It was a disappointing loss and I doubt too many posters were more disappointed than I was. Each season brings some special memories and some wonderful stories of young men competing and developing as players and as people. Each season has some bittersweet moments, and some thoughts of 'what could have been'. With the format of B1G tournament and NCAA tournaments, no season has ended with a win in our last game.
There is a huge amount of random chance in basketball. Had one or two more shots fallen or one or two more fouls been called, the outcome might have been different. That outcome also might have been different if one or two less careless passes had been made, and that was fully under our control.
This team had some unique talents that never fully meshed the way some less talented Purdue teams of the past have. That is probably some cause for introspection by Painter and his staff, and helpful advice from extraordinarly unqualified posters like me. Do we need more mobile centers? Bigger, more athletic guards? Do we need some different motivation and preparation methods? All those questions are questions are far game.
But the level of vitriol on the board this past night, some of it from longtime posters, seems uncalled for. This season included: 29 wins, one shy of the most ever; an all B1G who was willing to come off the bench and win 6th man of the year; our first ever AP #1 ranking; a raw but extraordinary talent who will be Purdue's first lottery pick in the NBA draft in 3 decades; a guard from the region who had no high major offers but wanted to be a Boilermaker for his whole life and went on to be one of the leading 3 point shooters in school history; a point guard who struggled throughout his last two seasons but finished his last dozen games with a flourish. Plus a bench full of promising young players, some of whom we have not yet seen.
All of these things will be good memories of this season for me, and worthy of celebration.
(This is similar content to a reply I made in one of the threads, so I apologize for duplicating myself, but looking at all the negativity, I just thought the board needed an "ever grateful, ever true" kind of header.)
There is a huge amount of random chance in basketball. Had one or two more shots fallen or one or two more fouls been called, the outcome might have been different. That outcome also might have been different if one or two less careless passes had been made, and that was fully under our control.
This team had some unique talents that never fully meshed the way some less talented Purdue teams of the past have. That is probably some cause for introspection by Painter and his staff, and helpful advice from extraordinarly unqualified posters like me. Do we need more mobile centers? Bigger, more athletic guards? Do we need some different motivation and preparation methods? All those questions are questions are far game.
But the level of vitriol on the board this past night, some of it from longtime posters, seems uncalled for. This season included: 29 wins, one shy of the most ever; an all B1G who was willing to come off the bench and win 6th man of the year; our first ever AP #1 ranking; a raw but extraordinary talent who will be Purdue's first lottery pick in the NBA draft in 3 decades; a guard from the region who had no high major offers but wanted to be a Boilermaker for his whole life and went on to be one of the leading 3 point shooters in school history; a point guard who struggled throughout his last two seasons but finished his last dozen games with a flourish. Plus a bench full of promising young players, some of whom we have not yet seen.
All of these things will be good memories of this season for me, and worthy of celebration.
(This is similar content to a reply I made in one of the threads, so I apologize for duplicating myself, but looking at all the negativity, I just thought the board needed an "ever grateful, ever true" kind of header.)
