SAN JUAN, P.R. - Just before in-bounding the ball to start the second half Friday against Temple, Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson chatted briefly on the sideline.
Jackson told Hummel that if he could make a jumper or two, shots Temple was conceding to the Boilermaker point guard, it might impact the game for the better for Purdue.
Hummel's response: "Do it."
Later, Jackson made such a shot and Hummel glanced at him, as if both knew what was happening: Jackson was taking the game over, carrying Purdue to another really good win.
This is a Temple team that took San Diego State to double-overtime in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last spring, falling an eyelash short of being a Sweet 16 team. The core of that team is back, most of them seniors. It's a team that's going to win its share of games this season and probably go down as another good win for Purdue come March.
Purdue is a work in progress. We know this.
It has to get better defensively. It simply has to. It's not a good defensive team at all right now, which is disconcerting, I'm sure.
Purdue didn't give up easy ones against Temple the way it freely did during the "NBA Jam" session against Iona and Friday's final score was swelled by the end-of-game run-and-gun stuff, but it still gave up 52-percent shooting and a whole bunch of points.
Purdue's formula for winning - its program's identity - isn't there right now, but the Boilermakers are winning anyway, and they're winning close games, something good teams find a way to do. And in Puerto Rico, they've done it against good competition.
Friday, Purdue just did what it had to do to win, as it's done all week, when in lieu of stopping people, it's just outscored them.
The Boilermakers were an awful free-throw shooting team until they had to not be Friday. If Purdue doesn't make 24-of-25 from the foul line after halftime, it loses.
Robbie Hummel was about as quiet as the best player in the arena can be for much of the second half, until he was needed to not be. In the final 1:24, he made a big-time turnaround jumper, two free throws and blocked a shot.
Hummel is playing now how I think it could have been reasonably hoped he'd be playing a month from now. The start to his season has to be considered a smashing success, with the likelihood being there that he'll get even better.
Thursday, Iona had no answer for him off the dribble; Friday, he controlled the game out of the post, making a couple turnarounds and dishing off an assist to Jackson for a tough baseline finish. In both games, he's thrown daggers in crunch time.
Coming into this season, the greatest reason for optimism around Purdue's 2011-12 team was its seniors and Hummel, Jackson and Ryne Smith have absolutely delivered in every sense through four games, Jackson more than anybody against Temple.
He's a strong-willed guy and he applied that will against the Owls, scoring big basket after big basket - whether it was driving, scoring in transition or popping jumpers - then slamming the door on Temple from the foul line.
Hummel is playing like a Player-of-the-Year already; Smith just can't miss right now.
And mostly because of the play of those seniors - D.J. Byrd certainly helped against Temple, providing a key spark off the bench - this brand-new Purdue team is 4-0.
This, even though the Boilermakers aren't defending well and Painter was so displeased with his team's early effort he called a timeout during the first to dress it down in no uncertain (or inaudible) terms in a mostly empty arena.
But I'll write this for the third straight game: It's going to be a process for Purdue - its ceiling for improvement remains high - but the fact it's winning as it grows is a really, really positive thing.
Teams lose this time of year. But teams like Arizona, UCLA, Vandy and especially Pitt - ranked teams who've lost this week to unranked teams - aren't canceling their seasons over it.
Not really sure what I'm getting at here, but in its evolution of sorts into what it's going to be, I just keep coming back to how big it is that Purdue is winning these difficult games this early in the process.
And Purdue's going to be a better team a month from now.
Anthony Johnson, a wonderfully pleasant surprise as a scorer and rebounder so far, is going to get better with experience; so will Jacob Lawson, already a key play for Purdue. Sandi Marcius gave the Boilermakers good minutes against Temple. He, Lawson and starter Travis Carroll seem destined to be a three-headed platoon this season, their minutes determined by matchups.
You'd hope in time, Terone Johnson will shake whatever's holding him back, whether it's physical or what.
For the time being, though, this is a raw team, but a winning one nonetheless.
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This post was edited on 11/18 10:30 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
