Rarely post on here anymore.

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

Football is not worth watching at this point.
Basketball has underperformed IMO to the talent that we have.
I live in Wisconsin and co-workers and relatives say why are you rooting for Purdue? I have no answer anymore after seeing the turnaround that Greg Gard has done for a program that was not supposed to do anything this year.
Why does Purdue not have confidence in itself in Basketball this year? Talent pool is there. Painter as a coach is fine..not the greatest nor the worst. This team should have taken care of business and just hasn't done it.
Another year with ho hum results.

 

[Schnelk]

We lack toughness.

 

[FirstDownB]

Football is not worth watching at this point.
Basketball has underperformed IMO to the talent that we have.
I live in Wisconsin and co-workers and relatives say why are you rooting for Purdue? I have no answer anymore after seeing the turnaround that Greg Gard has done for a program that was not supposed to do anything this year.
Why does Purdue not have confidence in itself in Basketball this year? Talent pool is there. Painter as a coach is fine..not the greatest nor the worst. This team should have taken care of business and just hasn't done it.
Another year with ho hum results.

Taking care of business is exactly what this team has done. No better, no worse. Here are the final team recruiting rankings for the past 4 years (per espn) for your current #20 team in the nation:
2012: 19
2013: 38
2014: 26
2015: 23

Still amazes me how many people are utterly surprised by the results.

 

[Dryfly88]

Football is not worth watching at this point.
Basketball has underperformed IMO to the talent that we have.
I live in Wisconsin and co-workers and relatives say why are you rooting for Purdue? I have no answer anymore after seeing the turnaround that Greg Gard has done for a program that was not supposed to do anything this year.
Why does Purdue not have confidence in itself in Basketball this year? Talent pool is there. Painter as a coach is fine..not the greatest nor the worst. This team should have taken care of business and just hasn't done it.
Another year with ho hum results.

Why do you cheer for PU? Are you an Alum or lifelong PU fan?

I don't get the "I don't know why I am a fan of PU anymore" comments. Not just from you, but from many over the past few weeks. If you are only going to cheer for a school when they are winning up to your expectations, then there are very few programs you are going to stick with. And what is the cut off for no longer being a fan? 1 year, 5 years, 10 years????

Directly to your point about Wisconsin. Did their fans just start cheering for them when Bo started having success? Or have they stuck with the program Pre-Bo and before when they were not nearly as successful?

I'm a PU Alum, I'm a fan for the rest of my life regardless of success level. It doesn't mean I agree with everything the administration does or every decision a coach makes. It does mean it is my school forever and there is never a question of "not rooting" for them anymore and switching to another school.

 

[Cevol03]

Taking care of business is exactly what this team has done. No better, no worse. Here are the final team recruiting rankings for the past 4 years (per espn) for your current #20 team in the nation:
2012: 19
2013: 38
2014: 26
2015: 23

Still amazes me how many people are utterly surprised by the results.

Very good point

 

[TopSecretBoiler]

well Purdue will probably beat Wisconsin twice this year so dry your eyes and put on your big boy pants.

 

[TC4THREE]

No matter how bad we might be at any given sport, I will never have a problem answering questions about why I cheer for Purdue. If you do, that says quite a bit in my opinion.

 

[mathboy]

Taking care of business is exactly what this team has done. No better, no worse. Here are the final team recruiting rankings for the past 4 years (per espn) for your current #20 team in the nation:
2012: 19
2013: 38
2014: 26
2015: 23

Still amazes me how many people are utterly surprised by the results.

Thank you! Several of those team recruiting better than Purdue are in the BIG. I keep telling folks to watch other teams play. Don't just focus on Purdue. It is easy to see that we have some good talent, but we also have a number of role-players that are not the Valentines or Trimble's of the basketball world.

I have replied to several threads where posters make statements like: "We have FF talent but poor coaching". I try to point out that they are overestimating the talent. We have excellent players, but they are not in the top 10% of the basketball talent pool. The only way they can beat the more talented teams is through hard work and team play.

