Haven't put much thought into how to format these things this year, so just bear with me here as I probably change it after every game. But here's some thoughts and general pearls of wisdom/nonsense following Purdue's exhibition win over Northern State - they're from the north, you know - in the newly renovated Mackey Arena, which was still being worked on as of 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon and still kind of smells like the back room at Home Depot.
What to like
- First off, I think you saw flashes of Old Robbie Hummel, for one thing.
Bear in mind, this was the slowest, smallest, least physical team Purdue may play all year, but Hummel certainly showed glimpses.
He rebounded with relative abandon given what he's been through - he's been open, as has his coach, in talking about the insecurities that come with all he's endured - and looked like his usual efficient self offensively, turning just 10 shots into 18 points in only 15 minutes.
Since he's been out of sight, only slightly out of mind, lately, you can kind of forget just how good a player that kid is.
Tuesday was a step toward getting there fully, but just a step.
Everyone says he's getting better and more comfortable with every practice, every spill to the floor, the very spills that probably had people in Mackey Arena Tuesday night choking on their tongues they swallowed so hard every time he hit the floor.
Hummel looked good Tuesday night; this time a month from now he might look completely different. For the better, obviously.
In the meantime, Matt Painter will tread lightly with him; Hummel won't admit it or view himself this way, but he's the franchise. This team will ask of him everything and go only as far as he can take it.
- Travis Carroll showed as a freshman he can shoot the ball. In his first outing as a sophomore, unofficial or not, he showed he can really shoot the ball, going 4-for-4 on jumpers and looking good and confident doing it. His range may have improved in the off-season and his delivery just looks more authoritative, for lack of a better term.
Meanwhile, Sandi Marcius still has more than a little of that bull-in-a-china-shop thing going - he fouled out of an exhibition game in 12 minutes - but he showed flashes, too, with a couple putbacks and a couple big swooping hook shots.
Kind of hard to defend that given that Marcius is about as big as a redwood.
- There's a role on this team for freshman Donnie Hale, who was very productive for his first time out, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds before he, too, fouled out.
Hale's not as physical a player as he can be one day, but he has the unconventional physical attributes to make up for it. He's long and athletic and seems to have a skeletal structure that allows him to swivel 360 degrees at the waist. Seriously.
It's an optical illusion obviously, but it makes him a tough cover offensively and deceptively quick defensively.
And he can shoot it, knocking down a mid-range J and appearing much more comfortable doing it than the last time I saw him play, in AAU before he went to prep school.
Purdue has a couple nice little pick-and-pop options among its big men, a valuable weapon for a team that will want to spread the floor out to make it a little easier for its guards - and Hummel - to get to the basket.
Someone's going to redshirt this season, and the guess here is it's not going to be Hale.
Jacob Lawson is the obvious redshirt choice as of right now, in part because of a logjam at that position and in part because of the two, he would seem to be a little more rough around the edges from the little I've seen of him. There's a lot more to playing college basketball than running and jumping and the extra year could help him profoundly.
After the game, Lawson said he didn't want to redshirt, because he feels he can help now.
If I'm a coach, that's exactly what I want a player who's about to redshirt to say. It means they're both competitive and confident.
It should piss you off.
? Can't claim to have been zeroed in on him the entire game, but if the couple of violent collisions with the floor I saw are any indication, D.J. Byrd busted his tail (feather?) tonight and might be embracing a role as an 'energy guy' for this team. Four steals and four assists in 18 minutes isn't a bad day, not bad at all.
- In this game, Anthony Johnson seemed to get it. He didn't force any shots that I took note of and really exerted himself on the boards on a couple of occasions. Going 3-for-3 in the first half, he made a couple E'Twaun Moore-like runners and splashed an open three-pointer. He was 0-for-4 in the second half, but gave a nice glimpse of what he might be able to bring to the floor.
But he's going to have to keep it up. He's a scorer by nature, but his playing time will be determined by how he defends and how he rebounds.
What not to like
- Northern State matched Purdue on the boards at 33-all and came away with 14 offensive boards, many of them leading to points.
That sound you hear is Painter wearing out the rewind button on the remote during film sessions this week.
The Boilermaker coach worked in several bigger lineups during the exhibition opener, trading some quickness and skill for size.
"If you're going to do that, you hope it helps you rebound," Painter said. "We didn't rebound the ball better."
- Purdue was a dreadful 3-of-23 from three.
Cause for concern? Probably not.
Ryne Smith's not going to go 0-for-the-season, nor will the other guys. Terone Johnson may be behind some from a game-shape perspective after having knee surgery in the summer.
And players in general often talk about playing their way into a shooting rhythm. As someone who professionally doesn't have to write his way into a writing rhythm, I can't relate, so I'll take their word for it that it's not just something you say.
And it's not like they were just chucking it out there. Most of the shots were acceptable ones. Given the same shots all season, I'd suggest this to be closer to a 38-percent team as opposed to an 18-percent team.
But this is a group that may have to shoot a good number of threes this season, to play to its strengths offensively: Hummel, Smith, etc.
For the sake of balance, Painter said, and for the sheer fact that it just makes sense, Purdue looked inside frequently against Northern State, refusing to flee the post offensively just because JaJuan Johnson is gone.
Hummel, Carroll, Marcius and Hale all got back-to-the-basket touches. Marcius scored on a couple hooks, as mentioned earlier; Hale scored on a deftly executed turnaround on which I swear his feet and face were pointing in completely different directions. I can't recall Hummel or Carroll scoring down low on post-ups, but there's no question they can and no question their passing down there can be helpful.
- I know the numbers looked just fine, with Northern State shooting just 30 percent and turning it over 25 times, but I don't know if Purdue really owned this game defensively as much as it would have liked. Northern State helped stop itself by missing 13 free throws, which begs the question, too: How was Northern State in position to shoot 31 free throws in Mackey Arena?
For a mismatched game like this in which Purdue forced a lot of turnovers, you didn't see it getting scoring opportunities off its defense, only getting out in transition a couple times and even then, not much until the second half when the game really broke down.
You kind of expect everything in games like this, but you should never expect perfection.
Mackey Arena
Have to admit it was a bit of a shock to the system to see that dungeon Purdue's been playing basketball in for so long now adorned with all this high-end stuff.
Definitely like the mix of new and old, and I'm sure I'll appreciate it even more when I figure out exactly where the hell I am most of the time. All these new staircases going to new places, it was like a three-hour case of vertigo for someone who enjoys routine, monotony and sweet, sweet complacency.
But there's no question this is a big-time facility now, made that way without selling out the past, a very difficult line to toe.
Oh, and there's loud music in the men's rooms now, so that's pretty cool.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2011. 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.
Check out GoldandBlack.com on
This post was edited on 11/2 1:45 AM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
This post was edited on 11/2 1:49 AM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
