I know we have the huge football game with Wisconsin coming up soon but the fan day scrimmage has me pumped for basketball right now too. To get some more basketball talk going I thought I’d ask what everyone would pick for their all time painter era team. 13 scholarship players + a walk on. Doesn’t have to be the 13 best. Just put a team together
To start things off here’s mine
Starters
1 - Lewjack - best pure point that painter has had. Just like that MSU game clip that everyone can see in their head Lewjack will single handedly break a press.
2 - Carsen - Best scorer that Painter has had. Even on this team he’s probably the leading scorer
3 - E’twaun - IMO he’s the best overall player that Painter has had at Purdue. Can score at every level and is the perfect player to match with carsen in a backcourt
4 - Hummel - I almost picked Vince here but Rob was probably the better defender of the two which is more valuable in this starting lineup
5 - Swanigan - capable of 20/20 in any game and adds a 4th 40% 3pt shooter to the group which makes up for Lewjacks lack of shooting from outside.
Reserve 5
1 - Kramer - Not sure you can say he’s the best defender painter has had anymore because of the freak Nojel was but Kramer is the most decorated defender painter has had. Got to have his leadership on the team as well. Only behind Lewjack for ball handling.
2 - Ivey - best athlete Painter has had. He’s obviously the better pro prospect/player but I’m keeping him behind Carsen on this team because when Carsen was hot in the way that only he could get there weren’t many that could go toe to toe with him.
3 - Dakota - Perfect role player on this team. Arguably the best shooter Painter’s had. His passing/defense are also incredibly valuable
4 - Vince - like I already said I almost picked him as my starter over Rob. Good to very good at everything across the board
5 - Jujuan - another player I really wanted to start but choose not to. Ultimately choose Swanigan for what he added on 3pt shooting. Nothing against Haarms because I think he was a solid player but think how great JJ would’ve been in Haarms role on that 2018-19 team with Carsen!
Deep bench
Big man - Hammons - so many other that were deserving of this spot (Haas, Edey, Trevion, Landry) but I choose AJ because I think of that group he’s the best offense/defense combo.
Wing - Rapheal - again there were others that I could’ve picked (Cline, Teague, Bird) but there’s enough scoring on the wings so taking one of painters best leaders who also won a DPoY award seems right.
Guard - PJ - I wanted to stick with picking great defenders in this deep bench part of the team. With that criteria there were 5 options I looked at (PJ, Octeus, Grant, Barlow, Nojel). Octeus only being a 1 year transfer kind of eliminated him for me and the drama that Nojel/Barlow had while in school took them out too. Grant had a great sophomore year shooting but was very streaky every other year and his A/T wasn’t very good. PJ on the other hand had 3 years over 40% and a career 3/1 A/T ratio so he’s my pick here for the final spot.
Walk on - Luce - I realize that Eifert is the correct pick here but this spot was only getting in at the end of blowouts and who else does the crowd at Mackey want in at the end of games other than Luce!
That makes it
1 - Lewjack / Kramer / PJ / Luce
2 - Carsen / Ivey
3 - E’twaun / Dakota / Rapheal
4 - Hummel / Vince
5 - Swanigan / Jujuan / Hammons
To start things off here’s mine
Starters
1 - Lewjack - best pure point that painter has had. Just like that MSU game clip that everyone can see in their head Lewjack will single handedly break a press.
2 - Carsen - Best scorer that Painter has had. Even on this team he’s probably the leading scorer
3 - E’twaun - IMO he’s the best overall player that Painter has had at Purdue. Can score at every level and is the perfect player to match with carsen in a backcourt
4 - Hummel - I almost picked Vince here but Rob was probably the better defender of the two which is more valuable in this starting lineup
5 - Swanigan - capable of 20/20 in any game and adds a 4th 40% 3pt shooter to the group which makes up for Lewjacks lack of shooting from outside.
Reserve 5
1 - Kramer - Not sure you can say he’s the best defender painter has had anymore because of the freak Nojel was but Kramer is the most decorated defender painter has had. Got to have his leadership on the team as well. Only behind Lewjack for ball handling.
2 - Ivey - best athlete Painter has had. He’s obviously the better pro prospect/player but I’m keeping him behind Carsen on this team because when Carsen was hot in the way that only he could get there weren’t many that could go toe to toe with him.
3 - Dakota - Perfect role player on this team. Arguably the best shooter Painter’s had. His passing/defense are also incredibly valuable
4 - Vince - like I already said I almost picked him as my starter over Rob. Good to very good at everything across the board
5 - Jujuan - another player I really wanted to start but choose not to. Ultimately choose Swanigan for what he added on 3pt shooting. Nothing against Haarms because I think he was a solid player but think how great JJ would’ve been in Haarms role on that 2018-19 team with Carsen!
Deep bench
Big man - Hammons - so many other that were deserving of this spot (Haas, Edey, Trevion, Landry) but I choose AJ because I think of that group he’s the best offense/defense combo.
Wing - Rapheal - again there were others that I could’ve picked (Cline, Teague, Bird) but there’s enough scoring on the wings so taking one of painters best leaders who also won a DPoY award seems right.
Guard - PJ - I wanted to stick with picking great defenders in this deep bench part of the team. With that criteria there were 5 options I looked at (PJ, Octeus, Grant, Barlow, Nojel). Octeus only being a 1 year transfer kind of eliminated him for me and the drama that Nojel/Barlow had while in school took them out too. Grant had a great sophomore year shooting but was very streaky every other year and his A/T wasn’t very good. PJ on the other hand had 3 years over 40% and a career 3/1 A/T ratio so he’s my pick here for the final spot.
Walk on - Luce - I realize that Eifert is the correct pick here but this spot was only getting in at the end of blowouts and who else does the crowd at Mackey want in at the end of games other than Luce!
That makes it
1 - Lewjack / Kramer / PJ / Luce
2 - Carsen / Ivey
3 - E’twaun / Dakota / Rapheal
4 - Hummel / Vince
5 - Swanigan / Jujuan / Hammons
