Much-anticipated season awaits top 5 Purdue; hopes to erase March nightmares
Christmas has arrived for college basketball programs as many tip their 2023-24 seasons off tonight.
For the Purdue Boilermakers it’s arguably the most anticipated season ever.
To be honest, this season couldn’t come soon enough for the loaded Boilermakers after last season’s historic loss in the NCAA Tournament to No. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson. It was the second time in NCAA history that a No. 1 seed fell to a No. 16.
It’s been an excruciating six months for Matt Painter’s program since that shocking loss last March.
Credit Painter, he hasn’t played the blame game at all.
He takes full responsibility for Purdue losing to five double-digit seeds in its last 10 NCAA Tournament trips.
“There’s one common denominator,” the 19th-year Boilermaker boss said.
Painter is the one common denominator and like it or not a program’s success is largely based on how it performs in March Madness.
Painter knows the only way to truly exorcise Purdue’s demons from the past NCAA Tournaments is to get to the Final Four in 2024.
“I want it for both our current & former players,” he says.
Painter has led the Boilermakers to unparalleled success on the hardwood at least prior to the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue is coming off of back-to-back seasons in which it was ranked No. 1 in the country. Prior to 2021, the Boilermakers had never been ranked No. 1.
In the last seven NCAA Tournaments, Purdue has been a No. 5 seed or better.
And the Boilermakers tied for their program’s most wins last year with 29, including 15-5 in the Big Ten.
Purdue won added to its league-leading number of Big Ten regular-season championships and took home its second ever Big Ten Tournament championship.
However, it’s the Final Four drought that continues to be the black cloud hovering over the program.
Purdue is nearing 45 years since last appearing in a national semi-final (1980).
Of course Painter and Co. came within an eyelash of snapping the Final Four drought in 2019, but Virginia pulled off a miraculous play to break the hearts of Boilermaker Nation.
Speaking of Virginia, it was the Cavaliers who were the first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournaments to lose to a 16 in 2018 and used that for motivation to win the national championship the very next season.
Purdue would love nothing better than to see history repeat itself and be the team cutting down the nets in Phoenix in April.
At least on paper the Boilermakers’ chances are as good as any for reaching the Final Four.
They return 7-foot-4 monster Zach Edey, the reigning national player of the year, who could become the first player since Ralph Sampson to be named the top college player in back-to-back seasons.
Edey has a shot to also become Purdue’s all-time leading scorer, passing the legendary Rick Mount.
Will the Boilermakers use Edey any differently than they did last season? Doubtful. He was dominate on the blocks and no team had an answer for the Toronto big man who didn’t foul out of a game a year ago.
What Purdue has to make sure of is that Edey takes more shots.
With Edey, the Boilermaker front line is loaded.
Trey Kaufman-Renn is going to be a special player. The 6-9 sophomore has first-team All-Big Ten potential. He has a knack for putting the ball in the hoop on the low blocks, plus look for him to expand his game this year and become more of a threat from the outside.
Expect Kaufman-Renn’s game to really take off with him starting alongside Edey.
We also know who two of the other starters will be – sophomore guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.
Smith was better than most thought last year. He made a positive influence as a true freshman, which is very rare for a point guard.
Look for Smith to get better and better. He has to cut down his turnovers, too many of them of the unforced variety.
Loyer showed just what kind of a shooter he can be at this level. Like Smith, his best days are ahead. You have to hope the season doesn’t wear on him like it did last year. You would think with a year under his belt, Loyer, whose defensive game needs to improve, wouldn’t have as many inconsistent nights as he did last season. He needs to continue attacking the basket as usually good things happen when he takes the ball to the rim. Always settling for a triple isn’t necessarily the best thing for Loyer’s game.
If the two exhibition games are any indication, the other starting spot will at least for the time being go to transfer guard Lance Jones, giving the Boilermakers a three-guard lineup and one that is better on the defensive end.
Jones definitely looks the part from a physical standpoint. At Illinois State, he was known for his prowess on defense and his ability to get steals. He can also knock down the outside shot. We will see how his shooting is at the Power Five level.
Of course senior Mason Gillis is right there, too contending for a starting spot. Gillis gives you everything you could want in a player. He hustles his rear off and can really do a number on the glass. If Purdue is to make a deep run in March, Gillis must become more consistent from distance. He showed just how deadly he can be from long range when he set a Mackey Arena record last year with nine against Penn State.
6-10 Caleb Furst really needs to elevate his game or he won’t be happy with his playing time. The former Indiana Mr. Basketball is a better finisher around the basket and at the free throw line is a must for the junior.
Because of how well senior guard Ethan Morton takes care of the basketball is why the former Pennsylvania Mr. Basketball sees as many minutes as he does. The problem for Morton is his lack of consistent shooting allows opponents to not pay much attention to him on the offensive end. Painter likes his 6-7 frame, but Morton, as was the case with the entire Purdue team last season, can really struggle with pressing teams and overall pressure defense.
It remains to be seen just how much 6-8 guard Matt Waddell and 7-2 center Will Berg play.
The team’s two newcomers – redshirt freshman Cam Heide and freshman Myles Colvin – really take Purdue’s athleticism to another level.
Heide is a 6-7 jumping jack, who has impressed the coaching staff with his ability to knock down outside shots.
Colvin is a top 55 high school player in the Class of 2023 who was one of the best in Indiana. He can really excel in the open floor and can be deadly in transition.
How much will Heide and Colvin play, especially in hotly contested games remains to be seen. No doubt Purdue will need players like Waddell, Berg, Heide and/or Colvin to improve as the season progresses and give this team positive minutes now and then.
As you can see, the Boilermakers are again a deep team. Just how deep Painter goes will be interesting to see. Some of his players just aren’t good matchups with ultra-athletic, long teams.
Purdue, along with Michigan State, are favored to compete for the Big Ten championship, but keep an eye on Maryland, Illinois and maybe Wisconsin.
It should be another stellar year in the Big Ten with the parity being as good as ever, not to mention some of the star power.
Purdue’s schedule is as tough as it has ever been.
In a week Xavier will come to town before the Boilermakers head to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational later this month. On the island, Purdue will face No. 11 Gonzaga, possibly No. 9 Tennessee and potentially top-ranked Kansas (No. 5 Marquette and No. 8 Creighton are also playing in the tournament.
Next month Purdue will travel to Toronto to battle 24th-ranked Alabama and plays No. 12 Arizona in Indianapolis (for the complete schedule go to https://purduesports.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/).
So the journey begins tonight against Samford (which won its conference a year ago) in Mackey Arena, a journey Purdue fans hope is memorable for all the right reasons and doesn’t include a nightmarish end which is something that has become all too familiar in West Lafayette.
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