I am not a hater

[tjreese]

Look, I get how important it is to have players backs, and how awesome it is that CMP is clearly a venerable figure among these players.

With that being said, that doesn't just excuse his repetitive mistakes, like having Swanigan guard Robert Carter or Zak Irvin, or leaving PJ in at home against Iowa. It's all great that he's a good, honest man, but, at the end of the day, we see the same mistakes made over and over again.

I get it, all coaches make mistakes, and no coach in the history of the world is perfect, but, over the years, it's clear that CMP has some deficiencies, and I'd like to see those get resolved, or at least improved upon.

Those were all legitimate problems in the games. However, why did Michigan think Irvin could guard Swanigan down low? Purdue didn't execute that advantage. Robert Carter as strong as he is ..who was going to keep him out of the paint if possible? Who might put him in foul trouble by being a low post threat? Vince might have guarded him, but then who does guards Layman? PJ not being one to create has not been a turnover machine either...except in that game.

My point or attempted point is not that these situations did not prove wrong, but to suggest that there was good reason why they were made and ...had Purdue executed the advantages of Purdue, we might be questioning why the other coaches did what they did. In ALL games there are match-up advantages and disadvantages at various positions. How well a team maximizes its advantages without the apparent disadvantages as a result of those advantages determines the outcome...and we must not forget the views of refs in how they see and call things along those advantages and disadvantages. Unless the team you support is substantially much more talented it comes down to how well those advantages and disadvantages are dealt with. Biggie scores in last two great looks inside against Michigan and most forget just how poor Purdue played for 40 minutes...

 

[tjreese]

Those were all legitimate problems in the games. However, why did Michigan think Irvin could guard Swanigan down low? Purdue didn't execute that advantage. Robert Carter as strong as he is ..who was going to keep him out of the paint if possible? Who might put him in foul trouble by being a low post threat? Vince might have guarded him, but then who does guards Layman? PJ not being one to create has not been a turnover machine either...except in that game.

My point or attempted point is not that these situations did not prove wrong, but to suggest that there was good reason why they were made and ...had Purdue executed the advantages of Purdue, we might be questioning why the other coaches did what they did. In ALL games there are match-up advantages and disadvantages at various positions. How well a team maximizes its advantages without the apparent disadvantages as a result of those advantages determines the outcome...and we must not forget the views of refs in how they see and call things along those advantages and disadvantages. Unless the team you support is substantially much more talented it comes down to how well those advantages and disadvantages are dealt with. Biggie scores in last two great looks inside against Michigan and most forget just how poor Purdue played for 40 minutes...

IU plays Purdue Saturday and they are two opposite teams. Will Purdue's size be a strength or will IU's quickness be a strength? How will the game be called? How well will IU shoot and defend against the Purdue strengths and how well will Purdue shoot and defend against the IU strengths?

 

[Do Dah Day]

IU plays Purdue Saturday and they are two opposite teams. Will Purdue's size be a strength or will IU's quickness be a strength? How will the game be called? How well will IU shoot and defend against the Purdue strengths and how well will Purdue shoot and defend against the IU strengths?

And THAT's why we play the game.

 

[SIBoiler2]

Nor am I blind to the issues going on. I often get asked whether I am "blind" or "are you CMP" or some such on here and I am sitting here watching a server load, so am bored and thinking about those questions.

Many won't care about this post and that is fine, it is how I truly look at things and is meant nothing more than really to express those thoughts about the team since that is what these forums are for. I figure if I address them in bullet point format, just so it is easier for people to read:

• Are you CMP? No. I am not. I call out the coach every once in a while but refrain from calling him out because I have no idea what is going on in practice, on the sidelines or in the team huddles during a timeout. I just do not see the need to berate a coach when the only thing I have to go off of is my perception and 9 times out of 10 what I THINK is going on, probably isn't.

• So CMP doesn't make mistakes? You bet your sweet baboo he does. No coach is perfect and will always do things that make us question what they are doing. He made mistakes in recruiting, he makes mistakes with his substitutions sometimes and will make mistakes in the future. Personally I think he is learning how to deal with as good if not better talent than he had with the Baby Boilers. After having to deal with head cases here recently, I think there is a little learning curve CMP has to go through again.

• Do you think CMP will get a final four? I have no idea. I would like to think so, but I don't have a crystal ball and have no way of knowing what the future holds. I sure have my opinion, but that is all it is. An opinion and certainly not based in anything factual, simply because it hasn't happened yet.

• So then why do you put your focus on the players? Simple. That is the only tangible thing we have. They bear some of the burden of executing what they are told and while sure some can be directed back to the coach, the players have to perform on the floor as well. Again it goes back to the whole "we don't know .. what we don't know" aspect of this.

• But wait, you berated me for calling CMP out. For that I was mistaken. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion that often swirls around here and lose track of what is important and what we all want, Purdue to win.

• Why aren't you jumping on the fire CMP bandwagon? I fail to see the point. Painter isn't going anywhere and if he continues to get 20 win seasons then he'll be here even longer. And that isn't settling or being okay with being mediocre, it is just reality. I just don't see the reason to jump on to some bandwagon that isn't going to happen. Others can and it is their right, I just choose to be positive about the team as opposed to tearing them down.

• So then where do you think we stand? Somewhere in the middle. There has been improvement over last season and I truly think things are not as bad as some think, but also not as good. Myself, along with many, thought this team could make it to the Final Four and don't regret that for a second. Each year we should all be thinking that and with some luck, it still COULD happen. But realistically the preseason polls and analysts got us right. We're an inconsistent top 20 team looking for a playmaker and some outside shooting.

• How long are you going to support CMP? The biggest benchmark for me will be how the recruiting class of 2017 and how a senior Haas/Edwards class performs. There is a lot of potential there IMO and it continues to improve. Biggie is here at least one more year (unless he gets some bad advice) and we bring in what could be the PG we have been longing for. If that senior class falters, then I will start to question.

• Wait you're already talking next year? Only to the extent of what we have coming back. I am not giving up on this year at all yet. But with as good as Carsen Edwards is playing, it is hard to not think about the future with him running the show.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post and thanks for indulging me .. as I said I was bored. Ultimately we all want the same thing, Purdue to win. Sure we see how to get there differently, but that is okay, that is what the forums are for. I've gotten in to arguments with some on here that I shouldn't have and that was wrong on my part, as I said it's easy to get emotionally tied up in things.

Now, time for beer.

I see you as a steadying influence on here. There are a handful of regular posters that fit that description. Never overly excited or overly critical but with some thought behind most posts. Probably comes from life experience. We are talking about sports not something that has any true consequence in life but only here for our enjoyment. When it becomes more than that it isn't worth being a fan anymore. All the acrimony that spills out on here after a loss is beyond ridicule. Yep, Painter makes a ton of money to do what he does but so did the guy before him and the one that follows. The amount of money has little to do with how each game plays out. If you believe it does then explain the return IU is getting on their money. So BBG just keep on keeping on. It will all even out in the end.

