The Purdue Game

[Wunky]

Look… I’m not gonna pretend I wasn’t elated after the Purdue game, just like 99% of the fanbase was. I’m not gonna pretend we weren’t crowing and talking mad trash to all our rivals.

But if we’re being honest (and by we I mean everyone who frequents this board, be they real UK fans or hater trolls from other schools), that Purdue team could beat this current UK product with one hand tied behind their backs.

You CANNOT, in any universe, explain that away by simply saying “it was only an exhibition”. You just can’t. Purdue has 2 All-Americans. They have guys with COMPETITIVE FIRE. Guys who have played together for years. You can’t tell me they didn’t come into Rupp looking to prove a point — exhibition or not. Braden Smith in particular is a HUGE trash talker, and arguably the best PG in the country. We made him look pedestrian, without Jaland Lowe. Kauffman-Wrenn was ineffective… without Jayden Quaintance.

Everybody talks about what happened in the locker room before the Louisville game. But that isn’t when the switch flipped. It flipped between Purdue and Georgetown. Night and day. And I mean it was something BAD. I’m talking cancer diagnosis, cheating wife, fist fight in practice at bare minimum kind of bad. You’ll never convince me otherwise.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Hard to disagree

 

[It'saDoneDeal]

It's odd to me that so many fans like you focus so much on one exhibition game at home, which wasn't even like it was some high-level great performance, while at the same time ignoring:

Georgetown
Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Getting annihilated by Gonzaga
Alabama
Mizzou

Seems like the sample size is pretty damn large at this point, no?

These dudes just aren't good. Otega Oweh is a roleplayer who doesn't know what to do now that he doesn't have Koby Brea, Almador, or Jax opening up lanes for him. He doesn't make anyone around him better. He's probably the worst preseason SEC POTY pick of all-time, which I still wasn't buying well before the season. We don't have playmakers, we don't have shooters, we don't have anything resembling elite or NBA level talent outside of JQ.

We could play back this season 100 times and the results would mostly be the same. This is just a bad team. Any improvements will be marginal.

 

[Wunky]

It's odd to me that so many fans like you focus so much on one exhibition game at home, which wasn't even like it was some high-level great performance, while at the same time ignoring:

Georgetown
Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Getting annihilated by Gonzaga
Alabama
Mizzou

Seems like the sample size is pretty damn large at this point, no?

These dudes just aren't good. Otega Oweh is a roleplayer who doesn't know what to do now that he doesn't have Koby Brea, Almador, or Jax opening up lanes for him. He doesn't make anyone around him better. He's probably the worst preseason SEC POTY pick of all-time, which I still wasn't buying well before the season. We don't have playmakers, we don't have shooters, we don't have anything resembling elite or NBA level talent outside of JQ.

We could play back this season 100 times and the results would mostly be the same. This is just a bad team. Any improvements will be marginal.

I agree with everything you just said, EXCEPT that it wasn’t a “high level, great performance”. Go back and watch the tape. Watch the ball movement. It was a glimpse of what this team WAS actually capable of, no matter how bereft of NBA talent they might be. And then it was gone, never to return.

By the way, I’m not ignoring any of those games you listed. It’s clear who/what this team is at this point. What I’m arguing is that it wasn’t necessarily their destiny to be this bad.

edit: I personally believe the players initially had respect for Pope, and then lost it. And that there was a specific catalyst for this… not just his normal cheesy dialogue.

 

[20MRoster]

It's odd to me that so many fans like you focus so much on one exhibition game at home, which wasn't even like it was some high-level great performance, while at the same time ignoring:

Georgetown
Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Getting annihilated by Gonzaga
Alabama
Mizzou

Seems like the sample size is pretty damn large at this point, no?

These dudes just aren't good. Otega Oweh is a roleplayer who doesn't know what to do now that he doesn't have Koby Brea, Almador, or Jax opening up lanes for him. He doesn't make anyone around him better. He's probably the worst preseason SEC POTY pick of all-time, which I still wasn't buying well before the season. We don't have playmakers, we don't have shooters, we don't have anything resembling elite or NBA level talent outside of JQ.

We could play back this season 100 times and the results would mostly be the same. This is just a bad team. Any improvements will be marginal.

This is exactly how I feel. The team last year had the same lapses in focus, slow starts, etc. Difference is they had elite shooters that could get hot and overcome the lack of game prep. It's not like this team is showing anomalous behavior compared to last year.

If the theory of something bad happening were true, just how bad can it be? If the theory of fistfight, or some issues with a girl, are true, then this team is just a bunch of Grade A pussies. I mean, Michael Jordan punched Steve Kerr in practice. That same season Jordan passed to Kerr, who hit a 3 to win a finals game en route to a title. How the f can a fistfight get a bunch of D1 athletes shook so bad? The girl ****, the whole world in all walks of life deals with **** like that. Get the **** over it.

