Sweet Performance for Boiler Men

First appeared on March 25th, 2009
in The Lebanon Reporter

By simply looking at Saturday’s box score one would have thought the Washington Huskies had made the Sweet 16 and not Purdue. Considering the Boilers were outrebounded, committed more turnovers and shot a worse percentage from the field, conventional wisdom would say they should have lost. The difference came down to those little things that don’t get charted on the average stat sheet. Sure the Boilers had 7 blocked shots, including two late that helped seal the win, but it was loose balls and players on the floor that proved to be the difference. It could be argued that a resurfaced affinity for making these types of plays is the largest reason for the Boiler’s recent resurgence.
Fortunately for Purdue fans, Washington’s mammoth center Jon Brockman waited until the last two minutes before he finally began pounding the glass. In scoring put back after put back, Brockman made the Boiler bigs look more like a team of third graders fighting for rebounds against one of the East German Women’s Olympic teams of the mid 70’s. But just when it seemed the Huskies had a chance late, Chris Kramer was there to snatch up a loose ball that seemed destined for Brockman’s hands, thus helping Purdue hold off the surging Huskies; another game-changing play that didn’t make the box score.
When you look at their season from the early disaster that was Duke to the ugly loss on senior night (both in Mackey), Purdue’s evolution has been dramatic. During the Big Ten season the only consistency the Boilers showed was Head Coach Matt Painter’s propensity for toweling excess hair gel from his hands after time outs. In fact the Boilers stumbled into the Big Ten tournament losing three of four. Then something happened in Indianapolis that changed the direction of this team for good. They started playing defense again. Suddenly the Boilers became recognizable once more. Five guys defending as a unit, help side rotations were timely again and the bodies we became so used to seeing flying everywhere as one charge after another was racked up were once again flying everywhere.
By scrapping defensively and pressuring the ball relentlessly, Purdue suddenly found themselves in the spot so many expected; competing for a Big Ten title. After the Boilers defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten final, the NCAA’s backhanded compliment was a 5 seed. This was understandable, given how they finished the year, but the way Purdue has cut the rug in the Big Dance so far has proved those who argued the Boilers were a 4 seed or higher weren’t speaking out of turn.
Saturday’s crew officiated a tight game; something that could have hurt Purdue ultimately had Washington not wanted to play just as tough and physical. In the end the Boilers held on and now find themselves in the Sweet Sixteen; a locale the program has visited only 6 times since 1983.
Boiler fans may have cheered loudly Saturday night, but there is a quiet, unspoken anxiety many harbor when it comes to March Madness. Considering they’ve never won one, you have to go deep into the depths of the actual boiler room of Mackey Arena to find anyone who will even mention the words national title. And, with all due respect to the family of Ward “Piggy” Lambert, 1932 does not count. Thursday Jim Calhoun and UCONN will decide if this is the year the maintenance staff at Mackey actually has to blow the dust off their “Idiot’s Guide to Hanging Championship Banners” or if it will simply be another season of what could have been.