Sometimes, if you’re Matt Painter, you have to challenge your players.
Painter’s Purdue teams have become fixtures on the national basketball scene and it wasn’t because they played nice. They thrived with aggression and toughness.
Then came Tuesday’s blowout loss at No. 1 Ohio State. The Buckeyes dominated, in part because of lousy Boiler effort. That, Painter insisted, can’t happen again.
“It was disappointing because I didn’t think I’d have to worry about effort,” he said. “You get worried about matchups or stopping (freshman center) Jared Sullinger or (Ohio State’s) ability to shoot. Effort was something that didn’t concern me, but they out-competed us. We’ll have to get some things done in practice to get better in that area.”
It starts with watching the Ohio State film.
“You try to learn from it,” Painter said. “They’ll see our lack of concentration. Our guys didn’t compete at same level Ohio State did.
“(The coaches) had to watch it. Now they have to watch it. If they come out with the same mindset and lack of toughness, it can happen again.”
Ohio State has a two-game lead on the rest of the Big Ten at basically the midpoint of the conference season. It is not, Painter said, insurmountable. Last year Michigan State built a three-game lead only to end in a tie with Purdue and Ohio State.
“Last year we were in the same position,” Painter said. “You’ll need help from other schools.
“Our goal is to win the Big Ten, but we have to put our concentration on Minnesota.”
The No. 12 Boilers (17-4 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten) will host the No. 16 Gophers (16-4, 5-3) Saturday.
Minnesota already has beaten Purdue once, 70-67 in Minneapolis two weeks ago. The Gophers have won four straight.
Without point guard Al Nolen, who is out with a broken right foot, shooting guard Blake Hoffarber has taken over the point. He had 20 points and four assists from the position in Wednesday night’s win over Northwestern. Hoffarber averages 14.1 points and has 87 assists against 35 turnovers for the season.
“He’s always been a good ball handler,” coach Tubby Smith said, “and he’s going to have to take on a bigger load with Al out.”
Speaking of big, the Gophers started Trevor Mbakwe, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson against Northwestern. The 6-8 Mbakwe had 18 points and 15 rebounds. The 6-10 Iverson had 15 points (all in the second half) and seven rebounds. The 6-11 Sampson added 14 points.
Mbakwe averages 13.4 points and 10.5 rebounds. Sampson averages 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. Iverson is at 6.8 and 5.2.
Smith, however, wouldn’t commit to the big lineup all the time.
“I think matchups really dictate how you play sometimes,” he said. “We have a short bench now, so you have to adjust.”
It helps, Smith added, when Iverson plays to his size.
“He’s starting to keep the ball up and grasp the concept that he’s 6-10 and saying I’d like to stay 6-10 and don’t bring the ball down to his waist.”
Painter’s Purdue teams have become fixtures on the national basketball scene and it wasn’t because they played nice. They thrived with aggression and toughness.
Then came Tuesday’s blowout loss at No. 1 Ohio State. The Buckeyes dominated, in part because of lousy Boiler effort. That, Painter insisted, can’t happen again.
“It was disappointing because I didn’t think I’d have to worry about effort,” he said. “You get worried about matchups or stopping (freshman center) Jared Sullinger or (Ohio State’s) ability to shoot. Effort was something that didn’t concern me, but they out-competed us. We’ll have to get some things done in practice to get better in that area.”
It starts with watching the Ohio State film.
“You try to learn from it,” Painter said. “They’ll see our lack of concentration. Our guys didn’t compete at same level Ohio State did.
“(The coaches) had to watch it. Now they have to watch it. If they come out with the same mindset and lack of toughness, it can happen again.”
Ohio State has a two-game lead on the rest of the Big Ten at basically the midpoint of the conference season. It is not, Painter said, insurmountable. Last year Michigan State built a three-game lead only to end in a tie with Purdue and Ohio State.
“Last year we were in the same position,” Painter said. “You’ll need help from other schools.
“Our goal is to win the Big Ten, but we have to put our concentration on Minnesota.”
The No. 12 Boilers (17-4 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten) will host the No. 16 Gophers (16-4, 5-3) Saturday.
Minnesota already has beaten Purdue once, 70-67 in Minneapolis two weeks ago. The Gophers have won four straight.
Without point guard Al Nolen, who is out with a broken right foot, shooting guard Blake Hoffarber has taken over the point. He had 20 points and four assists from the position in Wednesday night’s win over Northwestern. Hoffarber averages 14.1 points and has 87 assists against 35 turnovers for the season.
“He’s always been a good ball handler,” coach Tubby Smith said, “and he’s going to have to take on a bigger load with Al out.”
Speaking of big, the Gophers started Trevor Mbakwe, Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson against Northwestern. The 6-8 Mbakwe had 18 points and 15 rebounds. The 6-10 Iverson had 15 points (all in the second half) and seven rebounds. The 6-11 Sampson added 14 points.
Mbakwe averages 13.4 points and 10.5 rebounds. Sampson averages 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. Iverson is at 6.8 and 5.2.
Smith, however, wouldn’t commit to the big lineup all the time.
“I think matchups really dictate how you play sometimes,” he said. “We have a short bench now, so you have to adjust.”
It helps, Smith added, when Iverson plays to his size.
“He’s starting to keep the ball up and grasp the concept that he’s 6-10 and saying I’d like to stay 6-10 and don’t bring the ball down to his waist.”
