Roll call: raise your hand if...

[Boilermaker]

I recall some posters adamantly refuting the notion that this year’s team could/would be better than last year’s team due to the loss of Biggie. While I never proclaimed it loudly here, I was of the thought that this year’s team could be, and likely would be, better.

Perhaps some think the jury is still out based on how the team finishes in the B1G or how far they go in the NCAA tourney, but I think this team beats last year’s team 2 out of 3 times.

Anyone here do an about face on their opinion of the strength of this year’s team? Still on the fence? Or sticking with the assessment that this year’s team is not as good as last year’s?

 

[goldclub]

As good as Biggie was, and all that he meant for the program. I have always felt we would be better. Vince has always played better as a 4, and when Caleb was in the lineup the ball would tend to stop. Don't forget he wanted to be a 4 not a 5, however the college game is way to quick, and opened up to have 2 bigs on the floor like he, AJ, or Haas. This years team runs 1 good big and 4 playmakers which is how todays game is played.

 

[jadeezra]

It’s because athletic teams we couldn’t defend. And that was the one downfall of Swanigan

 

[*4purdue*]

We're better, I think, but the rest of college basketball is a lot worse.

 

[Purdue0034]

It appears to be nearly unanimous. When you are a young athlete and still improving athletically, getting stronger and refining your skills; a year to improve is a lot of time. I think that we are seeing this with this year's team with significant improvement in nearly every player. Just our free throw shooting has been a major improvement. Until just recently, our starting 5 were all averaging over 80% in their free throw shooting. That is a nice weapon to have.
I love this year's team. If we stay focused and play smart, I like our chances!

 

[jadeezra]

We're better, I think, but the rest of college basketball is a lot worse.

Agreed

 

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

I recall some posters adamantly refuting the notion that this year’s team could/would be better than last year’s team due to the loss of Biggie. While I never proclaimed it loudly here, I was of the thought that this year’s team could be, and likely would be, better.

Perhaps some think the jury is still out based on how the team finishes in the B1G or how far they go in the NCAA tourney, but I think this team beats last year’s team 2 out of 3 times.

Anyone here do an about face on their opinion of the strength of this year’s team? Still on the fence? Or sticking with the assessment that this year’s team is not as good as last year’s?

I’m on the fence. I know they have played and beat some very good teams, but to lose two in a row in the Bahamas at Thanksgiving is cause for me to not get too excited till the reach Elite Eight. That is our modern day high water mark.

 

[buffboiler]

I’m on the fence. I know they have played and beat some very good teams, but to lose two in a row in the Bahamas at Thanksgiving is cause for me to not get too excited till the reach Elite Eight.

A few things has happened since then.

-Vince has taken more aggressive for his rebounding and found success.
-Carson started to taking the rock to the hole when his shots were not falling and have been good there.
-Haas and Haarms are making the rim more haastile environment and haarms way. Opposing teams' players have really been affected by these two.

Also, can't overlook contributions/development of Nojel. His endeavors will pay sizable dividends come in Feb/March and will stretch well into the next year.

Boiler Up!!

 

[MilwaukeeBoilerFan]

I’ve been watching. Just can’t let myself get too excited as I’ve seen other great teams lose it in March Madness. I want them to achieve Final Four. I just don’t want to get my expectations too high. We’ll see in six weeks or so.

 

[Boilermaker]

Looks like either no one who commented/voted were among the group saying this year’s team is not as good as last year’s, or those folks have not yet weighed in....or no one is manning up and admitting to changing their stance based on the great performance of this team so far

 

[Inspector100]

I don't think this topic is important at all. We had a good run last year and I enjoyed it. We are on a good run now that has a chance to become great. And, I am enjoying that in real time, not the past.

 

[meenie]

Not even close

 

[lbodel]

I recall some posters adamantly refuting the notion that this year’s team could/would be better than last year’s team due to the loss of Biggie. While I never proclaimed it loudly here, I was of the thought that this year’s team could be, and likely would be, better.

Perhaps some think the jury is still out based on how the team finishes in the B1G or how far they go in the NCAA tourney, but I think this team beats last year’s team 2 out of 3 times.