 

[BBG]

I see you as a steadying influence on here. There are a handful of regular posters that fit that description. Never overly excited or overly critical but with some thought behind most posts. Probably comes from life experience. We are talking about sports not something that has any true consequence in life but only here for our enjoyment. When it becomes more than that it isn't worth being a fan anymore. All the acrimony that spills out on here after a loss is beyond ridicule. Yep, Painter makes a ton of money to do what he does but so did the guy before him and the one that follows. The amount of money has little to do with how each game plays out. If you believe it does then explain the return IU is getting on their money. So BBG just keep on keeping on. It will all even out in the end.

Ha thanks man. I try to be even tempered ... always enjoy your posts as well like this one here. Spot on with all your points.

 

[mathboy]

.

This is a strange post with a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe it will help if I respond in kind to some of these statement to improve overall understanding. Since this is your third post on this board, I want to help you gain a better perspective. In the long run, this might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. I will put my direct response in Italicized bold print.

IMO it is very wrong to pick on kids who are getting something for free that I gladly paid for and to be clear I am not a Matt Painter fan; for a lot of good reasons. The fact that he played at Purdue means very little to me as opposed to his ability to do his job. - You and I share this in common. Good premise. Matt said when they pulled that prank with Missouri he was here to win championships. He was here to win championships, we got none. - He won one BIG championship with the Baby Boilers. He has the intention of winning more. I don't think it was a prank (as you call it). He was deadly serious about either leaving, or getting the program better funding. I support what he did. Without better funding there would be NO championships. We have seen the results of lowered recruiting budgets already and I hope we never go through that again.

Will we win the B1G this year, NO. Although we could win the B1G tournament it appears less and less likely. Will we get to a final four this year, again appears less and less likely. - Why do you say it is less and less likely? At the start of the year we were picked 4th or 5th in the conference. When was it ever likely we would win the BIG this year? We were a last place team two years ago. Our direction is positive, but we are not there yet. I don't understand the angst you are putting into this post???

All you Painter heads seem to be the same, wait till next year, wait till we get this player, it's not Matt's fault its the players. Well Matt pulled AJ from the game against Michigan to yell at him and what happened, MI goes on a run and we lose, hope Matt feels better. Did you watch the game? Michigan was already on a run, which AJ contributed to when he was sleep walking. Matt had to pull him to get him back engaged. AJ was back in as soon as possible. Your statement indicates Matt's pulling AJ was the start of the run. Inaccurate.

Let's be clear here. I am not a "Painter Head". I just hold a different opinion than you do about Painter. I do not support him unconditionally. I just happen to understand the game and the coaching process a little better than you appear to.

Do we get better as the season goes on? - Yes. Cline, Swanigan, PJ, Hammons, Haas, Davis, etc.

Do we play our best in the big games? - We did in the MSU game. Did not in the Iowa games. The answer is sometimes.

Does our coach get the best out of his players? - Sometimes. No coach is perfect.

Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? - yes, I have seen him allow a long tether to most players, but his job is to correct and teach. If someone is repeatedly doing something incorrectly, I expect him o correct the behavior immediately.

Does the coach pick the recruits? - Kind of a dumb question. He takes those players that agree to come to Purdue.

Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? - Another obvious statement. Are you in the group of people that are convinced Painter is not playing his best people. Do we need to go over the Bryson Scott/Smotherman/Taylor discussion again?

Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? - Seems like he has recruited a few. What is the point here? PJ is very good, and he does not turn over the ball. He is also statistically a high % 3-pt shooter. Octeus and Hill are both pretty good PG's too. Too bad Ronnie didn't work out, but that is on him.

Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? - Yes, but so does the opposition coach. Sometimes we get the job done. Sometimes we don't. You could ask the same question to Izzo when his team failed to beat Purdue by a point. That is part of the game. We are not bringing a gun to a knife fight. The differences between teams is extremely small and there is a lot of parity. It is very easy for plays to go sideways and completely random things happen.​

We seem to be out played by many of our opponents even when we win. Of course we always get to listen to Mattie yell "MOVE" while we are on offense I guess that makes the losses worthwhile. - Many of the teams we are playing now have upper-class 4 & 5 star players. We are pitting a couple Seniors who are limited athletically and a whole bunch of freshmen and sophomores against them. Many of our players are 3 & 4 star guys. Let's be real here. We are not world beaters and would not be with any coach. We are in process of building a good, strong program. We are not there yet, but frankly, every strong program has up and down years. Where is Duke this year? Anyone seen some of the scores from perennially strong teams like UNC or Kansas this year?

The reason we do not win more is COACHING or the lack of it. - I think you are mistaken here. I think you should pay attention to more teams than just Purdue. It will help you understand the game of college basketball a little better, and it might help manage your perspective a bit. This team plays very well, but they are not going to win every game. To think otherwise shows either an immature nativity or a contrived argumentative position that logic can't affect. For your sake, I hope it is the former.

 

[IamBob]

And THAT's why we play the game.

To quote Herm Edwards, you play to win the game.

 

[Do Dah Day]

This is a strange post with a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe it will help if I respond in kind to some of these statement to improve overall understanding. Since this is your third post on this board, I want to help you gain a better perspective. In the long run, this might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. I will put my direct response in Italicized bold print.

IMO it is very wrong to pick on kids who are getting something for free that I gladly paid for and to be clear I am not a Matt Painter fan; for a lot of good reasons. The fact that he played at Purdue means very little to me as opposed to his ability to do his job. - You and I share this in common. Good premise. Matt said when they pulled that prank with Missouri he was here to win championships. He was here to win championships, we got none. - He won one BIG championship with the Baby Boilers. He has the intention of winning more. I don't think it was a prank (as you call it). He was deadly serious about either leaving, or getting the program better funding. I support what he did. Without better funding there would be NO championships. We have seen the results of lowered recruiting budgets already and I hope we never go through that again.

Will we win the B1G this year, NO. Although we could win the B1G tournament it appears less and less likely. Will we get to a final four this year, again appears less and less likely. - Why do you say it is less and less likely? At the start of the year we were picked 4th or 5th in the conference. When was it ever likely we would win the BIG this year? We were a last place team two years ago. Our direction is positive, but we are not there yet. I don't understand the angst you are putting into this post???

All you Painter heads seem to be the same, wait till next year, wait till we get this player, it's not Matt's fault its the players. Well Matt pulled AJ from the game against Michigan to yell at him and what happened, MI goes on a run and we lose, hope Matt feels better. Did you watch the game? Michigan was already on a run, which AJ contributed to when he was sleep walking. Matt had to pull him to get him back engaged. AJ was back in as soon as possible. Your statement indicates Matt's pulling AJ was the start of the run. Inaccurate.

Let's be clear here. I am not a "Painter Head". I just hold a different opinion than you do about Painter. I do not support him unconditionally. I just happen to understand the game and the coaching process a little better than you appear to.

Do we get better as the season goes on? - Yes. Cline, Swanigan, PJ, Hammons, Haas, Davis, etc.

Do we play our best in the big games? - We did in the MSU game. Did not in the Iowa games. The answer is sometimes.

Does our coach get the best out of his players? - Sometimes. No coach is perfect.

Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? - yes, I have seen him allow a long tether to most players, but his job is to correct and teach. If someone is repeatedly doing something incorrectly, I expect him o correct the behavior immediately.

Does the coach pick the recruits? - Kind of a dumb question. He takes those players that agree to come to Purdue.

Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? - Another obvious statement. Are you in the group of people that are convinced Painter is not playing his best people. Do we need to go over the Bryson Scott/Smotherman/Taylor discussion again?

Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? - Seems like he has recruited a few. What is the point here? PJ is very good, and he does not turn over the ball. He is also statistically a high % 3-pt shooter. Octeus and Hill are both pretty good PG's too. Too bad Ronnie didn't work out, but that is on him.

Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? - Yes, but so does the opposition coach. Sometimes we get the job done. Sometimes we don't. You could ask the same question to Izzo when his team failed to beat Purdue by a point. That is part of the game. We are not bringing a gun to a knife fight. The differences between teams is extremely small and there is a lot of parity. It is very easy for plays to go sideways and completely random things happen.​

We seem to be out played by many of our opponents even when we win. Of course we always get to listen to Mattie yell "MOVE" while we are on offense I guess that makes the losses worthwhile. - Many of the teams we are playing now have upper-class 4 & 5 star players. We are pitting a couple Seniors who are limited athletically and a whole bunch of freshmen and sophomores against them. Many of our players are 3 & 4 star guys. Let's be real here. We are not world beaters and would not be with any coach. We are in process of building a good, strong program. We are not there yet, but frankly, every strong program has up and down years. Where is Duke this year? Anyone seen some of the scores from perennially strong teams like UNC or Kansas this year?

The reason we do not win more is COACHING or the lack of it. - I think you are mistaken here. I think you should pay attention to more teams than just Purdue. It will help you understand the game of college basketball a little better, and it might help manage your perspective a bit. This team plays very well, but they are not going to win every game. To think otherwise shows either an immature nativity or a contrived argumentative position that logic can't affect. For your sake, I hope it is the former.

Damn you ... I thrust my fist pump into my ceiling fan ... ouch ... then I screamed "YES" at the top of my lungs and my dogs went crazy .... then I was shaking so much I spilled my bourbon ... then I made the crazy mistake of staying on this damn board since there are at least five great basketball minds still posting.

 

[Do Dah Day]

To quote Herm Edwards, you play to win the game.

I would have sworn that was Huey Lewis and the News who said that .... or that Notre Dame coach everyone keeps quoting ....

 

[mathboy]

I see you as a steadying influence on here. There are a handful of regular posters that fit that description. Never overly excited or overly critical but with some thought behind most posts. Probably comes from life experience. We are talking about sports not something that has any true consequence in life but only here for our enjoyment. When it becomes more than that it isn't worth being a fan anymore. All the acrimony that spills out on here after a loss is beyond ridicule. Yep, Painter makes a ton of money to do what he does but so did the guy before him and the one that follows. The amount of money has little to do with how each game plays out. If you believe it does then explain the return IU is getting on their money. So BBG just keep on keeping on. It will all even out in the end.

Nice post. I too get tired of reading the odd opinions of those "Purdue Fans" who only come on the board after a loss, and offer their expert opinions. I waver between just letting them rant and trying to correct wildly mistaken ideas. Some are so ludicrous that they are actually funny, in a disturbing way. The good thing is that as long as we are winning, we don't see them pop up here.

I also get tired of being called a "sunshine boy" or a "Painter Head" just because I want to offer a realistic, balanced, and experienced view point to the discussion. I also wonder how many are just trolls, with no relationship to Purdue, who just read a few lines and spit back all the various criticisms of the program they read from others.

 

[Chuchumutha]

IMO it is very wrong to pick on kids who are getting something for free that I gladly paid for and to be clear I am not a Matt Painter fan; for a lot of good reasons. The fact that he played at Purdue means very little to me as opposed to his ability to do his job. Matt said when they pulled that prank with Missouri he was here to win championships. He was here to win championships, we got none. Will we win the B1G this year, NO. Although we could win the B1G tournament it appears less and less likely. Will we get to a final four this year, again appears less and less likely.

All you Painter heads seem to be the same, wait till next year, wait till we get this player, it's not Matt's fault its the players. Well Matt pulled AJ from the game against Michigan to yell at him and what happened, MI goes on a run and we lose, hope Matt feels better.

Do we get better as the season goes on?
Do we play our best in the big games?
Does our coach get the best out of his players?
Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard?
Does the coach pick the recruits?
Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits?
Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard?
Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times?

We seem to be out played by many of our opponents even when we win. Of course we always get to listen to Mattie yell "MOVE" while we are on offense I guess that makes the losses worthwhile.

The reason we do not win more is COACHING or the lack of it.

I get your frustration. Believe me. But you're way over simplifying. Let me respond with a bit of a contrarian slant:

Do we get better as the season goes on? This season? Don't know. Could have 10-12 games left. Last season we lost 5 non con games and then went 12-6 in the B1G sooooo.
Do we play our best in the big games? Not always. Not never either. (eg. MSU, Pitt, @ Wisky this year, both IU games last year)
Does our coach get the best out of his players? Some yes, some no ( AJ, E'Twaun, JJ, R. Smith, LJ all improved significantly) I think the players themselves have some culpability here.
Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? Really? Do you honestly think that is Painter's message? Playing hard is assumed.
Does the coach pick the recruits? Yup. 20-6, 16th in the nation.
Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? Yup. 20-6, 16th in the nation.
Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? I think Doo Dah answered this clearly below but I have two words: Carsen Edwards.
Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? Paradoxical. The fact that you used the term "executed" puts the onus on the players. If your point is that Painter is calling plays that are so complex that the players aren't capable of executing properly, then I don't agree.

If you really believe that our perceived struggles (again 20-6, 16th in the nation) are 100% coaching then none of the above is going to change your opinion.

 

[mkotyuk]

This is a strange post with a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe it will help if I respond in kind to some of these statement to improve overall understanding. Since this is your third post on this board, I want to help you gain a better perspective. In the long run, this might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. I will put my direct response in Italicized bold print. THX for the help

IMO it is very wrong to pick on kids who are getting something for free that I gladly paid for and to be clear I am not a Matt Painter fan; for a lot of good reasons. The fact that he played at Purdue means very little to me as opposed to his ability to do his job. - You and I share this in common. Good premise. Glad we agree Matt said when they pulled that prank with Missouri he was here to win championships. He was here to win championships, we got none. - He won one BIG championship with the Baby Boilers. I think that was before his new contract He has the intention of winning more. I have the intention of being skinny I don't think it was a prank (as you call it). Well I heard from a SVP who worked for Fran that Fran, besides being a bit of a loon, would not pay any more into sports and Morgan and Painter cooked up the Missouri "prank" I could be wrong but I heard it from a few people that make a lot of money working for Purdue. He was deadly serious about either leaving, or getting the program better funding. Better funding not leaving I support what he did. Without better funding there would be NO championships. We have seen the results of lowered recruiting budgets already and I hope we never go through that again. I agree and was making the point that Matt said he was going to win Championships.I do not care how much Matt or staff makes, I care that we win and improve overall

