Note: To look back on summer workouts and ahead to fall practice, GoldandBlack.com is taking a player-by-play look at the Purdue basketball team's 10 scholarship players. We were going in alphabetical order, but just screwed things up and now we're out of alphabetical order. Now, it's pure chaos. Up: Bryson Scott
I think things can still go either way with Bryson Scott, the sophomore who'll have an opportunity to play a prominent role in Purdue's backcourt this season - somewhere - if he shows he's ready for it after he really struggled in Big Ten play last season, a rare humbling experience for a player so accustomed to success.
Scott says he learned hard lessons last season that'll help him now, but time will tell just how much.
The physical and ability portions of the game aren't so much an issue for Scott as clearly the mental portions are.
That is to an extent a back-handed compliment, because the areas he struggles with - or has struggled with - are rooted in positive causes: Eagerness, intensity, competitiveness, wanting to do well.
But things get the best of him sometimes. In short, the ability to play poised and with a level head is something he's going to have to show this season, and I think personally he'll show some progress there, but it might not be a 180-degree deal overnight.
Scott will have a chance to play, as Purdue needs someone to play point guard, however much it might have to minimize that position's responsibilities this season. It'll use different players there, looks like.
In a perfect world, Scott would improve his decision-making, show progress in a true point guard capacity while still providing some scoring punch, and, again in a perfect world, be Purdue's best backcourt defender, whether it's pressuring the ball or chasing scorers through screens. Purdue needs him to be stable and reliable above all else, as a player.
Offensively, Scott is never going to be Steph Curry as a jump-shooter, but he might stand to be Purdue's best penetrator from the backcourt - it does not have an abundance of them - and their best option to push the ball in the open floor, though this doesn't have the looks of a particularly up-tempo team.
None of it matters, though, if Scott doesn't slow down and make better decisions, if he doesn't pick his battles better and share the ball first, whether it's getting it inside or simply moving it around.
Last year was hard on the then-freshman, harder than anything he's experienced as a basketball player. We will see this season how much the lessons learned last season pay off for him.
Again: Scott struggled last season often because he wanted so badly to do well, to do something positive. I guess that's irony, isn't it?
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
I think things can still go either way with Bryson Scott, the sophomore who'll have an opportunity to play a prominent role in Purdue's backcourt this season - somewhere - if he shows he's ready for it after he really struggled in Big Ten play last season, a rare humbling experience for a player so accustomed to success.
Scott says he learned hard lessons last season that'll help him now, but time will tell just how much.
The physical and ability portions of the game aren't so much an issue for Scott as clearly the mental portions are.
That is to an extent a back-handed compliment, because the areas he struggles with - or has struggled with - are rooted in positive causes: Eagerness, intensity, competitiveness, wanting to do well.
But things get the best of him sometimes. In short, the ability to play poised and with a level head is something he's going to have to show this season, and I think personally he'll show some progress there, but it might not be a 180-degree deal overnight.
Scott will have a chance to play, as Purdue needs someone to play point guard, however much it might have to minimize that position's responsibilities this season. It'll use different players there, looks like.
In a perfect world, Scott would improve his decision-making, show progress in a true point guard capacity while still providing some scoring punch, and, again in a perfect world, be Purdue's best backcourt defender, whether it's pressuring the ball or chasing scorers through screens. Purdue needs him to be stable and reliable above all else, as a player.
Offensively, Scott is never going to be Steph Curry as a jump-shooter, but he might stand to be Purdue's best penetrator from the backcourt - it does not have an abundance of them - and their best option to push the ball in the open floor, though this doesn't have the looks of a particularly up-tempo team.
None of it matters, though, if Scott doesn't slow down and make better decisions, if he doesn't pick his battles better and share the ball first, whether it's getting it inside or simply moving it around.
Last year was hard on the then-freshman, harder than anything he's experienced as a basketball player. We will see this season how much the lessons learned last season pay off for him.
Again: Scott struggled last season often because he wanted so badly to do well, to do something positive. I guess that's irony, isn't it?
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
