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Posted: Friday October 25, 2002 3:52 PM Updated: Thursday October 31, 2002 4:20 PM Purdue Boilermakers
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
For all those years when Purdue was winning Big Ten titles and becoming a March Madness fixture, Gene Keady prowled the sideline with his patented scowl, and you had to wonder what he had to scowl about. After all, the Boilermakers went to the NCAA tournament 15 times in 17 years and won at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship six times in 13 seasons. And yet there it was, the perpetual scowl on the face of the man climbing the victory charts and placing himself among the game's elite coaches of all time. But last year, the Boilermakers finally gave Keady a real reason to scowl. Not only did they miss the NCAA for the second straight year (the first such lapse in 20 years, since Keady's first two seasons at Purdue), but they also didn't even qualify for the NIT. It was the first time since 1989 that a Purdue team spent March back in West Lafayette, trying to figure out what went wrong. Keady quickly set out to correct the errors he and his staff identified during the 13-18 campaign.
"I told the team after the Iowa loss [in the Big Ten Tournament] to take two weeks off from basketball and focus on your work in the classroom, and then think about what happened last season," Keady said. "I told them that when they came back to begin working out again, that defense and attitude were our top two priorities." The Boilermakers slid to 10th in the conference last year in two key defensive categories -- points allowed and opponents' shooting percentage. They also were 0-8 on the road in the Big Ten and blew many second-half leads en route to their second straight eighth-place finish, the worst in Keady's career. But the Boilermakers set to work immediately to cleanse the bad taste in their mouths, and an 11-day trip to Europe in May seemed to do wonders for the team's attitude and performance. Purdue went 6-2 on its trip through England, France and Belgium, and Keady got what he wanted out of the trip. "I think the first two games in Europe we did a good job of working hard [on defense]," Keady said. "In the next two games, I think we went back to some of our old habits from last year a bit. We had a talk after the fourth game and it seemed to really sink in with them because I thought our last four games of the trip were really good. They came back really focused on the areas we wanted to see improvement in. "I thought the trip to Europe was great because everyone had a chance to work on their weaknesses. We had a chance to get our team chemistry improved and do things together as a team both on and off the court." This year's squad will look vastly different than last year's team, in part because of the departure of four seniors. Gone are guards Maynard Lewis (9.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and Joe Marshall (5.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg), forward Rodney Smith (9.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and center John Allison (9.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg). That's nearly 35 points and 15.5 rebounds that Keady will have to replace every night, in addition to the leadership gap his young team will face without the four upperclassmen. "We hope that we have enough leadership back and enough guys who have been through the wars that some of the leadership issues will be worked out," Keady said. "I think the lack of success over the last two seasons will be a great motivation for these guys to come out ready to play hard and be on the same page with each other." Only two starters return from last year's team, both in the backcourt -- 6-foot-1 senior guard Willie Deane (17.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.3 apg) and 6-0 junior guard Austin Parkinson (3.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 4.8 apg). Deane led the Big Ten in scoring average in overall games last year and was an All-Big Ten second-team selection as a result. He's one of the conference's top returning go-to guys, and he hopes to add to his résumé more dramatics like last December against Southwest Missouri State, when he made a game-winning shot and scored a season-high 31 points. He's not just a take-no-prisoners gunner, though; he was second on the team with 98 assists and led the squad with 44 steals. Parkinson will battle 6-2 sophomore guard Brandon McKnight (1.7 ppg) for the job at point guard this year. Parkinson finished second in the Big Ten in assists per game and had the top assist-to-turnover ratio (2.55) in the league. On the other hand, McKnight is a top-notch defender and brings a scorer's mentality and fast-break method to the point. "Right now, I think it's a toss-up at point guard," Keady said. "Austin has the experience, but Brandon can score more and is a lot quicker. Both played excellent in Europe and had great assist-to-turnover ratios. I would like to think that they can compliment each other in a tandem fashion and give us a couple options at that position." On the perimeter, Deane will be joined by 6-5 senior guard Darmetreis Kilgore (9.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg) to form one of the conference's most promising scoring tandems. Kilgore made 50 3-pointers and shot 37.6 percent from behind the arc last year, finishing second on the team in scoring and tied for third in rebounds. A familiar face will be back in the lineup for the Boilermakers as 6-3 junior guard Kenneth Lowe returns after missing a year after shoulder surgery. Lowe is an in-your-face defender and a leader on the court, and his presence was sorely missed last year. Keady is counting on Lowe to help be the glue on the floor again this season. If he can regain his scoring touch–he pumped in 11.3 points per game and got to the line a team-high 156 times as a sophomore–he could be the team's most valuable player this year. Providing depth at guard will be 6-2 sophomore Andrew Ford (1.3 ppg) and 6-4 freshman Chris Hartley, while a pair of freshmen could play some on the perimeter as well. Look for 6-5 guard David Teague and 6-7 swingman Melvin Buckley to get a chance at making an impact immediately. Teague is known as a slasher with a strong outside shot, while Buckley will post up smaller players and take big guys out to the wing to create match-up problems for opposing defenses. "I like the guys we have on the perimeter," Keady said. "I think this group is extremely quick and athletic and the trick will be to get everyone to use those abilities within the system." On the inside, the Boilermakers are taller than they've been in recent years, with six players topping 6-8 and four of those 6-10 or taller. "This will be one of the taller teams we've ever had here," Keady said. "We have guys who possess a good combination of size, athletic ability and strength. Even our wing players are a bit taller than in the past." Filling Allison's shoes at center will likely be 6-11 junior Ivan Kartelo, a transfer from Notre Dame who sat out last season. He sharpened his skills for this fall by representing Purdue on the Big Ten All-Star team that toured Europe in August. He averaged 3.0 points and 4.6 boards on the tour, and has a deft passing touch for a big man. At 247 pounds, he has the bulk to survive in the low post in the Big Ten. He will be pushed by 6-11 junior center Kevin Garrity (0.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg), while 6-8 junior forward Brett Buscher (4.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and 6-8 sophomore forward Matt Carroll (1.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg) will bring an inside-outside presence to the lineup. Two newcomers will also fight for playing time in the post–6-10 junior forward Chris Booker, a transfer from Tyler Junior College in Texas, and 6-10 freshman forward Matt Kiefer. "Our big guys have to be versatile and run the floor," Keady said. "They obviously have to get rebounds and play defense, but I want them to play well in the offense and that means being able to pass out of the post and score around the basket either facing or playing with their backs to the basket." The jury is still out on this Purdue squad. Until the Boilermakers face quality U.S. opponents, nobody knows if the success they found in Europe will carry over into the regular season this winter. But it's at least a step in the right direction. Keady isn't promising that his scowl will be replaced by a smile on the sideline this year, but he does seem to feel better about the direction his team's headed now than where it appeared headed last March. For one thing, he's confident the competition for jobs will push his players to reach their potential. "The best part about having a large, talent-filled roster is that if guys don't play defense and work hard and compete, then we can turn to someone else and let them get minutes," he said. "I feel comfortable with our roster and feel like the guys who work the hardest will get rewarded with the most minutes." Deane and Kilgore will form a nice one-two punch, and Lowe's return could be a real X-factor for the Boilermakers. If the inside players keep developing, Purdue could be back quicker than most insiders expect.
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