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getting better seemingly with every game. Hammons has been very good right away for Purdue. At this time a year from now ��� provided he keeps on this upwards trajectory ��� he could be dominant and a prized NBA commodity. Big men with his combination of size and savvy don���t grow on trees and tend to make a lot of money if they play their cards right. That���s a long way off, Rey Del Rio however. Hammons is Purdue���s third-leading scorer this season and is its top Hammons rebounder, averaging better than six boards per game. says he���s focusing on every to be better. Sometimes I go allout and sometimes I might just game and every practice. But jog up the floor. I need to go all- Painter said that if the big man continues to do the ���right things,��� out all the time.��� But still, as is, if the season an NBA future can be ���pretty ended today, Hammons might close��� for him. be All-Big Ten. And he���s been ���He has to be a good basketball player, and what I mean by that is it���s not just about scoring points for him,��� Painter said. ���He���s got to rebound. ... He needs to be in a stance and be ready to play on defense. Those are areas he has to make some improvements in here because his goal is not to make the NBA, but to stay in the NBA. PURDUE PRIDE It���s no surprise the biggest guy on the floor leads Purdue with 12 dunks, but they���ve been far more frequent lately. ���He���s been a lot more aggressive,��� Terone Johnson said. ���Instead of going up for layups, he���s going up like he wants to dunk the ball every time.��� There���s been a similar transformation on defense, where Hammons has blocked 20 shots in the six games since Big Ten play started. That���s impacted Purdue���s entire defensive structure, Byrd said, as it���s afforded the Boilermakers��� perimeter defenders the margin for error they didn���t have last season. ���He���s given us that last line of defense, and more confidence being out guarding the ball,��� Byrd said. ���We can put more pressure on it.��� Hammons is Purdue���s leading rebounder, averaging 6.3. In the past six games, though, he���s averaging 7.5 against stiffer competition than was faced earlier in the season. ���We���ve got to get that (average) to 10,��� Painter said. For Hammons��� part, he seems unimpressed. ���I���ve been playing OK,��� he said. ���I think my effort still needs Warren Hill, ME ���63 Jim Hill, MET ���95, MBA ���03 Jim Billard, LA ���90 Brian Teyema, ME ���87 Scott Dierking, IM ���77 Russ Nelson, BCM ���00 David Pikey, PH ���97 Angela Billard, ED ���90 Bill Silfies, MBA '03 Nick Muscolino, MET ���06 Matthew Crawford, MET ���05 Bob Hill, BCM ���06 Ryan Stojkovich, BS ���97 Mike Ivanovic, AS ���81 Anthony Borgnini, ME '07 Anthony Camasta, MET ���04 Beth Beigelbeck, SM ���97 Deborah Toth, MET '07 Daniel Block, ME '08 Daniel Gasser, BS '04 Jason Jones, MET ���08 Nick Johnson, BCM ���09 Bryan O���Neill, BCM ���09 Steven Sitkowski, BCM ���10 Chris Summers, ME ���10 Isaac Townsend, ME ���10 Don Wunderlich, ME ���13 Chris Gushurst, BCM ���11 Joe Motuliak, MBA ���11 Taylor Spaulding, ME ���12 Grant Fillipatch, MET ���12 Jessica James, BS ���13 Robert C Krier, MET ���13 Andy Mack, BS ���15 Kevin Morrisroe, ME ���15 Michael Rish, BCM ���13 Martin Smith, MET ���13 ���A lot of kids get lost. They talk about draft night. To hell with draft night. Who cares about draft night? It really doesn���t matter. I would rather keep focus on life skills, work ethic and habits, so now when he gets there, now he knows how to handle himself and knows what to do, so he stays there for 10-15 years and has a great life.��� j We���re proud to be Illinois��� largest HVAC contractor and to have 37 outstanding Purdue alumni on our HVAC/Plumbing team. THE HILL GROUP CARLE HOSPITAL ��� Urbana, IL The Hill Group was chosen for the HVAC, medical gas piping, plumbing, fire protecton, test and balance, and commissioning for this new nine-story, 378,000 square foot hospital. hillgrp.com GoldanDBlack express ��� volume 23, express 18��� ������ 11