The answer is usually the most simple one -- we have a bad coach who picked the wrong/ bad players to form a team with.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

This is exactly how I feel. The team last year had the same lapses in focus, slow starts, etc. Difference is they had elite shooters that could get hot and overcome the lack of game prep. It's not like this team is showing anomalous behavior compared to last year.

If the theory of something bad happening were true, just how bad can it be? If the theory of fistfight, or some issues with a girl, are true, then this team is just a bunch of Grade A pussies. I mean, Michael Jordan punched Steve Kerr in practice. That same season Jordan passed to Kerr, who hit a 3 to win a finals game en route to a title. How the f can a fistfight get a bunch of D1 athletes shook so bad? The girl ****, the whole world in all walks of life deals with **** like that. Get the **** over it.

The answer is usually the most simple one -- we have a bad coach who picked the wrong/ bad players to form a team with.

Jordan punches Kerr ——> works out
Draymond Green punches Jordan Poole —-> doesn’t work out

People have different personalities and beefs can be squashed, some can’t. Look at 50 Cent/The Game never worked out. Sometimes personalities clash. I do agree that SOMETHING likely happened somewhere. It doesn’t absolve the coach.

 

[Aike]

The laziest possible take is “this team just doesn’t have talent.”

We’ve seen midmajors with no NBA players run to the Final Four through superior teamwork and cohesion.

Play like we want to be on the floor together. Take care of the ball. Make the extra pass. Defend.

Do those things and still get beaten some nights because we’re ice cold? I can live with that.

But this group hasn’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be a team. Giving them a pass for “having no talent” is a cop out.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

The laziest possible take is “this team just doesn’t have talent.”

We’ve seen midmajors with no NBA players run to the Final Four through superior teamwork and cohesion.

Play like we want to be on the floor together. Take care of the ball. Make the extra pass. Defend.

Do those things and still get beaten some nights because we’re ice cold? I can live with that.

But this group hasn’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be a team. Giving them a pass for “having no talent” is a cop out.

Yep. Something most definitely happened to team chemistry. Not a doubt in my mind. I think Oweh had just came back or was still out. Can’t remember.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

Look… I’m not gonna pretend I wasn’t elated after the Purdue game, just like 99% of the fanbase was. I’m not gonna pretend we weren’t crowing and talking mad trash to all our rivals.

But if we’re being honest (and by we I mean everyone who frequents this board, be they real UK fans or hater trolls from other schools), that Purdue team could beat this current UK product with one hand tied behind their backs.

You CANNOT, in any universe, explain that away by simply saying “it was only an exhibition”. You just can’t. Purdue has 2 All-Americans. They have guys with COMPETITIVE FIRE. Guys who have played together for years. You can’t tell me they didn’t come into Rupp looking to prove a point — exhibition or not. Braden Smith in particular is a HUGE trash talker, and arguably the best PG in the country. We made him look pedestrian, without Jaland Lowe. Kauffman-Wrenn was ineffective… without Jayden Quaintance.

Everybody talks about what happened in the locker room before the Louisville game. But that isn’t when the switch flipped. It flipped between Purdue and Georgetown. Night and day. And I mean it was something BAD. I’m talking cancer diagnosis, cheating wife, fist fight in practice at bare minimum kind of bad. You’ll never convince me otherwise.

It was a game nobody took serious. I don’t know why people think exhibitions are serious business. I said it after the game. Purdue turned out to be a great team like I expected and we suck.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

It's odd to me that so many fans like you focus so much on one exhibition game at home, which wasn't even like it was some high-level great performance, while at the same time ignoring:

Georgetown
Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Getting annihilated by Gonzaga
Alabama
Mizzou

Seems like the sample size is pretty damn large at this point, no?

These dudes just aren't good. Otega Oweh is a roleplayer who doesn't know what to do now that he doesn't have Koby Brea, Almador, or Jax opening up lanes for him. He doesn't make anyone around him better. He's probably the worst preseason SEC POTY pick of all-time, which I still wasn't buying well before the season. We don't have playmakers, we don't have shooters, we don't have anything resembling elite or NBA level talent outside of JQ.

We could play back this season 100 times and the results would mostly be the same. This is just a bad team. Any improvements will be marginal.

Maybe so, but Oweh is the only one who looks like he belongs here 90% of the time.

 

[wildcat111]

Look… I’m not gonna pretend I wasn’t elated after the Purdue game, just like 99% of the fanbase was. I’m not gonna pretend we weren’t crowing and talking mad trash to all our rivals.

