Matt Painter knows his team will get plenty of attention. He realizes many prognosticators will not only pick the Boilermakers to compete for a Big Ten championship but also rank them among the nation’s elite.

The hype started soon after Purdue wrapped up a 25-win season that included a win in the NCAA Tournament, somewhat surprising results considering the team had six underclassmen who logged major minutes. With the bulk of the production returning — including All-Big Ten honorees Robbie Hummel, Chris Kramer and E’Twaun Moore — and another group of talented freshmen coming in, the Boilermakers are deserving of the preseason accolades coming their way.

But they must maintain the motivation and work ethic that contributed to the meteoric rise last season and not wilt under the pressure of expectations. And with master motivator Painter at the helm, there’s little reason to believe the group will have trouble staying focused. He constantly reminds his players that they haven’t accomplished anything yet. They didn’t win the Big Ten. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. And they didn’t advance to the Sweet 16.

In the next breath, he delivers hope in the same mantra as last season: The opportunity is now.

“A lot of times people struggle with failure and dealing with that, but I think more people struggle with handling success,” says Painter, who is entering his fourth season as Purdue’s coach. “We’ve got to keep some things in perspective that we still haven’t accomplished. We need to stay humble.

“Press clippings are like poison. It does not hurt you unless you swallow it. We have to make sure they don’t swallow it and we go out and work and have a blue collar approach.”

Frontcourt

Who needs a dominating, low-post threat? Apparently not the Boilermakers. Without Carl Landry around as the go-to guy in the post, Purdue relied on a three- or four-guard lineup that rarely featured a consistent post-up player. Expect that to continue this season, considering there’s little depth in the frontcourt.

Painter has called Hummel a “point forward” because of his ball-handling and ability to spread the floor from the perimeter (a team-best 44.7 percent on 3-pointers). But Hummel also showed some toughness and a knack for sticking big shots as a freshman. He should be even better this season.

Of the post players, Nemanja Calasan is the most willing to be physical, but many of his post moves are of the finesse variety, and he also likes to step out and shoot from the perimeter. The only true center option is 6'10" JaJuan Johnson, who showed nice athleticism and an ability to block shots. But he probably won’t be ready to take on the load in the post until he packs on more pounds and strength.

Backcourt

The Boilermakers should feature the Big Ten’s finest collection of perimeter players. Kramer is the epitome of a Purdue player — gritty, tough-as-nails, defensive-minded and unselfish. After landing on the Big Ten All-Defensive team as a freshman, he got even better as a sophomore, averaging 2.3 steals per game en route to earning Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’s not much of an offensive threat — more intent on finding teammates than shooting — but he doesn’t need to be.

Moore is a dynamic scorer who can get to the rim off the dribble or stick a shot from the perimeter with a defender in his face. He improved his shot selection as the season progressed, a key considering he isn’t the only weapon on the team.

Point guard Keaton Grant emerged as a 3-point threat last season, improving his percentage from .266 as a freshman to .440 as a sophomore.

Senior Marcus Green and incoming freshmen Ryne Smith and Lewis Jackson bolster the unit.

Final Analysis

When Purdue is locked in defensively, there may not be a better team in the Big Ten. The key is applying suffocating pressure on the perimeter, which not only ignites fast breaks with steals but also wears teams down. When Purdue gets beaten off the dribble, which was the case more late last season, it struggles. But with plenty of offensive options, nice depth in the backcourt and largely unselfish players, Purdue should contend for its first Big Ten championship since 1995-96 and is a good bet to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.