Mathis at the point
- Thread starter Purdue Alumnus
- Start date
I love how people think people can develop into completely different players over a summer because a message board wishes really hard for it to be so.
Nobody is asking them to be completely different players. We just know that it doesn't take a stud PG to run our offense.
I go back to three games last season that Purdue blew (or nearly blew) because of hard on-ball pressure by quick guards. @Minnesota (L), @ Rutgers (W, but we blew an 18 point lead or so and Rutgers got way too close for comfort), and against Cincinnati in the NCAAT. If our guards, including Octeus and Mathias handled ball pressure better, Purdue would have won that game in regulation and it never would have gone into OT in the first place. We shot poorly in that game, Our FT shooting was atrocious. Yet, had we handled ball pressure against the Bearcat's guards, we win. We blew a large lead in about 40 seconds.
I didn't know Edwards was that good a ball handler/could play the point at this level. Whomever our guards are, Painter & the opposition will give them a real workout this season. If Edwards or Davis can do it, more power to them.
I dont think he ever played PG his fresh (or soph) years. His dad was the coach and used him more in the SG through PF spots (2, 3, and 4).
Turnovers were a hugh problem/#1 problem last season. At Madison, first B1G game last season, Badgers beat us because of full court presure & turnovers, mostly, late in the game. If they had kept up the presure at the very end of game, they could/would have beaten us by at least 10 or more points. Why they stopped, once ahead, I don't know. That must change this season, for Purdue to advance. Turnovers/unforced errors cost us several games last season.
Some people on KHC think that Purdue can play PG "by committee" and be effective against better and quicker teams. The idea of having Mathias play PG is laughable. He is a SG but is not a great ball handler. His dribble is too high. I hope and pray that Hill can be a good/excellent ball handler next season. I have no problem using guys like Edwards and Mathias to help break pressure, but they should not be the primary ballhandler. I haven't seen enough of Swanigan to know if he can help break pressure, but I think he might be able to help here.
Painter needs to figure out some new plays to get the ball inbounds. Teams continually trap us on the sidelines (like another defender). If that means throwing the ball high to guys like Hammons and Biggie in the foul line extended, maybe that's what they should do.
Exactly when did our guards turn the ball over against pressure against UC? Octeus and Thompson combined for 0 turnovers. Stephens didn't turn it over. Davis had 2, one on the 1st possession of the game and one late in the first half. Mathias also had 2, one late in the first half and one early in the 2nd.
Purdue didn't commit a TO in OT. In fact, they had just 4 in the final 19:22 of game play (1 by Hammons and 3 by Edwards). Edwards got a little rattled late against the pressure of the moment but no one else was materially impacted by pressure from UC.
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Absolutely no doubt, getting the ball inbounds was anouther huge problem last season, & late in the season, when it really counted. Maybe plays would help there, & maby new players there would also help? PG is the most critical/vital/important position on the team. I wouldn't go by committee. Painter must find out a. s. a. p. who's going to be his point guards, starting & back up, then let them & everyone else know, & be able to get that chemistry needed to maintain a proper playing/work environment for future success. Also, with turnovers on our inbounds posessions last season, especially late in season, it wasn't just our inbounds player throwing in the ball who errored. Other players of ours were out of position [often in relation to the defenders/defense against them] when the 5 sec. clock ticked away. A team must have all 5 of it's offensive players on the same page when inbounding the ball. Five seconds is incredibly short, & our execution of those critical plays must change for the better this season, starting from the beginning. If the opposition can dominate our guards this season, this team is in real trouble.
"In Painter We Trust"
Absolutely no doubt, getting the ball inbounds was anouther huge problem last season, & late in the season, when it really counted. Maybe plays would help there, & maby new players there would also help? PG is the most critical/vital/important position on the team. I wouldn't go by committee. Painter must find out a. s. a. p. who's going to be his point guards, starting & back up, then let them & everyone else know, & be able to get that chemistry needed to maintain a proper playing/work environment for future success. Also, with turnovers on our inbounds posessions last season, especially late in season, it wasn't just our inbounds player throwing in the ball who errored. Other players of ours were out of position [often in relation to the defenders/defense against them] when the 5 sec. clock ticked away. A team must have all 5 of it's offensive players on the same page when inbounding the ball. Five seconds is incredibly short, & our execution of those critical plays must change for the better this season, starting from the beginning. If the opposition can dominate our guards this season, this team is in real trouble.
