So Purdue just beat No. 10 Maryland and added some much-needed protein to its NCAA Tournament résumé and, hey, I wonder what everybody's talking about on the Internet.
Probably the big win and how well the Boilermakers played to start the game and how they rose to the occasion in the end to get it done, right?
Yeah, probably not.
Those two minutes or whatever it was of press-induced chaos is cause for concern for sure, because Purdue was sitting pretty against a great team before the opening credits to the Benny Hill Show broke out and Maryland started turning turnovers into points at a frenzied pace, light Purdue up like a slot machine.
It was ugly.
Why'd it happen?
Because Purdue has a poise problem, a problem that rears its ugly little gremlin head at the worst of times sometimes and undermines this team fatally.
It's not because Purdue doesn't know how to beat a press or was blindsided by it today. Purdue has some personnel deficiencies against such things for sure, but what it has is a composure problem. I like Purdue's point guards for what they are, in context, but neither are that commanding presence who's going to press back.
And others just seem to lose their heads.
It's a problem, a big one, but just part of the much larger one: Turnovers.
The gremlin.
The Purdue team that led by 10 with four minutes left is its reality. That's what Purdue is and that Purdue is pretty damn good.
But until it gets that gremlin out of its system, then it's part of what the Boilermakers are, too.
A fascinating human story this team is, looking so strong, so authoritative at times, then so vulnerable and so overwhelmed at others.
The good news - the best news - for Purdue is that the switch isn't broken. It can be flipped back, as happened against both Michigan State and Maryland, two games in which Purdue led big, then got over their skis for a while, then recombobulated just in the nick of time to win games against elite opponents.
That says as much about Purdue's collective character than the meltdowns indict it, because these guys could have rolled up in the fetal position in both games and did not.
It's too bad for Purdue that this is what dominated the post-game narrative, because the effort on the boards was herculean and Dakota Mathias' play was damn near heroic. It takes special performances sometimes to win games like these two over the Spartans and Terrapins and that's what Purdue's gotten from Rapheal Davis and Mathias, respectively.
Mathias' résumé is a good one this season. Who knows what happens at Wisconsin if he doesn't stop the Badgers cold in their tracks with those late threes in Madison.
Anyway, good win for Purdue, or rather, a good 38 minutes of win for Purdue.
This is a big win for seeding considerations and momentum, but now one that can draw conflicted responses.
Clearly, Purdue is capable of being an outstanding team that can beat damn near anybody on the right night, or on any night really.
That Purdue has shot 47 percent from three-point range in the five games since its loss at Maryland only reinforces that thought.
But the gremlin lurks.
And because of it, Purdue can lose to damn near anybody in the country on the wrong night, or in the wrong two minutes, as today showed.
Probably the big win and how well the Boilermakers played to start the game and how they rose to the occasion in the end to get it done, right?
Yeah, probably not.
Those two minutes or whatever it was of press-induced chaos is cause for concern for sure, because Purdue was sitting pretty against a great team before the opening credits to the Benny Hill Show broke out and Maryland started turning turnovers into points at a frenzied pace, light Purdue up like a slot machine.
It was ugly.
Why'd it happen?
Because Purdue has a poise problem, a problem that rears its ugly little gremlin head at the worst of times sometimes and undermines this team fatally.
It's not because Purdue doesn't know how to beat a press or was blindsided by it today. Purdue has some personnel deficiencies against such things for sure, but what it has is a composure problem. I like Purdue's point guards for what they are, in context, but neither are that commanding presence who's going to press back.
And others just seem to lose their heads.
It's a problem, a big one, but just part of the much larger one: Turnovers.
The gremlin.
The Purdue team that led by 10 with four minutes left is its reality. That's what Purdue is and that Purdue is pretty damn good.
But until it gets that gremlin out of its system, then it's part of what the Boilermakers are, too.
A fascinating human story this team is, looking so strong, so authoritative at times, then so vulnerable and so overwhelmed at others.
The good news - the best news - for Purdue is that the switch isn't broken. It can be flipped back, as happened against both Michigan State and Maryland, two games in which Purdue led big, then got over their skis for a while, then recombobulated just in the nick of time to win games against elite opponents.
That says as much about Purdue's collective character than the meltdowns indict it, because these guys could have rolled up in the fetal position in both games and did not.
It's too bad for Purdue that this is what dominated the post-game narrative, because the effort on the boards was herculean and Dakota Mathias' play was damn near heroic. It takes special performances sometimes to win games like these two over the Spartans and Terrapins and that's what Purdue's gotten from Rapheal Davis and Mathias, respectively.
Mathias' résumé is a good one this season. Who knows what happens at Wisconsin if he doesn't stop the Badgers cold in their tracks with those late threes in Madison.
Anyway, good win for Purdue, or rather, a good 38 minutes of win for Purdue.
This is a big win for seeding considerations and momentum, but now one that can draw conflicted responses.
Clearly, Purdue is capable of being an outstanding team that can beat damn near anybody on the right night, or on any night really.
That Purdue has shot 47 percent from three-point range in the five games since its loss at Maryland only reinforces that thought.
But the gremlin lurks.
And because of it, Purdue can lose to damn near anybody in the country on the wrong night, or in the wrong two minutes, as today showed.