Will we win the B1G this year, NO. Although we could win the B1G tournament it appears less and less likely. Will we get to a final four this year, again appears less and less likely. - Why do you say it is less and less likely? Because it is At the start of the year we were picked 4th or 5th in the conference. When was it ever likely we would win the BIG this year? Before the Butler game it seemed like we had a strong and deep team We were a last place team two years ago. Our direction is positive, but we are not there yet. I don't understand the angst you are putting into this post???The fact that Matt let the team do poorly for a while is not much of a reason for the slight success we have now

All you Painter heads seem to be the same, wait till next year, wait till we get this player, it's not Matt's fault its the players. Well Matt pulled AJ from the game against Michigan to yell at him and what happened, MI goes on a run and we lose, hope Matt feels better. Did you watch the game? I watch all the games and football as well Michigan was already on a run, which AJ contributed to when he was sleep walking. Matt had to pull him to get him back engaged. I did not see a difference in AJ's play before or after the yelling AJ was back in as soon as possible. Your statement indicates Matt's pulling AJ was the start of the run. Inaccurate. Seemed to me while AJ was out MI scored a bit more and pulled away, I'll concede the timing because I do not care to go back and watch it again. Also seemed like AJ was out longer then usual, I could be wrong here as well.

Let's be clear here. I am not a "Painter Head". I just hold a different opinion than you do about Painter. I do not support him unconditionally. I just happen to understand the game and the coaching process a little better than you appear to. Not very likely. Just because we disagree does not make you more intelligent. A better writer certainly but more knowledgeable about the game and coaching cause you like Matt and think we are an OK team does not make you more knowledgeable. I wonder what Matt would have to do for you to see he is not going to take Purdue to a level we have not been before. IMO and I hope I am wrong, Matt had his chance and let it slip by, he lost the new young up in coming coach rep., did not capitalize on it when he had it and it is VERY hard to get that reputation back. The reputation with kids you want to come to your school not the other B1G coaches and die hard fans.

Do we get better as the season goes on? - Yes. Cline, Swanigan, PJ, Hammons, Haas, Davis, etc.The team not the players. Seemed like we were a better team around the Pittsburgh game and have been it a bit of a funk since, with of course some shining moments.

Do we play our best in the big games? - We did in the MSU game.We should have it was at home Did not in the Iowa games. Damn Hawkeyes The answer is sometimes. Sometimes is a crappy answer. Playing our best does not always mean winning, I think we have been way away from our best play most of the season.

Does our coach get the best out of his players? - Sometimes. No coach is perfect.Rarely is a more accurate response here

Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? - yes, I have seen him allow a long tether to most players, but his job is to correct and teach. If someone is repeatedly doing something incorrectly, I expect him o correct the behavior immediately. Like throwing dumb passes or completely missing your man on defense or not being aggressive enough with the ball....I could go on and on here.

Does the coach pick the recruits? - Kind of a dumb question. He takes those players that agree to come to Purdue.NO he gets players to come to Purdue that is his main job and the one he does IMO poorly (although I have liked every player that wears a Purdue uniform, even if I don't)

Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? - Another obvious statement. Are you in the group of people that are convinced Painter is not playing his best people. No, I would question his substitution pattern and the choices he has on the bench, the choices he created. Do we need to go over the Bryson Scott/Smotherman/Taylor discussion again? Not for me, but I find it interesting that some of our recruits Matt has known for years before they come to Purdue and then he seems to think something different will occur. I question his ability to field a full team of players although I would say this years team is the deepest I can remember with the exception of a couple of positions.

Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? - Seems like he has recruited a few. What is the point here? PJ is very good, and he does not turn over the ball. He is also statistically a high % 3-pt shooter. Octeus and Hill are both pretty good PG's too. Too bad Ronnie didn't work out, but that is on him. We could all probably agree that Lew Jack was/is Matt's best point so far and I think Lew Jack has the heart of a lion, played hurt a lot and was at best a great back up as opposed to a starting point on a team that wants to win more then 1 B1G title although 1 is much better then 0.I thought a lot of what happened with Ronnie was on Matt, he knew Ronnie very very well and should have been ready, with at least a good back up. Also the response of this board toward Ronnie was atrocious, I wonder how much Doug Mitchel will push players toward Purdue after what happened to Ronnie. I thought it was sad for all concerned especially Ronnie. But this is on Matt if you take a chance you best have a good fall back position which he did not have.

Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? - Yes, but so does the opposition coach. Sometimes we get the job done. Sometimes we don't. You could ask the same question to Izzo when his team failed to beat Purdue by a point. That is part of the game. We are not bringing a gun to a knife fight. The differences between teams is extremely small and there is a lot of parity. It is very easy for plays to go sideways and completely random things happen. Well maybe occasionally but one of my points of interest in the game is what does the team do after the coach calls timeout and we have the ball. Please watch and you will see we seem to fumble about without a lot of purpose.We rarely have a smart play called after a time out and I know our "motion offense" is not "play" friendly but damn sometimes you need to say do these 3-5 things and get an easy shot. I do not see it happen very often.​

We seem to be out played by many of our opponents even when we win. Of course we always get to listen to Mattie yell "MOVE" while we are on offense I guess that makes the losses worthwhile. - Many of the teams we are playing now have upper-class 4 & 5 star players. We are pitting a couple Seniors who are limited athletically and a whole bunch of freshmen and sophomores against them. Many of our players are 3 & 4 star guys. Let's be real here. Matt picks the players all on him ! We are not world beaters and would not be with any coach. I disagree here, with a different coach I think this team, with it's limits could perform better, play hard and follow a coach more closely. We are in process of building a good, strong program. um when did this start? Will we be better next year? Are we much better team then we were last year we always seem to be a piece or two away. I will grant you player improvement from last year but I am not so sure how much better of a team we are, an elite eight finish would make that statement. We are not there yet, but frankly, every strong program has up and down years. Agreed but this was our year to be good, if we follow the Painter cycle or maybe next year after that.....more trouble could be on the horizon unless you think Matt will all of a sudden become a dominant recruiter in his 13th year. Where is Duke this year? Still celebrating from last year ? Anyone seen some of the scores from perennially strong teams like UNC or Kansas this year? Of course but we aint them, we were set up to do well this year. Well is not 3-4 in the B1G and an early exit from the dance (hope I am wrong again). Do you really think any team in the B1G should be that much better then we are, they shouldn't be but they are. That is on Matt as well.

The reason we do not win more is COACHING or the lack of it. - I think you are mistaken here. I think you should pay attention to more teams than just Purdue. It will help you understand the game of college basketball a little better, and it might help manage your perspective a bit. Nice way of calling someone stupid. I am pretty confident my knowledge of sports along with many other topics is at the same level as you, higher in some less in other. This team plays very well, not for the whole game but they are not going to win every game. To think otherwise shows either an immature nativity or a contrived argumentative position that logic can't affect. For your sake, I hope it is the former. I believe if I was standing in front of you your condescending insulting tone toward me would be a bit different, even if it took a bunch of drinks. I do not think I have ever called you stupid or said you did not understand basketball in any of my responses, which have been few cause I have a job, although a bit slow today. HOPE WE WIN TONIGHT.

