Hey, there, guess who forgot to write his blog tonight.
Yep, this guy right here.
My bad.
Anyway, today's game against Eastern Michigan, the big thing was just plodding through it for Purdue. That team is a pain in the neck - or some other portion of one anatomy - to play against and neutralized Purdue's strength on the interior.
As Purdue learned last season, making shots is the best offense against such a defense. It couldn't last season.
This year, Kendall Stephens carried Purdue in the first half with his three threes and the Boilermakers just had to survive in the second once that well dried up.
Credit Bryson Scott. This was a big, big game for him, IMO.
The freshman was in a seemingly difficult position, seemed like to me.
You'll notice that Purdue played its best game of the season against Boston College and netted its lone win in Florida, the come-from-behind game against Siena, with the freshman playing a far-less-prominent role than he had prior.
I'm not suggesting anything by that, but just saying. It's no secret that Purdue has needed something different from its guards these past few games and has needed its many scorers on the perimeter to ease up a little bit and share the ball.
In Siena The Sequel in Orlando, Scott played 18 scoreless minutes. Against Boston College, he played only 13 minutes.
If you've followed Scott's career prior to Purdue, you know he's not often encountered such things and that he's a player who can be very hard on himself at times due to the sky-high expectations he has of himself. Had to wonder how he'd handle it.
Scott is a complex fellow in some ways, a very simple one in others. He knows one way, always has.
This was one of the few times he's ever encountered where it's been made known to him, 'We need something different than what you are.' It's something that had to be a test of sorts for him. He could have been adversely affected by it.
Sure didn't seem like it in the final minutes against Eastern Michigan, as Scott scored all but one of his team-high 16 points after halftime. He was the guy who had the ball in his hands with the game on the line very often and he was the guy who took care of his business at the foul line to bail Purdue out of some sticky situations.
Good for him.
In addition to his scoring instincts, and much-needed foul-line competence, being needed down the stretch, Scott finished with five assists in his first regular season college start.
Bryson Scott is a point guard, but not a traditional one, so to speak. Point guards come in all shapes, sizes and styles. They're not all John Stockton, with his neat little haircut and, um, snug little shorts.
He's a scoring point guard, much the way Trey Burke was when he got to Michigan. (No, I'm not comparing Bryson Scott to Trey Burke, but just speaking generally.)
He was going to have to evolve in college, though, without shedding the skin of what's made him good.
I think these past few games you saw Scott encountered with the prospect of playing a lesser role, which would be a bitter pill to his ambitious nature, and asked to make some alterations to his mentality and game without completely re-inventing himself. I know that's a lot of stuff for the span of just a few games, but that's the significance, I think.
Maybe I'm making too much of it, maybe I'm not.
I don't know. My biggest question about Scott after covering him for literally years prior to his enrollment was how he'd respond to struggles, the struggles all freshmen go through. This a guy who's supremely confidence, distinctly sensitive and accustomed to being the best player on the floor more often than not.
Scott has encountered his first bout with college adversity. If you saw Saturday's game, you saw that he came through it unscathed.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. 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.
Yep, this guy right here.
My bad.
Anyway, today's game against Eastern Michigan, the big thing was just plodding through it for Purdue. That team is a pain in the neck - or some other portion of one anatomy - to play against and neutralized Purdue's strength on the interior.
As Purdue learned last season, making shots is the best offense against such a defense. It couldn't last season.
This year, Kendall Stephens carried Purdue in the first half with his three threes and the Boilermakers just had to survive in the second once that well dried up.
Credit Bryson Scott. This was a big, big game for him, IMO.
The freshman was in a seemingly difficult position, seemed like to me.
You'll notice that Purdue played its best game of the season against Boston College and netted its lone win in Florida, the come-from-behind game against Siena, with the freshman playing a far-less-prominent role than he had prior.
I'm not suggesting anything by that, but just saying. It's no secret that Purdue has needed something different from its guards these past few games and has needed its many scorers on the perimeter to ease up a little bit and share the ball.
In Siena The Sequel in Orlando, Scott played 18 scoreless minutes. Against Boston College, he played only 13 minutes.
If you've followed Scott's career prior to Purdue, you know he's not often encountered such things and that he's a player who can be very hard on himself at times due to the sky-high expectations he has of himself. Had to wonder how he'd handle it.
Scott is a complex fellow in some ways, a very simple one in others. He knows one way, always has.
This was one of the few times he's ever encountered where it's been made known to him, 'We need something different than what you are.' It's something that had to be a test of sorts for him. He could have been adversely affected by it.
Sure didn't seem like it in the final minutes against Eastern Michigan, as Scott scored all but one of his team-high 16 points after halftime. He was the guy who had the ball in his hands with the game on the line very often and he was the guy who took care of his business at the foul line to bail Purdue out of some sticky situations.
Good for him.
In addition to his scoring instincts, and much-needed foul-line competence, being needed down the stretch, Scott finished with five assists in his first regular season college start.
Bryson Scott is a point guard, but not a traditional one, so to speak. Point guards come in all shapes, sizes and styles. They're not all John Stockton, with his neat little haircut and, um, snug little shorts.
He's a scoring point guard, much the way Trey Burke was when he got to Michigan. (No, I'm not comparing Bryson Scott to Trey Burke, but just speaking generally.)
He was going to have to evolve in college, though, without shedding the skin of what's made him good.
I think these past few games you saw Scott encountered with the prospect of playing a lesser role, which would be a bitter pill to his ambitious nature, and asked to make some alterations to his mentality and game without completely re-inventing himself. I know that's a lot of stuff for the span of just a few games, but that's the significance, I think.
Maybe I'm making too much of it, maybe I'm not.
I don't know. My biggest question about Scott after covering him for literally years prior to his enrollment was how he'd respond to struggles, the struggles all freshmen go through. This a guy who's supremely confidence, distinctly sensitive and accustomed to being the best player on the floor more often than not.
Scott has encountered his first bout with college adversity. If you saw Saturday's game, you saw that he came through it unscathed.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. 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.
