something to that, but more likely, he's just in a slump, a terrible, terrible, 1-of-17 slump since halftime at Clemson.
Last year, it was around Christmas that he seemed to really settle in with his surrounding cast, find a rhythm and maintain it. This year, the first half at Clemson has been the outlier. Purdue needs more from him. But some things around him have been so dysfunctional, it no doubt affects everyone.
Point guard play's been at the heart of Purdue going from the stingiest team in the country to one of the most generous.
Didn't realize how good Lewis Jackson was, did you?
But it will come. Just keep telling yourself that if you're a Purdue fan.
This season's going to be a different one.
Thus far, it looks like Purdue's going to be a very good rebounding team, uncharacteristically. Of course, the best way to squander 50-rebound games is 20-turnover games. Also uncharacteristically, Purdue's been atrocious with the ball.
But it'll come. It's just going to take a while.
Matt Painter's a damn good coach. Coaches don't just turn into dummies.
He says his team is listening, even though it might not look like it on game days.
Again, Purdue has the ability and it has a good coach.
So it will come.
Whether it will be next week, next month or even next year that's a question that's now very much on the table, though.
But in the meantime, Purdue simply can't let losing become OK.
Since Painter's first season at Purdue met its end, his teams have never struggled like Purdue is struggling now.
In that locker room, it can't become acceptable among the players. David Teague wouldn't have allowed it to. Chris Kramer wouldn't have allowed it to. Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson wouldn't have either.
So now what?
"This will test our team's character," Dru Anthrop said.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