 

[mkotyuk]

I get your frustration. Believe me. But you're way over simplifying. Let me respond with a bit of a contrarian slant:

Do we get better as the season goes on? This season? Don't know. Could have 10-12 games left. Last season we lost 5 non con games and then went 12-6 in the B1G sooooo. We do not seem to get much better to me as the season goes on
Do we play our best in the big games? Not always. Not never either. (eg. MSU, Pitt, @ Wisky this year, both IU games last year) I could name a few games here as well and I would say we weren't at our best against MSU but we still won.
Does our coach get the best out of his players? Some yes, some no ( AJ, E'Twaun, JJ, R. Smith, LJ all improved significantly) I think the players themselves have some culpability here. The players you picked are all old now and 1 is in the NBA
Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? Really? Do you honestly think that is Painter's message? Playing hard is assumed. Maybe it is assumed but it is not happening which is my point.
Does the coach pick the recruits? Yup. 20-6, 16th in the nation. Under performing team
Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? Yup. 20-6, 16th in the nation.Under performing team
Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? I think Doo Dah answered this clearly below but I have two words: Carsen Edwards. Ok so that is one in 12 years and let's not anoint the unproven.
Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? Paradoxical. The fact that you used the term "executed" puts the onus on the players. If your point is that Painter is calling plays that are so complex that the players aren't capable of executing properly, then I don't agree. Let me know the next time we run a successful offensive play when the going is tough at the end of a game and how many times do we just pass the ball around like the many other possessions before the time out.

If you really believe that our perceived struggles (again 20-6, 16th in the nation) are 100% coaching then none of the above is going to change your opinion.

Likely this will be Matt's best team for awhile although next year certainly has potential, my point is if we do not win the B1G tournament or get to a final four this year are you ready to wait 4-5 more years for Matt to gear up a team. Cause it takes Matt a while and settling for 2-5 in the B1G is not what Matt said himself was his goals, why should ours be lower..

 

[SIBoiler2]

Some guys I give a lot of rope because their posts occasionally seem to be well thought out. Others post 5 time like myyuckiefromkentucky and their gone from my view forever.

 

[Do Dah Day]

Likely this will be Matt's best team for awhile although next year certainly has potential, my point is if we do not win the B1G tournament or get to a final four this year are you ready to wait 4-5 more years for Matt to gear up a team. Cause it takes Matt a while and settling for 2-5 in the B1G is not what Matt said himself was his goals, why should ours be lower..

SO the question that now begs to be asked is "Who do YOU want to be the new coach?" .... He needs to
1. Recruit Indiana well
2. Win Championships
3. Have a track record of improving over the season
4. Have a track record of winning the big games
5. Have a track record of getting the best out of his players
6. Have a track record of drawing up great plays and having success with his players executing those plays.
7. Be a great recruiter outside of Indiana.

I've done some serious looking. Who do you think we should go after?

 

[boiler-deuce]

This is one of the most entertaining threads I've read in quite some time. As for the rest of the season, it appears our success is going to hang on outside shooting. If we run into a team with the talent to take our bigs away...and we don't shoot decent from deep, we're in trouble. We're not seeing a ton of TO's lately, which is good....but I sure hate for us live or die out near the arc. My concern is we don't seem to have any other ways, creative, to score. It's either our front court, around the rim or 3 pointers. We're getting close to the part of the season where if you have a bad shooting night, your tourney is over with our offense. I'd love to see Painter find something, somewhere, somehow to score when our strengths are taken away and the deep shot isn't falling. We shouldn't have trouble tonight and saturday will be all about who dictates the style of play. If we impose our will and force the Hoosiers to play our ball, we'll win. If we get impatient, fall in love with the long ball and let them run and shoot at will, we'll be ran out of the building. These next two games are really big...for record...mentality...momentum. It starts tonight! BOILER UP!!

 

[SIBoiler2]

SO the question that now begs to be asked is "Who do YOU want to be the new coach?" .... He needs to
1. Recruit Indiana well
2. Win Championships
3. Have a track record of improving over the season
4. Have a track record of winning the big games
5. Have a track record of getting the best out of his players
6. Have a track record of drawing up great plays and having success with his players executing those plays.
7. Be a great recruiter outside of Indiana.

I've done some serious looking. Who do you think we should go after?

Only one coach meets these requirements and he died after a long career at UCLA.

 

[Do Dah Day]

Only one coach meets these requirements and he died after a long career at UCLA.

You'd think they were a dime a dozen ....

 

[mathboy]

Likely this will be Matt's best team for awhile although next year certainly has potential, my point is if we do not win the B1G tournament or get to a final four this year are you ready to wait 4-5 more years for Matt to gear up a team. Cause it takes Matt a while and settling for 2-5 in the B1G is not what Matt said himself was his goals, why should ours be lower..

With the addition of C. Edwards, next year's team may very well be far better than this year's. We have yet to see what kinds of players come into the fold in 2017, so making the prediction that "this is the best team for a while" is very short sighted, and really makes a straw man argument about the perceived failures of this years team. You phrase it as though these 14 players are all we will ever get., so if we can't make it now... OMG! Sorry, not buying your brand of self pity right now.

Right now we are riding the coat tails of one senior, and 3-4 sophomores, and a couple freshmen. That says this team is on a hard upward trajectory.

 

[Do Dah Day]

With the addition of C. Edwards, next year's team may very well be far better than this year's. We have yet to see what kinds of players come into the fold in 2017, so making the prediction that "this is the best team for a while" is very short sighted, and really makes a straw man argument about the perceived failures of this years team. You phrase it as though these 14 players are all we will ever get., so if we can't make it now... OMG! Sorry, not buying your brand of self pity right now.

Right now we are riding the coat tails of one senior, and 3-4 sophomores, and a couple freshmen. That says this team is on a hard upward trajectory.

Based on work ethic, Mathias, Cline, and Haas will be much better. Given PJ/Edwards, Cline/Mathias, Edwards, Swanni, Haas ..... with Cline and Haas a lot better ...

 

[Dakota Girl]

Nor am I blind to the issues going on. I often get asked whether I am "blind" or "are you CMP" or some such on here and I am sitting here watching a server load, so am bored and thinking about those questions.

Many won't care about this post and that is fine, it is how I truly look at things and is meant nothing more than really to express those thoughts about the team since that is what these forums are for. I figure if I address them in bullet point format, just so it is easier for people to read:

• Are you CMP? No. I am not. I call out the coach every once in a while but refrain from calling him out because I have no idea what is going on in practice, on the sidelines or in the team huddles during a timeout. I just do not see the need to berate a coach when the only thing I have to go off of is my perception and 9 times out of 10 what I THINK is going on, probably isn't.

