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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 57 But as Boilermaker coach Matt Painter always says, you expect the absolute most from those capable of giving it. And Hammons has always fit that bill, with his towering size, nimble feet, overlooked skill and a basketball mind coaches say is sharper than he might always let on. All the pieces seemed in place this season for him to star from Day 1, as Purdue's new-look roster surround- ed him with better and more willing passers better suited to complement him, in addition to an influx of shoot- ing help, though the percentages say that part hasn't worked out as planned, at least to this point. Hammons didn't deliver right away, either. In non-conference play, he was inconsistent, inefficient, indecisive, mistake-prone and foul-ridden, play- ing nowhere near the level Purdue needed from him to win or he needed to advance his career to the profes- sional level, perhaps as early as this spring. But at some point in February — and it's difficult to pinpoint exactly why — the flashes gave way to full illumination. As if there was a switch to flip, the light came on. And, for the first time in Hammons' college career, it stayed on. "I know I can't let my team down," Hammons said, lingering on the Assembly Hall floor after putting up 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, blocking four shots and making two game-sealing free throws in the final seconds of the win at IU. "These last two years, they haven't been as good as we wanted them to be. This year, we had to have a culture change at Purdue. That's exactly what we're try- ing to do, to bring back that blue-col- lar style Coach wants." Hammons has been an entirely different player from non-conference play to the conference, playing like a first-team All-Big Ten sort of perform- er. Like the difference between Bruce Banner and the Incredible Hulk, Hammons went from a timid, inde- cisive, introverted player in non-con- ference to a decisive, authoritative, extroverted force in Big Ten play, looking for the first time at Purdue to be playing with supreme confidence and truly enjoying himself. "As a player, sometimes you get to that point where you're in a good space," said assistant coach Bran- don Brantley, who coaches Purdue's big men. "You're not thinking about things. You just go out and do it. I think that's where he is right now." Brantley said Hammons deserves all the credit, no matter what he may say about teammates or coaches bringing it out of him. "Everyone's holding me account- able," Hammons says, generally. "I just have to come out and play well for my team." Midseason, Brantley said, the ju- nior center re-dedicated himself to his preparation. His habits have been better, coaches and teammates have said. He's been eager to watch film, for one thing. Diligence has never been considered Hammons' thing, but it's become so. "He's just about his game now," teammate and long-time friend Ra- pheal Davis said. "He doesn't talk about it much. He's just about action right now. "He's a grown man now." The underlying theme: Hammons is keeping things simple. He's reacting rather than thinking. Painter says Hammons has some- times been prone to bog down in "predetermined thought." Funny what improved preparation can do to predetermined thought. The result has been a stark trans- formation. Whereas in November and Decem- ber, Hammons might have gotten the ball around the basket and been struck by paralysis by analysis, lead- ing too often to turnovers or the fall- ing-away passiveness that had the gi- ant center shooting an unacceptable 45 percent in non-conference play, today it's different. Now, Hammons gets the ball and goes, like 7 feet and 260-some pounds of fast-twitch muscle. Dunks are of no greater value than two-handed layups off the window, but they are telling, reflective of reac- tion, aggressiveness, etc. Hammons dunked four times in 13 non-league games. When he dunked — and subse- quently got T'd up for the unchar- acteristic ensuing celebration — at TWO DIFFERENT PLAYERS A.J. Hammons' statistical splits be- tween the non-conference and Big Ten seasons. Conference results through 14 games. Category Non-conference Big Ten Points 9.9 12.4 Rebounds 5.3 7.5 Blocks 2.9 3.0 Turnovers# 2.2 2.0 Minutes 19.8 27.8 Fouls 2.6 2.4 FG percentage 45.0 62.9 FT percentage 63.0 67.8 Dunks (total) 4 18 Double-doubles (total) 1 3 Purdue's record 8-5 10-4 # Seven of Hammons' 28 Big Ten-season turnovers came in the OT win at Penn State, after which he committed just five in the seven games that followed.