Props to Matt Painter and Purdue
I've always had a lot of respect for Matt Painter as a coach, but what they're doing this season takes it to another level. It's amazing to me how they've replaced the huge amount of lost production from last year: Jaden Ivey (lottery pick), Trevion Williams (4th year player, kenpom top-10 caliber player), Sasha Stefanovic (40% 3p shooter at high volume), and losing several other guys as well.
Juxtapose that with UM's situation this year where people are justifying, rightfully so in my opinion, subpar performance with the fact that we have so many new guys contributing. To me that just makes what Purdue is doing all the more impressive.
I loved so many of the Painter/Beilein matchups. My favorite was where both coaches knew that neither defense could stop the other's offense, which people wrongfully blame on bad defensive coaching, but was clearly due to both coaches making personnel decisions that took advantage of obvious defensive mismatches and both betting that their mismatch was better than the other guy's. And then of course there was the 2018 team beating the doors off of junior Carsen Edwards Purdue at Crisler in early December. You might remember this as the game where Teske and Simpson flexed Purdue right off the court. But then that same Purdue team used superman Carsen Edwards to win one of the most absolutely remarkable and enjoyable NCAA tournament games I've ever seen.
In a college basketball world so often marred on the court by clutching, grabbing, flopping, nut punching (looking at you, Wisconsin), etc., not to mention all the shit that happens off it, it's nice to have a rival you legitimately respect.
Apologies for the excessive Purdue slurping, but I can't help but root for those guys on a down year for UM.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
Good Luck!
January 27th, 2023 at 4:05 PM ^
I'm sure this would be better appreciated on a Purdue fan page.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:49 PM ^
You have to admit Painter is a MUCH better coach than Juwan which is clearly seen by the fact that Painter has led Purdue to one Elite Eight while Howard has only led Michigan to one Elite Eight.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:06 PM ^
There's gotta be a BoilerBlog.com.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:06 PM ^
If there was ever a year for them to get to the Final Four, this is it.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:43 PM ^
It’s also a year where they can lose very early.
January 27th, 2023 at 8:09 PM ^
I'll bet the mortgage he won't be ELITE this year.
January 27th, 2023 at 8:12 PM ^
For sure, this is the year they could get it done. Don’t mind me, I’ll just be busy putting all my money on them losing on the second round
January 27th, 2023 at 4:09 PM ^
Is this some subtle flex that you have a kenpom subscription? (mostly a joke)
My wife is a Boilermaker, so I guess I'll let her know there's a Michigan fan that appreciates Coach Painter. (definitely a joke)
January 27th, 2023 at 4:09 PM ^
Big fan of Painter as well, wish every college coach was as much of a class act as him. Wish we could steal him away too! And that's not a dig on Juwan, just really like Painter.
January 27th, 2023 at 8:10 PM ^
Just become a boilermaker. Enjoy the Painting's!
January 27th, 2023 at 4:15 PM ^
i like him as a coach and person but dislike Purdont
January 27th, 2023 at 4:16 PM ^
Purdue as usual will not make it out of the 2nd weekend of the tournament.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:40 PM ^
Most teams don't? And they put to bed bed quite recently the "can't get out of the first weekend".
January 27th, 2023 at 5:14 PM ^
Most teams don't have the most big ten championships in history. Despite that, they've been to two Final Fours. Two. Zero national titles. Michigan has been to two Final Fours in the last decade alone. Here's a (partial) list of programs who have made at least two Final Fours in their history: DePaul, Bradley, Butler, City College of New York, Dartmouth, Georgia Tech, Holy Cross, La Salle, Loyola Chicago, NYU, and I could go on. More than half of the Big Ten (8) has been to that many Final Fours. Boiler rails aren't mapped to the championship
January 27th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
Good Lord, it's been so long in the Final Four for Purdue, that their last Final Four appearance was a third place game against Iowa in an arena that was demolished 20 years ago.
And, poop, I was actually in attendance. Also there was the late, great Billy Packer, who was probably ripping on both teams (but not their coaches) for 40 minutes to warm-up for the final.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:17 PM ^
Maybe it was the 80's but it seemed that every tournament had Purdue playing LSU at the Superdome and any other team on essentially their home court or fly across the country and play with limited rest or time to prepare. The NCAA had the hurt on Gene Keady. I generally don't feel bad for rivals losing but after a few years of it I genuinely felt bad for Purdue. Almost as bad as the way the NCAA puts the screws to Michigan. (Don't cooperate and don't admit anything.)
January 27th, 2023 at 4:22 PM ^
I also really like watching Purdue basketball, always talk myself into them in March and they always let me down.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
i know you're gonna get negged, but I appreciate and enjoy the challenge if Purdue every year. Under both Beilein and Howard we always play them well, and Painter is probably the best coach in the conference right now with Beilein gone and Izzo taking a nose dive in recent years. They play good basketball and retool, develop, and prep better than most.
