 |
| Three losses to date. |
It may seem hard to believe it's being asked, but that's a fair question right now. The Purdue basketball team is in trouble if things continue on this path, not because they have had a horrible pre-con, but because the conference is stout, as we all know, and the road is not going to get easier.
I think you can make arguments that Purdue has shown better than it feels right now, with quality wins over Iona and Temple, in which they did not fold down the stretch, even when playing a tempo they didn't want to play.
However, their three losses -- particularly the last two, to Xavier and Butler -- were excruciating and make you begin to wonder how this team will compete in the Big Ten against all the quality big men.
Do they go back to the four guards and a forward approach of a few years ago? Do they hope that a combination of Sandi/Lawson can give them enough quality big man minutes in conference play?
As much as we appreciate and trust in Coach Painter, this will now be a test for him. Purdue not making the NCAA tournament would be a very bad thing for the program and a crushing way for the careers of Smith, Jackson and Hummel to end.
So this week's poll is to the right and it's pretty simple -- in your opinion, is Purdue a tournament team?