Cramming
A true test: Three conference games in six days
Posted: Tuesday February 23, 1999 06:10 PM
We played Penn State on Saturday and lost 78-70. It was a huge game for us because it could have given us 19 wins and a better chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament. Even 19 wins, though, might not be enough to get us out of that bubble category.
We have three games in the last week of the regular season: Minnesota here on Tuesday, at Minnesota on Thursday and then Michigan State back here on Sunday. So right now, after back-to-back losses to Michigan State and Penn State, the things we need to work on include doing a good job getting through screens, getting back on defense and not giving people easy shots, as well as defending the other team's best shooter.
In losing to the Spartans last week, we did not do a good job getting out and covering Jason Klein, their great shooter. Our kids have to become a lot more aggressive about defensive closeout, know where the shooters are and shade them, and be very aware of getting through screens to prevent getting screened when the other team is running its offense.
Tony Mayfield and the Boilermakers couldn't keep up in an 82-69 loss on Feb. 16 to Charlie Bell and the Spartans. AP |
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Basically, we've got to get some guys with their heads cut-in to what it takes to win.
I talked to Jud Heathcote after Michigan State beat us and it looked to him like Purdue was the old Michigan State teams, and Michigan State was the old Purdue teams that played aggressive on defense and got after folks. That part of our game needs to change defensively. We've got to get after folks, probably curtail our pressing and just get back and stop the easy baskets. We need to be sharper in our shot selection, and then we've got to push the ball hard in our fast break and get the easy baskets.
In these final three regular-season games, conditioning is going to be a big thing, our depth is going to be a big thing -- because we're playing three games in six days -- and we're going to need to be very attentive coaches. I'll need to have everybody on the same page, I'll need to optimize the team's chemistry, and I'll have to do a good job teaching fundamentals in practice -- like footwork, blocking out, getting back on defense -- to give the kids confidence in their shooting techniques and reward this year's accomplishments with encouragement.
Homestretch wish list
On of our major accomplishments has been in the area of leadership. Senior guard Alan Eldridge's leadership has improved since Indiana beat us here at home, and we'll need it more than ever in this feverish regular-season homestretch.
We need a lot of things to come together, actually.
We need to get Brian Cardinal to shoot the ball on balance. We need to get Greg McQuay healthy. We need to get Cam Stephens back with us because he had a death in the family.
We also need to get Tony Mayfield to understand that his role may be limited but it's going to be very important because he's a very good defensive player, good ball-handler and can really give us that depth we need at point guard if Carson Cunningham is out. I always tell our point guards if we win, then when I walk out of Mackey Arena and when they walk out of Mackey, that we have done our jobs and that's what the bottom line is. So, they've got to take a lot of pride in their leadership and the ability to be positive with their teammates.
At this point, I think we're ready to either finally get over the hump or fall back down the hill. We need to eliminate the roller coaster and get on a level plane and start playing with some consistency and fire in our belly and with guts and courage and being very persistent with what we do defensively and very smart on offense. We need to run hard on the fast break and get aggressive as a team, where everybody is pulling for each other. We just need to have guys play, and when you're not in the game be the best cheerleaders on the floor for your teammates and have a lot of enthusiasm and get after folks.
Unusual setup
Minnesota is a very talented team that is playing very well, and because this league is so balanced, the Gophers -- like Penn State -- have lost some games that were very close. We play Minnesota in a very unusual setup since we were snowed out earlier in the year. Now, they're coming back to make up that game on Tuesday, then we go right back up there and play on Thursday. It'll be a great test of our character, our conditioning and our ability to adjust to a difficult situation.
After that, we come back and play the Big Ten regular-season champs on Sunday. The week ahead will be a great challenge for the players and the coaches to see where we really stand when we get into the Big Ten Tournament. Our goal was to win the Big Ten before Michigan State beat us in East Lansing. We thought maybe we could go in there and back-door some people and get a chance to tie for the championship or win it, but since that didn't happen we now have to qualify in the top five and get a seed where we don't have to play four games in the Big Ten Tournament. Then, our goal is to be at our best if we qualify for the NCAAs and become a team that is at its best at the end of the season like most teams aim to do at season's start.
