This the first Purdue team I can remember that isn't as good as the sum of its parts.

[Purdue85]

It was not a penalty, nor, anything personal.

He was struggling on the floor...it had got in his head...and, Painter decided to shorten the rotation at the same time.

Confidence is so important, and, confidence from your HC is important as well...Newman has never been the same player since he came out of the lineup last year...this is a kid that was essentially the best player on any team that he ever played on, or, at least one of the very best...for his entire basketball career coming up...then, arrives at Purdue, is not able to get minutes and redshirts (which, had to be difficult), bounces back, plays well, and, then is taken out of the lineup...which, again, raised some questions no doubt...Isaiah is dealing with the exact same thing right now/this year.

That is not a knock on them or on Painter, it is just reality. There is probably truth to it with Furst as well for that matter.

Like say, Newman hung in there to his credit...did ALL of the right things, and, got an unexpected opportunity that because he had hung in there and done all of the right things, he was ready and prepared for and took advantage of.

Your first sentence was correct.

Everyone has struggled from the floor. That ain't it.

Furst is simply not physically ready to endure the season as a FR. It's extraordinarily physical, especially for a PF.

 

[Erock_94]

If only they could return to early season form. Who ever said that about a great team? What team plays worse as the season goes on? Maybe this team can sack up and figure it out for a run. I hope so but have been thoroughly confused for awhile.

 

[boilernuke]

Teams like Duke and Kentucky have 3 or more NBA players. We have 1 surefire NBA player.

And I would argue we aren’t as deep as we thought earlier in the year. Iowa probably has a better bench than we do at this point, for example.

I think we are what our record says we are: very good.

Maybe some of us got caught up into the top 5 ranking too much early in the season. Most were expecting/hoping for a top 10 team before the season started and Purdue was ranked top 10 the ENTIRE season. That meets expectations. Purdue is still a top10 team with some serious weapons that can potentially go deep in the tournament. I'm still very excited. Its a bummer we were close to big ten titles, but still have a good chance at a run. I'm feeling good about the next couple of weekends.

 

[SCBoiler1]

Haha. We beat ourselves in almost every game we lost except for Michigan. Turnovers and missed free throws cost us those games. So nothing to do with the officials.

Agree here. Complaining about the refs gets so old. We won more games that were decided by 6 points or less than we lost. The problem is Purdue was in too many close games. When you're in close games you're going to lose your share.

People only remember the calls that go against us but conveniently forget the calls that go our way. Its human nature but we need to understand that the bias is there.

 

[SCBoiler1]

Your first sentence was correct.

Everyone has struggled from the floor. That ain't it.

Furst is simply not physically ready to endure the season as a FR. It's extraordinarily physical, especially for a PF.

Furst is almost 20 years old (May) and is bigger and stronger than most guys that aren't playing center in the B10. He's nearly the same age as my daughter who is a sophomore.

 

[SCBoiler1]

I think you underestimate how good of depth we really have...

Depth? We're basically playing with 6 guys. Other than Trevion and Newman's one game, we've got next to nothing from our bench in the last month.

 

[Purdue85]

Furst is almost 20 years old (May) and is bigger and stronger than most guys that aren't playing center in the B10. He's nearly the same age as my daughter who is a sophomore.

Size and age aren't the issue. In fact, they're largely irrelevant.

Almost every FR isn't physically prepared for the grind of a B1G season.

 

[rgarlitz]

I've really enjoyed this thread (for the most part). I don't know if it's true that this team isn't as good as the sum of its parts, but it's been an interesting discussion.

I'd just like to make a few observations about Purdue's fast start and if that led to inflated expectations:

1) I think we have to acknowledge that Purdue's non-conference schedule wasn't as tough as it looked in November. Vilanova, North Carolina, and Wright State (the second lowest seed in the bracket) were the only three teams to make the NCAA Tournament. Bellarmine, obviously, should have been a fourth. But, FSU, NC State, and Butler all turned out to be underwhelming teams.

2) In retrospect, there were signs of trouble even in December. Giving up 90 to Nichols State wasn't good. Purdue had to scrap to get into OT against a really bad NC State team.

For me, the biggest issue has been the late-game breakdowns on the road. So far, this team has fallen short when greatness has been on the line. So, that's a concern. But, they still have the capacity to grow from those losses and finish better in the NCAA Tournament. As others have pointed out, this team has been in the top-10 all year. It's won 27 games and has been run off the court only once.

 

[Abugabby]

So far, this team has fallen short when greatness has been on the line.

Yeah, that's the issue right there. This isn't a great team. It's a good team. We have some very good players who would be superstars on other teams. If Trevion played 30 minutes a game, he's 100% an All American. Maybe the same with Edey.

It makes you wonder if Coach Painter has mis-managed the roster a bit. Maybe Trevion should have been getting 25-30 minutes all year, with Edey coming on in relief. We get more consistency out of the center position and build better cohesiveness with the starting 5.

 

[rgarlitz]

Yeah, that's the issue right there. This isn't a great team. It's a good team. We have some very good players who would be superstars on other teams. If Trevion played 30 minutes a game, he's 100% an All American. Maybe the same with Edey.

It makes you wonder if Coach Painter has mis-managed the roster a bit. Maybe Trevion should have been getting 25-30 minutes all year, with Edey coming on in relief. We get more consistency out of the center position and build better cohesiveness with the starting 5.

I do think the offense looks smoother and more fluid with Trevion. His passing is an enormous asset that spends a lot of time on the bench as Zach routinely gets pummeled inside.

 

[hoosierdog1]

Haha. We beat ourselves in almost every game we lost except for Michigan. Turnovers and missed free throws cost us those games. So nothing to do with the officials.

+1,000

 

[hoosierdog1]

In the big picture, we can see that we have talent for Final Four, but body of work is lucky to get beyond sweet sixteen. Purdue will have to play better without mental errors in lapses of TO ball that goes 4 or more trips down the court and have some luck at the FT line to win tight games to go far. All doable but doubtful for Final Four IMHO.
At the end of the regular season, my gut tells me to hope for more, but expect less.

How about skill and not luck from the ft line lol