January 27th, 2023 at 6:08 PM ^
Is this is true, and it certainly might be, that explains why the big ten is awful at basketball right now
January 27th, 2023 at 4:23 PM ^
Very admirable coach. He's had his fair share of bad losses ,but I've never seen him throw his team under the bus or throw a tantrum. He's always very complimentary of his opponents. I also wish him well. He's basically the complete opposite of Tom Izzo.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
Give them props if they don't shit the bed in the first few rounds of the tourney.
Amazingly - they haven't been in a Final Four since 1980.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:42 PM ^
Why don't you go blow Coach Painter on PurdueGoBlog?
January 27th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
I can't give this an upvote, but...
...I laughed.
January 27th, 2023 at 4:43 PM ^
What was the enjoyable game? C'mon man...maybe 6 of us have a Kenpom subscription.
January 27th, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
Go to their blog bro....
January 27th, 2023 at 5:13 PM ^
Alabama and Houston are having pretty nice seasons, too. Should we also have separate posts about them on the Michigan sports blog?
January 27th, 2023 at 5:21 PM ^
Did we play either of them last night?
From the MGoFAQ:
ONTOPIC
- Anything Michigan sports related
- Anything related to other Big Ten teams or upcoming opponents
January 27th, 2023 at 6:07 PM ^
This isn't about last night's game. It's a weird homage to a guy that has nothing to do with Michigan in any way
January 27th, 2023 at 6:30 PM ^
So what? There's like maybe 1 interesting thread on this board per day currently.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:08 PM ^
True. But this isn't one of them
January 27th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
Painter is a good coach and a person of good character . However, do not be surprised if they are the next 16 beating 1 victim. His team is over-achieving...this is generally a good thing-it is wonderful to be an over-achiever...it has its down-side.
Purdue has some good basketball players. Michigan has some good players that play basketball. The difference here is small-but the difference between winning and losing is usually very small.
January 27th, 2023 at 5:42 PM ^
I take this as a subtle jab at the either poor coaching of the Michigan basketball team or the poor job by the Michigan coaches of being able to put together a roster that can shoot from the perimeter or play solid defense.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
There are plenty of posts taking those jabs not subtly. Just throwing some respect on an opponent for a change
January 27th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
I've never been able to figure out why Purdue (even under Keady) is usually a good ,well coached team during the reg.season but an under achiever in NCAA Tourney
January 27th, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
Style is made for the Big Ten and its insane officiating has always been the going theory. Tend to not have the guard play or when they do, not play through the guards.
January 27th, 2023 at 6:19 PM ^
They run into teams with athletes who can take advantage of Purdue's players. Purdue has cornered the market on 7'2"+ centers, but a 5 who can face up and drive or shoot threes will torch them. And they don't have many athletes on the wings. They'll have one gamer like Ivey or Carsen Edwards, a giant C, and not much else.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:58 PM ^
This describes the Big 10 as a whole, outside of basically just Michigan these days
January 27th, 2023 at 6:05 PM ^
He's had plenty of talented teams and they shit the bed every time. Go tell it to the mountain.
If this is a mocking of the "put since respect on his name" post after we beat the penn state and Maryland basketball juggernauts... Then bravo. Fantastic satire.
Otherwise. Eat it
January 27th, 2023 at 6:15 PM ^
I think Painter is a good coach. I also think this is one of the worst #1 teams I've ever seen.
January 27th, 2023 at 6:52 PM ^
As I commented during the game, mostly I like the apparent absence of crazy-nut-job anger.
January 27th, 2023 at 6:55 PM ^
Funny you should post this. I have twin sons who are freshman at Purdue this year. We watched a lot of Purdue (and Michigan) basketball last year and I said going into the tournament last year that Purdue’s team had no killer instinct. I watched them blow several games and wasn’t shocked when they lost to St Peters.
The returning guys and their freshmen do in fact seem to have the killer instinct in a major way. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have impressed me to no end. Those two are warriors and it’s easy to see why they start. They also have a team full of role players who play really well together. Your comment on Coach Belein is not lost on me. They play much like those Coach B teams. Very fun to watch.
My family already enjoyed watching them in person beat the buckeyes in Columbus after being down like 12 or 14 in the first half. We’re heading to Purdue this weekend to hopefully watch them take down Sparty again.
while I really like some the players on this current Michigan team, I really miss Coach Belein
January 28th, 2023 at 10:22 AM ^
H2V, great comment.. and, congratulations.. I’m the father of “boy - girl” twins who are sophomores. West Lafayette / Purdue is a place where my two have a lot of friends - and the campus culture seems quite supportive.
Remember that Purdue (football) travels to Ann Arbor in early November. We’ll be hosting a tailgate - and you’re welcome to join us.
January 27th, 2023 at 7:40 PM ^
Boiler up!!
January 27th, 2023 at 7:53 PM ^
I like Matt Painter, too. But if we look at his record, or at those of any of the most successful coaches, we're going to notice that he spends a lot of time in the wilderness, too. It's hardly as though he's winning it all, or winning the conference, year over year. He's having a great year this year and everyone's kinda forgetting that he has middling ones, too. Recency bias.
January 27th, 2023 at 8:15 PM ^
has anyone done less with more in the ncaa tourny than matt painter?