I'll try to keep this concise and bullet-pointed:
- I get that there's a segment of our fanbase that doesn't want Coach Painter here for any number of reasons. People are entitled to their opinions, but I said at the beginning of the year and stood by (except for one emotional outburst) that if they got back to the NCAA this year, he's off my hot seat. He's off my hot seat.
- It's fun to come to KHC after losses and see people who only show up after losses. I won't name names, but they were out in full force last night calling for Painter's head, but were notably absent pretty much since New Years.
- Re: Blaming Painter for yesterday - specifically, in this game, blaming Painter's substitution of Thompson or timeout call seems kind of like blaming the RADAR operator on Oahu for the attack on Pearl Harbor: yeah, it probably could've mitigated the damage and things could've gone better, but that stuff wasn't why Purdue lost that game.
- Re: "bad gameplan" - Purdue outrebounded UC by 13, got ~10 more shots, only turned the ball over 12 times, and was up 7 with :43 seconds left. By yesterday's standards, that was a veritable blowout. The game plan was fine.
- Re: "execution" - yeah, I gotta say that if by "execution" you mean "making shots", the execution was terrible. Consider the following: Purdue shot 10% worse from the field, 22% worse from 3, and 9% worse from the FT line than they averaged throughout the year. Just shooting a touch better, and that game is a blowout.
- IMO, the root cause of that loss was that the team as a whole appeared pretty tight. That affects your shooting. Mathias, Davis, and Stephens all appeared to be rushing their shots, perhaps because they were concerned with UC's zone. But whatever the cause, when those guys rush, they miss. And they missed a lot yesterday.
- I truly don't understand how you look at that game and blame the coach when the captain (a 75% shooter) missed two FTs, the only senior missed two FTs (including the front end of a 1-1), and your generally steadiest guard and your captain both fumbled the ball away, all in the last :43. Again, take issue with the timeout - sure, I can see that. But if you really think about it, Painter can't shoot the FTs for them, and Painter can't catch passes for them.
- Long story short: There's a term for what happened to Purdue yesterday, and it rhymes with "oaked", "poked", "smoked"...
- It's never OK to lose, but honestly Purdue was done this weekend either way. The disappointment of the loss is more about HOW they lost rather than the fact that they did, IMO.
- Re: Scott - I would understand 100% if he left. I hope he doesn't. Sometimes he looks like he gets it, and then he's pretty good.
- Re: Hammons - I don't see a guy ready to go play in the NBA there. He should've dominated the Elephant, but while he played well, he was notably out of sorts after Ellis got ejected. He doesn't seem to handle physicality all that well. I'm not sure he ever will. I hope he stays, but I expect him to leave.
- People are entitled to their opinions of what the future holds. I think Purdue's going to be pretty darn good next year, and I think they're a tournament team with or without Hammons. This isn't the end of some era... I think good things are just beginning with this core of young guys.
- As I pulled on my dress uniform this morning to honor a shipmate who retired after 23 years of service this morning, the final touch was slipping my Purdue class ring on my finger. I didn't feel any less proud of that gold block P shining in the San Diego sun this morning than I would have yesterday.
Enjoy the tournament, fellas... this has been some great entertainment so far!
- I get that there's a segment of our fanbase that doesn't want Coach Painter here for any number of reasons. People are entitled to their opinions, but I said at the beginning of the year and stood by (except for one emotional outburst) that if they got back to the NCAA this year, he's off my hot seat. He's off my hot seat.
- It's fun to come to KHC after losses and see people who only show up after losses. I won't name names, but they were out in full force last night calling for Painter's head, but were notably absent pretty much since New Years.
- Re: Blaming Painter for yesterday - specifically, in this game, blaming Painter's substitution of Thompson or timeout call seems kind of like blaming the RADAR operator on Oahu for the attack on Pearl Harbor: yeah, it probably could've mitigated the damage and things could've gone better, but that stuff wasn't why Purdue lost that game.
- Re: "bad gameplan" - Purdue outrebounded UC by 13, got ~10 more shots, only turned the ball over 12 times, and was up 7 with :43 seconds left. By yesterday's standards, that was a veritable blowout. The game plan was fine.
- Re: "execution" - yeah, I gotta say that if by "execution" you mean "making shots", the execution was terrible. Consider the following: Purdue shot 10% worse from the field, 22% worse from 3, and 9% worse from the FT line than they averaged throughout the year. Just shooting a touch better, and that game is a blowout.
- IMO, the root cause of that loss was that the team as a whole appeared pretty tight. That affects your shooting. Mathias, Davis, and Stephens all appeared to be rushing their shots, perhaps because they were concerned with UC's zone. But whatever the cause, when those guys rush, they miss. And they missed a lot yesterday.
- I truly don't understand how you look at that game and blame the coach when the captain (a 75% shooter) missed two FTs, the only senior missed two FTs (including the front end of a 1-1), and your generally steadiest guard and your captain both fumbled the ball away, all in the last :43. Again, take issue with the timeout - sure, I can see that. But if you really think about it, Painter can't shoot the FTs for them, and Painter can't catch passes for them.
- Long story short: There's a term for what happened to Purdue yesterday, and it rhymes with "oaked", "poked", "smoked"...
- It's never OK to lose, but honestly Purdue was done this weekend either way. The disappointment of the loss is more about HOW they lost rather than the fact that they did, IMO.
- Re: Scott - I would understand 100% if he left. I hope he doesn't. Sometimes he looks like he gets it, and then he's pretty good.
- Re: Hammons - I don't see a guy ready to go play in the NBA there. He should've dominated the Elephant, but while he played well, he was notably out of sorts after Ellis got ejected. He doesn't seem to handle physicality all that well. I'm not sure he ever will. I hope he stays, but I expect him to leave.
- People are entitled to their opinions of what the future holds. I think Purdue's going to be pretty darn good next year, and I think they're a tournament team with or without Hammons. This isn't the end of some era... I think good things are just beginning with this core of young guys.
- As I pulled on my dress uniform this morning to honor a shipmate who retired after 23 years of service this morning, the final touch was slipping my Purdue class ring on my finger. I didn't feel any less proud of that gold block P shining in the San Diego sun this morning than I would have yesterday.
Enjoy the tournament, fellas... this has been some great entertainment so far!
