It wasn't all that long ago when Purdue was damn near invincible in Mackey Arena, not all that unlike Wisconsin in the Kohl Center, where the No. 3 team in the country just got KO'd today.
Those days are over, at least for the time being.
Tom Crean and Tom Izzo each spoke after their teams' wins at Purdue about how difficult it is to play at Purdue, though neither would be above being completely full of it when the cameras are rolling.
But if it does remain difficult - and by difficult, I mean difficult - for a visitor to win in West Lafayette, the results say otherwise.
Since the start of Big Ten play last season, Purdue's just 8-7 in Mackey Arena. Two of those eight wins came over Penn State, two against Illinois, two against Iowa and the others against Northwestern and Nebraska. The losses all came to teams who are good.
That's nothing against Mackey Arena or the fans or anything like that or any sort of suggestion that things changed in one of college basketball's more storied venues once the seats got a little more comfortable.
It's a reflection, rather, of how things have slipped the past season-and-a-half as Purdue's sort of transitioned from one era of personnel to the next.
I laughed tonight at one of the super fan-boy bloggers - it's amazing what passes as "media" these days - who tweeted tonight about how "Izzo consistently makes Matt Painter look like a MAC level coach."
Short memory Michigan State's media mascot has. Yes, the Spartans have kicked the crap out of Purdue five games running now, but it was not all that long ago that the Boilermakers were winning by 20 in East Lansing; beating them by 18 on College "Game Day"; or holding them to 38 points in a game (wait, that was kind of a long time ago, just really wanted to get that one in).
Anyway, maybe I'm more lashing out against fan-boy "media" here more than I'm providing any sort of worthwhile editorial content, but the point being, I guess, is that yes, things have slipped at Purdue. Saturday night was a clear indication of that. On a home floor where Purdue used to be able to beat anyone, it never really had a chance against the Spartans, just like it never really had a chance against IU or the Buckeyes.
To beat Michigan State, you have to beat Michigan State at its own game. You have to be tough.
The Purdue teams that consistently made Tom Izzo look like a MAC-level coach - I don't really mean that, just thought it would be funny - were tough as hell. This team is not, one of the multiple flaws in a roster that I'm guessing will look a bit different next season.
You have to have players to win games like this one and all the others Purdue's dropped on its home floor the past 15 months or so, but for Purdue it goes beyond just that.
It's broken record time: A program that's for so long won with intangibles utterly lacks very important ones.
You want Purdue to add a shooter and you should. The best part about Purdue's three-point shooting lately is that maybe it won't finish the season with enough attempts to qualify for the NCAA statistical rankings, thus sparing it the eye-sore of finishing 250-something nationally. Joking, of course.
But what Purdue needs more than anything is an ability to play tough, smart and mature basketball.
Robbie Hummel was back in Mackey Arena Saturday night and reminded of those days prior to last season when that is what defined the Boilermakers, part of the "culture" Painter admitted this week has slipped.
(Kudos to Purdue, by the way, for making sure Hummel's jersey got up there. He deserves it, and you can never do enough for your former players.)
Purdue should be good next season. It will be a more talented, more experienced team than it has right now, with the potential (or hope) being there, too, that some spring-time "transactions" could fill in some missing pieces.
The Boilermakers will have better players next season than they have this season. And in a perfect world for Purdue, a team with the guts and wits to win a game like Saturday night's.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. 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.
Those days are over, at least for the time being.
Tom Crean and Tom Izzo each spoke after their teams' wins at Purdue about how difficult it is to play at Purdue, though neither would be above being completely full of it when the cameras are rolling.
But if it does remain difficult - and by difficult, I mean difficult - for a visitor to win in West Lafayette, the results say otherwise.
Since the start of Big Ten play last season, Purdue's just 8-7 in Mackey Arena. Two of those eight wins came over Penn State, two against Illinois, two against Iowa and the others against Northwestern and Nebraska. The losses all came to teams who are good.
That's nothing against Mackey Arena or the fans or anything like that or any sort of suggestion that things changed in one of college basketball's more storied venues once the seats got a little more comfortable.
It's a reflection, rather, of how things have slipped the past season-and-a-half as Purdue's sort of transitioned from one era of personnel to the next.
I laughed tonight at one of the super fan-boy bloggers - it's amazing what passes as "media" these days - who tweeted tonight about how "Izzo consistently makes Matt Painter look like a MAC level coach."
Short memory Michigan State's media mascot has. Yes, the Spartans have kicked the crap out of Purdue five games running now, but it was not all that long ago that the Boilermakers were winning by 20 in East Lansing; beating them by 18 on College "Game Day"; or holding them to 38 points in a game (wait, that was kind of a long time ago, just really wanted to get that one in).
Anyway, maybe I'm more lashing out against fan-boy "media" here more than I'm providing any sort of worthwhile editorial content, but the point being, I guess, is that yes, things have slipped at Purdue. Saturday night was a clear indication of that. On a home floor where Purdue used to be able to beat anyone, it never really had a chance against the Spartans, just like it never really had a chance against IU or the Buckeyes.
To beat Michigan State, you have to beat Michigan State at its own game. You have to be tough.
The Purdue teams that consistently made Tom Izzo look like a MAC-level coach - I don't really mean that, just thought it would be funny - were tough as hell. This team is not, one of the multiple flaws in a roster that I'm guessing will look a bit different next season.
You have to have players to win games like this one and all the others Purdue's dropped on its home floor the past 15 months or so, but for Purdue it goes beyond just that.
It's broken record time: A program that's for so long won with intangibles utterly lacks very important ones.
You want Purdue to add a shooter and you should. The best part about Purdue's three-point shooting lately is that maybe it won't finish the season with enough attempts to qualify for the NCAA statistical rankings, thus sparing it the eye-sore of finishing 250-something nationally. Joking, of course.
But what Purdue needs more than anything is an ability to play tough, smart and mature basketball.
Robbie Hummel was back in Mackey Arena Saturday night and reminded of those days prior to last season when that is what defined the Boilermakers, part of the "culture" Painter admitted this week has slipped.
(Kudos to Purdue, by the way, for making sure Hummel's jersey got up there. He deserves it, and you can never do enough for your former players.)
Purdue should be good next season. It will be a more talented, more experienced team than it has right now, with the potential (or hope) being there, too, that some spring-time "transactions" could fill in some missing pieces.
The Boilermakers will have better players next season than they have this season. And in a perfect world for Purdue, a team with the guts and wits to win a game like Saturday night's.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. 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.