 

[cinboiler]

Football is not worth watching at this point.
Basketball has underperformed IMO to the talent that we have.
I live in Wisconsin and co-workers and relatives say why are you rooting for Purdue? I have no answer anymore after seeing the turnaround that Greg Gard has done for a program that was not supposed to do anything this year.
Why does Purdue not have confidence in itself in Basketball this year? Talent pool is there. Painter as a coach is fine..not the greatest nor the worst. This team should have taken care of business and just hasn't done it.
Another year with ho hum results.

Deal with it living in Ohio all the time. It is all recruiting and that falls on the coach. Does not matter what sport. There is a lot of competition for the kids. This years basketball team is unmatched by anybody at the center position and we are not too shabby at the forward position. The problem is at the guard position. We lack scorers. Living in Cincinnati, have watched Xavier all year and last night. What they do year in year out is amazing. They hit from the outside. I still feel this years team has a good run in them, but all will have to play with maximum effort. Our poor ten minute stretches of not scoring kill us.

 

[PU52Chevy]

Football is not worth watching at this point.
Basketball has underperformed IMO to the talent that we have.
I live in Wisconsin and co-workers and relatives say why are you rooting for Purdue? I have no answer anymore after seeing the turnaround that Greg Gard has done for a program that was not supposed to do anything this year.
Why does Purdue not have confidence in itself in Basketball this year? Talent pool is there. Painter as a coach is fine..not the greatest nor the worst. This team should have taken care of business and just hasn't done it.
Another year with ho hum results.

No need to come back on this board if your going to be a "Debbie downer"...just stay away....

Purdue doesn't need bandwagon fans or alumni.....either support positive or stay away.

We will finish fine and do well in BTT and NCAA's.....enjoy the ride.....or not......

Boiler Up!

 

[FirstDownB]

Sitting at 2 more wins right now (21) than at this point last season (19), which was 4 more than the previous (15), which was 2 more than the one before than (13). This trend is otherwise known as steady improvement.

As fans we tend to focus on the negative. This year it is the disappointment in lack of big wins in conference. Last year we also had the presence of several upset losses out of conference. Before that it was too many losses period.

With that said, I believe this team may have now plateaued. To get to the next level in the coming years will require an influx of more high ceiling players and/or philosophical tweaks. I personally think some tweaks could still bump our potential this season, but also understand this team has developed an identity that coach will continue to play to.

 

[BBG]

Sitting at 2 more wins right now (21) than at this point last season (19), which was 4 more than the previous (15), which was 2 more than the one before than (13). This trend is otherwise known as steady improvement.

As fans we tend to focus on the negative. This year it is the disappointment in lack of big wins in conference. Last year we also had the presence of several upset losses out of conference. Before that it was too many losses period.

With that said, I believe this team may have now plateaued. To get to the next level in the coming years will require an influx of more high ceiling players and/or philosophical tweaks. I personally think some tweaks could still bump our potential this season, but also understand this team has developed an identity that coach will continue to play to.

Your last line there is an excellent point. I see many comments on here that call out Painter for not adjusting and what not, but what if it is more that he is coaching to that "identity" that you speak of?

I mean we see in the recruiting that he is either trying to or successfully filling holes (like getting Carsen E.) and the program as a whole is still a work in progress from the debacle of a couple years ago.

As fans we tend to over-inflate our expectations then lose our minds when those fall short. But those expectations are rarely based on anything other than emotion or bias and not logic and that is okay. I would imagine most fans do that for their supported school.

But when you look at things from a bigger picture, like you showed we have been improving each year and putting the pieces together for a solid program again. If those that claim Painter "isn't getting it done" step back and really look logically and like mathboy says at other schools, you will see that he actually is. I mean think about it, there is "disappointment" over a top 20 team that stands a great chance to get a 5 seed in the tourney.

