After Purdue's heart-breaking loss to Kansas in the round of 32, broadcaster Steve Kerr made a suggestion.

"When Matt Painter gets back to Purdue, the first thing he should do is retire Robbie Hummel's jersey," Kerr said.

The idea caught fire, as #retire4 exploded on Twitter. But it's not the fact that Boilermakers want to retire Hummel's number that's significant. Numbers are retired every year all over the country. It was the urgency of it. Kerr suggested it be the first thing Purdue did when their plane touched down in West Lafayette and many agreed.

The reason for the rush was that Hummel was different, even special.

It's difficult to find a basketball fan who doesn't respect and even admire the Valparaiso, Ind. native. Even most Indiana fans appreciate him.

Everybody remembers Hummel's two knee surgeries. Most of Boiler nation can recall exactly where they were the moment they heard about each ligament tear.

The angle of what might have been had he and E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson been able to finish out their junior and/or senior season together has been covered backwards and forwards. Few have discussed what that group really meant to Purdue fans, though.

That trio helped bring Purdue basketball back after a stretch of six straight sub-20 win seasons. This is part of the reason Hummel has been so endeared to Purdue fans. He and the rest of the "Baby Boilers" are seen as part of the rebirth of the program when Gene Keady passed the torch to Matt Painter.

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I first heard about Lewis Jackson when I was listening to the Matt Painter radio show on my way home from work. Jackson had just signed his letter of intent, and Painter was free to talk about him for the first time that I had heard. Painter saw something special in Jackson, and was very enthusiastic about him. Coaches aren't really going to be negative about a recruit they just signed, but it seemed genuine to me. I heard a mention that this kid from Decatur, Illinois who stood well under six foot, could dunk. That seemed amazing to me, that a high school kid that short could dunk.

When Jackson started playing his freshman year, it wasn't quite what I expected. I guess the dunking comment stuck with me, and this kid didn't look like he was going to dunk anytime soon. I still liked what he brought to the table though: a true point who could handle the ball and was faster than anyone else on the court. And his on-ball defense was great: right up in the offense player's space, with his chest bumping into him on occasion.

Then the Wisconsin game happened. A few minutes into the game, Jackson was hit with a screen that he didn't see coming by Joe Krabbenhoft. It wasn't just a screen, though. The Badger big man clearly threw a forearm shiver into Jackson during the screen. Jackson went down hard and hit his head on the court. He went to the bench and was clearly dazed. They kept showing him sitting on the bench and it was clear to me that he had a concussion of some sort.

I don't know why the Purdue coaches and trainers didn't recognize this; Jackson definitely shouldn't have been allowed to play anymore that night. Jackson did get back in the game, and, although it was a terrible decision to put him back into the game, I gained a lot of respect for Lewis Jackson on that night.

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Purdue played perhaps its best game of the season in a 67-62 win at Illinois Wednesday. The first 20 minutes were undoubtedly the best half the Boilermakers have put together since E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson wore Old Gold and Black.

That game was preceded by a nice win over Northwestern in Evanston and a near-upset of Ohio State in Columbus. Things were looking up.

But after Kelsey Barlow was dismissed from the program Friday, any momentum that had been built has been destroyed.

The loss of the junior guard is a huge blow to the Boilers. Barlow is easily the best perimeter defender on the team and has become an increasingly potent offensive threat.

And it all comes at just the right time to potentially destroy an NCAA tournament bid, or at least drop Purdue a few seeds.

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Purdue's 17-point loss to Indiana Saturday at Mackey Arena feels like the beginning of the end. And Boilermaker fans should have seen it coming.

Matt Painter is a great strategic coach and usually gets the most out of his players. At first glance, it would appear that he's not doing that this season. A deeper look reveals that there may just not be a lot of potential to be maximizing.

Outside of Robbie Hummel, not a single player on this team comes from a class that was ranked in the top 25 by Scout. There just isn't that much talent out there. And that is Painter's fault.

During the current stretch in which Purdue is 3-5, the team is shooting under 36 percent from the floor (145-403). That's not going to get it done. But maybe this is less an anomaly and more the norm with this group of shooters. They're only shooting 63 percent from the free throw line, after all. There are four players (Terone Johnson, Travis Carroll, Jacob Lawson and Anthony Johnson) who are shooting .500 or worse from the charity stripe.

Maybe they just can't shoot.

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After today's 83-58 stomping of Purdue by Michigan State, the name on everyone's lips was Branden Dawson.

