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VOLUME 27, ISSUE 2 11 M att Painter always says that the first real test of a team is its response to adversity. Well, for his team this year, perhaps that first real test will come in prosperity. Perhaps you've heard: Purdue had this nasty tendency to come apart at the seams last season when it had victory in its hands. There was that dreadful Iowa implosion, stripping Rick Mount Night of some of its luster. There was the Maryland meltdown, the one that Purdue survived, but just barely. Then there was the Little Rock letdown. "Letdown" doesn't do it justice, but I'm going for alliteration, so just bear with me. Is "apocalypse" too strong a word? Anyway, that crashing-and-burning in Colorado was incredible, too bizarre to have scripted in advance if you'd tried. It would have been shocking had it not happened so many times before. It was the second year in a row Purdue stepped in quicksand late in an NCAA Tournament game it had won and the second year in a row its season ended improbably in overtime. This year, it can't allow that story to repeat itself, because just mak - ing the tournament this season isn't enough, not with what Purdue has, not with one of the best frontcourts in the game, three of the best players in the Big Ten and a backcourt buoyed by increased experi- ence and by being a more skilled group offensively. There are questions, lots of 'em. A.J. Hammons' eccentricities won't be missed, but his talent absolutely will be. Rapheal Davis didn't have a great year as a hobbled senior and his minutes now may go to better offensive players, but his defense will be missed, as will his leadership. Purdue is going to have to find a new identity on defense with very different personnel. There will be difficulties. That said, the personnel could provide enough offensive bump to make up for it. It all looks good on paper, but Purdue sparkled on paper last March, surging into the NCAA Tournament playing its best basket - ball, then jackknifed vs. Little Rock. Purdue will be back on that stage in a few months. When that time comes, things have to be different, because this season is about the NCAA Tournament, where the Boilermakers haven't won since 2012. This is about players playing with poise when they need poise most and Matt Painter pushing the right buttons to put them in that place. He seems to realize that confidence can start with him and that team last season looked so utterly void of confidence at times, it defied reason. It's a big season for Painter, who seems to be approaching that line with fans where "a lot" turns into "not enough." Purdue's considered a top-25 team and will play a schedule befitting a team of that stature. This is a schedule that's set up for seeding. It's a good thing the schedule worked out that way, because this year, it's all about the postseason. Purdue's most likely going to win a lot of games, same as it did last year and to a lesser extent the year before. This season, though, will be defined by the games that matter most, whether it's those with championship implications in the reg - ular season and obviously those come March. The Boilermakers squandered an opportunity last season. The way that team was playing leading into the NCAA Tournament, the sky looked like the limit. There are questions about this team this year but the ceiling is again high. It's another opportunity for Purdue to do something significant, something more significant than just win a bunch of games. It's an opportunity to be great, led by a potentially great player in Caleb Swanigan, whose days on this campus are numbered. Purdue can be great, or at least really, really, really good. That's how things look on paper, at least, with a frontcourt loaded with pros, a backcourt loaded with shooters and a roster loaded with experience. Intangibles matter this season and that's where Purdue was fa - tally flawed a season ago. Poise, most notably. Without it, Purdue may not reach its ceiling. We'll see. We'll see against Villanova, should the Boilermakers play well enough to hold a late lead. Or at Louisville. Or against Notre Dame, in that Crossroads Classic event, where Purdue seems hexed. But it's not an issue that will reveal itself as fixed on any practice floor. It'll come down to those moments, those moments where Pur - due will either thrive or nosedive. j Looking For Something More From Editor Brian Neubert