Matt Painter didn’t hold any punches after Purdue’s loss in exhibition to Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Friday night.
“A lot of time in basketball you don’t know, early in the season, your real problems,” Matt Painter said. “We have real problems.
On a night where Purdue shot just 3 of 17 from three while getting out rebounded by 11, there was plenty fault for Painter to find. It will be Painter’s job over the next week to focus in on what’s real, ignoring what’s aberration, as the Boilers once again chose to use its exhibition schedule as a chance to travel to one of the toughest atmospheres in the country.
It will start on the defensive end where Purdue was blown by too frequently, repeating mistakes too frequently, and not getting stops too frequently.
But a lot of these Purdue players have been in this exact position before, and panic isn’t the right word for the mood in the locker room.
This is the third straight season where Purdue started its season with an exhibition loss on the road.
For Braden Smith, it’s old hat, but for some of his teammates, this is the first time they’ve dealt with this kind of atmosphere in a Purdue jersey.
“I don’t know if panic is the word for it, but it’s good to have that,” Braden Smith after the game when I asked him if he wants his young guys to be in a panic about the loss. “Cause it keeps you honest. It keeps you wanting to work hard and want more. Understanding that, now that we’re #1 preseason, well it’s possible to get beat. It’s possible if we don’t come out and play to our ability that things like tonight can happen.”
Part of what was frustrating about Purdue’s performance was it wasn’t necessarily the freshman or newcomers that struggled most. In fact, some of the struggles, particularly the shooting, are things that Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have proven through three years as starters at Purdue.
The two combined to shoot just 2 of 11 from three.
But for Trey Kaufman-Renn, the biggest frustration wasn’t offense even though his chemistry with Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen inside is still being built.
“I just think it’s one of those things that’s going to get better as we continue to play,” Trey Kaufman-Renn said about building rhythm and timing with fellow big men on offense.
Despite the summer of working out together and playing, there’s no making up for real action in front of real crowds.
“Doing that and being able to transfer it over,” Kaufman-Renn said. “You would think it’d automatically transfer over but it’s much more difficult when you’re at Rupp Arena… I just think it’s one of those things that will get better over time.”
That sentiment carries over to the defensive end where Purdue lost contain too many times off the dribble, and got caught up in action with the ball. Again, it wasn’t necessarily the newcomers guilty of blown assignments.
“Defensively, we’re gonna be better,” Kaufman-Renn said. “But just some of things we do, especially for the older guys, we can’t continue to be beat on the same action.”
But the mood remains confident and positive in Purdue’s locker room after the game, something earned from the success throughout Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith, and Trey Kaufman-Renn’s career that has seen all three start in a National Title game just two seasons ago.
“It’s a quiz leading up to the test,” Loyer said. “We’ve got to get better. We gotta fix a lot of small things, lot of big things as well. It’s only going to help us improve. People are going to be pissed off we lost but in the end it’s a stepping stone.”
Purdue proved to itself that it’ll need its best to win against good teams. That’s all part of Matt Painter’s plan.
Purdue’s path is still clear, it’s still difficult, and it’s still going to take a lot of work, but a lost exhibition game in October doesn’t change the focus for a Purdue team with its eyes set on the National Title game in April.
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