What makes me chuckle is after all my time on this site, I can remember back when we would win or tie the regular season crown and there were many posters then that said "It doesn't matter, we need tourney wins" or some other phrase to write off winning the conference, now that we won't it suddenly has become some achievement that defines us. Just shows how fickle we fans can be.

 

[Statey]

I have replied to several threads where posters make statements like: "We have FF talent but poor coaching". I try to point out that they are overestimating the talent. We have excellent players, but they are not in the top 10% of the basketball talent pool. The only way they can beat the more talented teams is through hard work and team play.

Not to nitpick, but I disagree here. If these players were excellent at what they do, they would be in the top 10% of the talent pool. To me, that's a pretty reasonable definition of excellent, is it not?

Uthoff is excellent at his position, Hayes is excellent, Valentine is excellent. Hammons is the closest that Purdue has to this level - this year. But when the biggest question mark to your game is your desire/effort, you're not excellent... you sometimes perform like it, and your potential certainly is. To be fair, I'm not saying AJ has to have excellent stats every night (25 and 12), just that he has to "bring it" every night like those other guys do, even if it's just not their day.

Next year, Biggie could be one of those guys - with improved ball-handling and decision-making. Vince could be one - with increased strength and being more assertiveness on the offensive end. Those guys above are all upperclassmen, they weren't excellent as freshman and they didn't get there overnight. But this season, Purdue doesn't have a guy at that level, and without out, it's not overly surprising that the team is fighting for position in the middle of the league (6-7-8 range).

 

[*4purdue*]

Thank you! Several of those team recruiting better than Purdue are in the BIG. I keep telling folks to watch other teams play. Don't just focus on Purdue. It is easy to see that we have some good talent, but we also have a number of role-players that are not the Valentines or Trimble's of the basketball world.

I have replied to several threads where posters make statements like: "We have FF talent but poor coaching". I try to point out that they are overestimating the talent. We have excellent players, but they are not in the top 10% of the basketball talent pool. The only way they can beat the more talented teams is through hard work and team play.

Yet Wisconsin went to the Championship game last year. Not to mention Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois & Ohio State have all been to the FF in the past 20 years.

 

[BoilerBiker]

Taking care of business is exactly what this team has done. No better, no worse.

Seeing this reminds me exactly of many football years under tiller. And the susequent plateauing effect mentioned later. Hopefully we break through rather than go through a similar downward spiral.

Re: our 'lack of talent'...
This idea needs to be continually challenged here because I feel it has gotten to an extreme just like the fire painter arguments.

Annual team rankings -
That's a fair starting point and gives a good generalization. However if nreak it down further only 5 guys play at a time and 5-7/8 get the minutes. So you can still be an elite team without year in year out top rankings. Not as easy obviously but doable.
Example - Purdue - 2 top 50 guys, one senior one freshmen. Making us 1 of only 9 other schools with multiple elite players on the Naismith list. Now the argument is twisting much better than hanging with just top 25 teams.

Even our role guys like Cline stand out vs their peers nationally ( a top high school 3 PT shooter).

Comparisons to trimble & Valentine:
Those are top 50 guys too, but I don't feel they stand out vs their peers SO much like a future Hall of famer would or anything.
And the comparisons can be advantageous depending on your argument and selections....
Let's also compare hammons to Woodbury, and swanigan to Hartman.

These arguments also inadvertantly undercut coach painters ability too IMO.
I think he's better at developing guys than many others.
JJ a first Rd pick, now hopefully ajh.
3 star Kramer, and notoriously poor defender (RDs own words) into DPOYs.
Just because their rankings and public perception wasn't as high, doesn't mean we simply can't compete and be a top team.

