SAN JUAN, P.R. - I think the obvious take-away from Purdue's loss to Alabama Sunday night here in San Juan is that Alabama is pretty good.
That's a very good, very athletic, very talented team. It might be a little rough around the edges in some senses, but that's a really talented group and tough nut to crack on defense.
During those first five minutes tonight, Purdue just looked overmatched. Just looking at the bodies of the two teams on the floor, you just knew there were going to be some trying matchups for the Boilermakers and there were. The Tide's front court is really good. Remember, JaMychal Green didn't play against Purdue last year, 'cause he was suspended, so this was a very different team from the one Purdue handled at home last season. And its freshmen are very talented.
'Bama dominated the first 10 minutes and the final 10, making it very difficult for Purdue's jumper-heavy offense to get going. You could see Boilermaker shooters hurry shots on more than one occasion, a couple times letting fly as their body language suggested they expected to miss. Alabama's length and size altered lots of shots without blocking very many and really made life difficult for Robbie Hummel, showing him added attention defensively.
But the final 10 minutes of first half and first 10 (approximately) of the second were good for Purdue, though it couldn't maintain it. You did get a sense there in the second half, that if 'Bama could just get an offensive rebound or a turnover, things might swing in its favor - the tide might turn, if you will - and that's precisely what happened. Early in the second, it generated back-to-back turnovers off its press, one by Lewis Jackson, the other by Kelsey Barlow, then minutes later scored off back-to-back putbacks as it took command of the game.
So yes, Alabama was very good and Purdue remains a work in progress, though a 4-1 work in progress with a couple quality wins in the books already is much, much better than the alternative for works in progress.
Purdue is not a good defensive team right now. That's the biggest surprise of the young season to date, right there along with inexplicable free-throw shooting and the excellent play of Hummel so far, though he's such a good player, I don't know if that should even qualify as a surprise. I just think he's playing now like you'd have hoped he'd be by the end of next month.
No, Hummel's fine.
Purdue's defense - a core tenet of the program's identity - isn't so much.
The number of easy baskets Purdue's given up, often off its own made baskets, has been an issue. The Boilermakers have been out-scoring people to win; soon, it will have to stop people to win.
Can it right now?
Purdue has had its moments defensively, but hasn't been as consistently disruptive as it would like.
Personnel-wise, Purdue is, again, a work in progress. It has three centers - if you count the 6-foot-7-or-so Jacob Lawson as a center just because he plays there - who seem destined to platoon for the long term, matchups being the guide. Against Alabama there was no good matchup.
Travis Carroll is skilled and tenacious, but limited athletically; Sandi Marcius is your best rebounder and biggest player, but he's still the proverbial bull in a china shop and limited offensively; Lawson is your best athlete and shot-blocker, but he's inexperienced and 6-7.
Matt Painter is right when he says that his team needs to get more offense at the rim. It has penetration options in Jackson, Kelsey Barlow, the Johnsons and Hummel, but doesn't have a go-to guy. Hummel works well out of post-ups but not down low, per se.
Carroll has some savvy about him as a low-post offensive player, but seems conscious enough of his limitations that he's tentative for concern of getting his shots blocked.
On the perimeter, it would be helpful to get Terone Johnson going, though he made a big shot tonight. Johnson, to me, is too good a player not to be giving Purdue a little bit more than he is. I have to think it's physical issues holding him back. It looks like it, at least.
With all this said, the potential remains there obviously for Purdue to get much, much better.
So to be 4-1 at this stage, I think that's something you have to be very much content with. You would have loved if you're Purdue to have won this thing, but at the end of the day losing to a legitimately really good team in the final after recording two very good wins prior, I think that's pretty good for a team in transition.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2011. 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.
Check out GoldandBlack.com on
