Identity Crisis in West Lafayette
By ZACH VOGT
ISL Writer
The foundation of Purdue basketball has always been built on a few core principles: defense, toughness, and relentless effort, regardless of the situation or the score. These values have defined every Boilermaker team dating back to the Gene Keady era, when they were the program’s identity. At 13–1 and coming off a dominant road win at Wisconsin — a night that also saw Braden Smith break the Big Ten’s all-time assists record — Purdue once again embodied what it means to be a Boilermaker. Winning with hard-nosed defense, physicality, suffocating pressure on both ends of the floor, and an undeniable passion, this team looked every bit like what it was built to be.
Then came a home game on January 7 against Washington — a game Purdue won. Then they won again, and again, and again after that: four consecutive victories following the convincing win in Madison. With each win, however, the sense of disconnect grew stronger. Lapses in focus, sloppiness, and a lack of attention to detail became increasingly apparent. Purdue beat Washington by eight, Penn State by eight, rallied for a seven-point win over Iowa, and then mounted a 14-point comeback only to beat USC by five. Purdue kept winning basketball games, but the fire they were playing with grew larger and larger. Eventually, it would burst into flames.
Purdue ended its West Coast trip with a two-point loss at UCLA, capped by a game-winning three from Tyler Bilodeau in the final seconds. The Boilers were then knocked off at home for the second time this season when Illinois rattled off four three-pointers in the final three minutes to pull away for an 88–82 win. The sky officially fell Tuesday night in Bloomington, where the Boilermakers were out-hustled, outworked, and outsmarted — and, quite frankly, looked as if they didn’t want to be in Assembly Hall for large stretches of the game. It all came to a head when Lamar Wilkerson tracked down a defensive rebound and both Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith made half-hearted attempts to stop the ball in transition, seemingly conceding a fast-break layup that capped a 14–2 Indiana run.
Indiana would go on to win 72-67 after surviving a second-half comeback effort from the Boilers.
This is not what Purdue basketball is. This is not the “work hard” and “toughness” that used to be labeled on the teams’ practice shorts. This is not the Carsen Edwards wrist tape that read “Kill Everything”. This is not Chris Kramer walking off Keady Court with a bloody, broken nose just to return with a facemask a few minutes later. This is not the Boiler brand.
Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter is typically one to remain very calm in postgame press conferences. He usually talks schematically about what happened in the game and keeps it very basketball centered. Last night he took a different approach:
“From a competition standpoint, you can’t come in and out of competing for loose balls and rebounds. You can’t do that. There are some other things that you can come in and out of, but that piece of the game we have to be better at.”
It was an extremely blunt response from Painter, one that seemed to challenge his staff and, more importantly, his players. Many of Purdue’s issues right now are effort-based and rooted in attention to detail. Rebounding, defensive communication, sloppy turnovers, and missed assignments all stem from focus — and simply wanting to win more than the opponent.
Indiana wanted to win more than Purdue did, and for a team playing a rivalry game — especially coming off two extremely tough losses — to not be the more desperate group is disheartening. There is an identity crisis in West Lafayette right now, and it won’t be resolved until the three seniors decide who they want to be.
Braden Smith. Fletcher Loyer. Trey Kaufman-Renn.
They are the leaders — the core and the soul of this team. Purdue basketball goes as they go, and hopefully, right now, they don’t like where it’s heading.
The bright side to all of this is that it’s only January. Championships aren’t won in January, and Purdue still has every opportunity to decide who it is — and who it wants to be. Will this group be remembered as another preseason No. 1 team that failed to meet expectations and fizzled out, or will it be remembered as the team in Purdue basketball history?
The team that silenced every hater who said they couldn’t do it.
The team that overcame everything.
The team that climbed the mountain and stood atop the college basketball world.
The choice belongs to the three senior leaders.
The choice belongs to the experienced players who follow behind them.
The choice belongs to Matt Painter.
The choice belongs to Purdue.
“Who are we? Let’s find out.”
Purdue returns to action Sunday afternoon at Maryland.