I definitely thought we would compete for a big ten title this year. This is at worst painters 2nd most talented team, and probably deepest.
And with so much parity and injuries (esp. duke) nationally this season, things were prime for our taking.
Hopefully we position ourselves well in these last weeks to get a good seed and make an NCAA tourney run.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

No matter how bad we might be at any given sport, I will never have a problem answering questions about why I cheer for Purdue. If you do, that says quite a bit in my opinion.

Right on. The phrase "Be true to your school" also comes to mind.

 

[cprh9u]

Seeing this reminds me exactly of many football years under tiller. And the susequent plateauing effect mentioned later. Hopefully we break through rather than go through a similar downward spiral.

Re: our 'lack of talent'...
This idea needs to be continually challenged here because I feel it has gotten to an extreme just like the fire painter arguments.

Annual team rankings -
That's a fair starting point and gives a good generalization. However if nreak it down further only 5 guys play at a time and 5-7/8 get the minutes. So you can still be an elite team without year in year out top rankings. Not as easy obviously but doable.
Example - Purdue - 2 top 50 guys, one senior one freshmen. Making us 1 of only 9 other schools with multiple elite players on the Naismith list. Now the argument is twisting much better than hanging with just top 25 teams.

Even our role guys like Cline stand out vs their peers nationally ( a top high school 3 PT shooter).

Comparisons to trimble & Valentine:
Those are top 50 guys too, but I don't feel they stand out vs their peers SO much like a future Hall of famer would or anything.
And the comparisons can be advantageous depending on your argument and selections....
Let's also compare hammons to Woodbury, and swanigan to Hartman.

These arguments also inadvertantly undercut coach painters ability too IMO.
I think he's better at developing guys than many others.
JJ a first Rd pick, now hopefully ajh.
3 star Kramer, and notoriously poor defender (RDs own words) into DPOYs.
Just because their rankings and public perception wasn't as high, doesn't mean we simply can't compete and be a top team.

I definitely thought we would compete for a big ten title this year. This is at worst painters 2nd most talented team, and probably deepest.
And with so much parity and injuries (esp. duke) nationally this season, things were prime for our taking.
Hopefully we position ourselves well in these last weeks to get a good seed and make an NCAA tourney run.

To be clear, we only have 1 top 50 guy on this roster, and he is a freshman. AJH was 77 in the 2012 Rivals rankings.

On a side note, 2 of IU's top 50 guys in 2012 were Hollowell and Perea... LOL!

 

[BoilerDeac]

We lack toughness.

We lack toughness, and have an offensive style that is stuck in the past.

 

[IamBob]

Your last line there is an excellent point. I see many comments on here that call out Painter for not adjusting and what not, but what if it is more that he is coaching to that "identity" that you speak of?

I mean we see in the recruiting that he is either trying to or successfully filling holes (like getting Carsen E.) and the program as a whole is still a work in progress from the debacle of a couple years ago.

As fans we tend to over-inflate our expectations then lose our minds when those fall short. But those expectations are rarely based on anything other than emotion or bias and not logic and that is okay. I would imagine most fans do that for their supported school.

But when you look at things from a bigger picture, like you showed we have been improving each year and putting the pieces together for a solid program again. If those that claim Painter "isn't getting it done" step back and really look logically and like mathboy says at other schools, you will see that he actually is. I mean think about it, there is "disappointment" over a top 20 team that stands a great chance to get a 5 seed in the tourney.

What makes me chuckle is after all my time on this site, I can remember back when we would win or tie the regular season crown and there were many posters then that said "It doesn't matter, we need tourney wins" or some other phrase to write off winning the conference, now that we won't it suddenly has become some achievement that defines us. Just shows how fickle we fans can be.

Not speaking for anyone else, my disappointment is in a team going 10-7 over the last 17 games that is 8th in conference and has just as likely chance of being a 7 or 8 seed in the big one. I am trying to be practical, after starting out 12-0, I wasn't calling this a magical season for the ages.

