Some quick hitters before tomorrow’s game.
Welcome to the Fast Break where I throw together some thoughts on recent news or Purdue related things that I don’t think I can expand to a whole story so I give you a bunch of short pieces in one place.
Expectations
This season was always going to be a challenging fans for Purdue, Purdue fans, and the Purdue media to cover. It’s hard to cover the season AFTER the historic season. I’ve compared it to the MCU on a number of occasions. The high of Avengers: Endgame was unattainable. No movie that followed was going to match it until they built up a new story and built up new emotional arcs. That doesn’t take away from any of that movies but again, hard to follow something so legendary. Here, Purdue lost a two-time National Player of the Year and one of the greatest college basketball players of all time in Zach Edey who helped them get to the National Championship game. How do you come back from that? It’s hard for fans not to feel disappointed in the next season unless it ends with another trip to the Final Four. There’s still the chance that this season does that, but I think so far the fan response has been a result of the experience of last year.
Fletcher Loyer
Boilermaker Nation held their breath last week when Loyer went down in the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan. I, like a lot of people, feared that he had broken his arm and his season was done. Luckily, as Matt Painter confirmed on Selection Sunday, it was just a sprain and Loyer will be good to go on Thursday. Purdue needs their best shooter out there and they need him to crank up about 10 threes a game. I know that Ryan Cline is not a fair comparison, they are different players and different shooters, but that’s the kind of volume I feel like Loyer needs in the NCAA Tournament if Purdue is going to make an unexpectedly deep run.
Fun in Providence
If you’re in Providence for the game, make sure to stop by the official Purdue fan headquarters which is at Union Station Brewery. More details are below. These events are always fun as there’s a festive atmosphere, generally some good giveaways, and there are usually some drink and food specials. It’s always worth it to connect with fellow Boilermakers.
Thursday, March 20 // 10:30 a.m. ET
36 Exchange Terrace
Providence, RI 02903