"In Painter We Trust"
I see Hill and PJ splitting the minutes based on matchups and score of the game...if Purdue behind big...PJ is in to bring 3 pointer into play if needed like he did last year.
PG: Hill/PJ/Weatherford
SG: RD/DM
SF: VE//Stephens/Smotherman
PF: CS/Taylor
C: AJH/IH
*Note: Above listed as who starts most of the season at that position.....any combo of above could finish the games and that is what counts.
I think Taylor and Smotherman play more than people think and depending on how PJ's summer China trip goes he may get the start at PG because of his shooting of the 3 ball.
Tough line-up from deep if PJ, Stephens/Mathias and VE in the game together......add RD and Basil if Basil works on his shot over the summer.
Boiler Up.
PG: Hill/PJ/Weatherford
SG: RD/DM
SF: VE//Stephens/Smotherman
PF: CS/Taylor
C: AJH/IH
*Note: Above listed as who starts most of the season at that position.....any combo of above could finish the games and that is what counts.
I think Taylor and Smotherman play more than people think and depending on how PJ's summer China trip goes he may get the start at PG because of his shooting of the 3 ball.
Tough line-up from deep if PJ, Stephens/Mathias and VE in the game together......add RD and Basil if Basil works on his shot over the summer.
Boiler Up.
I think Edwards inbounding to Davis would work in most cases. Teams will matchup sizewise to one of thosee guys and that is the one that can bring the ball up. In pressing situations we have some serious screeners and legnth to get the ball over the top of need be.
Holefully Hill and PJ are working hard on their games this summer and all of this is made irrevevant.
3 turnovers in the last 1:06 turned a 7 point lead into an OT loss. If that's because of good guard play, I'd hate to see what bad guard play looks like. I'm pretty sure Mathias was responsible for one of those where he panicked and fired a ball over Edwards head that Vince got credited with a TO on as well.
Exactly. boilerzz has his head in the sand. Purdue absolutely blew that game against Cincinnati because of TOs and missed FTs. For anyone to say otherwise is being disingenuous.
Where did I say it was good guard play? I said it wasn't the guards who wilted under pressure. Mathias may have contributed to one of the TO's but that's hardly sufficient to support the SDBoiler1's claim.
Not at all. I said at the beginning that Purdue lost @ Minnesota, nearly lost @Rutgers (blew an 18 point (or so) lead, and lost against Cincinnati because of TOs. Does it really matter that Edwards got a TO instead of Mathias? Mathias forced Edwards into the TO situation because of his errant pass, for instance. Against Cincinnati, missed FTs certainly did not help Purdue's cause either. I stand by what I said - and you are slicing it "real fine" with your "argument".
The point is the same guys that couldn't break a press last year are the ones being talked about to be the main ball handlers this year. It's Hill and PJ. Those are the only two options. If turning into a PG is so easy, Bryson Scott would have done it.
Octeus struggled mightily against the press last year, but everyone here says he was a "godsend". Davis can handle the ball as well as Octeus did last year.
Octeus was a "godsend" last season, but he did have some TOs against pressure. Truth be told, Purdue would not have made the NCAAT without Octeus last season.
I don't know for sure if Davis can handle the ball as well as Octeus did last season, but the data so far would lead me to believe the answer is "no".
I agree. I'm just saying that we don't have to have a prototypical 6' quick point guard to run our offense. I (personally) think Davis can run our offense just as well as Octeus did. If he can do that, then we can put Mathias and/or Stephens in the game with him and Edwards and have 3 perimeter threats on the court with 2 VERY scary inside threats. Just how imagine how much that would open the court for Davis and Edwards to be able to drive the lane. I'm partially with you. I'm not 100% sold on Davis at the point, but I'm 90%. I'm less inclined to think Matt will put him there. I just hope he does.