 

[walstib816]

Thank you! Several of those team recruiting better than Purdue are in the BIG. I keep telling folks to watch other teams play. Don't just focus on Purdue. It is easy to see that we have some good talent, but we also have a number of role-players that are not the Valentines or Trimble's of the basketball world.

I have replied to several threads where posters make statements like: "We have FF talent but poor coaching". I try to point out that they are overestimating the talent. We have excellent players, but they are not in the top 10% of the basketball talent pool. The only way they can beat the more talented teams is through hard work and team play.

Math, assuming you are correct, and I disagree a bit because we seem to have enough talent, but lets assume you are correct with the talent perspective.
How long does it take Matt to either get the talent or have his team play hard and together ?

I am just wondering cause it have been a while and it is questionable that Purdue will be better next year as opposed to this year. I can certainly see some scenarios where we could be a bit better next year but I think losing Hammons will be a larger hole then people are anticipating. So Math how much longer do we wait?

 

[BoilerBiker]

To be clear, we only have 1 top 50 guy on this roster, and he is a freshman. AJH was 77 in the 2012 Rivals rankings.

On a side note, 2 of IU's top 50 guys in 2012 were Hollowell and Perea... LOL!

Top 50 in reference to being on January's current naismith watch list.
Not any ranking from the past.

 

[Dryfly88]

Math, assuming you are correct, and I disagree a bit because we seem to have enough talent, but lets assume you are correct with the talent perspective.
How long does it take Matt to either get the talent or have his team play hard and together ?

I am just wondering cause it have been a while and it is questionable that Purdue will be better next year as opposed to this year. I can certainly see some scenarios where we could be a bit better next year but I think losing Hammons will be a larger hole then people are anticipating. So Math how much longer do we wait?

Wait for what? What are you waiting for? A FF, a conference championship?

Nobody is going to be able to answer those questions. PU could fire CMP tomorrow and there is no guarantee of anything. We are a top 20 team with 3 games to go. Win those 3 games and we are a 5 seed at worst in the big dance. What more do you want? Top 10 team? Number 1 or 2 seed? Guess what? So do about another 300 D1 schools. There have been some very frustrating losses this season, but there isn't a team in the country that doesn't have them too. Ask KY fans if they wouldn't like to have that UCLA game back. How about Maryland against MN? Iowa last night against WI....... It goes on and on.

I don't know what you are waiting for, but I for one am enjoying the season we are having.

 

[FirstDownB]

I feel like there are 2 different conversations going on. One is whether this season has lived up to expectations and what those expectations were based on. The other is to what extent Painter is held accountable for reaching the big picture goals, and how long does he have to get there.

I already expressed my opinion on the former. I understand things COULD have worked out better this season, but a lot of teams can say the same thing. Go read other boards. Every team is a disappointment! Everyone over-rates their team due to familiarity bias. Hell, up until this year I was convinced our football team could win a few B1G games.

As far as the latter.. This program dug itself a big hole shortly after the baby Boilers. I believe coach, for his part, learned some valuable lessons, and I am willing to give him a fresh start. After hitting rock bottom, we have seen consistent year-to-year improvement. If the improvement stagnates short of these goals (conference title, final four) then I think he is fair game. I just don't get the constant bitching after certain losses @IU, @Maryland, etc. as if THIS team was destined for all time greatness. Then again we had people making comparisons to last year's UK team in the pre season, so maybe its not too surprising..

 

[mathboy]

Math, assuming you are correct, and I disagree a bit because we seem to have enough talent, but lets assume you are correct with the talent perspective.
How long does it take Matt to either get the talent or have his team play hard and together ?

I am just wondering cause it have been a while and it is questionable that Purdue will be better next year as opposed to this year. I can certainly see some scenarios where we could be a bit better next year but I think losing Hammons will be a larger hole then people are anticipating. So Math how much longer do we wait?

They are reasonable questions. They are without answers at this point. I guess I didn't realise the 2016 season was all over now. Evidently you have already predicted the outcome and are assuming the worst. I recommend we take a wait and see approach.

