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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 26, Digital 2

Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.

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16 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED Yes, they got back to the NCAA Tournament last season, but once there, they lost in excruciating fash- ion to a Cincinnati team they had beaten, but couldn't finish off. "We have to understand that we haven't done anything for people to expect anything from us," said Da- vis, both Purdue's captain and its heart and soul. "But we also have to know that no one's seen us play together, no one's seen how much leaner A.J. has gotten, or (Swan- igan's) transformation from high school, or how much better Isaac (Haas) has gotten. You can't really worry about any types of rankings." Matt Painter won't. Or maybe he will. "Some people rank us in the top 25 and some people don't," he said. "So there are obviously some holes that some people see out there." Purdue absolutely has questions to answer, a bunch of them, and if Painter's ever going to talk about rankings with his team, it's going to be about the reasons it's not ranked higher. There are many of those reasons for Purdue. It has to shoot better and turn the ball over less. It has to maintain its defensive standard from last season without crucial contributor Jon Octeus at point guard. It has to find a point guard. And any time a team relies heavi- ly on freshmen, as Purdue will with Swanigan, there's some unknown. But such unknowns are typical of any season. For the Boilermakers, it's the knowns that give them some reason to believe that this season could be something much more than typical. Below, Gold and Black Illustrated breaks down the 2015-16 season to come. LARGER THAN LIFE How many teams in college bas- ketball can say they have one good big man? Such players have always been a precious commodity; they're now an exceedingly rare one, part of the reason the game is trending smaller, even at its highest levels. Purdue doesn't have one good big man. It has three. Coming off a Big Ten season in which he played the best, most con- sistent basketball of his life, Ham- mons has to be considered one of the Tom Campbell Forward Vince Edwards played the 4 for Purdue last season, but is expected to move to more of a perimeter-oriented role this season. In advance of the transition, he made significant athletic gains this summer.

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