• So CMP doesn't make mistakes? You bet your sweet baboo he does. No coach is perfect and will always do things that make us question what they are doing. He made mistakes in recruiting, he makes mistakes with his substitutions sometimes and will make mistakes in the future. Personally I think he is learning how to deal with as good if not better talent than he had with the Baby Boilers. After having to deal with head cases here recently, I think there is a little learning curve CMP has to go through again.

• Do you think CMP will get a final four? I have no idea. I would like to think so, but I don't have a crystal ball and have no way of knowing what the future holds. I sure have my opinion, but that is all it is. An opinion and certainly not based in anything factual, simply because it hasn't happened yet.

• So then why do you put your focus on the players? Simple. That is the only tangible thing we have. They bear some of the burden of executing what they are told and while sure some can be directed back to the coach, the players have to perform on the floor as well. Again it goes back to the whole "we don't know .. what we don't know" aspect of this.

• But wait, you berated me for calling CMP out. For that I was mistaken. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion that often swirls around here and lose track of what is important and what we all want, Purdue to win.

• Why aren't you jumping on the fire CMP bandwagon? I fail to see the point. Painter isn't going anywhere and if he continues to get 20 win seasons then he'll be here even longer. And that isn't settling or being okay with being mediocre, it is just reality. I just don't see the reason to jump on to some bandwagon that isn't going to happen. Others can and it is their right, I just choose to be positive about the team as opposed to tearing them down.

• So then where do you think we stand? Somewhere in the middle. There has been improvement over last season and I truly think things are not as bad as some think, but also not as good. Myself, along with many, thought this team could make it to the Final Four and don't regret that for a second. Each year we should all be thinking that and with some luck, it still COULD happen. But realistically the preseason polls and analysts got us right. We're an inconsistent top 20 team looking for a playmaker and some outside shooting.

• How long are you going to support CMP? The biggest benchmark for me will be how the recruiting class of 2017 and how a senior Haas/Edwards class performs. There is a lot of potential there IMO and it continues to improve. Biggie is here at least one more year (unless he gets some bad advice) and we bring in what could be the PG we have been longing for. If that senior class falters, then I will start to question.

• Wait you're already talking next year? Only to the extent of what we have coming back. I am not giving up on this year at all yet. But with as good as Carsen Edwards is playing, it is hard to not think about the future with him running the show.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post and thanks for indulging me .. as I said I was bored. Ultimately we all want the same thing, Purdue to win. Sure we see how to get there differently, but that is okay, that is what the forums are for. I've gotten in to arguments with some on here that I shouldn't have and that was wrong on my part, as I said it's easy to get emotionally tied up in things.

Now, time for beer.

BBG you think like me which makes you right.

 

[Dakota Girl]

With the addition of C. Edwards, next year's team may very well be far better than this year's. We have yet to see what kinds of players come into the fold in 2017, so making the prediction that "this is the best team for a while" is very short sighted, and really makes a straw man argument about the perceived failures of this years team. You phrase it as though these 14 players are all we will ever get., so if we can't make it now... OMG! Sorry, not buying your brand of self pity right now.

Right now we are riding the coat tails of one senior, and 3-4 sophomores, and a couple freshmen. That says this team is on a hard upward trajectory.

Absolutely on target. This team is going to change when Hammons leaves but that does not mean it gets worse. It will have to get incremental improvement from the underclass men and I think the style of play will emphasize scoring in different ways than this team does. 2017 recruiting will determine the 2019 20 21 outlook.

 

[gr8indoorsman]

A few thoughts on some statements in this thread:

- I don't think we played our best basketball against MSU. We played a good HALF. We played a good HALF against Maryland, and a good HALF against Iowa twice, and a good HALF @UM. We've got a serious issue with only showing up for halves of games. I have yet to watch a good 40 minute effort from this team. Maryland was the closest, but we flamed out at 36 minutes.

- I think there's a chance Purdue might be better without Hammons. They'll be different, in that they won't be as good defensively, and certainly not individually defensively with Davis gone as well. Haas is more offensively efficient than Hammons, and I think he's a better natural rebounder than Hammons because he's a damn mountain. He'll need to stay out of foul trouble, and Taylor will need to prove that he can give 15 solid minutes against good competition.

Ultimately why I think they might be better is because I think Hammons being the most talented guy on the team is not necessarily a good thing as rarely does he excite the team, and I think they play with his energy, for better or for worse. You saw that at UM. You saw that at IU last year. When AJ shows up and is fired up, the team is as well. They feed off of it. When he's just out-talenting everyone and not playing particularly hard, you can say the same about the team. They're just kind of going through the motions, but because they've got some inherent advantages in size and a few skills, they can compete. When they show up with energy, they get up 14 on MSU, 19 on Iowa, have leads late at Maryland. When the other team elevates their game, and Purdue relaxes, we give up leads, and we don't have anyone who ignites the team in tough times, and we certainly don't have a go-to scorer. I think someone like Vince or Haas can play with a little bit more fire and be both the offensive alpha as well as the energizing force the team needs that we don't seem to have consistently.

- I'm baffled by our inability to execute plays in key situations. How many times have we seen Purdue with the opportunity for the last shot at the end of a half or regulation where we end up taking a challenged, fading away 24 footer with Davis or Swanigan, or Hill driving into 3 defenders after dribbling for 20 seconds? I'm not sure where the fault lies there, but it's not good enough.

 

[ImRonBurgandy?]

Great discussion here, but I just couldn't help but be reminded by the great words from Dave Skylark, "Haters gonna hate, ainters gonna aint".

 

[Ross2122]

Nor am I blind to the issues going on. I often get asked whether I am "blind" or "are you CMP" or some such on here and I am sitting here watching a server load, so am bored and thinking about those questions.

Many won't care about this post and that is fine, it is how I truly look at things and is meant nothing more than really to express those thoughts about the team since that is what these forums are for. I figure if I address them in bullet point format, just so it is easier for people to read:

• Are you CMP? No. I am not. I call out the coach every once in a while but refrain from calling him out because I have no idea what is going on in practice, on the sidelines or in the team huddles during a timeout. I just do not see the need to berate a coach when the only thing I have to go off of is my perception and 9 times out of 10 what I THINK is going on, probably isn't.

• So CMP doesn't make mistakes? You bet your sweet baboo he does. No coach is perfect and will always do things that make us question what they are doing. He made mistakes in recruiting, he makes mistakes with his substitutions sometimes and will make mistakes in the future. Personally I think he is learning how to deal with as good if not better talent than he had with the Baby Boilers. After having to deal with head cases here recently, I think there is a little learning curve CMP has to go through again.

• Do you think CMP will get a final four? I have no idea. I would like to think so, but I don't have a crystal ball and have no way of knowing what the future holds. I sure have my opinion, but that is all it is. An opinion and certainly not based in anything factual, simply because it hasn't happened yet.

• So then why do you put your focus on the players? Simple. That is the only tangible thing we have. They bear some of the burden of executing what they are told and while sure some can be directed back to the coach, the players have to perform on the floor as well. Again it goes back to the whole "we don't know .. what we don't know" aspect of this.

• But wait, you berated me for calling CMP out. For that I was mistaken. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion that often swirls around here and lose track of what is important and what we all want, Purdue to win.