Anyone here do an about face on their opinion of the strength of this year’s team? Still on the fence? Or sticking with the assessment that this year’s team is not as good as last year’s?

I think it's FAR too early to make judgment on this team.

What happens in early January is far from indicative of what happens in March.

Think back to 2008-09....

-We started the season ranked #11 and finished non-conference play ranked #9
-Our first Big Ten game, we lost to Illinois at home
-Our second Big Ten game, we went to Penn State and lost

Hummel later tore his ACL at Minnesota. But that was our team of Moore, Johnson, Hummel, LewJack, etc. And they lost to Penn State in January. Looking back you think of the team as being these world-beaters - they still had hiccups when they were at full strength.

 

[Hausta01]

We're better, I think, but the rest of college basketball is a lot worse.

I disagree. I think the B1G is worse than last year, some bad injury/suspension luck is involved to be sure, but the SEC is significantly better than last year, Big 12 is as good as ever, ACC isn't quite as good as last year but the BE is better. Pac-12 is bad as usual.

Overall there are only 8ish teams that have a realistic shot at the title, like every year.

 

[tjreese]

Looks like either no one who commented/voted were among the group saying this year’s team is not as good as last year’s, or those folks have not yet weighed in....or no one is manning up and admitting to changing their stance based on the great performance of this team so far

This team is better than last year. What happens in a tourney has no bearing on which team is better. It only says which team went farther in a tourney where the teams, sites and hand picked selections are different. It that is the measure for which team is better for some, then there is no doubt a lot of coaches that would disagree with that assessment...but coaches make mistakes as well. Knight went undefeated in 76 and to this day he would tell you his 75 team was better.

 

[Boiler Buck]

Pre-season I thought worse without Biggie.

After the 2 early losses, I thought the same and validated my thinking at that time.

The B1G was thought of as a better conference way back then, way better - so I thought after the 2 losses 3rd to 5th in the B1G. Then most still said 2-4 for Purdue.

Now typical contender teams like WISKY, MD, NW, and MN all have fallen way back for various reasons. At the start of the season, no one thought that would happen.

During that fallout by others @ Purdue, CMP has our team vastly improved, and now the B1G is alot worse than thought. Will Purdue be B1G champs or more? We will see. If so, give great credit to CMP and his steady had and ability to improve teams as the season goes on.

 

[cjf04]

I said from the start of the season this year's team was better. Biggie was great, but the offense was focused on Biggie....the offense works better when it's not focused on Biggie and you have 4 seniors that can score and 3 off the bench that can score as well....

 

[Beeazlebub]

Given the improvement of the experienced players & addition of quality youth, I think this team is better than last season.

That is not to say adding Biggie to this team would not make them better - If he had stayed, he would have improved as much as anyone else, and I can't imagine how good this team would have been.

Yes, this team is better, but this team +Biggie would be Godzilla vs Japan.

 

[FirstDownB]

I said from the start of the season this year's team was better. Biggie was great, but the offense was focused on Biggie....the offense works better when it's not focused on Biggie and you have 4 seniors that can score and 3 off the bench that can score as well....

Recall the prior year we had much the same effective supporting cast in need of an alpha dog to take the lead in crunch time. Biggie was that alpha dog, and filled the role well, but the lack of athleticism was exposed again once we hit a bad matchup in the tourney. This team is at least as good as last year's, but with some of the same limitations as 2 years ago. Have we improved or just not run into a team with athletes like Kansas had? Carsen is a difference maker, and others have improved but is it enough? We will ultimately find out, but probably not for awhile.

 

[tjreese]

I said from the start of the season this year's team was better. Biggie was great, but the offense was focused on Biggie....the offense works better when it's not focused on Biggie and you have 4 seniors that can score and 3 off the bench that can score as well....

...and more variety in offense and defensive players with some new players

 

[tjreese]

Recall the prior year we had much the same effective supporting cast in need of an alpha dog to take the lead in crunch time. Biggie was that alpha dog, and filled the role well, but the lack of athleticism was exposed again once we hit a bad matchup in the tourney. This team is at least as good as last year's, but with some of the same limitations as 2 years ago. Have we improved or just not run into a team with athletes like Kansas had? Carsen is a difference maker, and others have improved but is it enough? We will ultimately find out, but probably not for awhile.

