Aside from a very meh opening three minutes of the season and some continued masonry at the foul line, you saw everything you wanted to see Sunday afternoon out of the Purdue men's basketball team in its exhibition opener against the University of Pennsylvania of California.
Wait, no, hold on the University of California of Pennsylvania.
Here's what those things you saw were.
An unselfish basketball team that's eager, and happy, to pass and is actually good at doing it. This has happened organically, the newcomers turning a painful deficiency into almost a strength, at least as much as something can be considered a strength before a team plays an actual game.
Dakota Mathias, P.J. Thompson and Vince Edwards are all excellent passers, whether it be for their positions or just period and it's made Purdue better. Maybe it's wearing off on everybody else too.
You saw some better passing out of Kendall Stephens and Basil Smotherman in the first half than you saw last season and A.J. Hammons has had some moments early on this season where he's looked pretty good giving the basketball to other people. He and his supporting cast have so much to gain by engaging in back and forth, as opposed to one-way passing transactions to the interior.
You have to like what Bryson Scott has shown in his development out of his tunnel-vision, tractor-beam-to-the-rim ways. There's a role for his scoring punch on this team, but there are minutes for his emerging point guard skills.
You have to like what you saw from P.J. Thompson today, a defensive pest whose menacing hands grabbed four steals that Purdue turned into eight points, if I'm recalling correctly. He led the Boilermakers with five assists, a simple player doing what he's supposed to do and being damn happy doing it, which brings us to our next super cool basketball graphic
You saw a team doing what it's supposed to do: Getting the ball inside.
It must be everyone's priority and it was on Sunday. Purdue has too big an advantage on the interior to over-dribble on the perimeter or chase average shots for average shooters.
What you saw on Sunday was a dominant post game by two dominant big men - and yes, I know Purdue wasn't playing Syracuse today - and a supporting cast that wasn't too dense as to go away from it.
You saw a really good-looking A.J. Hammons.
This was not Game 7, nor was this even a result anyone will give a damn about in a few weeks if not sooner, but Hammons looked the part of the player Purdue needs him to be, considering how closely tied its hopes are to him.
He looks to be in great shape, not just better shape, but great shape. He looks athletic, engaged and aware. He looked energetic today.
I hate to keep patting the freshmen on the back for abstract stuff, but I do think they are playing a role in bringing some of the best out of Hammons. I think he gets along with them well and he has really embraced being a model of sorts for Isaac Haas, who's also helped the junior by putting him in rare positions of honest-to-goodness disadvantage sometimes on the practice floor.
You saw OK defense. Yes, the opponent was overmatched, but Purdue looked bad against overmatched competition last year at times.
Whether it was man or zone, Purdue was disruptive, forced turnovers and generated offense off of them, which is huge. It's been years since the Boilermakers were a good offensive defensive team, if that makes any sense. I don't think this will be much of a transition team offensively, but when opportunities present themselves, it can be. It's Purdue's job to generate opportunities.
No one is going to celebrate Purdue beating California (Pa.). It's an exhibition. They're supposed to be one-sided.
But the first step back toward respectability for Purdue is literally the bottom floor, just playing well on basketball's most basic levels: Efffort, teamwork, communication, passing, shooting, trying, caring.
All you can say after Sunday's win: So far, so good.
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.
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Wait, no, hold on the University of California of Pennsylvania.
Here's what those things you saw were.
Dakota Mathias, P.J. Thompson and Vince Edwards are all excellent passers, whether it be for their positions or just period and it's made Purdue better. Maybe it's wearing off on everybody else too.
You saw some better passing out of Kendall Stephens and Basil Smotherman in the first half than you saw last season and A.J. Hammons has had some moments early on this season where he's looked pretty good giving the basketball to other people. He and his supporting cast have so much to gain by engaging in back and forth, as opposed to one-way passing transactions to the interior.
You have to like what Bryson Scott has shown in his development out of his tunnel-vision, tractor-beam-to-the-rim ways. There's a role for his scoring punch on this team, but there are minutes for his emerging point guard skills.
You have to like what you saw from P.J. Thompson today, a defensive pest whose menacing hands grabbed four steals that Purdue turned into eight points, if I'm recalling correctly. He led the Boilermakers with five assists, a simple player doing what he's supposed to do and being damn happy doing it, which brings us to our next super cool basketball graphic
It must be everyone's priority and it was on Sunday. Purdue has too big an advantage on the interior to over-dribble on the perimeter or chase average shots for average shooters.
What you saw on Sunday was a dominant post game by two dominant big men - and yes, I know Purdue wasn't playing Syracuse today - and a supporting cast that wasn't too dense as to go away from it.
This was not Game 7, nor was this even a result anyone will give a damn about in a few weeks if not sooner, but Hammons looked the part of the player Purdue needs him to be, considering how closely tied its hopes are to him.
He looks to be in great shape, not just better shape, but great shape. He looks athletic, engaged and aware. He looked energetic today.
I hate to keep patting the freshmen on the back for abstract stuff, but I do think they are playing a role in bringing some of the best out of Hammons. I think he gets along with them well and he has really embraced being a model of sorts for Isaac Haas, who's also helped the junior by putting him in rare positions of honest-to-goodness disadvantage sometimes on the practice floor.
Whether it was man or zone, Purdue was disruptive, forced turnovers and generated offense off of them, which is huge. It's been years since the Boilermakers were a good offensive defensive team, if that makes any sense. I don't think this will be much of a transition team offensively, but when opportunities present themselves, it can be. It's Purdue's job to generate opportunities.
No one is going to celebrate Purdue beating California (Pa.). It's an exhibition. They're supposed to be one-sided.
But the first step back toward respectability for Purdue is literally the bottom floor, just playing well on basketball's most basic levels: Efffort, teamwork, communication, passing, shooting, trying, caring.
All you can say after Sunday's win: So far, so good.
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.
