Two steps forward and another back.
That's what the case seemed to be on my full-high definition couch-viewing of Purdue's 82-79 loss to Minnesota, a game that to be honest the Boilermakers should be far enough along at this point to win.
Yes, the Gophers shot the hell out of the ball. But, yes, any time a team shoots that way, the defense has at least some hand in it, and Purdue is a poor defensive team, not just a struggling one, not just an average one, a poor one, and it shouldn't be.
Purdue played well at West Virginia and competed against Ohio State, a game that could have turned out different had any number of sequences turned out differently.
But Purdue was bad on defense in the Barn and other all-too-familiar problems resurfaced, like A.J. Hammons blending in like a Titleist in a snowstorm. After two games in which he flashed dominant form, Hammons flashed anonymity at Minnesota.
The Boilermakers outrebounded Minnesota nonetheless and did enough on offense to win the game, but was a sieve on defense - whether it was giving up threes or constantly escorting it to the foul line in the first half - up until scramble mode, when it started pressing and generating some turnovers and stops that way.
Purdue got back in the game in the last few minutes, but shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
It should be a better defensive team than it is and it should make better decisions.
I don't have to tell you have Purdue's game-turning run was deflated some by a couple terrible, quick shots in important situations.
Timeout for a sidenote, or as I'll be accused of delivering by some angry poster three years from now, I'm sure, a "lecture": Be very careful with the word "selfish," - more specifically the term "selfish player" - please.
Please understand the term "selfish" as an indictment of character and the very, very, very fine line between "selfish" and less venomous, but more accurate, descriptors like over-eager, too aggressive and prone to making bad decisions.
I bring it up because Purdue has some guards who tend to get trigger-happy, and that reared its ugly head in the Barn, when Ronnie Johnson took two glaringly ill-conceived quick shots as the Boilermakers were in full-fledged scramble mode during their comeback. Also, understand that this was in fact scramble mode and everything was a bit hurried for everyone.
A "selfish" person only cares about himself to the intentional detriment of those around him, notably his team. "Selfish" reflects poor character, an attack I don't think any of us can credibly levy against anyone based solely on what happens during the basketball games we watch.
And we all know that on Twitter and the Internet, once a label is applied, it often sticks and sometimes gets picked up by media parrots and then really sticks.
So, there, just felt compelled to say that.
Ronnie Johnson is too aggressive sometimes and he was on occasions at Minnesota and hurt his team because of it. But it's making quite an assumption that he did it because he is "selfish." He made bad decisions.
When quarterbacks throw into triple coverage, they're trying to make plays, not pad their stats for selfish gain and the same sort of thing occurs in basketball.
Not sure I've ever seen a portion of this fanbase eat its own with its team's best players than the Bench The Johnsons crowd this year.
Anyway, as I said earlier, though, angst in some form is understandable. Malice, not so much. Angst, yes.
This was a frustrating setback for a team that looked like it had turned a corner of sorts and looked like it was in position to win a game like this, certainly not to be 0-2 in the Big Ten needing a win at Illinois to not start 1-3 (assuming Purdue can take down Nebraska at home).
Talent's not an issue for this group. Maturity and discipline, again, are, and it would really help the Boilermakers if sophomores Hammons and Ronnie Johnson, in particular, would shake their inconsistencies.
Purdue's still inconsistent, as Sunday showed. Had the Boilermakers played better and just lost to a team that played even better, that would be a little less cause of frustration, but it is what it is.
If Purdue is going to be where it wants to be at the end of the year, it has very little margin for error against the Big Ten's lower half, which we can safely put Minnesota in, I think.
It now has even less of a margin.
And with many more of these types of games ahead, it looks again like Purdue could be a wild card going into each and every one of them.
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.
That's what the case seemed to be on my full-high definition couch-viewing of Purdue's 82-79 loss to Minnesota, a game that to be honest the Boilermakers should be far enough along at this point to win.
Yes, the Gophers shot the hell out of the ball. But, yes, any time a team shoots that way, the defense has at least some hand in it, and Purdue is a poor defensive team, not just a struggling one, not just an average one, a poor one, and it shouldn't be.
Purdue played well at West Virginia and competed against Ohio State, a game that could have turned out different had any number of sequences turned out differently.
But Purdue was bad on defense in the Barn and other all-too-familiar problems resurfaced, like A.J. Hammons blending in like a Titleist in a snowstorm. After two games in which he flashed dominant form, Hammons flashed anonymity at Minnesota.
The Boilermakers outrebounded Minnesota nonetheless and did enough on offense to win the game, but was a sieve on defense - whether it was giving up threes or constantly escorting it to the foul line in the first half - up until scramble mode, when it started pressing and generating some turnovers and stops that way.
Purdue got back in the game in the last few minutes, but shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
It should be a better defensive team than it is and it should make better decisions.
I don't have to tell you have Purdue's game-turning run was deflated some by a couple terrible, quick shots in important situations.
Timeout for a sidenote, or as I'll be accused of delivering by some angry poster three years from now, I'm sure, a "lecture": Be very careful with the word "selfish," - more specifically the term "selfish player" - please.
Please understand the term "selfish" as an indictment of character and the very, very, very fine line between "selfish" and less venomous, but more accurate, descriptors like over-eager, too aggressive and prone to making bad decisions.
I bring it up because Purdue has some guards who tend to get trigger-happy, and that reared its ugly head in the Barn, when Ronnie Johnson took two glaringly ill-conceived quick shots as the Boilermakers were in full-fledged scramble mode during their comeback. Also, understand that this was in fact scramble mode and everything was a bit hurried for everyone.
A "selfish" person only cares about himself to the intentional detriment of those around him, notably his team. "Selfish" reflects poor character, an attack I don't think any of us can credibly levy against anyone based solely on what happens during the basketball games we watch.
And we all know that on Twitter and the Internet, once a label is applied, it often sticks and sometimes gets picked up by media parrots and then really sticks.
So, there, just felt compelled to say that.
Ronnie Johnson is too aggressive sometimes and he was on occasions at Minnesota and hurt his team because of it. But it's making quite an assumption that he did it because he is "selfish." He made bad decisions.
When quarterbacks throw into triple coverage, they're trying to make plays, not pad their stats for selfish gain and the same sort of thing occurs in basketball.
Not sure I've ever seen a portion of this fanbase eat its own with its team's best players than the Bench The Johnsons crowd this year.
Anyway, as I said earlier, though, angst in some form is understandable. Malice, not so much. Angst, yes.
This was a frustrating setback for a team that looked like it had turned a corner of sorts and looked like it was in position to win a game like this, certainly not to be 0-2 in the Big Ten needing a win at Illinois to not start 1-3 (assuming Purdue can take down Nebraska at home).
Talent's not an issue for this group. Maturity and discipline, again, are, and it would really help the Boilermakers if sophomores Hammons and Ronnie Johnson, in particular, would shake their inconsistencies.
Purdue's still inconsistent, as Sunday showed. Had the Boilermakers played better and just lost to a team that played even better, that would be a little less cause of frustration, but it is what it is.
If Purdue is going to be where it wants to be at the end of the year, it has very little margin for error against the Big Ten's lower half, which we can safely put Minnesota in, I think.
It now has even less of a margin.
And with many more of these types of games ahead, it looks again like Purdue could be a wild card going into each and every one of them.
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.
