Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/237702
B R I A N N E U B E R T OFFENSE ISN'T THE PROBLEM P teams. But they made opponents work for everything they got, wearing them down and oftentimes breaking them. They forced mistakes and preyed upon them. They were five individuals who had each other's backs. They took charges, back when there were such things. Those were the days. For whatever the reason, whether it's the teaching, the personalities involved or a combination thereof, it's not adding up. Purdue is again a belowaverage defensive team, as has been painfully apparent through two Big Ten games, when Purdue couldn't get a stop to save itself down the stretch against Ohio State, then gave up 82 at Minnesota when the Boilermakers' 79 should have been enough to win. Credit hot Gopher shooting while at the same time blame Purdue for allowing too much space for those shooters too often, all while allowing Minnesota far too easy a path to the foul line when it did drive. Purdue is not a great offensive team by any means. It experiences dry spells, still makes the occasional iffy decisions and struggles to get its lowpost menace, A.J. Hammons, engaged. But on offense, the Boilermakers are good enough. They've got a variety of players who can score; a much-improved array of longrange shooting threats; an interior presence unmatched in the conference; and a potent transition attack. Seventy-nine points should be enough to win against almost any opponent, especially in the Big Ten, where games are such a grind. Only Ohio State, which hung 84 on Nebraska, scored more points in a 40-minute game in the Big Ten's opening week. And Minnesota, of course. I hate to write these columns where it's just, "Purdue needs to be better," without offering any But as we've said about foul shooting, if it hasn't changed to this point, will it? Probably not. Maybe Purdue is just going to have to outscore people. In the Big Ten, that's a daunting proposition. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS CERAMIC • ENGINEERED HARDWOOD LAMINATES • MARBLE CARPETING Specializing in • Homes • Churches • Businesses • Schools Where Contractors Buy Their Flooring Builders! Call our Contract Department and ask for our Contract Specialist 3437 State Road 26 E. 765-447-9393 800-403-6889 FAX 765-448-9978 Across from the Post Office GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS urdue's won 10 of its 15 games, in no way qualifying this season to this point as a success, particularly now that it finds itself in an 0-2 Big Ten hole. I could resurrect columns from a year ago at this time about Purdue struggling by not being willing or able to play basketball the way Purdue, as we know it, is supposed to play basketball. Notably: Defense. It's not for lack of effort, at least on the practice floor, where the defensive end of the floor remains the most important end of the floor. And for what? Again, the Boilermakers, contrary to their generationslong identity and well-established (and proven) blueprint for success, just aren't stopping people. Forget stops. How about just disruption? Back when Matt Painter had his best teams at Purdue, those teams didn't shut people out. They weren't elite defensive sort of anything remotely suggestive of a solution. But this is not a new development. It's been a few years now that Purdue hasn't met its standards on defense, each of those years being ones in which Painter felt his team could be pretty effective on D, or at worst, decent. GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS E D I T O R GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS GO BOILERMAKERS F R O M GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 24, EXPRESS 15 • 4