Purdue Prepares For Visiting IU

... You must realize Purdue is only losing DJ Byrd after this season. Purdue will have a solid, yet young starting lineup next season. We will have shooting guards fighting for starts, along with a possible All-American center. Painter is a good coach and is doing quite well without a Zeller, RobinsonIII, or Gary Harris.

Painter is an above average coach but that is all I will continue to give him. He did recruit poorly for a number of years and that is what has left us high and dry right now. The freshman are good and will get better but Painter has no control over them right now - that needs to change and quickly for next year to show improvement.

Keys to our success - and I do believe this team has the talent to be Top 25 nexy year -

1. Hammons needs to play better D AND stay out of foul trouble. I still see him staying at least thee years. He is far from fully developed which may be the scariest thing about him.

2. Ronnie Johnson needs to play point guard. Don't brag about him scoring 10 points a game. That is only happening because of the pure volume of shots he is taking. When he goes 1 for 9 in a game that;s like adding 5 turnovers to his total. He needs to calm down and learn his role.

3. Painter seems to play games with Lawson, Hale and Davis. There are games where they just seem to have been told not to shoot. These guys need to start shooting. Any game where Raphael Davis does not shoot more than five times is simply a waste. Same for Hale. Ronnie needs to get these guys the ball.

4. Anthony Johnson should get less playing time and next year with TH, RJ, Davis and the two freshman I can't see him playing much at all. I have seen him have a good game but there have been more bad than good.

5. I thought the D was improving and then we had this game. I am with others - this game simply just does not count. IU is an order of magnitude better than us right now. We were young and overwhelmed.



I do not believe Matt Painter is on the hot seat yet -- but he could be if next year is a struggle.

Ronnie has improved his field goal percentage since he has taken less threes and progressed his ability to consistently get to the rim. I am just saying, how good will his numbers/contributions be in a few years!

Purdue likely only loses Byrd, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be loads better. It's these players that have them at 11-10. They will improve, but how much? In this day and age the better players out there aren't seniors, and there are some kids sitting on the bench on some of these good teams that may be better than these Purdue freshman. After Hulls and Watford's freshman year IU had nearly everyone back, there wasn't all that much improvement though. Now obviously this Purdue team is better than the IU team of '10-'11, I'm just saying returning players doesn't guarantee anything. I look at guys like Watford and Hulls and really don't see any difference than who they were when they were sophomores. On the other side, Oladipo has blossomed into a great player and possible future lottery pick, i don't think anybody expected that. You just never know.

We've seen our fair share of guys stall out and guys blossom.  Ryne Smith relative to his freshman and sophomore year was much better his junior senior years (not lights out, but contributed).  Hummel and Moore were so good their freshman year they only got slightly better over their careers.  JJ obviously got 10x better from his freshman year, but you could see the potential.  Then there's a guy like Kramer who was pretty much the same guy his whole career, same with Keaton Grant imo.  You never know, but I see a lot of potential in Davis, Hammons, and Ronnie.  If Ronnie and Davis work on shooting.  Ronnie work on decision making.  Hammons work on defense.  The whole team work on post feeds.  We'll be much better off.

This Hoosier is cheering for you...good luck guys!!!

Hdawg, that was after IU was cleaned out and Creeek was hurt...of course that next year was not that much better...unfair to say that.  Other than that...good points...

Also, Hulls and wat are completely different players all around than they were 3 years ago...just saying..in defense, scoring/driving ability, reading defenses, leadership, shot seleection, etc...bad point as well!!!

We just disagree there. They have both improved on the wide open 3 point shot, that's all I'll say. Hulls is the same kid except now he can't make free throws. He's still solid for 11 points and 3 assists, just like his sophomore year. He's still an all out hustler, but a liability sometimes because of his size. He can hit the long ball better now though like i said. I expected more out of Watford. He's not physical, and way too inconsistent. I'm not saying they suck because they are good players, just to me the same players as 2 years ago. This team turned around when Zeller arrived, Oladipo improved, and depth was built.

#1... Hulls has gotten better every year... just because his numbers don't show great improvement, doesn't mean he hasnt improved... just thought i get that out first because I'm about to RANT!

If you think for a second, that Painter's job is in any sort of jepordy... your high! REALLY HIGH!

lets not loose our perspective here guys... it's only one EFFIN game! we got smoked... big time! but it only counts a 1 loss, that's it...

next years recruiting class is gonna be a good one! Baz Smotherman is back on track after a down junior year, Kendall Stephens is REALLY good, right now, and would probably start on our team this year... and Bryson Scott,,, ROCK SOLID!   i like each one of these guys alot... AND they're all great shooters!