But if we’re being honest (and by we I mean everyone who frequents this board, be they real UK fans or hater trolls from other schools), that Purdue team could beat this current UK product with one hand tied behind their backs.

You CANNOT, in any universe, explain that away by simply saying “it was only an exhibition”. You just can’t. Purdue has 2 All-Americans. They have guys with COMPETITIVE FIRE. Guys who have played together for years. You can’t tell me they didn’t come into Rupp looking to prove a point — exhibition or not. Braden Smith in particular is a HUGE trash talker, and arguably the best PG in the country. We made him look pedestrian, without Jaland Lowe. Kauffman-Wrenn was ineffective… without Jayden Quaintance.

Everybody talks about what happened in the locker room before the Louisville game. But that isn’t when the switch flipped. It flipped between Purdue and Georgetown. Night and day. And I mean it was something BAD. I’m talking cancer diagnosis, cheating wife, fist fight in practice at bare minimum kind of bad. You’ll never convince me otherwise.

Yeah, I said WFT several times, but we may never know. Pope is not going to spill the beans.

 

[wildcat111]

It's odd to me that so many fans like you focus so much on one exhibition game at home, which wasn't even like it was some high-level great performance, while at the same time ignoring:

Georgetown
Louisville
Michigan State
North Carolina
Getting annihilated by Gonzaga
Alabama
Mizzou

Seems like the sample size is pretty damn large at this point, no?

These dudes just aren't good. Otega Oweh is a roleplayer who doesn't know what to do now that he doesn't have Koby Brea, Almador, or Jax opening up lanes for him. He doesn't make anyone around him better. He's probably the worst preseason SEC POTY pick of all-time, which I still wasn't buying well before the season. We don't have playmakers, we don't have shooters, we don't have anything resembling elite or NBA level talent outside of JQ.

We could play back this season 100 times and the results would mostly be the same. This is just a bad team. Any improvements will be marginal.

Yeah, and it is the most expensive college basketball team in history. Is Pope really that bad in judging talent??

 

[Cowtown Cat]

It was a game nobody took serious. I don’t know why people think exhibitions are serious business. I said it after the game. Purdue turned out to be a great team like I expected and we suck.

That still doesn’t explain why the ball sticks now and didn’t then. Not to mention, the fight and effort to win. We don’t see that now.

 

[20MRoster]

The laziest possible take is “this team just doesn’t have talent.”

We’ve seen midmajors with no NBA players run to the Final Four through superior teamwork and cohesion.

Play like we want to be on the floor together. Take care of the ball. Make the extra pass. Defend.

Do those things and still get beaten some nights because we’re ice cold? I can live with that.

But this group hasn’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be a team. Giving them a pass for “having no talent” is a cop out.

I thought this team would be mediocre before the preseason game, and they've turned out to be mediocre. Just because the media and a lot of fans fawned over them in pre-season doesn't change the fact that several people had similar reservations.

To you, it may seem like some unexpected external force needed to derail the train off its tracks, whereas to me I saw an old broken down train with a blind conductor from the jump.

 

[20MRoster]

Jordan punches Kerr ——> works out
Draymond Green punches Jordan Poole —-> doesn’t work out

People have different personalities and beefs can be squashed, some can’t. Look at 50 Cent/The Game never worked out. Sometimes personalities clash. I do agree that SOMETHING likely happened somewhere. It doesn’t absolve the coach.

Very comforting to know that the mighty UK ball program is analogous to Jordan Poole. Talk about a fall from grace.

 

[20MRoster]

That still doesn’t explain why the ball sticks now and didn’t then. Not to mention, the fight and effort to win. We don’t see that now.

The team had on and off "fight and effort" issues since Pope took over as coach. It's not new. Last year the players had pride and, more importantly, ability, to overcome it.

 

[I’m The Village Idiot]

Very comforting to know that the mighty UK ball program is analogous to Jordan Poole. Talk about a fall from grace.

I think the analogy was more about the high degree of variance between one locker room situation and another based on a myriad of factors. Not every teammate punches another to improve roster chemistry lol.

 

[tinfoil]

The mods need to control the blah blah blah.

 

[Aike]

I thought this team would be mediocre before the preseason game, and they've turned out to be mediocre. Just because the media and a lot of fans fawned over them in pre-season doesn't change the fact that several people had similar reservations.

To you, it may seem like some unexpected external force needed to derail the train off its tracks, whereas to me I saw an old broken down train with a blind conductor from the jump.

