Had I handed you a No. 2 pencil on Sept. 1 and asked you to fill in the bubble next to the names of the two players you thought would be most important for Purdue's basketball team this season, I'm guessing the majority of you would've picked A.J. Hammons and Kendall Stephens.
You'd have been correct to.
Then, if I'd told you that those two players would be benched in Game 9 of the season, you'd envision a glorious inferno being emitted from large trash receptacle, would you not?
When Hammons and Stephens gave way in Purdue's previously seemingly solidified starting five to youngbloods Isaac Haas and P.J. Thompson prior to the Boilermakers playing the prehistoric elephants of IPFW tonight, it seemed like a place you didn't think Purdue could ever be this season, those two crucial returnees sitting for the opening tip-off.
I think the story of this 20-point win, then, is response. How Purdue responded to losing to North Florida (or as some of us call it, Georgia) and how those two key returnees responded to being reserves.
Hammons is capable of so much more than he's done this season. That is understood.
But what he's achieved in underachievement has been excellent by any standard aside from expectation.
I thought he was very good tonight. He'd be even better if he'd be more efficient on offense. You'd like to see Hammons well north of 50 percent from the field and more reliable at the foul line.
Between him and Isaac Haas, Purdue left a ton of points on the floor - or on the rim - tonight.
But Hammons has been a game-changer on defense as he was expected to be and effective on the boards, getting 12 of 'em tonight to go along with his five blocked shots and team-best-tying 13 points.
He matched Stephens, who Painter suggests might have seen his judgment clouded some by whatever components he added - or refined - in his offensive repertoire. He's taken a bunch of contested or otherwise tough two-point jumpers this season after being emboldened by the natural progression of time to put the ball on the floor more. Shot selection in that sense seemingly remains a point of emphasis in the coach's eyes.
Both players - each of them about as close to guaranteed nightly starters as Purdue had coming into the year - played pretty well coming off the bench tonight, and their response helped Purdue respond.
Look, there's no champagne bottles to be popped over beating IPFW, but there wouldn't have been over beating North Florida, so
As Dakota Mathias said, "We learned from our mistakes" on Saturday and it was kind of evident in a similar situation. When Fort Wayne trimmed a 21-point deficit down by two-thirds with 10-and-a-half minutes left, Purdue was not going down a pleasant road.
Everything's a lesson for teams in Purdue's situation and maybe North Florida taught it one. Hard to tell. This was just IPFW, but that's all the data we have in front of us right now, so Purdue averting the same land mine it stepped on 72 hours earlier seems like a positive thing.
It will be interesting to see where Purdue goes from here now.
Starters are over-rated, but do Hammons and Stephens continue as reserves until they don't or was this a one-game message-sending/reward?
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.
You'd have been correct to.
Then, if I'd told you that those two players would be benched in Game 9 of the season, you'd envision a glorious inferno being emitted from large trash receptacle, would you not?
When Hammons and Stephens gave way in Purdue's previously seemingly solidified starting five to youngbloods Isaac Haas and P.J. Thompson prior to the Boilermakers playing the prehistoric elephants of IPFW tonight, it seemed like a place you didn't think Purdue could ever be this season, those two crucial returnees sitting for the opening tip-off.
I think the story of this 20-point win, then, is response. How Purdue responded to losing to North Florida (or as some of us call it, Georgia) and how those two key returnees responded to being reserves.
Hammons is capable of so much more than he's done this season. That is understood.
But what he's achieved in underachievement has been excellent by any standard aside from expectation.
I thought he was very good tonight. He'd be even better if he'd be more efficient on offense. You'd like to see Hammons well north of 50 percent from the field and more reliable at the foul line.
Between him and Isaac Haas, Purdue left a ton of points on the floor - or on the rim - tonight.
But Hammons has been a game-changer on defense as he was expected to be and effective on the boards, getting 12 of 'em tonight to go along with his five blocked shots and team-best-tying 13 points.
He matched Stephens, who Painter suggests might have seen his judgment clouded some by whatever components he added - or refined - in his offensive repertoire. He's taken a bunch of contested or otherwise tough two-point jumpers this season after being emboldened by the natural progression of time to put the ball on the floor more. Shot selection in that sense seemingly remains a point of emphasis in the coach's eyes.
Both players - each of them about as close to guaranteed nightly starters as Purdue had coming into the year - played pretty well coming off the bench tonight, and their response helped Purdue respond.
Look, there's no champagne bottles to be popped over beating IPFW, but there wouldn't have been over beating North Florida, so
As Dakota Mathias said, "We learned from our mistakes" on Saturday and it was kind of evident in a similar situation. When Fort Wayne trimmed a 21-point deficit down by two-thirds with 10-and-a-half minutes left, Purdue was not going down a pleasant road.
Everything's a lesson for teams in Purdue's situation and maybe North Florida taught it one. Hard to tell. This was just IPFW, but that's all the data we have in front of us right now, so Purdue averting the same land mine it stepped on 72 hours earlier seems like a positive thing.
It will be interesting to see where Purdue goes from here now.
Starters are over-rated, but do Hammons and Stephens continue as reserves until they don't or was this a one-game message-sending/reward?
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.
