Why Purdue Can't Do It...1) They don't have THE guy.
Experts maintain that without a surefire NBA Lottery Pick, the Boilers can't possibly win a National Championship. Over the last decade, all but one title winner (2006 Florida) had a player taken in the Lottery of that June's draft - and that Gators team ended up with three players taken in the top nine of the 2008 Draft (Horford, Brewers, Noah).
2) Where's the beef?
Outside of their talented top three (Moore, Hummel, Johnson), the Boilers don't have much of a scoring punch. Entering Wednesday night's win over Ohio State, that trio had scored 65% of Purdue's points this season. Purdue can go 9/10 deep, but they don't have any scorers off their bench.
Why Purdue Can Do It...
1) Sum of the Parts
First off, the assertion that Purdue doesn't have a go-to guy is absurd. E'Twaun Moore is a 17 ppg scorer that shoots 49% from the floor this season. Even if they don't have a guy that NBA scouts are drooling over, they do have three that will get All-Big Ten First Team consideration. At this point, JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are locks for the first team, and Robbie Hummel is right on the cusp.
2) Body of Work
Take a look at Purdue's top wins this year (RPI ranks): West Virginia (5), Wake Forest (12), Wisconsin (15), Tennessee-N (19), @Michigan State (26), and @Ohio State (31). You can definitely stack those up favorably against any wins from any of the top teams:
#1 Kansas: @Kansas State (7), @Temple (11), Baylor (13), @Texas A&M (18)
#2 Kentucky: Vanderbilt (17), Tennessee (19), Louisville (30), UConn-N (50)
#3 Villanova: @West Virginia (5), Georgetown (8), @Louisville (30), Dayton-N (35)
#5 Syracuse: @West Virginia (5), Georgetown (8), California-N (23), UConn (50)
Outside of Kansas, there isn't a team right now in America that has a better overall resume than the Boilers. Purdue could be in line for a #1 seed, and any team that earns that distinction is absolutely a National Title contender.
No comments:
Post a Comment