Given we won't always play top 11 teams every game, and certainly not three games in a row? Yeah, probably somewhat.
What is different about this team
- Thread starter BoilerDaddy
- Start date
FWIW I don't think the Zags are a top 11 team this year. I also don't think our guards' stats will improve markedly as the year proceeds.
Jones als
Jones provides more leadership on court than Jenkins, who wilted under pressure defenses, passing the ball away like a hot potato. Jones looks like he has the balls to get in there and get his hands dirty. Big attitude difference from what I can see.
I think everything doesn't boil down to pure statistics which itself is an incomplete system of measurement year over year.
I have no idea what as different as we are making them out to be even means. All anyone has said is that Jones is better. No one has quantified it much.
Is he quicker? Absolutely. It's plain and obvious. Same for athleticism. Same for ball handling. Is he a better on ball defender? Again, seems very obvious and he has the prior accolades to prove it.
He may or may not turn out to be a better scorer, but he's not going to be worse, and that combined with his helping us break the press, his defensive ability, and I think just a better fit will help this team have a better shot at advancing.
I see so you use pure data to make an argument and then ignore the data when you need to make the same argument. That's convenient.
I think you are confused
If you read closely, I am pointing out that our guards' performance last year (against a better Gonzaga team) was better than this year (against a worse Gonzaga team).
No you said Gonzaga wasn't really 11. Which you are right...Kenpom says they are 6th.
Last year they were ranked 9th. Again both are at the time played. Not how they finished since we don't know that yet for this season.
So saying they are worse now and better then is just your subjective opinion, not really data. Because again comparing across seasons really isn't a valid thing.
And even if they were the difference is statistically insignificant. In both cases they were top ten or near top ten teams.
And even if they were, our guards performed in three games in three games against Kenpom teams that are all top ten.
And for the season, the Kenpom OppD is 10th. And that's with two cake games to start the season.
So the level of opponents defense we've played against is probably not going to do anything but drop overall because it can't get much stronger.
Their stats went down because we have Jones this year. We woke by less because we hit our three’s last year and didn’t this year. But Jones took some of those points from last year from Smith and Loyer.
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This argument of Jones vs Jenkins is all wrong. Jones is starting at the 3 which is where Morton started most of the year. It's really starting to look like our three starting guards are going to average 30+ minutes when it counts. So the question is whether we're a better team with Jones in the starting lineup compared to Morton? I'd say absolutely yes.
Comparing this year’s Maui to last year’s PKI isn’t particularly helpful except to point out that it is early and November success needs to be sustained and built on. Purdue entered last year’s tournament under the radar with very little pressure. Purdue seemed to catch Gonzaga and Duke off guard and the results were two lopsided games that were encouraging, but misleading. This year, Purdue entered Maui with the national spotlight and the target on their backs. The intensity of the challenge that they faced in all three games was on a whole different level than PKI and, frankly, the games were a struggle, but Purdue ground out three hard fought victories. The intensity and physicality that Purdue faced in Maui was indicative of things to come.
Edey is going to be mugged all season long and teams are going to try to bring the pressure to Purdue’s guards at the same time, but I see this Purdue team as being much tougher mentally and ready to punch back.
Edey is going to be mugged all season long and teams are going to try to bring the pressure to Purdue’s guards at the same time, but I see this Purdue team as being much tougher mentally and ready to punch back.
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The two things I think that Purdue needed that Lance provides is on ball D (and hopefully off ball D improvement) and another capable ball handler. What stats do we use to measure those qualities? Braden has already said that having Lance is a big help to him in that he doesn't get quite as tired. "Stats" may not be an accurate portrayal of Lance...other than him taking some shots he shouldn't at times, and THAT may not measure the severity accurately of those mistakes.
You absolutely cannot compare the guard play to how much we beat Gonzaga last year. The flow of the game can be very different at different times . Fouls on certain starters for instance. You can have someone on the bench longer that usually gets more minutes . Also, we have Jones that gives us some of those extra points, that can take away from Smith or Loyer at times. That is a bonus!
Rather than looking back, look at the present! We were better this year than tenn, Marquette and Gonzaga this year. This year is what matters. Not comparisons to the past! In the past we lost!
I'll trust the opinion of a highly regarded coach who has coached against these guys 2 years in a row over a message board poster who never has a positive thing to say about the team. See Shaka Smart's comments about Purdue's guards.
Disagree on both. Gonzaga has a lot of talented players that need to learn to play together. They will be handful come tourney time. I'd wager that.
Loyers numbers will rise or fall with his confidence.
I think he's feeling his oats a bit, and having Jones to relieve as needed and/or matchups dictate doesn't hurt.
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