Express Thoughts from the Weekend

GoldandBlack.com’s Express Three Thoughts from the Weekend column runs every Monday morning, with analysis of Purdue football, Boilermaker men’s basketball, recruiting or whatever else comes to mind. In this week’s edition, we break down Purdue basketball’s tour de force in Portland, football’s handling of the pressure that came with the game at Indiana and much more. Note: Purdue jumped from 24th to 5th in the AP rankings on Nov. 29.

ON ZACH EDEY

So of all the revelations that came out around Purdue’s upstart basketball team this week in Portland, there’s this: Validation of centerpiece Zach Edey as one of the best and most important players in America.

Purdue’s felt that way about the massive center, so maybe such validation wasn’t needed behind the scenes, but now everyone has been made aware. Edey has been exceptional for Purdue thus far this season and was very much so in Portland. He’s been great on offense, great on the glass, great on defense and razor-sharp as a passer and decision-maker as he takes on a role he never before has carried. He’s been consistent and he’s been clutch.

Edey was already a really good college player, but so much has changed around him that it really set up the opportunity for him to make a jump from really good to great. More minutes, more responsibility, etc.

There’s a long season ahead obviously and November results’ staying power isn’t always infinite, but Edey has been great, so great that it’s clear that the foundation Purdue’s whole team is constructed upon is rock solid and this winning formula is sustainable.

ON PURDUE FOOTBALL

Purdue had to win that game at Indiana. Had to. You can’t come that close to a championship and let your sad-sack rival screw it all up for you.

But that’s hard, all that pressure, having everything to lose.

That was a hell of an accomplishment for Purdue, winning that second half at Indiana, and really leaving no doubt about it, because that was not an easy position to be in.

Maybe Purdue was tight to open the game, same way basketball may have been a little tight to open the Gonzaga and Duke games, but when the real pressure hit, Purdue rose to the occasion, and that’s a hell of a credit to those Boilermaker players — especially Aidan O’Connell given his circumstances — and coaches alike. Purdue’s various albatrosses this season — turnovers, penalties, egregious defensive gaffes — did any of them really materialize when Purdue had the most on the line? Purdue’s needed to just be more solid all season, and found its footing when it needed it most. Look, I know the 30-16 final and a halftime deficit look a certain way, but the pertinent margin is the 27-3 second half score before IU put a coat of paint on the final score with a most irrelevant touchdown. That’s called leaving no doubt.

Championships don’t come around often for Purdue football. This was an opportunity that could not be squandered. Had it been squandered, it would have been an all-time facepalm moment around here.

Purdue rose to the occasion.

Now, after having everything to lose at Indiana, Purdue has nothing to lose against Michigan. Throw caution to the wind, run around like crazy people, open that playbook and see what happens. And make sure the Lucas Oil people are certain there’s air conditioning and perhaps a nice fruit basket in the Wolverines’ locker room.

ON PURDUE BASKETBALL

Without getting too gushy or whatever over what happened this week in Portland, I’ll say this: This was further validation that Matt Painter has this stuff figured out, because a rebuilding year suddenly now looks like a reloading year.

This is another Purdue team that I suspect the rank-and-file observer might not immediately understand, like that last Big Ten championship team that regularly had reporters after games asking about Grady Eifert like he had two heads or something.

Painter values things that may not hit the mainstream over the head. Eifert was the example. Braden Smith is another. Brian Waddell will be another. Who else recruited Zach Edey again? Painter knows what works for him, or what works, period, and knows how to team build. He knows what kind of players work for him, and work period, and that’s his sole focus. Very few coaches at this level would have been comfortable enough in their own skin to recruit any of those guys.

But this also isn’t rocket science.

How college basketball coaches don’t bend over backwards to recruit shooting, I’ll never understand. Seems important to me, and look what kind of difference it has made at Purdue, as Painter’s transformed from bull-headed play-hard defensive guy into full-blown offensive mastermind. He gave Gonzaga and Duke the business this weekend with all those sets and all those screens and all that cutting.

Duke has one of the best recruiting classes ever assembled learning on the job right now, but that team can’t shoot. Maybe they should have at least sent Fletcher Loyer a letter or something. It’s not like the game is trending toward the three-pointer or anything.

Purdue has won a hell of a lot of games under Painter, and truth be told he’s only now becoming his best coaching self, one of the best in his sport. I know that’s a mouthful and probably a trigger for the March-success crowd, but you know what happens when you keep putting together good teams one on top of the other, and you keep reloading when you’re supposed to be rebuilding? The glass ceiling eventually cracks.

Painter lost a lottery pick, a second All-American and a boatload of experience from one of the best teams in America last season. He has a team that returns barely a third of its minutes played from last season. He’s starting two freshman guards and a guy who averaged 2.4 points in less than 15 minutes a season ago.

And Purdue didn’t just beat Gonzaga and Duke, but undressed them. In a few days, Purdue will again have a single-digit number next to its name, with a group well-wired to handle all that comes with it, because Painter knows what he wants, has done a great job getting it and now can enjoy the ride.