LAHAINA, Maui - Purdue didn't lose to Kansas State this morning/afternoon/tonight (depending on where you're reading) because A.J. Hammons was a non-factor.
It lost because it buckled under the pressure Kansas State applied and did much of its opponent's scoring for it.
But it will lose more games this season if this was an indication of a pattern to come.
You remember last season: Matt Painter not even starting Hammons at times or pulling him after a first foul just to protect the big man from whistle-inflicted damage. Hell, he changed his defense this spring and summer in large part to accommodate Hammons and his unfortunate penchant for being relegated to the role of bystander.
Against the Wildcats, Hammons was a lawn ornament, playing about the same role in the outcome of the decisive first half as did the water bucket behind him.
For the record, I thought Painter should have come back with him later in the half as Oklahoma State I mean, Kansas State ran off 15 straight points to pull away. When Purdue needed to keep it close, it let it slip.
The Wildcats abused Purdue's fledgling zone defense with backdoor cuts and baseline stuff. Hammons would have changed things. Not shut them down, but at least affected things.
(Or he'd have fouled out in the first half, but whatever).
But here's the thing with Hammons, too: He's a non-factor when he's on the bench. When he's in the game, he needs to be that much more a factor.
In the second half, he conceded layups at the rim, two of them clear as the Maui skies at sunrise, for fear of fouls, only to foul on one of them anyway.
You don't get rollover fouls to the next game and Hammons isn't helping his team by staying in the game if he's not influencing the game, which he did not in the second half.
Thank heavens for Purdue for Isaac Haas, who was the Boilermakers' best center today, not only as a player, but as a personality and a presence. He looked like a budding star today, really.
It's a big stage, this Maui Invitational. College basketball fans everywhere are watching. It's either that or work, so they're watching.
You know who else is watching, if not seated courtside?
NBA scouts, tons of them.
A.J. Hammons did himself no favors today.
Isaac Haas might have just gotten a bunch of asterisks marked next to his name on the scorecards of pro-basketball kingmakers.
Here's the deal for Purdue, as we've been writing about all along this offseason: There are two causes for huge concern with this team.
1. Youth. It showed up today. It was bound to, and it did. When this game was in its deciding moments, Purdue had three freshmen on the floor.
2. Having to rely so much - for everything, really - on Hammons, a player who's not yet shown he can be counted on to bring it every game. We said somewhere - all our platforms run together - that he doesn't have to be great every game for Purdue, but he has to influence every game in some way, shape or form. He did no such things against Kansas State.
That's not to say he can't go on to have a great season and Purdue can't rebound from this one loss, the product of one dreadful half of basketball.
But it's not a good first sign either.
I'm not a big 'must-win game' guy, but Missouri tomorrow is huge for this team.
This is a group with upside, in my opinion, an astute enough collection of people to learn from mistakes and experiences.
I don't know if I'd have said that about last year's team after watching a player ejected for swiping at a trash talker and another foul out on a trash-talk-related tech.
Purdue could go on to stink this season or it could turn around and win a couple games here like in '06 and be just fine.
It's not even Thanksgiving and Purdue faces a pivotal moment in its young season.
Kansas State pressured Purdue into oblivion on defense today. What do you think Missouri's going to try to do?
For it go the right way, it needs Hammons.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. 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.
It lost because it buckled under the pressure Kansas State applied and did much of its opponent's scoring for it.
But it will lose more games this season if this was an indication of a pattern to come.
You remember last season: Matt Painter not even starting Hammons at times or pulling him after a first foul just to protect the big man from whistle-inflicted damage. Hell, he changed his defense this spring and summer in large part to accommodate Hammons and his unfortunate penchant for being relegated to the role of bystander.
Against the Wildcats, Hammons was a lawn ornament, playing about the same role in the outcome of the decisive first half as did the water bucket behind him.
For the record, I thought Painter should have come back with him later in the half as Oklahoma State I mean, Kansas State ran off 15 straight points to pull away. When Purdue needed to keep it close, it let it slip.
The Wildcats abused Purdue's fledgling zone defense with backdoor cuts and baseline stuff. Hammons would have changed things. Not shut them down, but at least affected things.
(Or he'd have fouled out in the first half, but whatever).
But here's the thing with Hammons, too: He's a non-factor when he's on the bench. When he's in the game, he needs to be that much more a factor.
In the second half, he conceded layups at the rim, two of them clear as the Maui skies at sunrise, for fear of fouls, only to foul on one of them anyway.
You don't get rollover fouls to the next game and Hammons isn't helping his team by staying in the game if he's not influencing the game, which he did not in the second half.
Thank heavens for Purdue for Isaac Haas, who was the Boilermakers' best center today, not only as a player, but as a personality and a presence. He looked like a budding star today, really.
It's a big stage, this Maui Invitational. College basketball fans everywhere are watching. It's either that or work, so they're watching.
You know who else is watching, if not seated courtside?
NBA scouts, tons of them.
A.J. Hammons did himself no favors today.
Isaac Haas might have just gotten a bunch of asterisks marked next to his name on the scorecards of pro-basketball kingmakers.
Here's the deal for Purdue, as we've been writing about all along this offseason: There are two causes for huge concern with this team.
1. Youth. It showed up today. It was bound to, and it did. When this game was in its deciding moments, Purdue had three freshmen on the floor.
2. Having to rely so much - for everything, really - on Hammons, a player who's not yet shown he can be counted on to bring it every game. We said somewhere - all our platforms run together - that he doesn't have to be great every game for Purdue, but he has to influence every game in some way, shape or form. He did no such things against Kansas State.
That's not to say he can't go on to have a great season and Purdue can't rebound from this one loss, the product of one dreadful half of basketball.
But it's not a good first sign either.
I'm not a big 'must-win game' guy, but Missouri tomorrow is huge for this team.
This is a group with upside, in my opinion, an astute enough collection of people to learn from mistakes and experiences.
I don't know if I'd have said that about last year's team after watching a player ejected for swiping at a trash talker and another foul out on a trash-talk-related tech.
Purdue could go on to stink this season or it could turn around and win a couple games here like in '06 and be just fine.
It's not even Thanksgiving and Purdue faces a pivotal moment in its young season.
Kansas State pressured Purdue into oblivion on defense today. What do you think Missouri's going to try to do?
For it go the right way, it needs Hammons.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. 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.
