Robbie Hummel Assesses Purdue's Biggest Concerns After 3-Game Skid
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Things have really slipped away from Purdue over the last two weeks. The Boilermakers have dropped three straight games, which include a road loss to Indiana in Assembly Hall on Tuesday. Former Purdue standout and current college basketball analyst Robbie Hummel was in Bloomington to call the game and has some concerns about his alma mater.
Joining the Field of 68 podcast with Jeff Goodman, Hummel talked about Purdue's 72-67 loss to Indiana on Tuesday. He was part of the Peacock broadcast, alongside John Fanta, so he got to see the Boilermakers up close in their latest defeat.
Hummel said Purdue's recent losses to UCLA and Illinois may have affected the team heading into Tuesday's game against IU. But he also noted that the Boilers are not making simple plays right now.
"I kind of think Purdue let the last two games beat them for a third time here. Maybe just the mental state of losing a game at UCLA where you're in position to win, and losing to Illinois when you're in position to win," Hummel said. "The thing that surprised me, with all the success and winning that this group has done, just the lack of execution and lack of poise. There are easy things they're not doing that championship-caliber teams do.
"I think Purdue is phenomenal at scheming, but the players haven't carried out the scheme. Like, Braden Smith gets slipped on a baseline out-of-bounds with .6 seconds left on the shot clock. You don't win games on the road when that happens."
Some of the eye-opening issues from Tuesday night included Purdue's struggle to defend the perimeter and failing to dominate Indiana on the glass. The Boilermakers only won the rebounding battle by five, an aspect of the game Matt Painter said his team "should have won by 15."
Hummel said that, while Oscar Cluff has helped Purdue in the rebounding department this year, there are some liabilities on the defensive end. It's something this team must fix in the coming weeks.
"That's why Matt Painter is in a bit of a bind here," Hummel said. "He got [Cluff] to fix the stuff from last year. But now, pick-and-pop bigs is a problem, guarding in space is a problem ... They've got some real problems defensively. They're not guarding, that's for sure."
Purdue's best players need to step up
Going through a tough skid is nothing new in college basketball. Because Purdue was the preseason No. 1 team, the favorite to win the Big Ten and a contender for the national championship, there have been concerns about the team's recent play.
Hummel said there's no reason to go into complete panic mode yet, citing that Purdue's 2009-10 squad also endured a three-game losing streak. That team went on to win a Big Ten championship.
"The year I hurt my knee, we had probably our best team for that time period, we lost three in a row," Hummel said. "We won our first 14, lost three in a row, then won nine or 10 until I hurt my knee. We lost at Wisconsin, then gave a game away to Ohio State, where Evan Turner goes nuclear in the second half. Then lost to Northwestern. It was like, same thing, come to Jesus meeting, heads spinning."
What's the cure for Purdue? Fixing things on the defensive end will certainly be a priority in West Lafayette. But Hummel also believes that it can be as easy as the team's top players — outside of Braden Smith — getting back to being themselves.
"Purdue needs their best players, outside of Braden, to play like their best players. They need Fletcher Loyer, they need Trey Kaufman-Renn ... Fletcher has had great moments at Purdue. He's had big games against great people, but certainly he hasn't had the year most people thought. He can get it back, and they need him to get it back.
"They have the experience of winning and playing so much together, I think the ship can be righted," Hummel said. "But they have to fix some things, for sure."
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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