Playing The What-If Game

One of the easiest things to fall into when looking at any sport is the "what if" game. What if Butler's heave goes in at the buzzer last year? What if David Tyree doesn't catch the ball against his helmet against the Patriots? What if Kyle Orton doesn't fumble against Wisconsin in '04? What if IU never fired a good coach and hired a cheater?

It's only natural to think about Rob being healthy now and then. It's okay, too. It's a little selfish, but it's not a terrible thing to dream. And early in the season, I said that as much as I wanted to look forward and see what this team could do as constituted, I did admit that no matter what happens, we'll always be able to say, I wonder what would have happened with Rob. Basically, anything short of a national title and it'll be possible to wonder that.

However, I've begun to honestly change my thoughts on this. I still see clowns like Goodman tweeting after the OSU win "Just imagine if they had Hummel." Why, Jeff? So they could have beated OSU by 20? I don't get it. This team is playing as well as anyone in the country right now....yet people like you are still saying "what if they had Hummel?" How much more could they be winning right now? How much more dominant could they look? Seriously.

Let's consider things for a moment. What might be different right now, had Rob not torn his ACL for a second time in October?

Would JJ and E'Twaun be the players they are right now?

I'm not suggesting Rob being healthy would make them worse, so let's understand that right now. But let's also understand that there is zero doubt that these two simply looked at the situation and immediately understood what they had to do. Down 1/3 of the trio, they needed to cover that gap, be it in points, leadership, minutes, whatever. 

Would JJ be a player of the year candidate? Probably not, simply because he would be ceding some of his points and rebounds. Would Smooge have had that monstrosity of a game vs OSU? Probably not, for the same reasons. Again, Rob wouldn't have stunted their growth, per se, but he would have changed the distribution of responsibilities.

Would Ryne Smith be who he is right now?

Sure, Ryne comes and goes, but would he have had that hot start to the Big Ten season, including four straight double digit scoring games plus three games with five or more treys made? I don't know, but I kind of doubt it. Purdue needed a third scoring option in those games and Ryne didn't have Rob to defer to, so up the shots went...and down they fell. Kind of makes the tandem of he and Rob firing away next year sound delicious, doesn't it?

Would Kelsey Barlow be playing as much?

With Rob in the lineup, where does Kelsey fit? I guess he's spelling LewJack still, but that's about it. Does he develop as a player as he has if Rob is there? Again, do not misunderstand -- I'd love to have a healthy Hummel. But there are side effects of his absence that are going to ultimately be good for the development of guys like Kelsey.

Does Terone Johnson redshirt?

Going down the depth chart, how much would Terone have played? Would it have been more prudent just to redshirt him? And if the answer is yes, while that's nice in terms of having him around longer, he loses all of what he has gained this year. As many people say, by this time of year, freshmen are no longer freshman. We've seen TJ go through the growing pains of learning the college game, adjusting to the speed, feeling his way through conference play, etc. And now we're seeing him hit big-time shots. Think about how valuable that experience might turn out to be in the tournament this year and for years to come.

Is the resolve this team has shown there?

There is absolutely no doubt, this team was marked for great things this year with Rob. Everyone was saying so, with top five preseason rankings a certainty. Then it all changed and Purdue's season reportedly went with Rob's knee. Now, I'm not saying the team would have been less focused, but I think it's reasonable to think they might have....expected...to be great. With Rob's injury and the resulting media remarks about Purdue, I think our boys got pissed. They'll never fully admit it, but they hear what gets said. They know they were absolutely left for dead. One of my favorite recent digs from another site was that we "manufactured the chip on Purdue's shoulder." This is one of those remarks that simply underscores ignorance. We didn't manufacture anything. We simply report what we see.

So would this team be this focused? I honestly don't know. I have faith in Matty and the boys and I think they do a great job of keeping things in perspective and staying the course and keeping their eyes on the prize. In the past it was making the tourney. Then it was winning the conference. Now it's a lot more than that. And whatever you thought might happen back in mid-October, you couldn't have asked for things to be in better shape than they are at this moment.

