I love the hockey assist.
It is without question my most favorite made-up basketball statistic and if you follow our coverage here you have heard it often. The hockey assist is the pass that leads to the pass that leads to a score, the first pass being just as important as the one that actually gets recorded in the box score.
If one game, two exhibitions, two scrimmages, and a bunch of practices are enough to draw a conclusion from, you're going to be reading about hockey assists a lot in this space the next few months.
Purdue's passing has almost gotten obnoxious.
That's overstatement, of course, but you know how you try to go out for dinner with your family and in-laws and no one wants to step up and say, "I want to go here." Yeah, that's what Purdue offense looks like sometimes, everyone too polite to assert themselves until the car has driven itself to the restaurant everyone, it turns out, wanted all along.
(Yeah, that's right: I just wrote that.)
Larry Clisby is earning his pay this year, the way the ball is being chucked around like its on fire.
It's everyone.
Couple sequences that jump out (and thank you BTN Twitter for video confirmation that these sequences actually did occur and weren't just figments of my dulled mind):
There was that one play where Bryson Scott dribbled up, jump-stopped and handed off to A.J. Hammons in the lane (albeit maybe not in the best position), who then wheeled around and kicked to Dakota Mathias for an open three, which he hit.
Then there was that one play where Vince Edwards fed Hammons in great position with his back to the basket. Hammons spun, faked and stepped through the initial defender, only to be met by another, who he probably still could have scored over but instead gently directed the ball to all-alone Rapheal Davis for a layup that your grandmother could have made.
Then there's this one: Edwards to Octeus to Davis to Stephens to Hammons to Davis for three good. Play-by-play man hell.
At some point we're going to move past talking about last season's team, but not tonight.
Last season, you saw maybe two or three possessions all season like that last one. Early on this season, it's commonplace.
What great news for Purdue and what a better form of basketball to watch.
If Matt Painter looks and sounds like a different guy these past few months.
Why do you think that is?
For more late-night post-basketball game anti-brilliance, check out tonight's Wrap Video
It is without question my most favorite made-up basketball statistic and if you follow our coverage here you have heard it often. The hockey assist is the pass that leads to the pass that leads to a score, the first pass being just as important as the one that actually gets recorded in the box score.
If one game, two exhibitions, two scrimmages, and a bunch of practices are enough to draw a conclusion from, you're going to be reading about hockey assists a lot in this space the next few months.
Purdue's passing has almost gotten obnoxious.
That's overstatement, of course, but you know how you try to go out for dinner with your family and in-laws and no one wants to step up and say, "I want to go here." Yeah, that's what Purdue offense looks like sometimes, everyone too polite to assert themselves until the car has driven itself to the restaurant everyone, it turns out, wanted all along.
(Yeah, that's right: I just wrote that.)
Larry Clisby is earning his pay this year, the way the ball is being chucked around like its on fire.
It's everyone.
Couple sequences that jump out (and thank you BTN Twitter for video confirmation that these sequences actually did occur and weren't just figments of my dulled mind):
There was that one play where Bryson Scott dribbled up, jump-stopped and handed off to A.J. Hammons in the lane (albeit maybe not in the best position), who then wheeled around and kicked to Dakota Mathias for an open three, which he hit.
Then there was that one play where Vince Edwards fed Hammons in great position with his back to the basket. Hammons spun, faked and stepped through the initial defender, only to be met by another, who he probably still could have scored over but instead gently directed the ball to all-alone Rapheal Davis for a layup that your grandmother could have made.
Then there's this one: Edwards to Octeus to Davis to Stephens to Hammons to Davis for three good. Play-by-play man hell.
At some point we're going to move past talking about last season's team, but not tonight.
Last season, you saw maybe two or three possessions all season like that last one. Early on this season, it's commonplace.
What great news for Purdue and what a better form of basketball to watch.
If Matt Painter looks and sounds like a different guy these past few months.
Why do you think that is?
For more late-night post-basketball game anti-brilliance, check out tonight's Wrap Video
