LOUISVILLE — After the biggest win of his coaching career, Matt Painter was, somehow, still grounded.
“It’s just a game. It means to so much to a lot of people. But it’s just a game of basketball," he said early Friday morning, following Purdue's 99-94 overtime win over Tennessee.
It was just a game. An instant classic. A game that will be talked in Purdue history for years to come. But Painter’s comments reflect the vibe that he’s receiving from his players.
“Why not have fun? Why not play hard?” he added. “But also keep it in perspective.”
The “why not have fun?” question has been asked and emphatically answered by this year’s players. It starts with the newcomers who’ve announced themselves from the bench with a carefree attitude that spills from the locker room onto the court.
Eric Hunter, Aaron Wheeler and Trevion Williams are some of the liveliest characters on the Purdue bench, full of celebrations and antics. But what sets them apart is that they bring that freewheeling attitude with them when they check into the game.
Wheeler’s ability to jump out of the gym lends itself to the aggressive style that he displays on defense, taking chances around the rim to swat away balls. His fastbreak dunks brought the Purdue fans at the KFC Yum! Center to their feet on multiple occasions against Tennessee.
Hunter’s ability to run the Purdue offense smoothly has allowed Painter to give Nojel Eastern much needed rest during these tournament games. Hunter has played at least 20 minutes in two of the three NCAA Tournament games, something he was only asked to do just three times all season long.
“It’s just really hard for us to be serious, even in the last seconds of the game,” Hunter said after the win.
Wheeler and Hunter’s charisma was on full display when they starred in the new video series that the Purdue basketball twitter account debuted at the start of the tournament, featuring players and coaches interviewing each other in short segments inside the locker room.
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The veterans on this team have noticed the same loose attitude in this year’s team — and they welcome it.
“A guy like Tre is having a great time with it and you can see it, he was huge for us in that first half,” Matt Haarms said about Williams. “They’re having fun but they’re still doing their jobs.”
That shift in attitude is different from years past. The star of the Tennessee game, Ryan Cline, admits as much, pointing to the closeness of the team off the court.
It can be hard to quantify in pure basketball terms why a team that lost four senior starters, including two NBA-level prospects, is succeeding at the highest levels of the sport. But it is easy to see the change in perspective that the freshmen have brought to the locker room.
The attitude shift is palpable and it has been present all season long, even if it’s come to light more prominently in the past few weeks.
“(This year’s guys) are a little bit more loose that some other guys we’ve had in the past,” Painter said. “It creates a little bit of looseness and it helps us.”
Going forward in the tournament, there is a case to be made that this team is playing without the burden of expectation but in reality, that’s the attitude they’ve played with since losing to Notre Dame at the Crossroads Classic in December.
“Nobody coming into the season expected us to be here,” Wheeler said. “So we can just play freely.”
This team is determined to play fun basketball because, as Painter said, it’s just a game. Why not have fun?
Atreya Verma is a reporter covering the Purdue men’s basketball and football teams. If you have thoughts, comments or concerns you can reach him at verma43@purdue.edu or on Twitter @atreya_verma.
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