I've written this before, but I'm writing it again, and will probably write it again and again and again the rest of the season, so you'd probably better get used to it.
It is a wonderful thing for teams to know that their best player is going to play harder than everyone else on the floor and it's a great thing for teams to know exactly what they're getting every single night from their most important player.
That's exactly what has in Caleb Swanigan, Purdue's insanely driven, über-consistent big man — that's right, he's playing so well, he gets an ümlaut.
Look this is about what Purdue has now, not what it's had before, but as many games as Purdue has won in recent years, its personnel foundations haven't been as steady as they are now, because of Swanigan. His effort has been exemplary and then some and his productivity has reflected that, every single game. Look, I know Swanigan's not going to be at Purdue much longer. Purdue knows that. But if that for some reason changes, you might be looking at a Tyler Hansbrough sort of college career.
If there was ever a night off to take, tonight might have been it. Swanigan just put in 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots against Notre Dame. He netted the Boilermakers their biggest win of the season and netted himself Big Ten Player-of-the-Week acclaim for the second time this season.
Who'd have blamed him tonight if he came out tonight at 6 p.m. against Western Illinois in flip-flops, maybe phoned in a 12-and-six sort of game? Nope.
Not this guy.
He went for 21 points and 21 rebounds in 28 minutes against Western Illinois.
Didn't look like his night, either. Swanigan missed his first few shots, all on great looks.
Then, before you knew it, he had a double-double in the first half.
Then, he doubled his double-double.
What a player. And what a foundation for Purdue to have.
It is a wonderful thing for teams to know that their best player is going to play harder than everyone else on the floor and it's a great thing for teams to know exactly what they're getting every single night from their most important player.
That's exactly what has in Caleb Swanigan, Purdue's insanely driven, über-consistent big man — that's right, he's playing so well, he gets an ümlaut.
Look this is about what Purdue has now, not what it's had before, but as many games as Purdue has won in recent years, its personnel foundations haven't been as steady as they are now, because of Swanigan. His effort has been exemplary and then some and his productivity has reflected that, every single game. Look, I know Swanigan's not going to be at Purdue much longer. Purdue knows that. But if that for some reason changes, you might be looking at a Tyler Hansbrough sort of college career.
If there was ever a night off to take, tonight might have been it. Swanigan just put in 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots against Notre Dame. He netted the Boilermakers their biggest win of the season and netted himself Big Ten Player-of-the-Week acclaim for the second time this season.
Who'd have blamed him tonight if he came out tonight at 6 p.m. against Western Illinois in flip-flops, maybe phoned in a 12-and-six sort of game? Nope.
Not this guy.
He went for 21 points and 21 rebounds in 28 minutes against Western Illinois.
Didn't look like his night, either. Swanigan missed his first few shots, all on great looks.
Then, before you knew it, he had a double-double in the first half.
Then, he doubled his double-double.
What a player. And what a foundation for Purdue to have.
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