Here's the summary so far. Purdue79fan has got 33 games played so it skews the Wins/Losses upward slightly.
| Wins | Losses | BIG10 Finish | NCAA Seed |
Purdue79fan | 27 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
Chi-Boiler | 23 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
Boiler Buck | 20 | 11 | 4-5 | 7-10 |
rgarlitz | 22 | 9 | 3-4 | 4-6 |
northside100 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
PaBoiler78 | 22 | 9 | 3-4 | 4-6 |
titaniumbolt | 24 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
Schmedly_Whiplash | 23 | 8 | 3 | 4 |
Averages | 23 | 8.25 | 2.6 | 4.4 |
KenPom currently has Purdue 4th in offensive rating and 52nd in defensive rating. I'm encouraged by the offensive production. The weakside/help defense and rebounding has not been what typical Purdue teams under Painter have been.
I question if Purdue is "too small" or "not tough enough" this year to see consistently good rebounding. I get the freshman are still learning, but "you can't teach size" might be a real thing for this squad. Going off of the Purdue roster (assuming with shoes + being generous) Smith 6'0", Loyer 6'5", Harris 6'3", TKR 6'9".
Accounting for growing pains into February, this seems like a double digit loss team, and a BIG10 finish of 4-6 (although Painter has a strong record of top4 finishes) and a 8 seed, but also a dangerous team come late in the season as everyone learns the system and their roles. Colvin is the X-factor, so much potential. I thought he played inspired defense against Yale except that intentional foul. Let's see more of it.
Here's my hot takes:
1) Heide isn't physical enough to consistently guard the 4's that bang and offensively needs to let it fly from 3.
2) Berg gains the confidence and plays well enough to take the most minutes in the 5 position, esp. against larger opponents.
3) TKR defense!? TKR gave up many easy buckets to who he was suppose to be guarding, I saw a couple "ball watching" moments along with getting back on defense late, etc. He's in his 4th year in the program, that's concerning to me, especially if he's the biggest Purdue player on the court.