• Why aren't you jumping on the fire CMP bandwagon? I fail to see the point. Painter isn't going anywhere and if he continues to get 20 win seasons then he'll be here even longer. And that isn't settling or being okay with being mediocre, it is just reality. I just don't see the reason to jump on to some bandwagon that isn't going to happen. Others can and it is their right, I just choose to be positive about the team as opposed to tearing them down.

• So then where do you think we stand? Somewhere in the middle. There has been improvement over last season and I truly think things are not as bad as some think, but also not as good. Myself, along with many, thought this team could make it to the Final Four and don't regret that for a second. Each year we should all be thinking that and with some luck, it still COULD happen. But realistically the preseason polls and analysts got us right. We're an inconsistent top 20 team looking for a playmaker and some outside shooting.

• How long are you going to support CMP? The biggest benchmark for me will be how the recruiting class of 2017 and how a senior Haas/Edwards class performs. There is a lot of potential there IMO and it continues to improve. Biggie is here at least one more year (unless he gets some bad advice) and we bring in what could be the PG we have been longing for. If that senior class falters, then I will start to question.

• Wait you're already talking next year? Only to the extent of what we have coming back. I am not giving up on this year at all yet. But with as good as Carsen Edwards is playing, it is hard to not think about the future with him running the show.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post and thanks for indulging me .. as I said I was bored. Ultimately we all want the same thing, Purdue to win. Sure we see how to get there differently, but that is okay, that is what the forums are for. I've gotten in to arguments with some on here that I shouldn't have and that was wrong on my part, as I said it's easy to get emotionally tied up in things.

Now, time for beer.

Awesome Post really good insight Thanks and your right, Bottom line is all of our goals are to see our Boilermakers win

 

[purdue4sure]

Nor am I blind to the issues going on. I often get asked whether I am "blind" or "are you CMP" or some such on here and I am sitting here watching a server load, so am bored and thinking about those questions.

Many won't care about this post and that is fine, it is how I truly look at things and is meant nothing more than really to express those thoughts about the team since that is what these forums are for. I figure if I address them in bullet point format, just so it is easier for people to read:

• Are you CMP? No. I am not. I call out the coach every once in a while but refrain from calling him out because I have no idea what is going on in practice, on the sidelines or in the team huddles during a timeout. I just do not see the need to berate a coach when the only thing I have to go off of is my perception and 9 times out of 10 what I THINK is going on, probably isn't.

• So CMP doesn't make mistakes? You bet your sweet baboo he does. No coach is perfect and will always do things that make us question what they are doing. He made mistakes in recruiting, he makes mistakes with his substitutions sometimes and will make mistakes in the future. Personally I think he is learning how to deal with as good if not better talent than he had with the Baby Boilers. After having to deal with head cases here recently, I think there is a little learning curve CMP has to go through again.

• Do you think CMP will get a final four? I have no idea. I would like to think so, but I don't have a crystal ball and have no way of knowing what the future holds. I sure have my opinion, but that is all it is. An opinion and certainly not based in anything factual, simply because it hasn't happened yet.

• So then why do you put your focus on the players? Simple. That is the only tangible thing we have. They bear some of the burden of executing what they are told and while sure some can be directed back to the coach, the players have to perform on the floor as well. Again it goes back to the whole "we don't know .. what we don't know" aspect of this.

• But wait, you berated me for calling CMP out. For that I was mistaken. Everyone has a right to their opinion and I respect that. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion that often swirls around here and lose track of what is important and what we all want, Purdue to win.

• Why aren't you jumping on the fire CMP bandwagon? I fail to see the point. Painter isn't going anywhere and if he continues to get 20 win seasons then he'll be here even longer. And that isn't settling or being okay with being mediocre, it is just reality. I just don't see the reason to jump on to some bandwagon that isn't going to happen. Others can and it is their right, I just choose to be positive about the team as opposed to tearing them down.

• So then where do you think we stand? Somewhere in the middle. There has been improvement over last season and I truly think things are not as bad as some think, but also not as good. Myself, along with many, thought this team could make it to the Final Four and don't regret that for a second. Each year we should all be thinking that and with some luck, it still COULD happen. But realistically the preseason polls and analysts got us right. We're an inconsistent top 20 team looking for a playmaker and some outside shooting.

• How long are you going to support CMP? The biggest benchmark for me will be how the recruiting class of 2017 and how a senior Haas/Edwards class performs. There is a lot of potential there IMO and it continues to improve. Biggie is here at least one more year (unless he gets some bad advice) and we bring in what could be the PG we have been longing for. If that senior class falters, then I will start to question.

• Wait you're already talking next year? Only to the extent of what we have coming back. I am not giving up on this year at all yet. But with as good as Carsen Edwards is playing, it is hard to not think about the future with him running the show.

Anyway, sorry for the long rambling post and thanks for indulging me .. as I said I was bored. Ultimately we all want the same thing, Purdue to win. Sure we see how to get there differently, but that is okay, that is what the forums are for. I've gotten in to arguments with some on here that I shouldn't have and that was wrong on my part, as I said it's easy to get emotionally tied up in things.

Now, time for beer.

I agree with you. You are not Matt Painter. Ignore the silly drama queens on this board who want to think you are.

 

[Ross Mackey]

This is a strange post with a lot of inaccuracies. Maybe it will help if I respond in kind to some of these statement to improve overall understanding. Since this is your third post on this board, I want to help you gain a better perspective. In the long run, this might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. I will put my direct response in Italicized bold print.

IMO it is very wrong to pick on kids who are getting something for free that I gladly paid for and to be clear I am not a Matt Painter fan; for a lot of good reasons. The fact that he played at Purdue means very little to me as opposed to his ability to do his job. - You and I share this in common. Good premise. Matt said when they pulled that prank with Missouri he was here to win championships. He was here to win championships, we got none. - He won one BIG championship with the Baby Boilers. He has the intention of winning more. I don't think it was a prank (as you call it). He was deadly serious about either leaving, or getting the program better funding. I support what he did. Without better funding there would be NO championships. We have seen the results of lowered recruiting budgets already and I hope we never go through that again.

Will we win the B1G this year, NO. Although we could win the B1G tournament it appears less and less likely. Will we get to a final four this year, again appears less and less likely. - Why do you say it is less and less likely? At the start of the year we were picked 4th or 5th in the conference. When was it ever likely we would win the BIG this year? We were a last place team two years ago. Our direction is positive, but we are not there yet. I don't understand the angst you are putting into this post???

All you Painter heads seem to be the same, wait till next year, wait till we get this player, it's not Matt's fault its the players. Well Matt pulled AJ from the game against Michigan to yell at him and what happened, MI goes on a run and we lose, hope Matt feels better. Did you watch the game? Michigan was already on a run, which AJ contributed to when he was sleep walking. Matt had to pull him to get him back engaged. AJ was back in as soon as possible. Your statement indicates Matt's pulling AJ was the start of the run. Inaccurate.

