Maybe a programs success shouldn't be measured by FFs and NCs, if they played a series like the NBA, the outcomes would surely be different and the "better" teams would prevail more frequently. But it is a 1 and done situation, it takes luck, good match ups and the starts aligning a bit for team to make it.
I guess if you want to be OUT on the Boilers, no problem. But I just view success in a different light I guess and I am very proud of not only the product he puts on the floor but how he goes about putting that product on the floor. Will his more recent success and top 5 ranking consistency help him pull in some more talented players out of high school? That is TBD and how they plug into the program is TBD. He has built a program to be proud of, wins and loses happen, I hate losing as much as the next guy, but there are good players and good coaches on the opposite side of the court trying to win the same game you are playing.
Bear in mind that me being out is a personal thing, not a reflection on Painter or the program.
As fans, we become emotionally invested in the outcome of our teams.
For me growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I would always be considered a "Cubs fan", but in reality I was not really a baseball fan to any reasonable degree, and the Cubs were the "lovable losers", so it's not like I actually had expectations. So I wasn't really emotionally invested to where a loss (even the Bartman ball collapse) actually got to me emotionally.
It's not the case with Purdue. Purdue is a basketball school. Purdue has history. Purdue has put some REALLY good teams on the floor over the years. Painter is a really good coach. There are expectations. And it being my alma mater means that I was
heavily emotionally invested in the outcomes. Probably too much so.
The 2019 loss was a gut punch, but I get it. I respect the heck out of UVA and Bennett. They were the 1 seed; Purdue was the 2. It felt like in that one that maybe it finally might be our time--which was the exact same thing UVA fans were thinking. That one hurt, but I walked away thinking we gave our best shot and it just wasn't enough.
2022? No, I walked away after that with a feeling of complete and total
disgust. I walked away from that thinking: "Nope. They're never, ever going to do it. I'm not going to let them get my hopes up--and then dash them--ever again."
So I went the other direction. No expectations. No interest. Harden my heart. They can win. They can lose. But if I'm no longer emotionally invested, I can't be hurt.
