My Two Cents: Time to Be Concerned About How Good This Purdue Team Is?

Purdue is just 7-5 and struggling offensively on far too many nights. Should we be worried this team isn't as good as we thought they'd be?

INDIANAPOLIS — Don't let that late run fool you. Butler blew the doors off of Purdue on Saturday in the Crossroads Classic, and there are a number of things that keep popping up with this team that's raising the level of concern pretty high.

Purdue lost 70-61 to No. 17 Butler, and the Boilermakers are now 7-5 on the season. Sure, I give them major props for playing a difficult schedule to get them ready for Big Ten play, but the five losses are alarming. For a team ranked No. 23 in the country to start the season, that's just unacceptable. (Or a top-10 team, for that matter, as kenpom.com calls them.)

Purdue coach Matt Painter, of course, blames that preseason rankings on the pollsters. If they had seen Purdue's early practices, where "guys were running into each other all the time,'' they never would have started there.

But they did, and even I bought in early. I had Purdue No. 3 in my Big Ten power rankings. They won't there Monday when I do the second one, not even close.

There are three things that really concern me so far:

1. Points just never come easy

It's one thing to have nights where you don't knock down shots on the perimeter. Even with good 3-point shooters — and Purdue has those — that's a hit-and-miss thing. But there are too many games when the Boilermakers are missing a lot of shots at the rim, too. 

That happened against Butler. With just six minutes to go in the game, Purdue was shooting 26 percent and there wasn't a single player who had made more than two shots. In four of their five losses, the've shot 33.9 percent from the field, or worse. You just can't win that way, especially against good teams.

"You're going to have some games where you struggle shooting the ball from the perimeter,'' Painter said."But when you get the ball to the rim and you miss layups, especially against a team without a shot blocker (like Butler), it's a problem. 

"That's what I told them in there, our concentration level has got to be better, and that's what we've got to work on, whether that's a post move or a drive or a dumpdown, or an offensive rebound put-back. We had a lot of opportunities in and around the basket that we just didn't finish. We've got to do a better job with that.''

2. Haarms' absence hurts on both ends

Matt Haarms missed his second straight game with a concussion, and it was obvious how much he's missed, and that's on both ends of the court.

Offensively, his absence means that Trevion Williams is the only true post player, and when he has to fly solo, he tries to force too much. He was 2-for-12 shooting at one point on Saturday, and those 10 misses were all within 5 feet of the basket. Haarms makes a lot of those looks.

And on defense, Purdue's tactics change dramatically. They used to be able to funnel penetrators right to Haarms, but now, when somone would get beat on a dribble, it almost always went for a good look for Purdue. 

"We miss Matt most importantly on the defensive end,'' Williams said. "He helps a lot on the defensive end because he's so long. It's harder to score with him. I'm not much of a shot blocker, so I just try to stay solid without fouling. I struggled in the past with getting early fouls and taking myself out of the game, so it's been kind of tough without him.''

Haarms is still in concussion protocol. He was on the bench in street clothes on Saturday and his return is still up in the air. Purdue plays Central Michigan on Saturday and then starts Big Ten on Jan. 2 against Minnesota. It would sure help if he can be back by then.

3. Just flipping the switch isn't easy

After Saturday's loss, Purdue's players didn't seem too concerned about the big picture. They're confident in their talent level, and seem sure they will get better. 

They base that on the fact that they did it a year ago.  They were 6-5 when they lost to Notre Dame in this event a year ago, then proceed to win 16 of their next 18 games.

"I think we're just fine. Just move on and get better each practice,'' Williams said. "Last year we walked out of this building 6-5, and I believe we can do the same thing we did last year. You know, things happen. It's a part of it. But we've just got to get better.''

Aaron Wheeler likes that they've played a difficult schedule, even if it has yielded a handful of losses. "I think that's kind of why Coach Painter tries to schedule hard for us in the nonconference, so when it comes toward March, when we're playing great teams every night even in the Big Ten schedule, we're used to playing that type of competition,'' Wheeler said. "So we know what to look for or like what to look for. I mean, obviously we don't want to lose, but I feel like we can learn a lot from our losses. We just have to build on that and improve.''

The difference between now and a year ago, of course, is that veteran leaders like Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline aren't around anymore. Others need to step up on this team when the going gets tough.

Should we be concerned about that? Of course. But they have done it in the past under Painter, and it could happen again. Right?