Purdue basketball: Matt Painter 15th season should be a special one, too
ROSEMONT, Ill. — It seems so odd that Matt Painter is one of those “elder statesmen’’ in the Big Ten these days. You don’t really notice that during the course of the season, but when you have all 14 coaches in the same room, it’s more obvious.
But here they all were Wednesday at the Big Ten Basketball Media Days. And outside of Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, no one has been at their school longer than the 49-year-old Painter, and it's not even close.
The start to a new season, Painter’s 15th in West Lafayette, is a good reminder that he’s been doing this for a long time. And he’s still learning.
“If you keep learning from your mistakes, you eventually run out of them to make,’’ Painter said with a laugh when asked about the differences in his coaching now compared to 5 or 10 years ago. “I try to let things come to me more now than trying to say I always have the answer immediately. With players, I allow their improvements to come out, or, even, if they don’t really make improvements, let that come out, too. I let things happen organically a little more now, don’t try to force things to happen a certain way.’’
That trait will come in handy this fall after a fun 26-10 season a year ago that included an undefeated season at home, a Big Ten co-championship and an Elite Eight run that ended with a heartbreaking overtime loss to eventual national champion Virginia.
This Purdue team moves forward without all-everything Carsen Edwards, 3-point shooter Ryan Cline and the versatile Grady Eifert. Painter admits you can’t replace them, so he won’t even try.
“Every team has its own identity. We’ve lost those guys, but we’re still going to be pretty good,’’ Painter said.
Painter was asked what it is that he doesn’t know about this team right now that he’s most curious to find out. Needless to say, he went straight to defense.
“Trying to have a great defensive identity is really going to be important,’’ he said. “Last year we were a team that shot a lot of 3s. We weren't very good on defense early. I thought as time went on, we became a better defensive team, but it took us a while. We were never a great defensive team, but we were much better in January and February and March than we were earlier. It never burned us.
“We have a leg up on that this year because we have two guys who are returning starters (center Matt Haarms and forward Nojel English) who are probably two of the better defenders in our league. Trying to find out where we are early is going to be important.’’
Having leaders who have already enjoyed successful careers is also critical, he said.
“Any time you have experience with having success, that’s huge, so it helps having those two guys there,’’ Painter said. “If you have experience getting your ass kicked, who really cares? But these guys have had success, so they know. They’ve won a lot of games already, and they know what it takes to win. And they both have had to sacrifice in the roles that they have had. It’s a good place to start.’’
Purdue has been picked to finish anywhere from second to fourth in the Big Ten this year. It is your typical solid Purdue team, too, not a lot of heavily hyped recruits, but a lot of tough guys with talent who all play the way Painter wants them do. They’ll defend, they’ll rebound and he’s sure they’ll still be capable of scoring enough points to win.
“In the 15 years that I’ve been here, if our teams were ranked based on where our kids were in the recruiting rankings, I wouldn’t have a job,’’ Painter said “I think we’ve done a great job as a staff with player development. Certain schools get kids who are ranked higher, some lower. Everybody puts a big emphasis on recruiting, but they really should put a bigger emphasis on evaluating. Sometimes substance gets lost in evaluation.
“The recruiting rankings are a projection, and sometimes with those rankings, athleticism gets ahead of production. Sometimes you need guys who can make some shots and take care of the ball, but they have heavy feet. You still need those guys. I love those guys, and I love guys who play hard and know how to win.’’
Expectations are what they are, and success breeds success. Painter’s lived it long enough to know what’s true.
“Your line with your fans is your best year,’’ he said. “If you win your league and go to the Elite Eight, you’ve had a great year. But if you finish second and make the Sweet 16 the next year, they think you’ve had a bad year and that’s crazy. That’s a great year, and if they had to coach a team, they’d realize.
“If you listen to the fans, you’ll wind up sitting with them.’’
Painter said the Virginia loss didn’t tear away at him as much as you'd guess.
“It wasn’t as hard as you think. Anytime you have one of those really tough losses and something is out of your control, it’s OK,’’ he said. “Sometimes you get a bad break or someone makes a great play. They made a great play at the end. Circumstances won out on that play. We were still in a position in overtime to win that game, too. It just didn’t go our way.’’
He said he’s never sat down and watched film of the game, but he has seen the crazy ending. “I was walking at the Final Four, and I saw it on the board there,’’ he said.
Life goes on, and this should be another fun Purdue season, one that includes a rematch with Virginia at Mackey Arena on Dec. 3 as part of a very difficult nonconference schedule and the annual 20-game Big Ten gauntlet.
We don’t know how it’s going to end, of course, but at least the beginning is here. And it should be good.
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