The train is coming, folks. Choo-choo.

2010 Purdue Basketball Video to Amp You Up!

This one lit me up!! Thanks, Kitchel!!

You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry.

I waited on this one...but it keeps coming up, so I'm posting this.

When we all heard about Rob's injury, every Purdue fan, and even some people outside of the Purdue family felt sick...literally, in most cases. But, if you're like me, your sadness turned to anger shortly after as you started interacting with people outside of the Purdue fanbase.

Please understand this: for all of you who haven't wished ill-will upon Purdue, this isn't directed at you. I think everyone, from Hummel's family, down to people like me who are just fans, greatly-appreciate the well-wishes from those who have expressed that it stung them too when the news came out about the Rob's injury. Everyone else, listen closely.

On message boards, radio shows, and even in person I've heard it and seen it...and maybe you have too. Comments like, "We can't have Purdue winning a national championship now, can we." Or people just smirking as they ask, "How about Hummel's knee??" If you're in Indiana and you're a Purdue fan, you know what I'm talking about...and it's pretty disgusting.

Let's look at some of the facts here, shall we? Rob Hummel keeps a higher GPA than I did while at Purdue. He's a legitimate student athlete. He hasn't gotten in trouble with the law. I've never once heard a rumor of him demanding the ball, calling a teammate out or being anything more than a good teammate. He works at all parts of his game, not just offense...and probably doesn't shoot enough. He's a great rebounder, he's a shut-down defender, he moves (a lot) without the ball...and he's extremely fundamentally sound when shooting. A pal of mine once said, "Even his missed shots look good." We all saw what he's capable of last season v. aOSU at Mackey, when he decides to score. He can do it all...and does it well.

When he injured his knee the last time, he decided to take advantage of the time and do something he'd never done before- bulk up. The nickname "Ostrich" simply doesn't fit anymore. The stringbean kid that came to Purdue is now put together pretty well because of his outlook and his work ethic.

This time shortly after it was confirmed he had the same injury, I've heard he said, "At least I'll get to play in the new Mackey." Amazing. I'm positive I wouldn't have the outlook that he does if this had happened to me. Hell, I don't have it...and it didn't happen to me!

That's why I'm mad. Most of the people that have the smirks on their faces and make the comments in the wake of 4's injury were big Bobby Knight supporters. Do you think Knight would have liked to have Hummel on one of his squads...Don't answer- I don't care what you think. I do know that Knight loves the style of Painter's teams. He's said it quite a few times on EsPN.

J and I talked about this- We never liked Evan Turner. Sure, he whipped Purdue, but that wasn't why. We didn't like his cocky demeanor. BUT, when he went down last season, we hoped he'd get healthy quickly. As a fan, you always want to see your team beat the competition at full-strength...it makes a bigger statement.

But, many IU fans don't want Purdue at full-strength...they didn't want any part of Purdue this season with the Big Three in tact. It's understandable, if you're that guy, I guess.

These are the same people who put all their hope into the Kelvin Sampson basket after they got their wish to see Davis run out of town. They continued to defend the cheater saying his infractions weren't that serious. Then, they thought their program was above NCAA sanctions because they didn't know that this convicted cheater would (*gasp*) cheat again. Their frustration continues as Crean has floundered in his recruiting efforts in state. So, you clowns are sick of having your clocks cleaned by Purdue...and everyone else. I get that part.

But, to snicker and take even a little joy in Hummel's injury is pretty despicable. Hummel has been and is a basketball program's dream. So, I take great offense at anyone reveling in an injury that might or might not affect him for the rest of his career...maybe life. We just don't know yet.

Regardless of who it is, it's probably never a good practice to get giddy over a 21 year old getting hurt. And before your joy bubbles over to a full smile as you look ahead to this season, let me give you two reasons your enthusiasm might be short-lived:

You've been warned clowns. Don't think these two and their teammates won't be motivated and ready to play in a few weeks. The media already has ruled Purdue out as a contender...and don't think the players haven't heard the grumblings of the sentiment that Purdue will be lucky to be in the top-4 of the conference. In the recent words of Matty, "Our goals haven't changed."

