CINCINNATI - There's no shame whatsoever in losing by three on the home floor of the No. 11-ranked team in college basketball.
But, the way Purdue lost at Xavier Saturday was devastating.
Now, of course, such reactions when they come about immediately are very often exaggerated and short-sighted.
Purdue did do a lot of good things Saturday. You don't just show up and lead by 20 on the home floor of a highly ranked team.
But it's natural to dwell on the outcome more so than the proverbial silver linings. Purdue should have won this game, maybe not as of Saturday morning - the Boilermakers had to be considered a heavy 'dog here - but certainly as of the afternoon, when they led by nearly three touchdowns with less than 11 minutes to play.
At least when Purdue melted down at Missouri in 2007, that was a team a freshmen and sophomores.
But still ...
If Robbie Hummel doesn't go down with cramps, Purdue probably still wins.
Sadly, it was kind of the story of Hummel's career of late to be left writhing in pain on the sideline, probably pained just as much by the sight of his team falling apart without him.
And if Tu Holloway doesn't turn into freaking Superman, the Boilermakers definitely win.
But those things happened, issuing Purdue a loss that stings right now, but may really sting come March.
Ever since the end of last season, I've been quite certain this would be an NCAA Tournament team and everything Saturday but the final score backed that expectation up.
But big-time road wins can make or break a resume. Those don't grow on trees. You only get a couple chances a season to get them and to have simply handed one over might haunt Purdue.
Had the football team not made a bowl game, that loss at Rice would have been particularly lamentable, because that had it. This could be similarly looked upon a few months from now, for all we know.
In the meantime, Purdue showed signs Saturday of being really good and it stands to reason to suggest it's not a finished product.
It would be really nice if Jacob Lawson could stay out of foul trouble, a pretty standard hurdle for freshmen to overcome.
It's already to the point where Lawson seems like a critical player for Purdue, because of his athleticism, defensive presence and ability to run the floor as an offensive weapon.
Travis Carroll gives Purdue more than many realize, or care to admit. He rebounds, plays with quiet physicality, makes defenses respect his ability to shoot it, passes well, sees the floor and so on. I don't know how many points for Purdue against Miami the other night with his block-outs.
But his limitations are brutally obvious and were underscored today.
His inability to finish under the basket bit Purdue again at Xavier and you could sense some exasperation from Painter afterwards when he lamented missing "two-footers." And the turnover 30 feet from the basket was a kick in the face.
Lawson is not Purdue's best option to body up with a big man like Kenny Frease and he's shaky at the line, so I'm not sure he'd have been the one in there at the end to finish the game out, but there will come situations in the future where he may be needed to.
Or you go Hummel and four guards.
The fact of the matter is that Carroll is Purdue's most trustworthy post player to not foul. That was an issue for Purdue during Xavier's rally.
Xavier didn't completely cash in from the line, but at a stage where the Boilermakers needed to make X earn everything it got, it too often fouled Xavier nowhere near the basket to give them free throws with no time coming off the clock.
It came at a stage when it looked like the clock was Purdue's friend, but as it turned out, the Musketeers had a surplus of time to overtake its visitor.
Another take-away from this game is nothing new at all: Purdue needs Hummel on the floor. There was no controlling it tonight, but this game highlighted the fact that if Hummel gets banged up or in foul trouble, it's going to be a real problem. Yeah, breaking news there.
Without Hummel on the floor when it really mattered, Purdue just couldn't function on offense.
Hummel has been Purdue's closer this season; instead, the Boilermakers had to rely on its middle relief to score and it couldn't.
On one final note: I saw the worst post I've ever seen on our message boards today.
If there was an easy answer to this crap, believe me, folks, we'd have implemented it by now.
We do not have the time, resources or inclination to become the Thought Police and pass every entry to our message boards through security.
But we agree with you: The savagery like today's despicable post must not be tolerated.
Today's post had me thinking for a while that maybe it's time to just starting using this blog to make an example of people, but I can't see any good coming from public conflict with the anonymous.
Maybe change can happen organically.
Take ownership of our message boards. Not just our message boards, but any message board.
If someone posts inhumane garbage like they did today, shout them down and call them out but do it with civility and with intelligence. Then, let it slide.
(On an aside, I can't believe I just used the word "inhumane" in relation to the Internet.)
If such-and-such poster is getting under your skin and you want to call them "dumb," "stupid" or something more colorful, ignore them, however difficult it may be. They want you to respond and if you do, they win.
Sports are like politics and the pursuit of the opposite sex: They make smart people stupid and stupid people even stupider.
This is not a problem unique to us. Every message boards and newspaper with StoryChat deals with this. Every single one of them.
We want to make it better.
Help us.
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
This post was edited on 12/3 10:46 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
This post was edited on 12/3 10:50 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
