2/24/2024 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Nightmare Edition
Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.
Two weeks ago, Purdue was winning the Big Ten, cruising for a projected 2 seed, and an all around solid basketball team. Two weeks later, 4 straight losses, including a trouncing by an inept Indiana team, and you can see why the Purdue fandom is in the midst of a nightmare. After the IU game I took a nap. I was surprisingly ok with how things went. I shouldn’t be.
You see, there has been a wave of dread and inevitability surrounding these last few games. You know what I mean… right? That whole thing that is inherent to Purdue fandom. You turn on the game, you get the feel for the contest. You know that the vibe is off, and you go “yep, Purdue gunna lose”. Doesn’t matter if it’s only 3 minutes into the game. We know. We’re normally right.
Purdue is stuck in an inevitability.
Something is broken. I am not entirely sure what it is, either. All of a sudden Purdue can’t play defense. All of a sudden Purdue wets themselves when things get tough. Players let poor officiating mentally screw them to the point that they can’t play anymore. Boilers let quicksand build around their knees, compounding turnovers on top of others. General softness.
Whatever the problem is, Purdue is having an existential crisis. They have just lost 10%+ of their entire season, consecutively, when they were in the position to win the conference. With that in mind, I am changing up the format of the water cooler chat. Something has got to change… and I am starting with me.
Now What?:
I am saying this with my tongue firmly in my cheek, but is Purdue going to win another basketball game? Site your evidence and support your claim.
Two weeks ago Purdue was going to win the league running away. Now Purdue should probably be unranked, and probably have dropped from a 2 seed to a 5 seed. More losses, will push them to a 6 seed. I have never seen a team shatter like an egg thrown against a backboard, like Purdue has the last 4 games.
Yes, 3 of these losses have come against very good teams. One of them against a very poor team on the road. Yes, the Carsen E8 team had a February swoon. Yes, good teams sometimes get into losing skids. Getting blown out by IU is never an option.
The Boilermakers need leaders. This is top down. Matt Painter needs to find the right dichotomy in order to get his tweaks to stick. Player leaders, Smith, TKR, Loyer, need to take the gameplan and execute. Painter needs to advocate for his players, and the players need to stop bitching about bad calls. Control what you can control, and take care of business.
The Bottom Line:
Purdue didn’t all of a sudden forget how to play basketball. Matt Painter didn’t forget how to coach. Jeffrey Anderson never knew how to officiate. Other B1G foes didn’t turn into the ’97 Chicago Bulls.
Purdue is deep in a lull right now. This is something that the Boilers haven’t experienced in several years. In fact the last time the Boilermakers lost 4 straight was 2019-2020 season. That season sucked. This season does not suck.
This season doesn’t suck because there is still hope on this roster. There are promising athletes, with a good coach. Will this team make a final 4? Probably not. Will this team be dangerous in the big dance? Absolutely. Something has to give, and I still trust this team.
A Look Ahead:
The (as of this writing) #13 Purdue Boilermakers look to stop a 4 game skid. They only have one game this week, a Friday tilt with UCLA coming into town. Hopefully the Boilermakers can find some footing against a suddenly competent UCLA squad.
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