In his first media availability since the end of the season, Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter took a few minutes to talk about the culture he has built within the program.
Painter, who led the Boilermakers to the NCAA National Championship game this spring against Connecticut, said the culture of Purdue basketball is something the team works on every day.
“It’s something that can go away pretty quickly. But I think it starts with the character of the people you have on your team and the people you have on your staff. You’re not perfect, but for us, we have to keep it at a highly competitive standpoint and keep getting better and keep improving,” Painter told the media.
The veteran Purdue basketball coach said with the right people, mistakes don’t hurt a program. However, throw in the wrong people, and a program will have problems.
“So, we feel like we have a locker room right now where everybody’s on the same page, they’re competing. But we also know everyone in that locker room is not going to play. When that happens and that crumbles, that’s where you kind of find out,” Painter said.
His message to his team and keeping its culture?
“Don’t lose your time right now in June, July and August. Don’t look at it like it’s just a summer workout. Like, try to get in front of guys. Even though your teammates and you love them and you’ve got to go battle with them, you’ve got to get in front of somebody. You’ve got to beat the guy in front of you. So, you still have to have that element, along with other things to have that culture and have that growth more than anything,” Painter said.
Painter was asked if Purdue basketball needed to be a program for developing talent, and he said that all his players are “culture guys.”
“The greatest talent that’s ever played is Michael Jordan and he’s a culture guy. So, you can’t look at culture guys like they’re just guys who are under-recruited and tough and gritty and do the little things. Everybody is a culture guy if you’re about winning,” Painter said.
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