Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/107684
f r o m e d i t o r b r i a n n e u b e r t square pegs in a round hole s formula Purdue'that the works. History has shown Boiler- maker program's core principles of playing with effort and urgency; being highly competitive, tough and physical; and providing some evidence of a functioning brain while playing basketball leads to success. That is the template Matt Painter recruited this group of players to. And that's the blueprint those players, based on the shocking results of the past week, are fitting into about as well as A.J. Hammons in a Prius. There was no way around the Boilermakers having their ups and downs this season as they turned over their roster so wholly, but the hope or expectation had to be for this group, as the season wore on, to get better and better and start to look like a typical Purdue team before all was said and done. It looked like things were moving in that direction after Painter's team won four of its five games prior to Indiana visiting Mackey Arena. Poof! Whatever progress was achieved during a stretch in which Purdue showed some signs of living up to its program's storied identity blew up. And was it spectacular. There's no shame in losing to Indiana, not this year, as the Hoosiers clearly have the makings of a title contender, a fact undoubtedly powder-kegging the angst Purdue fans may feel about their own team. There is shame in losing by 37, a beating unprecedented on West Lafayette soil. There's not all that much shame in losing to annoying Northwestern, which has antagonized Purdue teams far better and more experienced. There is shame in falling behind by a dozen before scoring your first point and never credibly being in the game. In a season like this, expectations had to be tempered for a team with intriguing talent but no experience. But it was fair to expect Purdue, at some point, to play a recognizable form of the sport. It's not that Purdue has lost games that's been so startling. It's been how it's lost games. People like to bag on recruiting, the easiest of targets. Who can argue that better players equal a better team? No one. Understood. But Purdue has good enough players to be winning. Indiana is far more talented than Purdue, but it is not 37 points more talented. The only teams that should be 37 points more talented than Purdue are subject to a salary cap. The Boilermakers have players enough to be winning; they lack intangibles enough to be winning, and maybe that's where Painter's gone wrong in recruiting. This team does not appear to be wired like a typical Boilermaker team. There is youth, yes, but that youth is now midway through its first Big Ten season and subject to the same schizophrenia that's been plaguing it all season. It's an immature team and, quite honestly, a soft team. Leadership is an issue from the upperclassmen; urgency seems to be an issue from the underclassmen who are far too casual. Whether it's from the court, or courtside, what this team seems to need right now is a couple hell-raisers. It's stupid to say this team needs a Chris Kramer, because there's not a basketball team on the planet that couldn't use one. But a reasonable facsimile would be helpful. Raw talent is just terrific, but Purdue has that right now. What it needs is raw energy and passion and just the most basic building block that is an understanding of how to play sound basketball. Those are things this team lacks, deficiencies brought to the forefront by a pair of one-sided losses. Blame Painter all you want, but coaches don't turn into idiots. He will keep demanding the same things in no uncertain terms he's demanded of past teams, teams that won, teams that wouldn't have allowed IU to leave Mackey Arena a 37-point winner, not without at least taking a hunk of flesh. Painter's fighting this team, struggling for its collective heart, mind and ears. It will be interesting now to see who adjusts to whom here. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 20 • 4