It’s time for the last entry in the spring series, and it’s being run by trainer Matt Painter. The coach has always admitted that he is always looking for improvement, and we saw that improvement during his time at Purdue. There is no doubt that he is a better coach now than he was in 2010 or even 2015. He has fine-tuned his team every year based on his talent. His team has had tremendous balance over the years. 2019 is The Carson Edwards Show. He’s changed his recruiting philosophy, and it’s paid off in a recent string of solid results, with four Sweet 16s, two Big Ten championships, two runners-up, and five NCAA runs in the past six years. Appearance.
However, the 2021-22 season has been disappointing.
It’s hard to say the year or so that Purdue went 29-8, finished first overall in program history, and was in the top 10 nationally all season, but it’s been a year with so many left on the table superior. Purdue lost the Big Ten championship by losing four division games on last-second shots. It lost by three points to the 15th seed in the NCAA Tournament. The year was expected to be high, and for good reason, but ended in frustration as this team came very close to fulfilling those expectations while not looking so good for a long time.
This team has many similarities to the team that won 30 games in 2017-18. That team also ended up with no hardware and a sweet 16 loss. Both teams have lost at least their share of the Top 10 title in a game (a losing box pair. Ohio State University and miraculous ups and downs Rutgers University, respectively). That team has always felt like they were 10-15% above the ceiling for most of the year. It’s a great team without a doubt, but it has exceeded expectations for most of the season.
This year is different. On paper, this is a more talented team than 2017-18, but it feels like it’s playing 10-15% the following Its high ceilings are regular. Purdue had a terrible first half at Indiana and spent most of the second half against St. Peter’s. In four of the eight losses (St. Peters, Rutgers, Indiana and at home against Wisconsin), Purdue was either tied or ahead at the end of the game’s media timeout.be opposed to Michigan State University Also, in Wisconsin, it was tied or ahead in the final minute.vs. Iowa Big Ten Purdue had a one-point lead with three minutes left. Three-point loss in five losses, it feels like a special when Jaden’s Ivey misses a 3-pointer on St. Peter’s while Rutgers, Indiana, Michigan State and Wisconsin fall cruel ending.
Purdue played 17 games in the final five minutes, but if it played its part, it would turn some of those games into more comfortable wins. If it does what it can, half the loss becomes a win.
It looks like Purdue has a finish problem, getting too close even with a few wins. Purdue almost lost at home to a bad Rutgers team.It will take a remarkable comeback to beat the worse North Carolina team. Ohio State’s late game completely collapsed, overshadowed by Jaden Ivey’s game-winning 3-pointer. The home game against Indiana is another survival. I know it’s hard to stay up night and day, but Purdue hasn’t been the same since Ron Harper Jr.’s miraculous December climax.
This team is good enough to be special. It shows by dealing with the two teams that ended up in the Final Four. It later showed that in impressive road wins in Iowa and Illinois, as well as a second-half demolition at Illini in West Lafayette.
All of this can be traced back to Coach Painter. What went wrong? This team has a unique balance of talent, depth and experience. That sent expectations soaring, and when Purdue really started, I didn’t think anyone in America could beat it. Unfortunately, after that Rutgers game, it didn’t quite turn on quite often.
I think the biggest blow to Painter this year is his roster loyalty and inflexibility. It’s hard to knock him down, but there are games where some players are underwhelming and the rotation is the same. Although I defended him, Isaiah Thompson was a total liability defensively and struggled offensively by the end of the season, but he was still part of the rotation. Against Purdue in St. Peter, he struggled with his 3-point shooting and Jaden Ivey was terrible, but the offense was still perimeter-oriented rather than inside against the smaller Peacocks. Purdue never answered “We got a rare bad game from Jaden, what now?” when it had the ability to beat that opponent.
Even so, it’s been an odd season because so many times Purdue is still in a successful position, but it can’t execute. The biggest burden of the year, defense, improved in the ensuing period, but Purdue’s offensive efficiency in the first half of the season was eroded later in the season. Be a great 3-pointer when you shoot 25% from 3 in St. Peter’s loss, or 25% against Iowa State, or 11% against Michigan State Teams are meaningless. Purdue also got public performances in those games, and they didn’t go down.
How much of the blame can you really put on the Painter if the shot didn’t fall? Purdue has three-fifths of eight losses with losses below 30 percent: Rutgers, Michigan State, St. Peters, Iowa and Michigan. You can pass up that Michigan game because it was the worst loss of the season so far. Of the other four, if Purdue just averaged, it would have won and likely disappeared. In the end, Painter couldn’t shoot himself, and Purdue was often in a good shot position, and they didn’t go down.
So where did he evolve from here? Hard to say, really. Purdue University is loaded this year.it has depth and top 5 NBA draft pick. It has experience. It has size. It has shooting. We couldn’t ask for a more perfect team, but it didn’t play well and didn’t play well from close range (they made it 10-7 in possession with less than 5 minutes left) results). I said once this year that the most dangerous lead in sports is Purdue by 7 points or less at the last media timeout. That proved prescient, as Rutgers, Indiana and St. Peter’s losses were nearly mirror images of losses in Maryland and Minnesota the year before. For whatever reason, Purdue got nervous in those games. you can see it. In the process of watching, I can hear the inner monologue of “I want to be perfect, I must score on this play” almost every time.
I really don’t know what to say to Coach Painter. Without a doubt, he is one of the best in the business. On my downside to this team, we’re probably about five games away from another Big Ten flag in the rafters and at least an Elite Eight. He made these guys successful time and time again this year, and if Purdue averaged just three games, it would likely be a 33-game winner and make it to the Elite Eight (if not further) .
The results speak for themselves. Purdue was eliminated for the second straight season by a low-to-mid-level major that outperformed them on and off the field. This is another thing I noticed this year. When things go bad, it’s because the opponent is just working harder than us. St. Peter and North Texas have a lot in common in that it dominated the few games Purdue was in, but was outplayed by a smaller opponent for most of the game. use.
Matt Painter isn’t going anywhere. He won a big bind at Purdue and would need to lose at least three straight seasons to consider firing him. With him, you know what you’re getting at this point. Purdue will compete in the Big Ten year after year, and it’s not uncommon to play in the NCAA’s second weekend. Even with the loss of what we lost next season, I’m still looking forward to the Big Ten finish and the NCAA bid in the first half. The vast majority of college basketball teams will embrace that.
Still, this will be the 18th year. He is the handpicked successor to Gene Keady, who has been doing it for 25 years. In 43 years of basketball, Purdue has been in “very good, but not elite” territory, and the March record speaks for itself. Painter is now 1-5 in the Sweet 16, and one win is a complete collapse, very, very close to losing. At some point, he has to find a way to break through, which is why he gets paid what he gets paid. He’s never going to get as good a shot as he did this year, until the playoffs in front of us after the game starts. Purdue is still in a “great team until the lights are brightest” basketball purgatory. After this season, I went back to the “if” Painter made us into the Final Four rather than the “when,” because if we don’t do it this year, I don’t believe it’s going to happen again until we’re actually there.
