The Purdue Boilermakers men’s basketball team looks to improve on last season’s second place Big Ten finish as they enter the season as the conference’s top ranked team.In past years, the preseason No. 1 ranking for Big Ten teams has usually been the kiss of death. Purdue coach Gene Keady said he is more concerned about his team’s present condition than where the team stands in the polls. “I’m concerned about leadership on this team, I’m concerned about chemistry, I’m concerned about camaraderie and injuries,” said Keady. “If we can get those four things taken care of I think we’ll have a chance to deal with the ratings.” The Boilermakers return five starters to the squad, including senior guard and preseason All-Big Ten Team honoree Chad Austin. Purdue also returns four other returning letter winners.The team has good depth at the guard position, but will struggle if the team succumbs to injuries in the front court, Keady said. Purdue returns 98 percent of its scoring and 96 percent of its rebounding from last year. Austin lead the Boilermakers in scoring last season averaging 17 points per game. Brad Miller was second with 14.3 points per game, and lead the team in rebounding with 8.3 per game. Brian Cardinal and Jaraan Cornell also averaged double figures in scoring and combined for more than eight rebounds a game. “We have a pretty good team this year. We have everybody coming back,” said Austin. “Right now we are together as a team and we know what each other can do.” In order to maintain Purdue’s no. 1 ranking in the Big Ten this season, Keady said he will have to enforce strict discipline upon what he labels a lazy generation of kids. “As you know we’re in Generation X and kids just want to have fun. They don’t want to have authoritative people tell them what to do. They want to do it at their own rate and don’t want to be on time, and that’s probably my biggest hang up,” coach Keady said. “Generation X has a problem and it could be me.”Last season the Boilermakers finished the season with an 18-12 record, were tied for second in the Big Ten and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Kansas. Purdue will play the Buckeyes on Jan. 21 at West Lafayette, Ind., and again on Feb. 7 at St. John Arena.