You’ve clamored* for it, so here it is.

The BS boyz are here to give their myriad takes on the Purdue basketball season. The 2013-2014 campaign officially launched on Friday with a one-point victory that upset many Purdue basketball loyalists who evidently remember last season’s Purdue team as a juggernaut that should only win games by 30 points.

CLOSE GAMES ARE UNACCEPTABLE, you still-young team, do you hear us??

As for us, we’ll gladly take 24 more one-point victories and keep them in a neat little pile in the corner. Of course, being Purdue, 25 wins will only nab them a 15 seed in the state of Washington in March.

What do we think? Click for more and prepare to be amazed. Or at least entertained.

Or, at least, have something to read over lunch.

*”Clamored” means nobody has asked for it, right?

Tim says:

I see 19 wins and a NIT invite.  That could change in a positive fashion depending on the growth of Ronnie Johnson as a PG and if AJ can keep his head on straight and learn to dominate.  There aren't many skilled 7 footers in college basketball.  He is definitely one of them.  Anything that the freshmen provide is a bonus.  I see 22 wins and an at large tourney bid possible, but Purdue will need to win some games it shouldn't win.

 

Panda says:

Ahh basketball season, as most of you know this is what I live for. I love college hoops and now that it’s cold my time will be spent watching hours on hours of hoops instead of hitting the links.  This season’s team will look a lot different than last seasons, thank god!  With the addition of a great class and two fifth year guys, this team should be fun to watch.  A different style of basketball is going to be played than teams of the past under Painter.  Expect a more athletic style of ball.  It’s going to be nice to have the ability to fire from long range this season as well. 

Hammons is going to be the big question mark this year.  He has the potential to be a star, but will he put in the effort and have the poise to make his mark on this team and the conference?  His motivation and maturity level is going to determine how this team fairs this season. 

I expect Purdue to make the Big Dance this year, but they are not quite ready to contend for a B1G title.

I expect a record of 22-7 this season with most losses coming in conference.  I know this sounds bit optimistic but I feel with the additions coming into the program that the Boilermakers have an excellent shot of winning over 20 games this season.  The first test will come against Oklahoma State at Disney and they are no Mickey Mouse squad.   As far as the conference goes, I would have to say MSU will be the conference champs, Gary Harris will be B1G player of the year.  This should be an exciting year in Mackey Arena. Happy Hoopsgiving!

 

Zlionsfan says:

It wouldn't be a zlionsfan post without a ridiculous amount of detail, and there are few things more fun than going overboard with respect to predictions, if only to demonstrate who among us lost the most brain cells during our respective years at Purdue. (I cheated - six years. You say academic probation, I say active social life, potato, potahto.) ANYWAY.

What we really need, after most of a football season that I've already forgotten (what's Purdue's record again? No, don't tell me), is a solid regular season and a tournament run to remember. The volleyball team seems unlikely to provide that, as a solid middle-of-the-pack squad that will be fortunate to continue their streak of first-round NCAA tournament wins, and the women's basketball team will probably just win another Big Ten tournament title (they've won the last two and 9 of 19 overall, so at least we can do one sport right), so maybe the men's team will provide a dearly-needed spark?

That's probably too much to ask. Teams don't get 12- to 14-game turnarounds in a single season without a bunch of highly-touted recruits landed under suspicious circumstances, all of whom leave after one year just in case the program in question gets caught. (No, John, I didn't say Kentucky. I didn't specifically mention any team. You seem awfully defensive about that. Are you hiding something? It'd be a first; normally, at this point you'd have been busted already.) But Painter doesn't recruit like that, so it's probably reasonable to expect a smaller improvement over last season. A tournament will come calling, but it'll be one that people actually care about.

A reasonably soft non-conference schedule will not adequately prepare the Boilers for Oklahoma State; fortunately, Purdue gets three or four games (depending on whether or not you count the Siena game) no matter what, so after getting bounced by OSU (not that OSU), they'll beat two lesser teams. They'll record another ACC-Big Ten challenge win, squeak past Butler in Indy, and be 12-1 rolling into conference play, at which time we will be reminded that most of the rest of the DI world is not at all like the Big Ten.

