Examining the Purdue-Indiana rivalry
Posted: Monday January 18, 1999 10:43 PM
When it comes to facing Indiana, my coaching staff and players have to be very careful not to get involved with that "game of the year" stuff. Fans will make statements throughout the season and during alumni meetings in the spring, summer and fall, but as coaches, we've never involved ourselves with that stuff because we have a game before the Indiana game and a game after Indiana that are just as important -- so we try to remain very even keel about that.
Of course, it's very important to win a game in the Big Ten, so that's our main emphasis. I think that when you're playing against someone who's a legend like Indiana coach Bob Knight, you're always trying to be competitive and you're trying to do the things it takes to win. But, it's also a game that can really cost you up the road if you get too carried away about it, and I think that's true about any rivalry in any league.
The tradition of the rivalry between Purdue and Indiana has been a great one. We've won 102 and they've won 71, but most of those were done before I was born or even thought of, so this has nothing to do with me. All I try to do is keep all traditions going.
The tradition, though, is a great one. It was established by "Piggy" Lambert and the fans and players of that era, so this tradition has been maintained over the last 19 or 20 years by some great games. They've all been the type of games that I think most people would be proud of because they're very hard-fought, hopefully there's some good
strategy in them, and there's some great play by great players. It's been fun to be a part of all that.
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In basketball, if you think you have the upper hand in anything, you're pretty naive.
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For Purdue's fans, the rivalry takes on a different significance. The importance of the Indiana game to our fans sometimes makes me wonder: You've got to be kidding me. The fans always say, "We've
got to beat Indiana twice." I ask, "Why?"
If you want to be 2-26, they'll be firing me. So I don't listen too much to the fans. I hear that there are always Indiana fans in our area, so they don't yell much for Purdue. Well, that's caused by Purdue people leaving the state to get jobs, and the numbers are usually bigger in Indianapolis because that's where most Indiana fans come from, in the southern part of the state, while we have a lot of people in the northern part of the state.
So, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to that other
than I try to make sure we win the game so we have one more Big Ten
win toward a championship and to qualify for the NCAAs. But it is a
lot of fun to hear the challenges and to hear the camaraderie and to hear the talk about the game.
My best memory of Purdue-Indiana matchups would have to be my first win against Coach Knight because of the way it happened. Isiah Thomas got a dribble hung up on his hip and was called for steps, which made me just about faint because I didn't think they would do that, and then we won the game because our kids played great. And while our first win at Bloomington was a good one, our first win at Minnesota was good. Our first win at Iowa was good. Our first win at Northwestern was good, and I don't see that as an any different a win than any other Big Ten win because they're all very important.
People always want to know about the "chair incident," but that was a game that was very important to us because we needed to win it to stay alive in the league race. It turned out that we didn't win the league, so it didn't turn out to be that big a deal afterward. There's been a lot of chatter about it over the years since then, but to me it's just one of those things: You go on and play the next game and get ready for whomever's next.
Keady on the rivalry: "I think it's as good or the best of any other rivalry. My relationship with Bob Knight, as far as I know, is competitive and a good one." Gary Mook/Allsport |
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My relationship with Coach Knight has always been a good one, I think. I don't know any other way to put it. As a young coach at Hutch Juco, I went to a lot of his clinics. When I was Eddie Sutton's assistant at Arkansas, we were together in a car when he came to fish with Coach Sutton. I always admired Coach Knight's philosophy and the way he coached defense. I'm similar to him in a lot of aspects as far as competitiveness, but far from being as successful as he has because of all the championships and gold medals in the Pan American and Olympic games.
I've tried to understand that he's a great coach, he's in the Hall of Fame, and I have a lot of respect for him. Other than that, my relationship with Coach Knight is not any different than my relationship with any other coach, other than I've relied on him in our Big Ten meetings and his philosophy on different points because he always has a good answer for things. So, it's one of those situations where as far as I know, the relationship is as good as it can be considering that Indiana is our biggest rival.