A furious six days end our regular season. They might end up deciding our postseason plans. I'm uncertain of that. But what I am certain of is we're 18-9 and on the verge of being one doggone good basketball team before the season is through.
From the e-mailbag
Watching the team struggle as they have the past few weeks has uncovered a few weaknesses, primarily what seems to be a lack of "chemistry" and poor defense. I was wondering if you could comment on how you are working to correct these areas in practice.
Shawn Luera, Chicago
We don't have a lot of kids who have played a lot of minutes; Alan Eldridge has played over 100 games in his career, we have four other guys who have played around 80 career games, but we need depth to play our pressing system. Because of that inexperience, chemistry has not been good. Our poor defense at times probably has been brought about by us practicing our press too much. Recognizing this, we've gone back to the past two weeks and reviewed our primary defensive schemes, stance, closeouts on the wing, post defense, getting back and stopping the easy baskets and we're working these out in practice.
It seems I'm forever defending coaches who teach and stick to the fundamentals, demand discipline and have a sincere concern for player/students. I place coaches like you, Coach Knight and Coach K in that category. With that said, how do you handle the incredible egos of these kids who come in thinking they're owed something from college basketball and the university in particular? I truly don't know how you do it. Would you rather win with those types of players (who'll likely move on early without a degree) or with players who play fundamentally well and are dedicated to team ball? Thanks.
Todd Lyman, Japan
I appreciate the question because we really try to stress fundamentals here at Purdue. Egos of players nowadays are little bit different than they were in the '70s or '80s because now they've been brainwashed to think they're NBA players, of which we have none right now. We have some kids that might have a chance if they really work on their game over the summer and have some great success next year, but right now we have some kids who are good players but not NBA players, perhaps they play ball in Europe or the CBA.
We try to really be honest with those kids and tell them what they need to do. We try to be very positive with them, we try to be very demanding and then I do a lot of one-on-one things with them to cope with the egos and it certainly is a big problem these days. We've even added a school psychologist, and that's kind of funny because I remember back in the '60s when we used to kid around about how in junior college you really didn't need to coach the kids in those days. What you needed instead was a psychiatrist and a hairdresser. But now the hairdresser part is out; maybe we could use a tattoo parlor.
After seven years watching Purdue basketball, I believe that the present team is not particularly weaker individually than any previous teams that I have watched in West Lafayette. What does it take, at this point, to get them playing tougher basketball?
Marcus Bianchi, Porto Alegre, Brazil
I think you're exactly right, Marcus. We probably have a lot more talent than what we had last year, but we don't have a team that plays with the same basketball savvy that Brad Miller and Chad Austin had. That's our biggest selling point in practice, trying to get our kids to play smart, play with great basketball savvy and become a better student of the game. You're exactly right.
Steve Lavin of UCLA is often quoted referring to you as his primary mentor. What is your relationship with him today and what is your opinion of his coaching abilities?
Eli Eisenberg, Agoura Hills, Calif.
I talk to Steve about once a week and we laugh about all the things going on in the coaching world and how some things are really silly. How we as coaches beat the dead horse when we get beat, and how we need to be more mature in handling that. We've had a lot of laughs about how we wonder why we do things as coaches and then we get serious when talking about how we can improve things with our players, how we can do a better job of coaching, how we can be more positive, how we can read our players better. We help each other I think that way.
Even though we have a wide age gap, and he's in a very high-pressure, media market and I'm in a little more of a lower media market, we have the same problems: motivating, teaching and getting pressure from the press. We talk mostly about such things.
I think Steve's a great coach. He was a very hard worker when he was here. Steve ran our study hall, ran our scouting tapes and did a great job with the kids in warmups and in practices and is a guy I really enjoy being around. I enjoy his sense of humor, he's a good person for players because his dad taught him the right principles of life, and he has the right philosophy of coaching. When Steve was here he really helped us and I hope we really helped him. He doesn't think he invented the game, nor does he think he's the reason for winning. He knows it takes hard work. He knows it takes good fundamentals. He knows it takes camaraderie. And he knows that encouraging the kids is real important.
I think Steve's really good for the players at UCLA. It's fun watching him work the sidelines because he's a coach of the future, and he'll certainly be one of those coaches when out of it I'll be going to the Final Four and pulling for him.
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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