You could see it on the faces of each of Purdue's seniors following Tuesday night's 66-64 loss to No. 20 Michigan, the frustration of losing and of the Boilermakers' maddening inconsistency this season.
Robbie Hummel, after missing a possible game-winner, looked fried. Dejected would have put a nice way of putting the way Ryne Smith looked slouching back in his chair at the post-game press conference. And Lewis Jackson, he answered question with this grin on his face, like one of those, "I'm so pissed, I'm smiling" kind of smirks.
The fact is these three guys have a lot to be upset about.
This team that as seniors they preside over - and I'm not by any stretch suggesting they've been flawless - is an enigma, just all over the map. Lately, the valleys have outnumbered the peaks.
Purdue played one good half against Michigan Tuesday, and I may be generous with that description in this case. Yes, Purdue put itself in a position to win in the second half, but didn't necessarily look good doing it.
Defensively, Purdue just continues to belie its program's identity. This is just not a good defensive team. That's true for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is personnel.
Now, with that in mind, don't overlook the loss of Kelsey Barlow tonight. Call it an "excuse" if you want and I know a lot of you will, but it is what it is.
He's the best defensive player on a team that doesn't have very many good ones right now. He's good off the dribble offensively and he's one of Purdue's best rebounders. He was a non-factor due to illness and wasn't on the floor at the end.
If you're wondering why Terone Johnson was on the floor at the end, when he missed that one-and-one, I'm guessing he was out there because Barlow couldn't be.
But make no mistake: Purdue didn't lose because Kelsey Barlow was sick.
It lost because it couldn't get defensive stops when it needed them most. It lost because it couldn't get a rebound at the start of the second half especially. It lost because it jacked too many iffy threes in the first half, digging itself an early hole.
It lost because there is something missing from this Purdue team and for all people bitch about recruiting, it's not talent.
Purdue's players are good enough. They're not great, but they're good enough. They'd be even better if they could all practice together every day. There we go with the "excuses" again.
They were good enough to beat Xavier and didn't, good enough to beat Butler and didn't, good enough to beat Wisconsin and Michigan and didn't. Purdue was good enough to be in position to win every one of those games.
Purdue was good enough to beat Penn State but didn't bother to try for some inexplicable reason. I'm throwing out the two-hours-of-sleep game, maybe solely for the convenience of whatever hair-brained late-night point I'm trying to make here.
It is my opinion that Purdue's players are good enough.
As a team lately, though, they haven't been.
And because of it, it sure looks like you're looking at an NIT team.
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This post was edited on 1/25 5:36 PM by Alan_GoldandBlack.com
