Purdue's romp over a Howard team so decimated they may as well have just called themselves "How" provided the Boilermakers very little value aside from a win and chance for Rapheal Davis to get his legs under him.
What might have been an important chance to try to stifle a 30-a-game backcourt scorer - a test of Purdue's vulnerabilities on defense - turned into glorified calisthenics and a showcase for Jacquil Taylor's eurostep.
Purdue led by 30 before you knew it and then no one got hurt; there's your game story in tweet form.
Because this was barely a game, it leaves us with little to write about, so we're just going to pick a topic that seems relevant considering the games that loom: Purdue's up-side.
The Boilermakers have been pushed, yes, several times, but they've yet to so much as almost lose. Their average margin of victory this season now stands at 25.3 points, their closest being their dozen-point cushion against New Mexico.
So Purdue is pretty good. On that we can agree. But the question is how good can they be?
Purdue can get better, for sure.
Let's examine …
• Experience and cohesion. This team is rich with both, but Wednesday night was just its fourth game with its entire team available. A.J. Hammons sat out two games and then Rapheal Davis sat out four.
It's not like these guys aren't used to playing with each other, but there has to be some value in Purdue's whole team playing as much as possible together, not just from a chemistry/familiarity standpoint, but also so Matt Painter can know what he's doing rotations-wise come the time when the games really matter.
There may not be a bigger cluster from a rotations standpoint than the 2/wing, where Purdue has Davis, then Kendall Stephens, Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline and their very particular sets of skills. The offense-defense trade-off is something Painter is going to have to balance and the past four games have cost him the chance to see what works.
• Caleb Swanigan. If he were a cartoon, tonight might have been the night that a little light bulb appeared above his head and popped on with a 'ding' sound effect. I know it was only Howard but it seems like you're seeing some growth there. When the freshman isn't over-eager, productivity tends to find him.
He'll have games this season where he scores in the 20s on 15 shots, but he can also have games where he takes eight shots, gets to the line a bunch, scores on putbacks, grinds out points on low volume and makes people around him better, while dominating physically around the basket. The latter might be more impressive than the former.
He is a freshman, as difficult as it might be to remember about a guy who plays like a grown man, carries himself like a professional and creates the physical havoc of a wrecking ball.
• Defense. Purdue might be what it is right now in terms of its limitations, but it's not getting any smaller, so what Purdue is right now is still damn good.
Purdue's not going to get quicker, but as the season wears on and coaches gain more insight about what works and what doesn't, what opponents can exploit and what they can't, maybe some adjustments are made. Don't know what or why, but remember how bad Purdue was defensively exactly 12 months ago today, then remember how good it was at season's end.
Those are the things that come to mind.
Purdue has done everything that could have been reasonably expected of it to this point, with an opportunity ahead, a chance to catapult itself into Big Ten play with wins over Butler and Vanderbilt.
What might have been an important chance to try to stifle a 30-a-game backcourt scorer - a test of Purdue's vulnerabilities on defense - turned into glorified calisthenics and a showcase for Jacquil Taylor's eurostep.
Purdue led by 30 before you knew it and then no one got hurt; there's your game story in tweet form.
Because this was barely a game, it leaves us with little to write about, so we're just going to pick a topic that seems relevant considering the games that loom: Purdue's up-side.
The Boilermakers have been pushed, yes, several times, but they've yet to so much as almost lose. Their average margin of victory this season now stands at 25.3 points, their closest being their dozen-point cushion against New Mexico.
So Purdue is pretty good. On that we can agree. But the question is how good can they be?
Purdue can get better, for sure.
Let's examine …
• Experience and cohesion. This team is rich with both, but Wednesday night was just its fourth game with its entire team available. A.J. Hammons sat out two games and then Rapheal Davis sat out four.
It's not like these guys aren't used to playing with each other, but there has to be some value in Purdue's whole team playing as much as possible together, not just from a chemistry/familiarity standpoint, but also so Matt Painter can know what he's doing rotations-wise come the time when the games really matter.
There may not be a bigger cluster from a rotations standpoint than the 2/wing, where Purdue has Davis, then Kendall Stephens, Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline and their very particular sets of skills. The offense-defense trade-off is something Painter is going to have to balance and the past four games have cost him the chance to see what works.
• Caleb Swanigan. If he were a cartoon, tonight might have been the night that a little light bulb appeared above his head and popped on with a 'ding' sound effect. I know it was only Howard but it seems like you're seeing some growth there. When the freshman isn't over-eager, productivity tends to find him.
He'll have games this season where he scores in the 20s on 15 shots, but he can also have games where he takes eight shots, gets to the line a bunch, scores on putbacks, grinds out points on low volume and makes people around him better, while dominating physically around the basket. The latter might be more impressive than the former.
He is a freshman, as difficult as it might be to remember about a guy who plays like a grown man, carries himself like a professional and creates the physical havoc of a wrecking ball.
• Defense. Purdue might be what it is right now in terms of its limitations, but it's not getting any smaller, so what Purdue is right now is still damn good.
Purdue's not going to get quicker, but as the season wears on and coaches gain more insight about what works and what doesn't, what opponents can exploit and what they can't, maybe some adjustments are made. Don't know what or why, but remember how bad Purdue was defensively exactly 12 months ago today, then remember how good it was at season's end.
Those are the things that come to mind.
Purdue has done everything that could have been reasonably expected of it to this point, with an opportunity ahead, a chance to catapult itself into Big Ten play with wins over Butler and Vanderbilt.
