Purdue Boilermakers Basketball Season Preview

Last season, Purdue's Baby Boilers shocked the nation in crawling to 25 wins and somersaulting all the way to second in the Big Ten with three freshmen and two sophomores making up their top-five scorers. Now a year older and more mature, one has to assume Purdue will be improved if only because they will no longer refuse to shoot until they know their parents are watching (and anyone who has watched a basketball game inside Mackey Arena HEARD guard Chris Kramer's mom watching him*) or make yucky faces at their vegetables at the training table.

But those aren't the only reasons to expect the Boilermakers to make the leap to conference champs and the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament (or beyond).

Guard E'Twaun Moore might be the most underrated player in the country. He started last season shakily, but dominated the last half of Purdue's season. He can shoot the ball as well as anyone (over 43% from three-point range last season), gets to the hoop at will despite underwhelming quickness, and flashed improved vision and passing ability in Purdue's exhibition games. Illinois's head coach Bruce Weber called him the conference's best player a year ago. He'll make waves nationally this winter.

Moore's classmate Robbie Hummel took most of the plaudits last season and is the kind of rare player who would start for every team in the country based off his intangibles and fundamentals. Hummel, 6'8", is also a lights-out shooter (45% from three-point range last season), stalks the passing lanes, and handles the ball as well as anyone his size in the country. He was named preseason Big Ten Player-of-the-Year.

Guards Keaton Grant and Kramer round out the core of Purdue's team. Grant is a steady player who also excels from the outside (44%), but battled injuries that robbed him of his lateral quickness a year ago. At his peak, he can get to the hoop and bothers opposing guards with his long frame. Kramer is a one-of-a-kind player who ever coach loves. Limited to aggressive drives offensively, he more than makes up for any shortcomings with his marauding presence on defense. Kramer averaged 2.3 steals in 28 minutes per game last season by physically harassing opposing guards and sneaking up behind unaware ballhandlers. The 2007-08 Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Year, captain Kramer also provides leadership in spades and incites the Paint Crew into mob-like fever pitches (loud enough for Purdue's mostly octagenarian crowd to hear at times even).

If there was one area where this team could be called into question, it'd be the interior. Last season the Boilermakers had a negative rebounding ratio and saw 6'8" rotation staple Scott Martin transfer to Notre Dame this summer. How far the team goes relies on the development of former four-star recruit JaJuan Johnson. Early indications are that the unaggressive 6'10" freshman beanpole from last year has sprouted into a savage beastly sophomore. In Purdue's second exhibition game, Johnson scored 22 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and swatted seven shots... unthinkable numbers if you saw him play eight months ago (and this is coming from one of his biggest fans).

5'9" freshman Lewis Jackson helps fill an additional potential weakness by adding some quickness to a team built on fundamentals. Michigan State's Kalin Lucas and Xavier's Drew Lavender tormented Purdue with their penetration last season. Jackson could help keep quick guards from reaching the paint, and if not, hopefully Johnson will be waiting to send them back out.

Seniors Marcus Green and Nemanja Calasan provide solid, experienced depth and can be effective if they play within themselves.

The schedule is equal parts kind and challenging for Purdue. They play Davidson, Duke and likely Georgia in the non-conference, yet won't leave the state of Indiana until Big Ten play unless they reach the Preseason NIT semi-finals in New York. With just two other ranked Big Ten teams, Purdue is one to watch as a sleeper with the potential to post a gaudy record and earn a No. 1 seed in March.

(Here would have been the perfect place to insert a lame "Baby Boilers" metaphor as a closer, but I just couldn't bring myself to be so cliche. I guess... you could say... I'm growing up... too?)

Prediction: 11-1 Non-conference, 16-2 Big Ten, No. 1 Seed
And I'm generally exceedingly pessimistic, but I feel Matt Painter is developing this team impossibly well. With as many as five future NBA players on the team, I can't help but see a Final Four berth this spring.

* To Chris Kramer and his large, tough looking dad... I was just kidding! Although I really have heard her... But it's too quiet in the pit anyways; hers are always extremely welcome loud breathes of fresh air.