Yes, Hammons leaving is a hole. almost every team has holes to fill every year. It is a jumble that is very hard to predict. I thought we would be in a better position than we are now, but there is still plenty of time and opportunity to improve. We are a program on the rise. If you can't see that, I am not going to waste time typing a response. The question is are we rising fast enough?

 

[BoilerDeac]

Sitting at 2 more wins right now (21) than at this point last season (19), which was 4 more than the previous (15), which was 2 more than the one before than (13). This trend is otherwise known as steady improvement.

As fans we tend to focus on the negative. This year it is the disappointment in lack of big wins in conference. Last year we also had the presence of several upset losses out of conference. Before that it was too many losses period.

With that said, I believe this team may have now plateaued. To get to the next level in the coming years will require an influx of more high ceiling players and/or philosophical tweaks. I personally think some tweaks could still bump our potential this season, but also understand this team has developed an identity that coach will continue to play to.

The only reason I believe this team has plateaued is because CMP won't make the necessary go-small lineup change on a more consistent basis.

They do that, and I think they can go pretty far in the tourney. If they don't, it'll be another 1st or 2nd round exit.

 

[FirstDownB]

The only reason I believe this team has plateaued is because CMP won't make the necessary go-small lineup change on a more consistent basis.

They do that, and I think they can go pretty far in the tourney. If they don't, it'll be another 1st or 2nd round exit.

That's the main tweak I was referring to and dedicated an entire post to a couple days ago. I don't think mixing in more of the smaller lineup guarantees anything, but the ceiling is potentially higher.

 

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

Why do you cheer for PU? Are you an Alum or lifelong PU fan?

I don't get the "I don't know why I am a fan of PU anymore" comments. Not just from you, but from many over the past few weeks. If you are only going to cheer for a school when they are winning up to your expectations, then there are very few programs you are going to stick with. And what is the cut off for no longer being a fan? 1 year, 5 years, 10 years????

Directly to your point about Wisconsin. Did their fans just start cheering for them when Bo started having success? Or have they stuck with the program Pre-Bo and before when they were not nearly as successful?

I'm a PU Alum, I'm a fan for the rest of my life regardless of success level. It doesn't mean I agree with everything the administration does or every decision a coach makes. It does mean it is my school forever and there is never a question of "not rooting" for them anymore and switching to another school.

Purdue Alum as well '89 EET. Just wish that our team could have the moxy that our 80's-90's teams had and more to the point, win a championship at some point in the last 5 years. We're are currently underperforming and as a fan, they need to be called out on it.

 

[icewind7]

I don't see why people say our program is going up, but actually we have been going down since baby boilers. OK, if you just compare this year to past few years, yes, we are going up sure, that's because we suck in those years. We were in sweet 16 in 2008 and 2009 w baby boilers. In 2010 and 2011, we reached 3rd round. We missed ncaa in 2012, 2013 and last year. In 2014, we reached 2nd round. The grade card is definitely not an "A". Who gets an "A" in big ten? I say mich st, ohio st, and Wisconsin. We are still at the 2nd tier level in this leagure. It has been 10 years already, and we reached sweet 16 2 times. How many 10 years do we have? 10 year is already long enough to tell how good you are.

 

[Boilermagi]

I don't see why people say our program is going up, but actually we have been going down since baby boilers. OK, if you just compare this year to past few years, yes, we are going up sure, that's because we suck in those years. We were in sweet 16 in 2008 and 2009 w baby boilers. In 2010 and 2011, we reached 3rd round. We missed ncaa in 2012, 2013 and last year. In 2014, we reached 2nd round. The grade card is definitely not an "A". Who gets an "A" in big ten? I say mich st, ohio st, and Wisconsin. We are still at the 2nd tier level in this leagure. It has been 10 years already, and we reached sweet 16 2 times. How many 10 years do we have? 10 year is already long enough to tell how good you are.