This is an opinion (please keep this in mind)... a couple years ago when we lost Hummel... the first time... we were on our way to the final four,... I dont think your gonna find too many people to argue with that.... but when robbie went down, we had i player over 6-5 that was worth his weight... thats it!   I think that had a huge impact on painter and how he has recruited...
Next year we are gonna have the horses to run with IU... THEY WONT BE READY YET!!! but we'll have them on our team for the first time in years...

Hammons- 7'
Jay Simpson 6-9
Raphal Davis 6-5
Donnie Hale 6-8
Jacob Lawson 6-7
Baz Smotherman 6-6
Kendall Stephens 6-5
... thats a lot of height, size, athletic ability, and talent... and we've been lacking that reciently... someone said it earlier, we have, and have had too many guards for the B1G...

Painter isn't rebuilding... he's transforming!




As for IU... they're good, REALLY GOOD! I believe they are loosing either Zeller or VO... not both... but i think one is likely.They'll be just fine without either one honestly though... Vonleh is SICK... he's gonna be great...........For 1 year! he's one and done for sure (barring any major injury)...
What I'm interested in seeing though... is IU in 2014-2015... without VO, Sheehey, Zeller, and Vonleh...

My opinion is that Indiana's freshman are as good as Purdue's, they just aren't needed because of other players. You're looking 2 years down the road, nobody knows who will be on either roster. I imagine Crean is planning in having students try out to fill those roster spots, as he's proven he can't recruit. He can get the guys everybody wants (Zeller), the guys under the radar (Oladipo), and takes chances others aren't willing to take (D-Wade). As for the Robbie Hummel injuries, sure Purdue would have been a serious final 4 contender, but it's March Madness, nobody can say "we would have made a final 4". Chances are less than 50%.

I'm not predicting anything 2 years down the road.... I'm just interested to see it.... that's all

AGAIN...this is OPINION... 2010 Boilers were final 4 bound..... chances much higher than 50%

I felt bad for the 2010 Boilers...as a true IU fan I was ok with that kid taking Purdue in for a title!  When you say you wonder how IU will be in 2 years w/o Oladipo and Zeller and company...have you not seen this #3 ranked class coming in and the recruits for the follwoing year?  I am not worried a bit.  I think Purdue will be much stronger next year...defense is what is killing them and that killed us the last 2 years so it can be fixed!  I just don't think Painter is going to get it done with recruiting when you look at other Big 10 schools and the fact that Butler and even ND are doing so well in-state.  I remember back around the time I graduated in the late 90's or early 2000's and there were 7 teams from Indiana in the Big Dance...things are better when we are all good. 

Thanks jpault, but I'll say offense is a much bigger issue right now than our defense.

maybe you are right...I have only watched 2 games but you have kids that can score the ball.  Anyway, good luck the rest of the way!

IU's class is 3rd with Vonleh... and if he's one and done, what would that class be ranked without him... and I'm not sure who your talking about when you say recruitS! for the following year... IU only has 1 commit!

I'm sure Crean will get good guys in there... there's no question in my mind... I'm just INTERESTED to see what happens... that's all... 

you are correct one for the following year 2014 but that will change.  Vonleh's dad spoke recently and it led me to believe that Vonleh will play 2 if not 3 but I could be wrong.  You talk like Vonleh is all IU has coming in...check some other names out including Troy Williams and Luke F who some say is as good or better than Cody.  It is all a crap shoot I guess...Perea has not been as advrtised but the NCAA is to blame for that with him sitting out so much.  Anyway, you are pretty sure PU will be on par with IU in the future and I am not....we will see. Again, good luck!

Watch out for Stephen Toyra!

hope you are kidding about Toyra...

I'm not kidding.  If he works real hard he can be better than Boddy Buckets.

Vonleh is all you have coming in that is elite...   take him away and you have a class that looks alot like the purdue classes... meaning 3 and 4 star guys...

granted, VO was a 3 star... thats where the crap shoot comes in... until one of those guys develop into a top tier player, your roster won't be much different than Purdue's... with the exception of Yogi who was a Mac all american

and lets be serious here... whoever said Fischer is or will be better than Zeller needs to be institutionalized...    

Perea is the wildcard here though... after a full offseason (i believe it was a stress fracture that kept him off the court last off-season) and a full preseason... he can dominate... but he can also flop... I belive the true key to IU's sucess next season and the following year is on his (massive) shoulders

Purdue fan, disagree with everything you said in last 2 posts but all opinion...