Well, the majority of the non-conference schedule has now been played ? with just a meeting with West Virginia dangling among Big Ten games next month ? so we have a pretty good pulse now of what this wildcard Purdue team is.
So after Purdue's stressful wins over Ball State and William & Mary evened its record at a disappointing 6-6, I'm going to re-visit the preseason expectations I had coming into this year to see where I was right and, more notably, where I was wrong.
Right: Purdue would have to play through significantly more turnovers this season, as low-hanging-fruit of a prediction as you could ever make considering how good it was last season about taking care of the basketball.
Wrong: That Purdue would have to play through this many turnovers. The Boilermakers have given it up entirely too many and endured stretched where they can barely function on offense because of it.
Right: Purdue would be a much better rebounding team because of its added size.
Wrong: Purdue would be a much better rebounding team just because of its added size. The Boilermakers' success on the boards this season ? at least statistically ? has had just as much to do with everyone chipping in and getting to long rebounds as it has size.
Right: A.J. Hammons would be an instant-impact player as a freshman.
Wrong: A.J. Hammons' impact would be felt far more on defense and on the boards than on offense. Here I was saying that Purdue just needed him to make most of his putback dunks as his offensive role. As it's turned out, he might be Purdue's go-to player on offense. Its offense is practically built around him.
Right: Purdue wouldn't be nearly as effective a perimeter shooting team.
Wrong: Purdue would be at the very least be a more effective shooting team than people thought. Um, they're shooting 27 percent from three.
Of course, its personnel and its style are entirely different. Purdue's replaced a shooter at power forward with non-shooters and playing mostly more traditional lineups than the guard-heavy groupings fielded last year.
Right: This year's freshmen wouldn't pick up the college game immediately the way the '07 kids did. In retrospect, should have even mentioned the two in the same breath. This is a talented group, but doesn't have near the intangibles that group did. Shouldn't have ever made that comparison ? not fair to this group to hold it to that standard - but was hung up on frame of reference.
Coaches talk all the time about finding "fits" in recruiting. Outsiders focus more so on talent. Right now, Purdue has the latter, but has not yet grown into the former.
Wrong: Jacob Lawson might be the odd man out. Not sure I ever wrote that, but certainly wondered it after he spent most of the second half of last season on the bench. Dead wrong there. He's playing really hard and has been brilliant at times as the shot of espresso this group needs at times at both ends of the floor.
Remains to be seen, but probably wrong: This team will find its way into the NCAA Tournament. Well, stranger things have happened and there's still no ruling out a dramatic turnaround here, but the quality of the Big Ten and the issues Purdue's dealt with so far certainly suggest that the Boilermakers' run of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is not long for this world.
Purdue's just let too many wins to this point get away. It's lost six games and been beaten only one, that being against Notre Dame. If two more of those toss-up endings had fallen in the Boilermakers' direction and Purdue's 8-4 right now, you're certainly feeling a little better about things.
Saturday's win over William & Mary was another reflection of the fact that nothing is going to be easy for this team. I should note that the Tribe is not horrible. Marcus Thornton is pretty good; they have some skilled players; and they were able to really exploit Purdue on defense, especially with their 5 man facing the basket against Hammons, doing to Purdue what Purdue did to teams last season.
But still
Purdue continued to detest prosperity, frequently once again allowing quick responses to its own surges. Purdue doesn't just turn the ball over; it turns the ball to create scores for the opposition. It gives up easy baskets when it has to make opponents work for everything they get.
But
This game wasn't without some encouraging signs, though. The seven turnovers were a season-low, for one thing. Rapheal Davis made some really important plays. Jacob Lawson was really good. Terone Johnson was very good.
Purdue played well offensively today and improved as the game went on defense and the boards, doing so in situations in which it might have regressed a couple weeks ago. I know Ball State and Bill & Mary will never be the centerpiece of any NCAA Tournament resume, but maybe slowly but surely, Purdue is figuring out how to win.
And even though the botched 3-on-1 before halftime and a quick jumper he took and missed might stick out, Ronnie Johnson was good, and that's important. He's the one guy on this team whose improvement would instantly make this team significantly better, and improvement for him might be relatively simple considering how much of it would be rooted simply with better decisions. It hasn't clicked yet, but the more he plays, the closer he'll get to that happening, you'd have to think.
Purdue's 6-6 right now, but I still maintain this is going to be a good team at some point.
