I'm not gonna lie: This is getting challenging, difficult to come up with new and compelling material - or at least faking it - about this Purdue team after relatively ho-hum games.
I'll go with this point again: A year ago at this time, Purdue lost to North Florida, then Gardner-Webb, then got obliterated by Notre Dame.
The first two of those games shouldn't have happened, but did, in part because of immaturity.
Is this a mature Purdue team? Seems to be.
Is this a more mature Purdue team than the one who tripped over those trap games last year? Yes, absolutely.
These are, on paper, the dog days. The riff-raff that comes between a championship in Connecticut followed by a road game in an energized environment on national TV and Purdue's two biggest non-conference games: Butler and Vanderbilt.
If there was ever a time for the mind to wander, this would be it. This week's games with IUPUI, Howard and Youngstown State.
But like we've talked about it here, not sure it would matter with this Purdue team even if it does roll out there with the occasional 75-percent effort.
It would appear to be too deep and its constants such an overwhelming advantage that I think Boilermaker team is pretty well insulated against résumé-damaging losses, at least at home.
I could be wrong, but I just think this team is too deep, too mature, too stable and not as volatile as past Purdue teams, because A.J. Hammons has seemingly found himself and everyone around him is more consistent personality than otherwise.
Purdue has some bases to cover on defense, but while it's user-friendly to get shots off against it, it isn't always easy to score against. And offensively, it just has so much going for it for everything to be off at the same time.
Hell, if Purdue was gonna get upset at home and 4-of-whatever three-point shooting and 19 turnovers against New Mexico didn't do the trick, I don't know what will. And that's New Mexico, not IUPUI, Howard or the Fightin' FauxPelinis.
And Purdue still has upside.
It can get better on defense and Caleb Swanigan is going to be a better player a month from now than he even is now, and he's pretty good now. Its shooters - not its shooting, but its shooters - can become more consistent. Maybe Kendall Stephens is starting to thaw now just as Dakota Mathias goes into deep freeze. Those guys have to be effective, because come the higher-end games, I don't know how much Ryan Cline is going to play and if he does play, there's no guarantee he is automatically panacea for sketchy shooting.
Purdue is good now.
But it can still get better.
I'll go with this point again: A year ago at this time, Purdue lost to North Florida, then Gardner-Webb, then got obliterated by Notre Dame.
The first two of those games shouldn't have happened, but did, in part because of immaturity.
Is this a mature Purdue team? Seems to be.
Is this a more mature Purdue team than the one who tripped over those trap games last year? Yes, absolutely.
These are, on paper, the dog days. The riff-raff that comes between a championship in Connecticut followed by a road game in an energized environment on national TV and Purdue's two biggest non-conference games: Butler and Vanderbilt.
If there was ever a time for the mind to wander, this would be it. This week's games with IUPUI, Howard and Youngstown State.
But like we've talked about it here, not sure it would matter with this Purdue team even if it does roll out there with the occasional 75-percent effort.
It would appear to be too deep and its constants such an overwhelming advantage that I think Boilermaker team is pretty well insulated against résumé-damaging losses, at least at home.
I could be wrong, but I just think this team is too deep, too mature, too stable and not as volatile as past Purdue teams, because A.J. Hammons has seemingly found himself and everyone around him is more consistent personality than otherwise.
Purdue has some bases to cover on defense, but while it's user-friendly to get shots off against it, it isn't always easy to score against. And offensively, it just has so much going for it for everything to be off at the same time.
Hell, if Purdue was gonna get upset at home and 4-of-whatever three-point shooting and 19 turnovers against New Mexico didn't do the trick, I don't know what will. And that's New Mexico, not IUPUI, Howard or the Fightin' FauxPelinis.
And Purdue still has upside.
It can get better on defense and Caleb Swanigan is going to be a better player a month from now than he even is now, and he's pretty good now. Its shooters - not its shooting, but its shooters - can become more consistent. Maybe Kendall Stephens is starting to thaw now just as Dakota Mathias goes into deep freeze. Those guys have to be effective, because come the higher-end games, I don't know how much Ryan Cline is going to play and if he does play, there's no guarantee he is automatically panacea for sketchy shooting.
Purdue is good now.
But it can still get better.
