With every disappointment that I have experienced with Purdue basketball and football, I am having a hard time looking forward to the rest of the season. Right now there are more negatives (rebounding, shooting %, depth, foul troubles, inbounding, etc) than positive (Moore and Hummel). All I can think of right now is the 2004 football team, and we all know how that season ended. I was hoping by now that we would see some consistent play by the freshman but that just isn’t happening. I’m not sure right now if it’s a talent or effort issue. I was trying to be optimistic thinking that they could turn it around after two losses, but I was wrong. They should have come into this game with a chip on their shoulders. Is this a top ten team? No, they’re not even playing like a top 25 team. Sure Northwestern is not a terrible team, but they’re a bubble team at best. How are we going to play in the tournament against better teams away from?

What kills me, is that this was a must win for Purdue. Even great teams lose, but great teams win games when they need to. I was hoping this would be a special season, but its going to be the bad kind of special. Hummel is banged up, JJ is nonexistent, and Kramer has a hurt ankle. Every thing that this team gained in the non-conference season has just been erased over the past week. I’m not sure if I can watch this team implode any more.

I’m doing my best to stay optimistic about this team, but that optimism has been seriously tested over the last 2 weeks (I say that, because the team had problems against Minnesota despite winning that game).

The fate of this team through the rest of the Big Ten season and into March is going to be decided by how the role players perform. Moore has had some FT problems, and JJ has been a bit enigmatic, but they are good players that can work through their issues. Nothing needs to be said about Hummel… he’s been the heart and soul of the team. But, it’s clear that having those three playing well simply will not be enough, especially not in conference play. If this is to be a championship-caliber team, a couple of other guys have to emerge as more complete players. That means Kramer becoming at least a moderate offensive threat. Or Grant finally finding his shot. Or Barlow finally having those flashes of brilliance coalesce into consistent performances. Things like getting Lewis Jackson back can help, but who knows when that will happen and if he’ll be at full strength, and ultimately cannot be counted on.

Being a championship team requires not just your stars to meet expectations, but for your role players to go push their limits and exceed expectations. It’s a tough message for some of these guys to hear I’m sure, because I’m sure they worked hard in the off season and have continued to do so in practice. But the message has to be, going forward, that whatever was good enough to get 14-0 was clearly not good enough to get to 15-0. It wasn’t even good enough to get to an above .500 record in conference play to this point. Those who do not improve throughout the season find themselves with quick exits come March. Don’t worry about winning the Big Ten at this point. Focus on improving every week.

I guess we’ll find out pretty quickly if they can do this.

Token NU fan here. We’re fortunate to catch you when we did – one major player hurt, another starter getting hurt early on and playing through it, and you not playing your best basketball. We’re not giving it back, but I’m damn glad we’re not playing you again. I guarantee we still respect the hell out of Purdue. Good luck going forward.

And are probably my second favorite Big Ten team (after Northwestern). While your chance at a Big Ten title (and top three seed in the tournament) is likely gone after this, I still think the Boilermakers will go far in March. You might need to tone down the agressive defense, because this game proved that you might be in trouble if the officials call the game tight (and they often do in the NCAA tournament). I think a lot of those fouls are fouls that a lot of Big Ten officials wouldn’t call (even though they should). Obviously I’m glad we won, but I’ll be rooting for your team come March, and I expect them to make the Sweet Sixteen (at least), and potentially be a dark horse Final Four contender.

And Chris Kramer: what a defender!

Because our team wouldn’t win the second game against you. Northwestern is downright fortunate that all of the pieces for this team weren’t in play yesterday. I know you guys are still struggling to find scoring depth on the bench, but how many teams have four starters, any of whom can go off and kill a team in a given game? I think no one but Purdue can say that. Definitely, good luck the rest of the way guys, and hope to see you go deep in March.