If you can't see the improvement over the last few years, well then you're dense. And judging by your post that is probably a pretty accurate statement and is yet more proof why none of you negative nitwits have any idea how to run a program the level of Purdue or anything over your madden games. You would fire a coach that has a team in the top 20 and potentially a 5 seed because you think every 10 years we should win a final four or else? The words to describe that level of ignorance do not exist.

 

[Boilermagi]

Purdue Alum as well '89 EET. Just wish that our team could have the moxy that our 80's-90's teams had and more to the point, win a championship at some point in the last 5 years. We're are currently underperforming and as a fan, they need to be called out on it.

Called on what that they didn't meet YOUR expectations? Hahaha, shut up. Seriously. Preseason we were picked to be ranked exactly where we are now. So no, this team is meeting the realistic expectations and shouldn't be penalized because you basement dwelling dweebs can't grasp reality. Good God some of you are just so ignorant it is hard to believe you actually went to Purdue.

 

[icewind7]

Improvement from not making the ncaa tournament to making it? Yes, I have to agree it's an improvement!

 

[nagemj02]

I think part of the frustration from fans (including myself) is that Painter has been the head coach for 11 SEASONS now (not 2 or 3) and there has been 1 (shared) B1G regular season title, 1 B1G conference tournament title, and 0 Final Fours. Many of us were hoping that if CMP was going to be the HC for THIS LONG, that he would have led the program to at least 1 Final Four by now (and possibly more B1G titles). I don't think I am alone in having that sort of expectation after he was hired, particularly after the turnaround in his second season with Landry and Teague leading the way and then, of course, with the "Baby Boilers"/"Big Three" bunch.

 

[cprh9u]

Top 50 in reference to being on January's current naismith watch list.
Not any ranking from the past.

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying

 

[mathboy]

I think part of the frustration from fans (including myself) is that Painter has been the head coach for 11 SEASONS now (not 2 or 3) and there has been 1 (shared) B1G regular season title, 1 B1G conference title, and 0 Final Fours. Many of us were hoping that if CMP was going to be the HC for THIS LONG, that he would have led the program to at least 1 Final Four by now. I don't think I am alone in that sort of expectation after he was hired, particularly after the turnaround in his 2nd season (with Landry and Teague leading the way).

I understand your perspective, but you must look at the detail to understand the real direction of the program. After the Baby Boilers, we went into a severe recruiting depression. The reasons why are complex, and they involve more than just the head coach. About 3 years ago, we came out of that depression, with each successive recruiting class getting better than the one before it.

Hammons is the best player on the team, of course, but the real structure behind this team are sophomores and freshmen. Edwards, Mathias, Cline, Swanigan, and Haas are underclassmen. What that means is that their best games are still in front of them. This team will be much improved next year. You also have to remember that improvements will not always be linear - we played a more difficult schedule this year in the BIG than we did last year, so we might not finish as high in the BIG, even with a better team.

If you use a simple average, over 11 years, to rate Painter's performance, you miss the real story going on here. Sure, if you have an axe to grind, simply the data until it becomes meaningless, but don't expect me to follow you down that dark path. I would rather apply a little more analysis to the situation.

 

[mathboy]

Yet Wisconsin went to the Championship game last year. Not to mention Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois & Ohio State have all been to the FF in the past 20 years.

I am getting old 4Purdue. I don't recall the Minny team that went to the FF. I know that Indiana, Michigan, MSU, and OSU had some really good players on those teams. Guys I wish we would have gotten. The MSU team had at least 2 kids we tried to recruit. IIRC, OSU had about 5 x 5* players on their team - or at least it seemed that way. MSU was the most recent, so my memory is the freshest. They played very well as a team, even though they had some role-players mixed in with the stars. They also got a real lucky draw if I recall, in that the #1 seed got upset early on, before they could reach their stride. Stuff like that happens in the NCAA's. It gets pretty interesting. Who knows? I think we have a puncher's chance this year.