Let's be clear here. I am not a "Painter Head". I just hold a different opinion than you do about Painter. I do not support him unconditionally. I just happen to understand the game and the coaching process a little better than you appear to.

Do we get better as the season goes on? - Yes. Cline, Swanigan, PJ, Hammons, Haas, Davis, etc.

Do we play our best in the big games? - We did in the MSU game. Did not in the Iowa games. The answer is sometimes.

Does our coach get the best out of his players? - Sometimes. No coach is perfect.

Does the coach create an environment where it is OK to fail if you are trying hard? - yes, I have seen him allow a long tether to most players, but his job is to correct and teach. If someone is repeatedly doing something incorrectly, I expect him o correct the behavior immediately.

Does the coach pick the recruits? - Kind of a dumb question. He takes those players that agree to come to Purdue.

Does the coach pick who is playing and who sits? - Another obvious statement. Are you in the group of people that are convinced Painter is not playing his best people. Do we need to go over the Bryson Scott/Smotherman/Taylor discussion again?

Does our coach know how to recruit a point guard? - Seems like he has recruited a few. What is the point here? PJ is very good, and he does not turn over the ball. He is also statistically a high % 3-pt shooter. Octeus and Hill are both pretty good PG's too. Too bad Ronnie didn't work out, but that is on him.

Does the coach know how to draw up a play that is executed properly in critical times? - Yes, but so does the opposition coach. Sometimes we get the job done. Sometimes we don't. You could ask the same question to Izzo when his team failed to beat Purdue by a point. That is part of the game. We are not bringing a gun to a knife fight. The differences between teams is extremely small and there is a lot of parity. It is very easy for plays to go sideways and completely random things happen.​

We seem to be out played by many of our opponents even when we win. Of course we always get to listen to Mattie yell "MOVE" while we are on offense I guess that makes the losses worthwhile. - Many of the teams we are playing now have upper-class 4 & 5 star players. We are pitting a couple Seniors who are limited athletically and a whole bunch of freshmen and sophomores against them. Many of our players are 3 & 4 star guys. Let's be real here. We are not world beaters and would not be with any coach. We are in process of building a good, strong program. We are not there yet, but frankly, every strong program has up and down years. Where is Duke this year? Anyone seen some of the scores from perennially strong teams like UNC or Kansas this year?

The reason we do not win more is COACHING or the lack of it. - I think you are mistaken here. I think you should pay attention to more teams than just Purdue. It will help you understand the game of college basketball a little better, and it might help manage your perspective a bit. This team plays very well, but they are not going to win every game. To think otherwise shows either an immature nativity or a contrived argumentative position that logic can't affect. For your sake, I hope it is the former.

VERY nicely done....game-set-match

This should be required reading for the torch and pitchfork lynch mob around here, who dutifully chronicle every mis-step, every un-met expectation ( however detached from reality those may be) , while flat-out refusing to give credit when and where it's due.

 

[Ross Mackey]

no need for all this. Anyone who's not a troll knows you're a Boilermaker. The losses are frustrating but we still have a lot of ball to play!

Exactly right.

BBG is far more accommodating to the board loonies than they deserve (or than I would be - VBG)

 

[88btfu92]

And THAT's why we play the game.

And that's why they call it coaching.

 

[indyogb]

A nice run to the Final Four, and all ills will be cured. Flukes happen all the time, and lord knows, Purdue is due .

 

[gr8indoorsman]

A few thoughts on some statements in this thread:

- I don't think we played our best basketball against MSU. We played a good HALF. We played a good HALF against Maryland, and a good HALF against Iowa twice, and a good HALF @UM. We've got a serious issue with only showing up for halves of games. I have yet to watch a good 40 minute effort from this team. Maryland was the closest, but we flamed out at 36 minutes.

- I think there's a chance Purdue might be better without Hammons. They'll be different, in that they won't be as good defensively, and certainly not individually defensively with Davis gone as well. Haas is more offensively efficient than Hammons, and I think he's a better natural rebounder than Hammons because he's a damn mountain. He'll need to stay out of foul trouble, and Taylor will need to prove that he can give 15 solid minutes against good competition.

Ultimately why I think they might be better is because I think Hammons being the most talented guy on the team is not necessarily a good thing as rarely does he excite the team, and I think they play with his energy, for better or for worse. You saw that at UM. You saw that at IU last year. When AJ shows up and is fired up, the team is as well. They feed off of it. When he's just out-talenting everyone and not playing particularly hard, you can say the same about the team. They're just kind of going through the motions, but because they've got some inherent advantages in size and a few skills, they can compete. When they show up with energy, they get up 14 on MSU, 19 on Iowa, have leads late at Maryland. When the other team elevates their game, and Purdue relaxes, we give up leads, and we don't have anyone who ignites the team in tough times, and we certainly don't have a go-to scorer. I think someone like Vince or Haas can play with a little bit more fire and be both the offensive alpha as well as the energizing force the team needs that we don't seem to have consistently.

- I'm baffled by our inability to execute plays in key situations. How many times have we seen Purdue with the opportunity for the last shot at the end of a half or regulation where we end up taking a challenged, fading away 24 footer with Davis or Swanigan, or Hill driving into 3 defenders after dribbling for 20 seconds? I'm not sure where the fault lies there, but it's not good enough.

Tonight against IU is a perfect example... Hammond starts hot and involved, Purdue is fine. Hammons starts getting cheap fouls and disappears, so goes the team's fire. Dude doesn't consistently energize his team. Someone with some real talent has to be able to energize them next year. Not sure Vince is that guy either, but he's the most likely candidate IMO.

 

[RegionWarrior101]

A nice run to the Final Four, and all ills will be cured. Flukes happen all the time, and lord knows, Purdue is due .

See I disagree 100%. We are not due. We are not a bad team, but we are a very, very, average team that does not matchup well with other teams with B+ guards.

 

[tjreese]

See I disagree 100%. We are not due. We are not a bad team, but we are a very, very, average team that does not matchup well with other teams with B+ guards.

Purdue just proved that they could easily win in a rematch. Purdue never played well...not sure what happened to AJ since I never got to see the first 25% of the game adn IU had some players I think Purdue would like to shoot the ball even though they hit the three ball tonight

 

[BoilerFan#35]

Purdue just proved that they could easily win in a rematch. Purdue never played well...not sure what happened to AJ since I never got to see the first 25% of the game adn IU had some players I think Purdue would like to shoot the ball even though they hit the three ball tonight

Easily win??? Were you watching that game? Just because we hit a crap ton of 3s at the end doesn't mean we could cruise to a victory

 

[tjreese]

Easily win??? Were you watching that game? Just because we hit a crap ton of 3s at the end doesn't mean we could cruise to a victory

I absolutely watched the game. Iu hit everything and by people you want to shoot many times Purdue made some mental mistakes and were out hustled. I think Purdue plays better and Iu plays worse away from IU. IU always builds leads and loses them

 

[indyogb]

See I disagree 100%. We are not due. We are not a bad team, but we are a very, very, average team that does not matchup well with other teams with B+ guards.

We are due a fluke - worse teams have won championships before. It doesn't happen often, but it's happened.