2007 NCAA bracket czar Gary Walters (Princeton ‘67) says he’s been watching a lot of basketball games lately. For the preservation of his professional reputation, I hope he’s taken in some Purdue basketball in the past eight days. With tonight’s win over Indiana, last week’s blowout of Michigan State, and a valiant near miss in Columbus, Matt Painter’s Boilermakers are quickly making themselves conspicuous for Walters and his wizards at the Westin.
Granted, the Boilermakers still need to get two or three more in the win column, but with a home and away with Northwestern, and a Mackey date with Minnesota on the horizon, it looks like the only thing that is going to keep Purdue from the field of 65 is the return of Billy McKinney circa 1976 to the Wildcat side or conduct unbecoming a Princeton grad.
Faced with the same win or NIT proposition as five of the conference’s teams, Matt Painter and his team are responding like warriors. Though he downplayed it after the game, Chris Kramer’s first half held ball skirmish with D.J. White is illustrative of the kind of investment Painter and his team are bringing to the February stretch run. The freshman went after that loose ball like it mattered and wasn’t going to be deterred by White’s 6 inch, 50 pound advantage or his flagrant elbows.
As a snapshot it says everything you need to know about the belief and hunger Painter has inspired in his troops. He and his team are approaching each loose ball, each defensive stand, each screen for David Teague, each timeout and halftime session with complete investment. There is no gliding by on talent, no stretches of inattentiveness, no attempt to blame externalities or an opponent who was just too hot to contend with.
No, the Boilers are playing with a deep appreciation and understanding of how it is in the accumulation of details and units of effort and coaching that games are won, teams find elevation. And this understanding isn’t exclusive to his seniors, it has permeated his entire roster. The play of Kramer, Crump, Watt, Lutz, and Uchendu, though not as gaudy, were as necessary to last night’s win as that of Landry and Teague. At various points last night, it was a role player or youngster who carried the team forward, made a momentum changing play, inspired the rest of the unit like Kramer did with his pursuit of that one loose ball. This is a team.
And teams with these kind of attributes aren’t built without a good coach. The same coach who is yielding big wins like last night’s and step by step inching closer to the NCAA tournament was getting his injury ravaged roster of last season to compete hard each and every night. Purdue was running on fumes most of last year and they were still a tough out. And the wins this season aren’t based on inordinate, nationally coveted talent. The team’s two senior stars were under the radar recruits, one a JUCO tweener, the other a skinny late bloomer whose other suitors were mid-majors. Imagine what Painter would do with McDonald’s All-American types. You won’t have to. That starts next year. The point is Painter maximizes his rosters top to bottom.
And it isn’t merely about inspiration. Painter has tactical chops. Given how thoroughly D.J. White dominated the first half, it could’ve easily turned into a career night at the Boilers expense. Sixteen first half points and it looked like the big guy from Tuscaloosa could do anything he wanted against the undersized Purdue frontcourt. Nope. Instead of throwing up his mitts in surrender to a player who was just too good, Painter made superb use of halftime. A second twenty minutes of disrupting passing lanes, denial at the top of the offense where it originates, and good switching turned White from ember hot to an impotent four point half.
So while we still await definitive answers from the other Big Ten auditioners for the Dance, Painter and his boys have spoken loudly with their play in these key weeks of February. They are making a case that after last night, has the feel of inevitability.