 

[BoilerBiker]

Hammons is the best player on the team, of course, but the real structure behind this team are sophomores and freshmen. Edwards, Mathias, Cline, Swanigan, and Haas are underclassmen. What that means is that their best games are still in front of them. This team will be much improved next year.

i hope so, but that is based on big assumptions.
the more talk there is about the lack of current talent - i feel next year is a pretty big question now.
we seem to be losing more than we are bringing in, and we're assuming guys continue to improve just by being a year older.

subtraction/addition:
lose 2 starters + 1 more key minutes guy. we bring in a 3 (maybe higher later?) star PG that many are hoping is a (immediate) cure to some of our guard issues, weatherford, BS who unfortunately hasn't played in a year, and JT who looks promising but in very few minutes played.
basically lose much proven talent, and gain non-highly ranked unproven talent.

best games ahead?:
can be true, but far from a guarantee. CS would be a prime candidate to flourish, but will be interesting to see his utilization next year.
i think most of our guys can improve, but unfortunately some stay the same, some even regress.
our own regress examples - we've seen VE really disappear in games this year, RD is a shell of his former self (may/may not still be injury related), DM is seeing fewer minutes now (started the season with 15-30/game, now has not seen over 15 minutes in a month) and less of an impact than earlier in the year. KS shooting numbers decreased this year, even before his absence.

 

[*4purdue*]

I am getting old 4Purdue. I don't recall the Minny team that went to the FF. I know that Indiana, Michigan, MSU, and OSU had some really good players on those teams. Guys I wish we would have gotten. The MSU team had at least 2 kids we tried to recruit. IIRC, OSU had about 5 x 5* players on their team - or at least it seemed that way. MSU was the most recent, so my memory is the freshest. They played very well as a team, even though they had some role-players mixed in with the stars. They also got a real lucky draw if I recall, in that the #1 seed got upset early on, before they could reach their stride. Stuff like that happens in the NCAA's. It gets pretty interesting. Who knows? I think we have a puncher's chance this year.

Wisconsin last year.... No McDonald's AA if I remember correctly. Minnesota in 97

 

[BoilerMaker P]

I certainly can't speak for everyone, but I have definitely been very disappointed and frustrated with this season. Not because I don't support Purdue anymore, but I think I (and judging by this board, a lot of others) probably let myself believe that this Purdue team was a lot better than it was. They are good, but when you think about the Purdue fan base who are desperately starving for any kind of winning on a stage bigger than an occasional magical night at Mackey (see Michigan State game this year), we really wanted to see the Boilermakers actually win a game in the Crossroads Classic. We have seen that Butler aren't exactly world beaters this year and yet we couldn't pull out a W in Indy. Mix in the complete 2nd half collapse on Rick Mount night, inexplicable losses at Illinois and Michigan, a winnable game that got away against Maryland and at Iowa, a loss at Indiana which despite the final score was not nearly that close most of the game, at some point you can't help but be a little disappointed. Couple that with Indiana having pretty much guaranteed themselves at least a share of the B1G title and seemingly not missing shots that threatens a deep NCAA run, it's hard to stomach. Am I going to jump off a bridge over this? No, it's basketball being played by 18-21 year olds. But damn, after several seasons of unwatchable football and disappointing hoops, it would have been nice if this was "our year". Alas, I suppose that is just the cruel reality of being a Boilermaker fan.

 

[Dryfly88]

Wisconsin last year.... No McDonald's AA if I remember correctly. Minnesota in 97

Minnesota in 97 probably isn't a good example of where we would like our program to be.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199903/11_newsroom_cheating/

 

[Hoogolf]

Wisconsin last year.... No McDonald's AA if I remember correctly. Minnesota in 97

Decker? I thought he was a McD kid.

I just checked, he was a 5* on rivals but not McD.