Purdue fans, it's OK to expect big things still. And, to all those who have enjoyed watching a kid's injury, you should expect more of what you've gotten the past few seasons. Just a reminder, Rob's been hurt before...and the results were just a Big Ten Championship and a Sweet 16. The only difference this season is everyone has a chance to prepare for life without Rob...and they don't have to do it on the fly. Plus, two former multi-season All-Big Ten players are now Seniors.

This season will still be fun...but, I'm really looking forward to February 8th.

What if...

With the headline, you might think I'm asking the question "what if" in reference to what if Hummel was healthy...but instead, I'm asking, what if Hummel hadn't recovered quickly and was deemed unable to play this season before this morning's injury had occurred? Our perspective would be different, no doubt.

For one thing, we wouldn't have had to experience the punch in the gut that we all felt in the early afternoon and might feel right now. Morgan Burke summed it up best, I think.

"As soon as it happened my stomach, it's still upset. I've got a knot in my stomach that I haven't had in a long time and that's just because I love the kid and hate to see it happen."

Precisely. I've met Rob a few times quickly...no real connection to him other than I really like him and the way he plays...and like so many other Purdue athletes, he was really nice to my son last spring. That's always endearing for a Dad. So I was as excited for him as anything else as he prepared to play with his pals one last season before heading to the next level. But plans seldomly go the way they're supposed to go.

So back to an alternate perspective.

Hypothetically, if my alma mater was heading into any other season returning TWO Wooden Award candidates, two former all-Frosh team players who were both starters, an instant-impact true Freshman and more frontcourt size and talent than they've had in five seasons and some guys who are much-improved (according to rumors), my outlook might not be too bleak.

Universally, people that have seen Johnson play in the last month-or-so say he's a different guy...a better player. A guy who averages over 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks/game wants more out of his game. He took the criticism given to him by the NBA scouts and didn't whine, but decided to get stronger and use it constructively. How many more points, rebounds, blocks per game will his workmanlike summer yield? How much does it help a guy to guard and face NBA all-stars day-in/day-out for over a month? We'll see soon.

The other big time talent...the forgotten guy on this year's Boilers has done OK, I guess. He was All-Big Ten First team, All-American third team and Academic All-American second team last season. He led the Boilers in scoring, has become a defensive force in the last two seasons...and some of the media think he's one of the top defensive players in the nation. He's not sexy to the media...but feared by his opponents. And he just quietly does his job- whatever's needed, he seems to do.

Patrick Bade, D.J. Byrd, Lewis Jackson, Ryne Smith and Kelsey Barlow all dedicated themselves to getting better months ago...their offseason work has just become more-important as their responsibilities will all likely increase in the wake of today's news. I always say sports are a microcosm for life. As we've seen with Rob Henry's emergence on the football field and what will be expected from Barlow, Bade and others this coming basketball season- like the boy scouts tell us, we simply must always be prepared. No one knows what's coming next.

I'll also say that Matty is a damned-good coach who seems to be able to squeeze a lot out of teams who look tapped-out from time-to-time. Remember, our pals in the media left Purdue for dead last season coming into the NCAA tourney...Purdue only went to the sweet 16 after most heads predicted Purdue to bow out in the opening round to Siena. Some of those same schmoes in the media have already dropped Purdue in their worthless pre-season polls from a top-3 team to an also-ran that's barely in the top-25. All that matters little at this point.

So, it seems our Boilers are once-again a team that few believe in...an underdog. This isn't a role that many of us thought our Boilers would be playing this season...but it's one that Purdue fans and players alike know well.

I think big things are still coming this season for our Boilers. I'll detail what I think can and will happen to make this season something to remember in the weeks leading up to the season. Here's to the forces of good making believers out of everybody.

Rob Hummel Does It All, Including Golf and Guest Blogging

Not only is Rob Hummel a rehabbing machine, he also finds time to sit down with fringe basketball writers to share his innermost thoughts, fears, desires and what he looks for in a girl.

