It used to be that if a team came to Mackey, they'd be in for a street fight. Heck, even when Purdue was more of a finesse team with JJ as their leader, they were an absolute mother on the court.
But this Purdue team can't defend the other team, they can't defend home court, can't defend it's honor in the midst of disrespect (ref. Sheehey on Wednesday) and probably most-importantly, this team isn't willing to defend itself and stick together.
Painter's never been a guy to chew on officials, but this season started poorly when Painter allowed officials to dictate too much in Madison Square Garden. Purdue lost that game v. 'Nova because of its lack of fight and grit.
Purdue got pushed around by MSU in East Lansing, both during the game and after the whistle...and the end result was a 20 point defeat.
Most recently, Purdue has been pushed around by good and not-so-good teams...and due to their lack of fortitude, they haven't even competed.
It's clear that this Purdue team, as it stands won't be a thing of beauty on offense...and if you can't be pretty, it's time to get down in the dirt and get ugly...But egos seem to be standing in the way of that.
I read an article today on another Purdue site that talked about giving up on this Purdue team as a fan...you know what we think of that idea if you read this site regularly. But right now, Purdue's players seem to be extremely worried about the name on the back of the jerseys and don't care about the name on the front. Sadly for them, they're making themselves look pretty lousy by not being willing to sell out for their teammates.
I've heard people on Twitter and on message boards question whether the guys on this team liked each other and I think that's a fair question to ask. Chemistry is important in basketball...and this team has none- no cohesiveness, no common goal, on unity and their record shows that.
I simply can't believe this deep into the season that youth is the entire reason for Purdue's woes. And as much as recruiting misses hurt this program, it's really not fair to say that's the reason Purdue is losing right now.
Here's why: Of Purdue's 8 or 9 man rotation, SIX of them were four-star recruits who had offers from damned good programs...and these guys all aren't one position- a pure PG, a combo guard, a pair of SGs, a SF and a C...all highly-touted...all good as individuals...none meshing together to form a team.
Until they figure out how to play together...how to fight for something together, nothing is going to change.