Early Season Worries

As we all know Purdue is coming off a disappointing performance in which they lost to Duke at home by sixteen. The team has now lost two in a row and many of the team’s weaknesses have been exposed. Having your problems exposed this early is a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is the season is young enough that you still have plenty of time to fix things, but the bad thing is the question of whether or not these problems are even fixable. Here are some of the problems I see with the team and what needs to be done about them.

Problem: Defense- In Purdue’s first five wins the Boilers were surrendering just 52.8 points a game and forced 97 turnovers during that five game span. On the contrary in the last two losses to Oklahoma and Duke, the team has given up an average of 81.5 points per game. Yes, Oklahoma and Duke are good teams, but if our Boilers want to be elite the defense must improve. The team plays consistent pressure defense, but pressure defense does not always mean good defense. Coach Painter had this to say about the situation, “We have to strive to be a good defensive team and not just rely on our pressure, because good players can handle pressure.”

Is it fixable?- Yes I definitely think it is fixable. Defense has a lot to do with just hustle and determination. If the Boilers continue to work hard at practice the defense will come. Our tough early season schedule will definitely help us in the long run and is preparing us for conference play.

Problem: Rebounding- Coming into the season everyone knew that Purdue did not have a strong inside presence and it is hurting us more than I anticipated. In Tuesday’s loss to Duke the Boilers were outrebounded 49-29 and only recorded eight offensive rebounds. Jajuan Johnson, Purdue’s tallest player, only grabbed three rebounds with none of them being offensive. Offensive rebounds are vital for a team’s success because they provide second chances. When a team is not shooting well, like Purdue was on Tuesday, they must grab offensive rebounds and get those easy second chance points.

Is it fixable?- Once again I think this is a fixable problem, but it will be harder to correct than the defense. Some may say that if Johnson starts rebounding then our problem will magically disappear, but I disagree. Johnson is still too skinny to be a great rebounder and he has been getting pushed around inside. To fix this problem I think it will take a total team effort and once again more hustle. Improved hustle will mean we’ll be in better position to grab rebounds and we’ll be able to chase down long rebounds. Rebounds will be a key statistic for Purdue this year and hopefully we will improve as the season progresses.

Problem: Another Scoring Presence- Purdue definitely has a great one-two punch in E’Twaun Moore and Robbie Hummel, but I think we need a third legitimate scoring threat to take some of the burden off of those two. In the Duke game Duke’s gameplan was to limit Moore and Hummel. The plan worked as Moore was held to zero points in the first half and Hummel was quiet the entire game. The Duke defense challenged other players on the roster to step up, but no one did. With Moore and Hummel getting the majority of the attention from defenses we need someone else to take advantage and start scoring.

Is it fixable?- According to Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis this is an unfixable problem for Purdue. Davis says that he doesn’t think Keaton Grant can be a consistent scorer, but I disagree. KG has potential to be a great scorer and he showed this last year shooting 44.0% from three point range. Grant’s shot is definitely not where it was last year, but if he is able to re-discover his stroke he will emerge as another scoring option for Purdue.

I think these are all solvable problems for Purdue and the season is just beginning. We have plenty of time to improve and by the time March rolls around I’m sure we will be ready. Hopefully the progress starts soon as the Boilers prepare to play Arkansas Pine-Bluff tomorrow at 8 p.m.