No, okay, not really all of that. But Rob did guest-blog on Jeff Goodman's site and it's a fun read.

Among the interesting tidbits were that Rob sounds to be about a 6-8 handicap on the golf course, which is just one more piece of evidence for how great an athlete you have to be to play college and/or pro sports. Think about how little time he has to devote to golf, and yet the guy goes out and shoots a 40 for 9 holes. I only wish.

Also, when JJ called Rob Friday night before announcing he was coming back, Rob was just as excited to hear the news as any of us would be:

"But I'm not going to lie — my heart was pounding through my chest when I called him back."

And then when JJ delivered the news:

"I'm sure my reaction was priceless, but it basically comprised of screaming and jumping up and down like a 5-year-old."

I don't know. That sounds like a guy who wants a national title.

This is one more example of why this team is so easy to like. They connect with their fans in ways few teams do and they understand how excited and hungry Purdue fans and alums are....and they're feeding off of it. Sure, it can lead to an emotional letdown if you let it, but that's the risk you run. I like it this way.

Click through for the complete entry.

Dr. Shelborne's take on ACL injuries

Good info from a great doctor. Robbie's in good hands, if nothing else.
I believe he's talking about Waddell in the interview.

The great news I take from this is that it doesn't seem Hummel will have to miss any of '10/'11.

Find more music like this on ESPN 1450

Derailed?

Is the train off the tracks? Hold on a second...

If you're reading this, then you probably already know. And if not.... where the hell have you been?? It's anarchy! Blood running through the streets! Fire and brimstone hailing from the sky!! Dogs and cats..... LIVING TOGETHER!! Mass hysteria!

Alright, have we all calmed down a bit?

We know that Rob Hummel is done for the year and likely the beginning of next year. But he's going to be okay. He's a smart kid, he's a hard worker, and he's come back from fractured vertebrae. His future is actually in fine shape if he rehabs as he should and none of us have any reason to believe he won't.

But let's get back to being selfish and ask what this means for this season.

There seem to be two camps as of right now. In one, there are people who basically feel the season is essentially over. They're not quitting as fans, mind you, but they just feel destroyed and punched in the gut and think that advancing a round or two is all we can hope for.

The other camp is the group that seems to be pulling themselves up by the bootstraps and saying, "No, we're good. We will persevere!" But you almost feel like these people are trying to convince themselves.

Let's state it clearly here -- this is a bad blow, yes, but the season is not ruined. We assure you. The Boiled Sports guarantee (it's worth so very much).

Losing Rob Hummel is a huge blow to this team. However, his injury and absence can be dealt with and this team still can still win the Big Ten and make the deep NCAA tourney run we all want.

What does it mean for playing time, starting spots and expectations? Glad you asked.

Playing Time

Mr. Bade, get limbered up, son. Because you're going to need to give us some minutes. No, we can't count on young Bade to replace Rob Hummel, but as Boilerdowd said on our show last night, Bade is the one who most resembles Hummel in the physical sense. His length is similar, he can do some of the curling and he can rebound. If Bade gives us 8-10 minutes a game of this and stops looking like a scared kitten, that's a nice start.

Keaton Grant is alive. We've seen it the past few games and we saw an incredibly promising sign last night. KG hit three yooooge shots late in last night's game, including the game-winning with seven seconds left. And if you watch the replay, you see the level of confidence with which he fired that shot. This very well may be the KG of old, or at least a reasonable facsimile of him.

LewJack and Barlow should see their minutes increase as well, which does not worry us one bit.

Starting Spots

How monumentally fortunate are we that Keaton Grant was bounced from the starting lineup in favor of Kelsey Barlow earlier this season? Had that not happened, Barlow would not have the experience or confidence he now has. Yes, it's terrible to lose Rob Hummel out of the starting lineup. But when you're able to take a senior off the bench who is used to starting (KG) and plug him back into the starting lineup, well, that's about as good a scenario as you could ask for, right?

