OK, hello there, it's late, I'm tired and there's football tomorrow, so let's bang this out and all move on with our evenings/early mornings, shall we?
I know, charming intro, but at this point what comes to mind is coming at you, so bear with me here.
Purdue beat Carroll College tonight by damn near 50. It was actually 41 when all was said and done but that was after Matt Painter cleared his bench with more than five minutes to go up by a number that started with a 5, so there.
Funny thing was I didn't think, and maybe I am off-base here, that Purdue played as well as the final score suggested. I thought it played better against California of Pennsylvania, as opposed to California of um, California.
Tonight, it seemed like Purdue had a little bit of a quicker trigger and took a few more not-so-great shots than it did in the first game, which is to say it took any not-so-great shots. They were almost flawless in that regard in Game 1, so a slight step backward can be forgiven, assuming this wasn't all just a figment of my imagination anyway.
What Purdue did tonight was make shots, its perimeter guys carrying the load tonight.
You have to really like Dakota Mathias. Kid barely practiced for the first three weeks or so of practice and comes out in the second exhibition and makes four threes on five tries and makes for a noticeable difference when he's on the floor.
Not sure you saw it as much tonight - he committed a few turnovers - but it seems like the game slows down for him Matrix-style as he dictates things on his own terms, at his own speed. Everything's done with a purpose, most of it seen coming before it happens.
You have to love what you've seen from P.J. Thompson through two exhibitions. Purdue recruited him to do little stuff and here he is doing big stuff like raining threes and being a defensive menace.
Both those guys make Purdue a smarter, more thoughtful team just by being there.
They're part of the reason that through two games this team has backed up the hype, in this case the hype meaning just that they're going to play basketball in a proper, aesthetically pleasing, non-coach-killing manner.
That's a win.
The passing has been crisp, wise and enthusiastic, and done by everyone, including Kendall Stephens and Basil Smotherman, guys who are not passers by trade but looked good doing it tonight. The shooting has been good. The effort has been there. The priorities, too. Purdue can make threes, but its players are fully invested in giving A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas right of first refusal on scoring. Players like each other, at least so far. There's enthusiasm, productive body language and words like "culture" and "chemistry" being used in non-damning contexts.
What a difference a complete overhaul of a roster makes, eh?
If you watched our video of Matt Painter talking to the media the other day, you heard some hooligan types making a scene before the coach began talking. It was Isaac Haas and some other freshmen razzing their coach, exhibiting some very pleasant, very positive, very human interactions between player and coach. The disconnect from past seasons seemed patched up in that small bit of anecdotal evidence.
Purdue's first job this season was just to get back to basics. Playing the right way. Passing. Communicating. Listening. Not fouling out of big games on technical fouls for trash talk. Not taking swings at opposing trash talkers. Not passing up average shots in order to take even worse ones while good ones might have been found elsewhere. Not resorting to cheap sentence fragments instead of full, proper sentences.
Yeesh, last year
I don't know how good Purdue is gonna be. Might not be at all.
But this looks like a team that'll play the right way, a practical way, a productive way. Doesn't mean they're good enough, just that it's a start.
Purdue's going to play a bunch of freshmen, at least four, big minutes. The other, Jacquil Taylor, ought to redshirt if you ask me. I don't see where he fits in. Nothing against him, just that the thought of him as a physically mature and refined fifth-year senior sounds much more appealing than the sight of a promising, physically gifted freshman stuck between positions stuck on the bench.
I am rambling now. Purdue and Wisconsin kick off in like 12 hours.
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
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 know, charming intro, but at this point what comes to mind is coming at you, so bear with me here.
Purdue beat Carroll College tonight by damn near 50. It was actually 41 when all was said and done but that was after Matt Painter cleared his bench with more than five minutes to go up by a number that started with a 5, so there.
Funny thing was I didn't think, and maybe I am off-base here, that Purdue played as well as the final score suggested. I thought it played better against California of Pennsylvania, as opposed to California of um, California.
Tonight, it seemed like Purdue had a little bit of a quicker trigger and took a few more not-so-great shots than it did in the first game, which is to say it took any not-so-great shots. They were almost flawless in that regard in Game 1, so a slight step backward can be forgiven, assuming this wasn't all just a figment of my imagination anyway.
What Purdue did tonight was make shots, its perimeter guys carrying the load tonight.
You have to really like Dakota Mathias. Kid barely practiced for the first three weeks or so of practice and comes out in the second exhibition and makes four threes on five tries and makes for a noticeable difference when he's on the floor.
Not sure you saw it as much tonight - he committed a few turnovers - but it seems like the game slows down for him Matrix-style as he dictates things on his own terms, at his own speed. Everything's done with a purpose, most of it seen coming before it happens.
You have to love what you've seen from P.J. Thompson through two exhibitions. Purdue recruited him to do little stuff and here he is doing big stuff like raining threes and being a defensive menace.
Both those guys make Purdue a smarter, more thoughtful team just by being there.
They're part of the reason that through two games this team has backed up the hype, in this case the hype meaning just that they're going to play basketball in a proper, aesthetically pleasing, non-coach-killing manner.
That's a win.
The passing has been crisp, wise and enthusiastic, and done by everyone, including Kendall Stephens and Basil Smotherman, guys who are not passers by trade but looked good doing it tonight. The shooting has been good. The effort has been there. The priorities, too. Purdue can make threes, but its players are fully invested in giving A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas right of first refusal on scoring. Players like each other, at least so far. There's enthusiasm, productive body language and words like "culture" and "chemistry" being used in non-damning contexts.
What a difference a complete overhaul of a roster makes, eh?
If you watched our video of Matt Painter talking to the media the other day, you heard some hooligan types making a scene before the coach began talking. It was Isaac Haas and some other freshmen razzing their coach, exhibiting some very pleasant, very positive, very human interactions between player and coach. The disconnect from past seasons seemed patched up in that small bit of anecdotal evidence.
Purdue's first job this season was just to get back to basics. Playing the right way. Passing. Communicating. Listening. Not fouling out of big games on technical fouls for trash talk. Not taking swings at opposing trash talkers. Not passing up average shots in order to take even worse ones while good ones might have been found elsewhere. Not resorting to cheap sentence fragments instead of full, proper sentences.
Yeesh, last year
I don't know how good Purdue is gonna be. Might not be at all.
But this looks like a team that'll play the right way, a practical way, a productive way. Doesn't mean they're good enough, just that it's a start.
Purdue's going to play a bunch of freshmen, at least four, big minutes. The other, Jacquil Taylor, ought to redshirt if you ask me. I don't see where he fits in. Nothing against him, just that the thought of him as a physically mature and refined fifth-year senior sounds much more appealing than the sight of a promising, physically gifted freshman stuck between positions stuck on the bench.
I am rambling now. Purdue and Wisconsin kick off in like 12 hours.
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
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.