Dawson led all scorers in the game with 14 points, including several posterizing dunks. At one point, Dawson passed Purdue coach Matt Painter on the sidelines and casually said something that clearly offended Painter. Regardless of the situation or what was said, it was a punk move from the Spartan freshman.

Nonetheless, it shows that Dawson still holds some sort of animosity from his recruitment. By all accounts, Painter and the Boilermakers wanted the Gary, Ind. product bad. It seemed all but a done deal that Dawson would wear old gold and black until Tom Izzo jumped into the picture. Once MSU was there, the Boilers had no chance. See, a pattern has developed and it's starting to show on the court.

According to Scout, Painter has not once signed a player who had an offer from Michigan State, Ohio State or Kentucky. When it comes to recruiting in the Midwest Izzo, Thad Matta and John Calipari are the big dawgs with whom Painter can't seem to run.

Yesterday, Bullitt East High School stud Derek Willis chose Kentucky over Purdue. Willis was once a Purdue verbal commit. He's just the latest name to be added to the list.

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The IPFWs and Coppin States are in the past. Here come the Ohio States, Michigan States and...gulp... Indianas. If this team doesn't turn some things around in a hurry, it could be the first Boilermaker team since Matt Painter's first season in West Lafayette to miss the NCAA tournament.

Some of the problems were things most Boiler fans could have and should have seen coming like the lack of any major post presence, sporadic rebounding issues and inability to create a shot in clutch situations.

Others, like shooting only 62 percent from the free throw line, were an unwelcome surprise. The inability to close out close games against good teams is something most wouldn't expect from a veteran squad led by the likes of Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson. The heartbreaks against Butler and Xavier were both avoidable.

Some in the Boiler community are more optimistic. Hummel told the Indianapolis star "If we can turn this thing around, then (the early season struggles) could be a good thing."

I, for one, feel like the ship would have been righted a few weeks ago if were ever going to be.

That's not to say that this Purdue team doesn't have any talent; Hummel should earn some All-American votes and some of the younger players look like they have real potential. It's just a team in transition.

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The good news is Purdue is 4-1. The bad news is this team is showing some definite holes.

After last night's 65-56 loss to No. 15 Alabama in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off championship, a few things have become clear.

The first is that the Boilers are going to have to shoot well to win. Purdue made only three of its first 19 shots and was 35 percent from the field. Had this team shot like it has in the first four games, it could have easily earned a win over an Alabama team that appears to be the real deal. 

True, the Tide played great defense last night. But the Boilers had open shots that simply didn't fall. Ryne Smith made only one of five shots. If Purdue is going to have success, Smith is going to have to not only make more shots, he's going to have to take a lot more than five per game. He'd come into the game averaging almost 15 points per game. 

Overall, though, the Boilers simply don't have a player like JaJuan Johnson or E'Twaun Moore to feed the ball to when the offense doesn't create a shot. Robbie Hummel is averaging exactly 20 points per game to this point, but Hummel is more of a spot shooter or one-dribble guy. Lewis Jackson has shown some ability to break down a defense on his own, particularly in his 26-point performance against Temple, but needs to be more consistent. The same goes for Kelsey Barlow who can drive to the bucket with the best of them when he's on his game.

Rebounding hasn't been the problem it was expected to be and probably will be later in the year. Against a bigger and more athletic Alabama team, Purdue only lost the rebounding battle 38-36 and has not been significantly out-rebounded yet this season. I do expect that to change, though.

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In consecutive seasons, Boiler Nation thought it had visions of the Final Fours dancing in their heads...only to have their hearts ripped out. 

Things are different this year. Expectations from the outside world are down. It could be Purdue that sneaks up on the unsuspecting giant in 2011-12. 

Any personnel discussion of the Boilers 2011-12 campaign begins and ends with one player; Robbie Hummel. 

It's not that Hummel is all Purdue has to work with. There are other weapons. The fifth-year senior returning on a twice surgically-repaired knee is just the biggest, most beloved and possibly most fragile gun in the cabinet.

Few in the basketball community, even rivals, want to see the Valparaiso, Ind. native do anything but succeed. And word is Hummel has looked good in early practices. Assuming he stays healthy, all indications are that the two-time All Big Ten forward will again play at a very high level. 

The biggest question mark on this squad is probably scoring. Losing E'Twaun Moore (18 ppg) and JaJuan Johnson (20.5 ppg) leaves a gaping hole in the offense. Aside from Hummel, guards Ryne Smith and Lewis Jackson will be expected help alleviate that problem. But the team as a whole will have to contribute more offensively.

Defense is always a major focus of coach Matt Painter and he has said this season's Boilermakers could very good on the opposing end of the court. 

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