I know people are eager to see that instead of hearing it, though.
So's Purdue.
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So after Purdue's stressful wins over Ball State and William & Mary evened its record at a disappointing 6-6, I'm going to re-visit the preseason expectations I had coming into this year to see where I was right and, more notably, where I was wrong.
Right: Purdue would have to play through significantly more turnovers this season, as low-hanging-fruit of a prediction as you could ever make considering how good it was last season about taking care of the basketball.
Wrong: That Purdue would have to play through this many turnovers. The Boilermakers have given it up entirely too many and endured stretched where they can barely function on offense because of it.
Right: Purdue would be a much better rebounding team because of its added size.
Wrong: Purdue would be a much better rebounding team just because of its added size. The Boilermakers' success on the boards this season ? at least statistically ? has had just as much to do with everyone chipping in and getting to long rebounds as it has size.
Right: A.J. Hammons would be an instant-impact player as a freshman.
Wrong: A.J. Hammons' impact would be felt far more on defense and on the boards than on offense. Here I was saying that Purdue just needed him to make most of his putback dunks as his offensive role. As it's turned out, he might be Purdue's go-to player on offense. Its offense is practically built around him.
Right: Purdue wouldn't be nearly as effective a perimeter shooting team.
Wrong: Purdue would be at the very least be a more effective shooting team than people thought. Um, they're shooting 27 percent from three.
Of course, its personnel and its style are entirely different. Purdue's replaced a shooter at power forward with non-shooters and playing mostly more traditional lineups than the guard-heavy groupings fielded last year.
Right: This year's freshmen wouldn't pick up the college game immediately the way the '07 kids did. In retrospect, should have even mentioned the two in the same breath. This is a talented group, but doesn't have near the intangibles that group did. Shouldn't have ever made that comparison ? not fair to this group to hold it to that standard - but was hung up on frame of reference.
Coaches talk all the time about finding "fits" in recruiting. Outsiders focus more so on talent. Right now, Purdue has the latter, but has not yet grown into the former.
Wrong: Jacob Lawson might be the odd man out. Not sure I ever wrote that, but certainly wondered it after he spent most of the second half of last season on the bench. Dead wrong there. He's playing really hard and has been brilliant at times as the shot of espresso this group needs at times at both ends of the floor.
Remains to be seen, but probably wrong: This team will find its way into the NCAA Tournament. Well, stranger things have happened and there's still no ruling out a dramatic turnaround here, but the quality of the Big Ten and the issues Purdue's dealt with so far certainly suggest that the Boilermakers' run of six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is not long for this world.
Purdue's just let too many wins to this point get away. It's lost six games and been beaten only one, that being against Notre Dame. If two more of those toss-up endings had fallen in the Boilermakers' direction and Purdue's 8-4 right now, you're certainly feeling a little better about things.
Saturday's win over William & Mary was another reflection of the fact that nothing is going to be easy for this team. I should note that the Tribe is not horrible. Marcus Thornton is pretty good; they have some skilled players; and they were able to really exploit Purdue on defense, especially with their 5 man facing the basket against Hammons, doing to Purdue what Purdue did to teams last season.
But still
Purdue continued to detest prosperity, frequently once again allowing quick responses to its own surges. Purdue doesn't just turn the ball over; it turns the ball to create scores for the opposition. It gives up easy baskets when it has to make opponents work for everything they get.
But
This game wasn't without some encouraging signs, though. The seven turnovers were a season-low, for one thing. Rapheal Davis made some really important plays. Jacob Lawson was really good. Terone Johnson was very good.
Purdue played well offensively today and improved as the game went on defense and the boards, doing so in situations in which it might have regressed a couple weeks ago. I know Ball State and Bill & Mary will never be the centerpiece of any NCAA Tournament resume, but maybe slowly but surely, Purdue is figuring out how to win.
And even though the botched 3-on-1 before halftime and a quick jumper he took and missed might stick out, Ronnie Johnson was good, and that's important. He's the one guy on this team whose improvement would instantly make this team significantly better, and improvement for him might be relatively simple considering how much of it would be rooted simply with better decisions. It hasn't clicked yet, but the more he plays, the closer he'll get to that happening, you'd have to think.
Purdue's 6-6 right now, but I still maintain this is going to be a good team at some point.
I know people are eager to see that instead of hearing it, though.
So's Purdue.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2012. 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.
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