Purdue lost Hummel, but the season is far from lost

Anyone that hasn't yet read Luke Winn's article on Robbie Hummel, his parents, and The Injury should really do it.

I just finished it.

As usual, its a great read.

But while I was reading it, I got to thinking (which isn't always a good thing). Throughout the entire offseason, Purdue has been one of the three teams (along with Duke and Michigan State) whose name was thrown around as a potential preseason No. 1. Many expected a Big Ten title from the Boilermakers. Anything short of the Final Four would have been a disappointment, and a national title was very real possibility.

Obviously, all of that changes now that Hummel won't be involved. But by how much? Jeff Goodman dropped Purdue all the way to 25th. Andy Katz dropped them to the 23rd spot. Gary Parrish says he will probably rank Purdue somewhere in the 17-22 range, while Winn mentions in the article that he slots Purdue between 15th-18th.

While Hummel is hurt, Purdue still has two all-americans in JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore.
(photo credit: Mancave Sports)

We all remember that Purdue still has two all-americans, right? JaJuan Johnson may just be the best center in the country. At 6'10", he averaged 15.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg, and 2.1 bpg on a team with two other stars. He's got a very good finesse game in the post -- knocking down turnarounds and jump hooks consistently -- and has range out to 17 feet. Oh, and the kid that was never strong enough is now benching 315 lb.

E'Twaun Moore is arguably the most underrated player in the Big Ten. He's a prototypical four year back court star. He's not a lights out shooter, but he's dangerous enough that you cannot give him an open look at the rim. He's not lightening quick, but he knows how to get by his defender. He's not the most explosive finisher at the rim, but he gets the job done. Its not easy to score 16.4 ppg in the Big Ten.

With these two stars, Purdue made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to the eventual national champion Duke Blue Devils. Sure, they lose Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant off that team, but they also bring back eight other players that were in Matt Painter's rotation by the end of the season.

Ignore the Hummel injury for a second. Let's pretend that he was never coming back. If I told you that a four-seed that reached the Sweet 16 would be returning eight of their top ten, including their two all-americans and their starting point guard, where would you rank that team? The top five? Top ten?

Kenpom has an even better argument:

Temple was previously 23rd in Katz's list. If you added a healthy Hummel to Temple, I don't think you would consider the Owls to be national-title material. If you think Hummel had some special value to Purdue that he wouldn’t have on another team, leave him out of the argument for a second. Pick any player in college basketball and add him to Temple's roster. He still couldn't make the Owls' the second-best team in America.

Most are going to remember what Purdue looked like in their first few games without Hummel. It wasn't good, that's for sure. But when thinking about performances like their 11 point first half against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament, keep in mind that Purdue team was forced to learn how to play without arguably their most important piece in the middle of February.

This current team, the one that Matt Painter will have at his disposal for the 2010-2011 season, will have the entire season to perfect playing without Hummel. Painter will have the entire preseason to put in sets to run if they are forced to go small, using Kelsey Barlow at the four. He will have over two months to groom the rest of his front court -- Patrick Bade, Sandi Marcius, and Travis Carroll -- to be prepared to face the front lines of schools like Ohio State, Illinois, and Wisconsin once Big Ten play roles around.

The point that people make against Purdue is that they lose their two most important role players in Grant and Kramer; that the Boilermakers need the inexperienced younger guys on their roster to step up.

What team doesn't? That's the nature of college basketball, isn't it? To have a consistent program, don't you need to have players waiting in the wings that are capable of filling in when seniors graduate?

Is Purdue still a title contender?

That's a stretch.

But I don't think its a stretch to say that this is a team that can still compete for a Big Ten title or, with the right draw, can make the Final Four.