My Two Cents: COVID Hurts Even Worse When it Strikes Close to Home
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – COVID-19 stinks, and everyone agrees on the that. The Big Ten is doing everything in its power to have a sports season, but COVID keeps waylaying the best of intentions.
Football got done, but it wasn't easy, with at least one game getting cancelled every week but one. Basketball has been tough too, even though the vast majority of games have been played.
Penn State missed 17 days because of COVID, and were rusty the first game back, a loss at Purdue. Nebraska last played on Jan 10, has had seven games postponed or canceled and we have no idea when they will return to the court. Some think they might just shut it all down.
Michigan State hasn't played since losing to Purdue on Jan. 8, a long 15 days ago. They are missing another game today at Illinois because of three more positive tests, but are hoping to play Thursday against Rutgers, if possible. There's no guarantee of that, though, either.
Those are other people's problems though, and before Friday, all that hurt Purdue this season was losing a home game to Nebraska.
But now, COVID has arrived to Purdue's program. Junior guard Sasha Stefanovic, who's made a point of being extremely careful with avoiding people since the season started, has tested positive for the coronavirus and he will miss 17 days minimum. as per Big Ten protocols.
But unlike other programs, the show went on at Mackey Arena on Friday night. Despite one of its players testing positive on Thursday, they played a game against Michigan on Friday. Some are questioning the logic behind that, but Painter said that Purdue has followed all of the Big Ten protocols and felt comfortable playing.
They then shared EVERYTHING they knew, and let Michigan make its own choice. After some initial reluctance, Michigan decided to ride on down to West Lafayette and play.
But it was sketchy for a while.
"At first it was a lot of us. I’ll talk about me first of all, I was opposed to it,'' Michigan star Isaiah Livers said after Michigan's 70-53 victory on Friday night. "We weren’t going to come bus down here, or even come down here at all if they weren’t being totally honest and straight up with us.''
Painter said Stefanovic tested negative on Tuesday and played in the Boilermakers' game at Ohio State. He said he wasn't feeling well on Wednesday, but took two tests and was negative both times. "But because he had symptoms, we sent him home and he stayed in his room,'' Painter said.
He immediately called Ohio State's Chris Holtmann to let him know what was going on, even though Stefanovic was fine on Tuesday. Then he called Michigan coach Juwan Howard and gave him a head's up.
Stefanovic then tested positive Thursday morning on the daily antigen test, and the more accurate PCR test that followed was positive too, Painter called Howard and let him know.
"You got by the protocol, and we followed the protocols,'' Painter said. "When he wakes up in the morning and doesn't feel good, he wasn't around anymore. We kept him away from everyone. Since he had symptoms, he hasn't been around anybody, so there's no contact tracing issue. He hasn't been around anybody.
"I called Juwan Howard and I told him what was going on. I told him he had tested positive, so I called him back. Michigan wanted our whole team to take a PCR then, too, just to make sure everything is good, which we honored and I think that was a good move also. Then, obviously, we were all negative on that PCR.”
Howard, who has lost a family member to COVID, said he fully involved his players in making the decision whether to play or not. He wouldn't have it any other way, because "their voices need to be heard on every important decision.''
Once Howard shared with his players that the rest of Purdue's program had tested negative, they felt better.
"I think that’s what really led to us making the ultimate decision after practice was, ‘You know, they’re telling the truth, they’re getting their guys PCR tests, they're all getting tested after practice, why not, let’s go play a game, they’re gonna miss a guy’. But Matt Painter, they said they were ready to go, so we were ready to go.”
Livers was heavily recruited by Painter in high school, and he likes and respects him. He knows Painter would never put his own players in danger, and he wouldn't put Michigan's players in danger, either. He also knows that one of Painter’s own players, redshirt freshman Brandon Newman, lost his father to COVID this summer.
"At the end of the day, we just had to trust them,'' Livers said. "We’re in a day and age where we've just got to trust coaches. Matt Painter’s a great guy, he recruited me, and coach Howard even commended him. He said he was just super helpful in the situation, wasn’t trying to hold back anything and try and get someone to forfeit or anything. They just wanted to play basketball, just like I wanted to.”
Respect for your opponents has been a cornerstone in dealing with this virus all season. It's the only way it works, Painter said.
"The one thing that we agreed upon as coaches was that if we decide not to play, whether it's me or (athletic director) Bob Bobinski or our medical staff, Michigan has to respect that,'' Painter said. "But if we're fine with it and it fits the protocol and Michigan is still a little leery, then we've got to respect them also. We do have that gentleman's agreement in our league where if somebody makes that decision, it's still theres and we don't push back on anybody for that.
"Everybody's in their own situation in their own state and own county and school. It's all different, even though we're all in the Big Ten Conference.''
Howard said that by gametime, everyone felt comfortable and the game – a nationally televised primetime game that had no network competition – went off without a hitch.
"I wanted to be sure that everyone felt comfortable, not just me," Howard said. "They all have a voice when it comes to a serious situation like this. They all felt comfortable with coming here and playing.”
Stefanovic will miss at least three games, as per the league's protocols. The leading three-point shooter in the league was missed, as the Boilermakers made a season-low two three-pointers all game, and shot just 31 percent from the field.
Freshman Jaden Ivey started in Stefanovic's absence. He had 12 points, but was just 3-for-14 from the field and 0-for-5 from threes. Ethan Morton and Isiah Thompson got 16 and 11 minutes of playing time respectively, but Morton didn't score at all and struggled defensively and Thompson had just four points.
They'll clearly have to adjust without their best perimeter player.
"It puts you behind with Sasha out, but that's part of it,'' Painter said. "If he got in foul trouble, that's part of it. If he sprained an ankle, that's part of it. The show must go on, and we need other guys to step up. When he comes back, we'll be excited, but until then, other guys have step up and play better.
"He's a very steady piece for us. He plays 30 minutes a game and knows what we want to do defensively. He spreads the floor and has a huge basketball IQ. He has experience, and some of our guys don't have that. When you have a good program, you should have people on your bench who think they should be playing more anyway. We missed him, We didn't have good guard play tonight. We had 14 turnovers and it seemed like 24. You've got to have good guard play, and we simply did not tonight.''
Related stories on Big Ten basketball
- MICHIGAN ROLLS PAST PURDUE: The Boilermakers' four-game winning streak came to an end on Friday when No. 7 Michigan jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, winning 70-53. CLICK HERE
- JADEN IVEY SNAPS OUT OF SLUMP: Freshman guard Jaden Ivey had been in a slump but that didn't stop him from pulling the trigger on a game-winning shot to beat Ohio State on Tuesday. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2020-21 Purdue men's basketball schedule, complete with recent updates from the Big Ten. CLICK HERE
