I don't know even know how to describe the Purdue team that finished in last place in 2013, just a few seasons ago, other than broken.
It was a picture of dysfunction, a group of players who meshed like oil and water, many not seeing particularly far beyond themselves anyway. There were players who had simply no concept of winning basketball, players who cared more about being cool than being good, wildly inconsistent human beings let alone players and sort of a common-denominator aversion to listening and learning.
That was three seasons ago.
Why am I bringing this up? Because that team came to mind tonight, as the Boilermakers celebrated in Mackey Arena after winning at least a split of the Big Ten championship, the completion of a worst-to-first sort of story.
Fans bristle at the word "culture." It's nebulous and unfulfilling because it can't be readily judged in a black-and-white sort of way like talent — you're either good enough or you're not — or size or shooting or quickness can be.
And for that reason, it comes off like a really convenient "excuse" when things are going sideways.
But it matters.
A lot.
That shipwreck of a 2013 team reflected that reality, same as this 2017 reflected it this evening.
That former team was defined by the superficial, by immaturity, petty crap and whatever else. A bunch of those guys liked to talk about how hard they worked, but the proof never found its way into the pudding.
This team has been defined by substance, but players who came in in the 2014 class and fit in, who carried themselves a certain way, didn't need their buttons pushed, got a long well, the makings of a team that might be too low-maintenance, if there is such a thing. It's a team that's talked about working and done it.
It's all right there, and this Indiana game was a great reflection of that. It was led by two players, Dakota Mathias and Caleb Swanigan from one half to the next, who transformed themselves, made themselves into twice the player they were a year ago. They're not alone of this team.
Swanigan has been a weapon of mass destruction for Purdue all season long. He's an elite college basketball player who'll seen be a viable pro. He's been the face of Purdue this season and deservedly so. But he's also been a piece of something bigger, part of a renewed vitality in this program that's been fueled at what we can best call the right class at the right time.
Mathias, Vincent Edwards, P.J. Thompson and Isaac Haas.
For Matt Painter, he was fortunate. When things hit the rocks like they did for Purdue, it's typically not pretty for that coach.
But he targeted the right guys in recruiting, got them and here Purdue is now, a champion again. It did take some luck, I guess you can say: The right guys came in, but the wrong guys also left.
But in turning the program around on a dime, Purdue was lucky and good.
And because of it, it's a champion again.
The Big Ten title is nice. These things are important and a great part of Purdue's basketball history. If nothing else, it's a box checked on the old goals list and a big something to show for this if, let's say, a meteor hits tomorrow.
But in a perfect world for Purdue, tonight gets remembered as a nice notch on the belt and a hell of a party, but just a step toward something more. The Boilermakers need to do something in the NCAA Tournament now, as will be the goal, same way winning the Big Ten was.
One down, more to go.
It was a picture of dysfunction, a group of players who meshed like oil and water, many not seeing particularly far beyond themselves anyway. There were players who had simply no concept of winning basketball, players who cared more about being cool than being good, wildly inconsistent human beings let alone players and sort of a common-denominator aversion to listening and learning.
That was three seasons ago.
Why am I bringing this up? Because that team came to mind tonight, as the Boilermakers celebrated in Mackey Arena after winning at least a split of the Big Ten championship, the completion of a worst-to-first sort of story.
Fans bristle at the word "culture." It's nebulous and unfulfilling because it can't be readily judged in a black-and-white sort of way like talent — you're either good enough or you're not — or size or shooting or quickness can be.
And for that reason, it comes off like a really convenient "excuse" when things are going sideways.
But it matters.
A lot.
That shipwreck of a 2013 team reflected that reality, same as this 2017 reflected it this evening.
That former team was defined by the superficial, by immaturity, petty crap and whatever else. A bunch of those guys liked to talk about how hard they worked, but the proof never found its way into the pudding.
This team has been defined by substance, but players who came in in the 2014 class and fit in, who carried themselves a certain way, didn't need their buttons pushed, got a long well, the makings of a team that might be too low-maintenance, if there is such a thing. It's a team that's talked about working and done it.
It's all right there, and this Indiana game was a great reflection of that. It was led by two players, Dakota Mathias and Caleb Swanigan from one half to the next, who transformed themselves, made themselves into twice the player they were a year ago. They're not alone of this team.
Swanigan has been a weapon of mass destruction for Purdue all season long. He's an elite college basketball player who'll seen be a viable pro. He's been the face of Purdue this season and deservedly so. But he's also been a piece of something bigger, part of a renewed vitality in this program that's been fueled at what we can best call the right class at the right time.
Mathias, Vincent Edwards, P.J. Thompson and Isaac Haas.
For Matt Painter, he was fortunate. When things hit the rocks like they did for Purdue, it's typically not pretty for that coach.
But he targeted the right guys in recruiting, got them and here Purdue is now, a champion again. It did take some luck, I guess you can say: The right guys came in, but the wrong guys also left.
But in turning the program around on a dime, Purdue was lucky and good.
And because of it, it's a champion again.
The Big Ten title is nice. These things are important and a great part of Purdue's basketball history. If nothing else, it's a box checked on the old goals list and a big something to show for this if, let's say, a meteor hits tomorrow.
But in a perfect world for Purdue, tonight gets remembered as a nice notch on the belt and a hell of a party, but just a step toward something more. The Boilermakers need to do something in the NCAA Tournament now, as will be the goal, same way winning the Big Ten was.
One down, more to go.