Ok

 

[20MRoster]

So let's look at it this way -- why do they beat the brakes off every cupcake? If some fight after the Purdue game traumatized their innocent souls so much, why does the "team spirit" seem to make a return against sub-250 teams?

 

[Kyhoward1]

There

The laziest possible take is “this team just doesn’t have talent.”

We’ve seen midmajors with no NBA players run to the Final Four through superior teamwork and cohesion.

Play like we want to be on the floor together. Take care of the ball. Make the extra pass. Defend.

Do those things and still get beaten some nights because we’re ice cold? I can live with that.

But this group hasn’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be a team. Giving them a pass for “having no talent” is a cop out.

Agree, there is talent, but individual talent itself does not a team make. Butler went to 2 consecutive Final Fours with only 1 future NBA player and mid-major talent. Yes, they had a very good coach.

The Village Idiot posted a few days ago the talent on championship teams by their high school star ranking and the majority of these winners were not 5-star loaded rosters but 3/4 stars and some 0 and 1 star players. Talent is important but the ability to forecast how players will mesh and grow as a team is of utmost importance especially in this portal era. You can watch tape but have little time to determine a players personality or determination to succeed.

I heard little negative chatter on this forum and from the basketball pundits in the preseason. In fact, most were predicting Final Four/National Championship possibilities.

What went wrong and when? I don’t know the answer to what or when. My guess is the strange situation that CMP stated occurred in the locker room prior to the UofL game. From that game forward, besides terrible execution in every phase of the game, the effort has not been evident. You don’t give effort if you don’t care and I think that dissension between players and/or players and coaches occurred initially vs UofL and has continued.

I believe the talent on this roster far exceeds the results thus far. If dissension is present, players are not mentally tough, and NIL dollars are more important component than winning you get this on-going train wreck. You lose, yet you still get paid! Money makes the sting of losing more palatable.

 

[KyKevin]

Maybe so, but Oweh is the only one who looks like he belongs here 90% of the time.

Moreno has played well also, I like his effort.

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

I agree with everything you just said, EXCEPT that it wasn’t a “high level, great performance”. Go back and watch the tape. Watch the ball movement. It was a glimpse of what this team WAS actually capable of, no matter how bereft of NBA talent they might be. And then it was gone, never to return.

By the way, I’m not ignoring any of those games you listed. It’s clear who/what this team is at this point. What I’m arguing is that it wasn’t necessarily their destiny to be this bad.

edit: I personally believe the players initially had respect for Pope, and then lost it. And that there was a specific catalyst for this… not just his normal cheesy dialogue.

Go back and watch how many bunnies Purdue misses

 

[OneWayStreet]

Purdue guy here. Painter has been playing these exhibition games now for over a decade. They started as closed exhibitions at West Virginia against Huggins teams. They were not televised but evidently Purdue typically lost those closed exhibitions scrimmages routinely. At some point they became "charity" exhibitions - the last three years were against Arkansas, Creaighton and Kentucky. We've lost everyone one of them. Meanwhile going something like 34 and 1 in November during that stretch winning Maui, Phil Knight and the Bahamas, achieving a number 1 ranking each year and a national championship appearance.

So why does Purdue lose these games every year and take advantage of the loss? One, Painter puts the team in tough road environments for the experience. Two, he seems to run sets that aren't typical Purdue sets. Especially on defense. This year we didn't drop, double the post, contain the dribble and looked completely lost on close outs. All things the team is doing very well right now.

During the exhibition this year, Kentucky had "step in the gym" range without contest from the Boilers at all. Purdue, currently the Kenpon #1 rated offense in the nation, shot 20%.

It has been interesting as a Purdue fan because we write the team off after watching the exhibition and just like a poster above talked about a "light switch" being turned on, we seem to turn it on after those losses.

I did think after watching that game though, that UK was going to be very, very tough and have been surprised at the early play of your team. I do like your coach and think he is trying to figure out how to manage high level players.

 

[CRZ4UK]

Yeah, I said WFT several times, but we may never know. Pope is not going to spill the beans.

One thing I haven’t seen floated is the money. Reports that we spent 22 million could be the issue. We know recruits don’t want to sign with JMI.
They way I read things is JMI says we will TRY to get you 2 million with our corporate partners. The kid signs expecting 2 million. We don’t Have the money yet like a collective does. JMI can’t raise enough and players are not getting what was promised.
UL had 2 running backs fake injuries and not play because their checks came in smaller that week. No Pay, No play.
Im wondering if JMI promised these huge sums and can’t come thru. Pope absolutely can not let that out if true.

 

[CRZ4UK]

Yeah, and it is the most expensive college basketball team in history. Is Pope really that bad in judging talent??

I believe that number came from what JMI told the players they could raise.