Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/101670
f r o m e d i t o r b r i a n n e u b e r t BACK TO ITS FOUNDATION You haven���tofseen all that much Purdue basketball as you know it this season, as the Boilermakers have been haunted by inconsistency and transgressions that belie the way that program sets out to play. But D.J. Byrd provided a glimpse. There���s no way of knowing how Purdue���s win over 11thranked Illinois might have turned out had the senior not pounced on that wandering offensive rebound in the game���s closing seconds, going a long way in sealing his team���s biggest win of the year and making probably the biggest play of his career thus far. But more significant than what that play meant was what it represented, a snippet of the sort of hard-nosed play that has defined Purdue basketball for so many years. It represented Purdue���s longstanding culture, its way of doing things that was seen only in sporadic bursts in the final few months of 2012. Here���s how it went down: Purdue���s up just two with 20 seconds left against a combustible Illinois team that had suddenly gotten very, very hot. Two important free throws are missed, the second of them caroming hard off the iron and sent hurdling toward the corner opposite where Byrd lined up between two Illini assigned to keep him away from that very rebound. No matter. The senior guard barreled past all 6-foot-8, 220 pounds of Sam McLaurin toward the ball, falling to the ground as he careened off the Illinois big man. After falling, Byrd slid toward the ball, corralling it, wheeling around toward the official and calling timeout all in one motion. ���He���s a tough son of a gun,��� Illinois coach John Groce said, ���and he made plays at the end of the game.��� That, coupled with another modest turnover total in the cathartic win over Illinois, is how Purdue aims to play all the time. It���s its culture. So far, at least up until Wednesday night, this particular team seems to have jibed with Purdue���s basketball culture like peanut butter and Quaker State, the proverbial square peg in a round hole. But slowly but surely, it might be taking baby steps, Byrd and fellow veteran Terone Johnson setting an example against Illinois each of their teammates should want to follow, and I say that understanding full well it was merely one game. Purdue needs that kind of leadership in football as well. Soon, Darrell Hazell will relocate full-time to Purdue, culture being at the top of his agenda. Purdue���s needs to be fixed. Purdue has to get tougher in all of toughness��� forms and it has to become more disciplined in all of discipline���s forms. When a team is tough and a team is disciplined, 58-14 doesn���t often happen. Talent is kind of important, too, obviously, but you can���t change that overnight. The Heart of Dallas Bowl result was the product of many things, not the least of which was the fact that Oklahoma State was just flat-out better, much better. And Purdue was caught in an awkward situation, straddling coaching staffs. You can���t tell me that didn���t impact the Boilermakers in one of the worst losses in bowl history anywhere. And there are a lot of bowls. But in the final analysis, you are what the scoreboard says you are. Hazell���s first task is to create a culture that can help make that scoreboard more complimentary. If all goes as hoped, it���ll be a culture of substance, something Purdue���s program badly needs more of. It can be argued that the time-share the coach has been under between Purdue and Kent State is doing his new employer no favors. Maybe not. But if Purdue���s players are as committed to Hazell as Kent State���s are and as eager to play for him as Kent State���s seem to be, it will have been worth it. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com A Fee-Based Investment Advisor located in the Purdue Research Park 25+ Years of Investment Management Experience 1241 Cumberland Ave, Suite B West Lafayette, IN 47906 Phone: 765-497-0197 www.bankerinvestmentgroup.com Bill Banker, President Purdue University Alumni 85��� Purdue Baseball Alumni 81���-85��� GoldanDBlack express ��� volume 23, express 16��� ������ 4