An athletic team that plays hard on D and shoots well can certainly beat Purdue..if they are smart. Purdue has more ways to score and more ways to stop the bleeding than in the past

 

[*4purdue*]

I disagree. I think the B1G is worse than last year, some bad injury/suspension luck is involved to be sure, but the SEC is significantly better than last year, Big 12 is as good as ever, ACC isn't quite as good as last year but the BE is better. Pac-12 is bad as usual.

Overall there are only 8ish teams that have a realistic shot at the title, like every year.

Not sure how you can say the SEC is "significantly better" when they don't have a team in the top 20. B12 to me isn't as good because Kansas isn't as good, and they've been dominate in that conference so long, that when they are down, the conference is down. BE is the only one I would agree with you on & outside of Nova, I don't see anyone making a run.

 

[dumpsterFyre]

Not sure how you can say the SEC is "significantly better" when they don't have a team in the top 20. B12 to me isn't as good because Kansas isn't as good, and they've been dominate in that conference so long, that when they are down, the conference is down. BE is the only one I would agree with you on & outside of Nova, I don't see anyone making a run.

Louisville is better than decent, which was the premise for my post.

 

[klmLB]

A few things has happened since then.

-Vince has taken more aggressive for his rebounding and found success.
-Carson started to taking the rock to the hole when his shots were not falling and have been good there.
-Haas and Haarms are making the rim more haastile environment and haarms way. Opposing teams' players have really been affected by these two.

Also, can't overlook contributions/development of Nojel. His endeavors will pay sizable dividends come in Feb/March and will stretch well into the next year.

Boiler Up!!

I like what you did there!

 

[klmLB]

I will admit that I was one of those that thought last year's team was better at the beginning of the season.

I've changed my tune and think this year's team is better. For this year's team, I like the improvements returnees have made (too many to list here), I like our balance/offensive execution, our defense and fewer turnovers. While I think Biggie is better than anyone on this year's team, I think we are more difficult to game plan against this year as we have more dynamic ways to beat you.

I still think we can have trouble against an uber athletic team (guard heavy pressure that disrupts our offensive flow and athletic, nimble bigs that we have trouble defending) come tourney time, but if we are executing well, there's no reason we couldn't beat them as well.

 

[Hausta01]

Not sure how you can say the SEC is "significantly better" when they don't have a team in the top 20. B12 to me isn't as good because Kansas isn't as good, and they've been dominate in that conference so long, that when they are down, the conference is down. BE is the only one I would agree with you on & outside of Nova, I don't see anyone making a run.

Looking at KenPom, the average rank of SEC teams are 17 spots better than last year. No they don't have the really good teams at the top, but they have a cluster of teams in the 15-25 range.

 

[TheGunner]

I believe this team is more athletic (due to Haarms ability to defend bigs) and will have a better record.

The question will be, can the team stay focused and deliver during March Madness. They should be seeded better, but does a WKU or Tennessee await an unsuspecting team? Also, avoiding a Nebraska type letdown during the season will indicate that this team has matured from last season.

 

[lbodel]

This team is better than last year. What happens in a tourney has no bearing on which team is better. It only says which team went farther in a tourney where the teams, sites and hand picked selections are different. It that is the measure for which team is better for some, then there is no doubt a lot of coaches that would disagree with that assessment...but coaches make mistakes as well. Knight went undefeated in 76 and to this day he would tell you his 75 team was better.

Bingo and that should be in all caps - tournament results are heavily based on match-ups.

 

[since1980]

This teams is definitely better due to Haarms mobility and Carsen's maturity and improvement. Also I think Haas has actually improved quite a bit in all areas.

I actually believe next years team is going to be an even better team come tournament time due to the increased athleticism/mobility combined with the shooting we will still have...not to mention it being Carsen's team and probably being able to fit the style that Nojel, Haarms and Wheeler are best suited for. We won't be so reliant on 3's and will be a better rebounding team. I think next year Purdue is going to create a ton of mismatch problems for teams with Nojel, Wheeler and Haarms being so big, athletic and versatile....and you throw Cline, Sasha, Taylor and the other very talented newcomers in there and by the end of the year that team is going to be a team nobody wants to play.