Saturday's game with the Hoosiers is a big one for both of us. We're right at the start of the Big Ten season and both kind of struggling and trying to get ourselves in a situation where we can both get back on track. It's a big one for them because if they win one on the road it will be a step forward. And it's a big game for us because we need to win one to get on track if we're going to have a chance in this league race. It's quite early in the Big Ten race, but it's a game that's important to both of us because we need to win one to stay alive.
To the e-mailbag
Do you think that the Purdue-Indiana rivalry is as good as any other in college basketball? And off the court, what is your relationship with Bob Knight?
Josh Lucas, Cambridge, Mass.
I think it's as good or the best of any other rivalry. My
relationship with Bob Knight, as far as I know, is competitive and a good one. About the only time I talk with him is at the Big Ten meeting
and during our two games, so it's one of those situations that's
good, and when we get out of coaching I hope it stays that way.
Nineteen years ago, Bob Knight and IU were clearly "top dog" in the state of Indiana. It's now 1999. Has that changed?
Jim Rodenbush, Syracuse, N.Y.
I don't know. I think the media has to answer that. To me it
hasn't changed because it's a very competitive game. We've won some
Big Ten Championships, but we didn't go as far in the NCAAs as we
would have liked except for a couple maybe, but if you don't go all
the way it's still not far enough. And it's probably realistic to say
that unless you win the championship, no coach ever goes far enough,
so we all feel that feeling.
I read once that someone told you, early in your career at Purdue, that trying to recruit in Indiana was a complete waste of time because of Bobby Knight's dominance of in-state recruiting. It seems in the past years that Purdue has gained the upper hand in landing the top Indiana players. Do you think you may have bested Bobby in this regard?
George Reklaitis, Boston
No, I don't. I think it goes in cycles. I think that recruiting now
has become a lot different. I think that they've gone out of state
and gotten some great players. We've stayed in state and gotten our
share, but we still have had some great ones from out of state, also.
So I don't think I have the upper hand in anything. In basketball, if
you think you have the upper hand in anything, you're pretty naive.
When you have a rivalry as historic as Indiana-Purdue, how do you and your players remain focused with all the added "hype?"
Todd Gailar, Cincinnati
You have to be careful of that. We go into the game wanting to win
it, wanting to win a Big Ten game and remain focused on the next game
so we don't lose to somebody we shouldn't or play poorly the next
game. So that's something we're conscious of and try to stay
consistent. It doesn't matter who you win against or lose to,
there's always the next game, and nothing is ever as bad as it seems
and nothing is ever as good as it seems.
Coach, what's it like to coach in the same state as Bob Knight. As a third-generation Purdue graduate, I know that most of this state can be painted red. Yet, somehow your teams seem to consistently win against IU, and lately have dominated them. How have you done it?
John Creager, Indianapolis
It's hard to coach against any great coach. Most of this state is probably IU's because the Hoosiers have won. We have pockets
where we have a lot of alumni, but the Hoosiers have won national
championships and we've done it with playing hard, taking care of the
basketball and hitting a couple of critical shots. I think really the
only way you can win at Bloomington is if you are down one with
the last possession and hit a last-second shot, and that's probably
the same way in trying to come up here and win, although we've both
won a couple of times with double-digit wins, but not often because
they've always been hard-fought battles. The thing I am most proud of,
and I hope it stays this way, is we've never had any fights or
fisticuffs. It's been: play hard, do the best you can, walk out of
there and get ready for who's next. And that's what college
basketball is all about.
From the season's first tip-off to its final buzzer, Purdue coach Gene Keady files a weekly column with CNNSI.com. In his 19th year as head coach of the Boilermakers, Keady provides an exclusive peek into the highlights, lowlights and sidelights of a full college basketball season. Follow one of the nation's top coaches within one of the nation's top conferences this season "From Midnight to March."
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