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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 15 • 4 W hen 2014 ended, Purdue was a mess, loser of three straight in un- ceremonious fashion, gone. Just gone. But as the calendar turned and non-conference play gave way to Big Ten games, Purdue found a new resolve and righted itself, ral- lying for come-from-behind wins over Minnesota and Michigan to start 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time in three seasons and do a little of what it's not done enough of lately: Protecting its home floor. There's no telling where things go from here. Next up is a trip to No. 4 Wisconsin, the one team in the Big Ten, Purdue can not, in this observer's opinion, beat. Then comes ranked Maryland. So 2-0 might be 2-2 in a hurry. But the Boilermakers are trending upward in a season in which the Big Ten is basically the Badgers and a veri - table cast of thousands. I'm sure there's another good team in the Big Ten somewhere. Just don't ask me who. There's an opportunity here for Purdue, an opportunity it seems in much better shape to capitalize on than it did just a week ago. A.J. Hammons has not been the player Purdue hoped he'd be, or needed him to be, this season, at least not yet. But he's played two of his better games in Purdue's first two Big Ten games, falling just a rebound shy of back-to- back double-doubles. He came into the season as Pur - due's most important player. Not sure that's quite so clearly the case now, but he is someone Purdue needs playing at a high level to be as good as it can be. Ditto for Kendall Stephens, who's starting to come around after a three- game slump that coincided, not co- incidentally, with Purdue losing three games in one-sided fashion. Purdue needs both returning vet- erans playing like veterans and to start conference play, they have. That coupled with Rapheal Davis' obvious urgency to take ownership and more reminders the October waiv- er-wire addition of Jon Octeus might just have saved this season has moved Purdue back in a positive direction. But more has gone into it, some things coming to light that'll be inter- esting to track moving forward and could make this group better. Defense: Purdue showed a pulse defensively against Minnesota and Mich- igan, particularly in the second halves. It showed anything but that in allowing an average of 88 points and seemingly 92-percent three-point shooting (give or take) in three games prior. I don't know where zone is go- ing at Purdue but to this point, it's not worked. It was worth a shot, I guess, but this is a man-to-man team and is going to just have to get good enough at it to be competitive because this is a limited team at that end of the floor. If Purdue can just be OK more of- ten than not, well, consider it a win. More 12: Vince Edwards has been a revelation with his versatility and readiness for this level. Purdue needs the ball in his hands more. He's been too efficient, too smart, too produc- tive an all-around player to not feature him more, a drum we've been beating on our web site for a few weeks now. Run more offense through Ed- wards and take a bite, maybe, out of the predictability quotient that's come with the Boilermakers feeding/forcing it into its centers, who've often been not-so-efficient, their productivity coming at the cost of excessive turn- overs, deflating missed bunnies and poor foul shooting. Shortened rotation: The days of Purdue playing everybody are over. It's time to get down to seven or eight core guys, get groupings rolling, sub- stitution patterns set and get better with what they're doing. That's what you have seen in con- ference games so far and early returns are positive on that front. Things are positive for Purdue right now, a 180-degree turn from the scorched earth of late December. When Purdue lost to Gardner-Webb in Mackey Arena after blowout losses to Vanderbilt and Notre Dame, it looked broken, perhaps for good it seemed. After all, maybe not. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com F R O M E D I T O R B R I A N N E U B E R T New Year, New Look ... all the services ... all the food ... all the comfort ... all the fun YourWindow_GoldandBlack_August10_electronic.indd 1 8/20/2010 2:26:24 PM