The Good Guys will lose a few guys they probably shouldn't, but will record enough Ws over the weaker teams that they'll get a decent seed come Big Ten tournament time. Unfortunately, it'll be too good ... a #7 gives you an extra win on opening day, but pairs you with the #2 on Friday, and Purdue, even on a semi-neutral court, isn't good enough for that matchup. Nonetheless, 21 wins and 8-10 in a tough conference will prove enough to get Painter's squad back where it belongs, but a rough tournament draw will put an end to a streak that dates back nearly to my college days. (No, really. Purdue's last first-round loss was in 1993 to 8-seed Rhode Island; their last upset first-round loss was 1991, my third senior year, to 10-seed Temple.)

Still, if I told you before the season started that we'd finish 21-13 with an NCAA tournament appearance, you'd take that, right? Well, I'm telling you.

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT	DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
11/8	vs Northern Kentucky	W by 40	1/18	vs Penn State	W by 22
11/13	vs Central Connecticut	W by 31	1/21	at Northwestern	W by 15
11/17	vs Rider	W by 24	1/25	vs Wisconsin	L by 3
11/20	vs Eastern Illinois	W by 29	1/30	at Michigan	L by 20
11/24	vs Siena	W by 16	2/2	at Penn State	W by 18
11/28	vs Oklahoma State*	L by 24	2/5	vs Minnesota	W by 13
11/29	vs Washington State*	W by 25	2/8	at Ohio State	L by 19
11/30	vs St. Joseph's*	W by 4	2/15	vs Indiana	L by 10
12/4	vs Boston College	W by 9	2/20	vs Michigan State	L by 18
12/7	vs Eastern Michigan	W by 30	2/23	at Nebraska	W by 25
12/14	vs Butler*	W by 5	2/26	vs Michigan	L by 7
12/17	vs Maryland-Eastern Shore	W by 44	3/1	at Iowa	L by 4
12/22	at West Virginia	W by 16	3/5	at Wisconsin	L by 1
12/31	vs Ohio State	L by 11	3/8	vs Northwestern	W by 30
1/5	at Minnesota	L by 1	3/13	vs Penn State*	W by 24
1/12	vs Nebraska	W by 26	3/14	vs Michigan*	L by 14
1/15	at Illinois	W by 5	3/21	vs Villanova*	L by 17

*neutral-site games, of course

 

J says:

We haven’t seen a Matt Painter team doing Matt Painter things in quite a while. Even the ’11-’12 team that threw a scare into Kansas and reduced Purdue fan to tears wasn’t a consistent team throughout that season. Many of us remember them fondly, but remember the 67-65 win over High Point?  That one was at home and was famously followed by Rob Hummel shooting free throws in a nearly-empty Mackey late that night. Does this team have that sort of focus and discipline to consistently, constantly work to get better? I don’t know, but they’ll need to be.

This team will not win games this season just by showing up. They’re certainly talented enough to win over 20 games and be a tourney team, but they’re going to have to grind every single game. And what I think will happen is that they will have a few more frustrating ones like NKU and then they’ll run into someone really good and they’ll get crushed. Perhaps that will be the wake up call that these guys will need to fully comprehend how hard they have to work to win games at this level and in this conference. I choose to believe they will “get it.”

Boilers win 22-25 this season and go one round deep in the tourney. It’s a positive step forward. I also predict Hammons does not go pro after the season and comes back for one more go.

 

Boilerdowd says:

What's not to like this off-season? Guys getting along, a positive vibe around the program and expectations are pretty low as the media has all but forgotten about Matty's Boilers. We haven't enjoyed something like this since the summer with the football team!! Oh wait, bad example.

I saw a BTN commercial last week that said "The nation's best players"...and it showed the many POY candidates during the last five seasons.  Then it read "Elite coaches"...and Matty was nowhere to be found.

Our pal, Matt Painter had a pretty bad season last year as the stuff that's defined his program went missing.  This offseason was one of unrest as tons of players came and went. The end result is the team looks nothing like last year. That's a good thing, in this case.

Matt Painter can still coach. My hope is that the league believes what the BTN is spewing...but I doubt opposing coaches do. It won't matter; Purdue will regain some of its footing this season as the Forces of Good re-establish themselves in the upper third of the conference.

21 wins before the NCAA tournament and another win in the real first round will be a big step forward is what I see happening this season.

Team MVP, All BT Hammons
DPOY, All BT defense Scott
Newcomer of the year, BT Honorable mention Peck
All BT 2nd team TJohn/RonJohn

 

 

Your turn -- are any of us close? Let us know in the comments.