Replacing a junior leader with a senior leader with skills is not a bad thing. In addition, it might be time to have LewJack start the games and use Kelsey off the bench. Your starting five would then look like this:

Johnson (Jr), Moore (Jr), Kramer (Sr), Grant (Sr), Jackson (So)

I'll go to battle with that starting lineup any time.

Expectations

Do we need 20 ppg from Keaton? No, we do not. If we can get 10-15 out of him consistently, that would go a long, LONG way to helping fill the void. Lewis Jackson is ready and is all the way back. JJ is capable of taking over games, as we have seen, and is truly indispensable. And E'Twaun Moore will step up his game to whatever level the Boilermakers need. I have never been so confident in a guy's ability to respond as I am in Smooge's.

Chris Kramer has to play defense as Chris Kramer can. The guys need to stay out of foul trouble and understand they have a slightly shorter bench. Is this the kind of group that can understand this and rise to the occasion? I think so, and I say that without hesitation.

Are any of these things that I have put forth crazytalk? Am I asking JJ to score 30 a game? Are we talking about Smooge shooting the lights out all the time? No.

Here's a big one: Are we asking guys to do things they have never done before?

No, we are not.

So when you begin to believe again (if you haven't already), do so with confidence. No, losing the Ostrich is not a good thing and we'd never pretend it was. But he's going to be present and spurring these guys on. And we have Coach Matty who knows how to prepare his guys. They will not look shell-shocked any longer on Sunday. And if they beat Michigan State, the train is fully back on the tracks again.

Keep the faith, everyone.

Costly Win.

For 12 minutes-or-so, we saw the Purdue team that tore into WVU, beat up on MSU for the first half and definitely-deserves to be a #1 seed. After that, things took a turn.

As Hummel drove from the left side of the arc to the right toward the rim he fell awkwardly and painfully...The wake of the fall left the Ostrich in a heap...and his teammates in a similar state emotionally. The levity of Hummel's injury seemed to take a few minutes to sink in...but Purdue ended the half poorly as Minny cut the lead down to single-digits on the back of a 6-0 run.

College Basketball

Our Boilers were literally flat-lined following Hummel's injury

After what was surely a bit of a somber halftime in the locker room, Matty's boys came out with a thud. Purdue's lead shrunk to nothing, then turned into a 7-point deficit as Minnesota started the last 20 minutes of the contest with a 12-0 run. Purdue looked flat and shell-shocked. In fact, the only player that seemed to take it upon himself to play with reckless abandon, at least initially, was, get this, Chris Kramer. He guarded 7-footers, played the high post offensively, looked to shoot and drew a charge. CK's effort eventually started rubbing off on his teammates. Fellow senior, KG made some big shots and drove the ball with purpose and had his third-straight double-digit scoring output. But make no mistake, without the KG being reminded of who he really is as a player during the last two games, we might not have seen the stone-cold, monster KG that helped pull our Boilers out of the muck they had created in Minneapolis. Is it possible that 5 is finding his old MVP self as we speak?

In the closing minutes, Matty's club did what great teams do- they made shots, made stops, rebounded well and simply closed the game out. Prior to this strong finish, Goldy kept Purdue at an arm's length with a single-digit lead that felt like a 15-point lead as nothing was working offensively and Minny's bigs were unconscious.

But in the end, the maginally-talented Boilers, with two-thirds of the Big Three available beat Tubby's talented team.

JJ hit some big shots as he finished with 14, 10 and 3 blocks...but he was visibly gassed as he played the entire game. LewJack had 4 assists...two were HUGE. John Hart hit a big shot that kept the game in striking distance, Moore had 11 points and 3 assists, but his biggest contribution might have been shutting down Westbrook. And while the forces of good didn't win the rebounding battle, they did tie it...and a few big rebounds, especially down the stretch, helped Purdue win by the slimmest of margins...59-58.

Matty called Hummel's injury a small setback after the game, let's hope his optimism is rooted in the knowledge of the situation that very few have right now. Until we the rest of us do know more, probably tomorrow around midday, Purdue fans everywhere will be holding their collective breath.