All you had to do was lay your eyes on Purdue's opponent Monday night and it was pretty evident what might happen.
Exhibition games are literally warm-ups for major programs like the Boilermakers and thus very often are inherently mismatches.
Wayne State may be a very good Division II team this season for all we know, but just watching them warm up, it was pretty clear there was a gulf between one team and the other, just in all the measurables, whether they be size, athleticism, quickness, length, whatever. And obviously talent.
It looked like a team that might be overwhelmed should the home team put forth the effort to do so.
Purdue did, the single most important takeaway not just from Monday night, but the two-game exhibition slate as a whole.
You have to temper it based on the level of competition here, but it had to be considered encouraging that Purdue defended like it used to, like a bunch of mean (insert colorful term here) intent on treating opposing ball-handlers like Miami Dolphins offensive linemen apparently treat each other. Good to know this group of Purdue players has it in them, even if it was just in a canned hunt like this one.
Purdue played defense the way it needed to to bury this particular opponent early and the way it will need to this season if it's going to be good on defense. It played with energy, aggressiveness and a sort of mean streak.
During the exhibition season, results can be over-rated, the 'This team should beat that team by this many points' kind of stuff. The process is more important. Hell, sometimes I wonder if Matt Painter, deep down, wouldn't rather his team get beat in one of these games.
I think most coaches would probably agree that they'd rather their teams be challenged than not, to have to play through more regular season-like situations before they come upon them.
So that in mind, Monday night was just a blowout, where the game was competitive for literally minutes.
Wayne State won the opening tip; Purdue won everything that followed, by a significant margin.
But with that in mind, it was nice to see the Boilermakers crush somebody, to do to another team what last year's team wasn't wired to do or just wasn't good enough to do, probably a combination of the two. (Man, how dysfunctional was West Virginia last January? Yeesh.)
Purdue was merciless early, forcing 21 first-half turnovers, a number that seemed far more; the turnovers mattered, because the Boilermakers took advantage of them.
Trying the whole offensive efficiency thing Monday night, Purdue turned its defensive tenacity into countless easy baskets, which it didn't do virtually at all last season. Purdue scored 26 points off turnovers, with another three buckets it just flat-out blew.
It started with Errick Peck. By now, hopefully you've read the video, so there's no need to reiterate how good Peck was tonight. Purdue recruited him to play a role; in an exhibition against an overmatched team Monday night, he was a star.
Purdue can make shots now - Kendall Stephens by himself makes that so - and has two point guards who can make things happen on offense. It's deeper and more athletic and should be a better transition-offense team.
But what sticks out about the Boilermakers' offensive repertoire to me as much as anything is Purdue's ability to score out of post-ups. If you've read this blog for any period of time, you're aware of my strange infatuation with guards and wings who can score with their backs to the basket, and Peck and Terone Johnson can do that. Peck's post game is so very polished, kind of a lost art sort of thing.
But so is big man Jay Simpson, who's a couple short-armed hook shots away from having been really productive as a post scorer.
Oh, and there's No. 20, who'll be back soon. He's not bad, either.
That's four guys Purdue can go to around the basket to try to get an easy bucket or draw defenders from its improved array of shooters, a group that has a couple guys who are going to have to pick their battles wisely.
This team looks deep and it looks versatile, with so many more people who can credibly be considered threats to score.
But Purdue, through two games that don't count, turns the ball over too much, which is no bueno, which is Spanish for "not good" in case you didn't know.
And the Boilermakers have been very average on the boards against two opponents they should have manhandled.
Since I don't have to worry about pronouncing it now, I'll write it: asterisk.
The rebounding issue, to me, is more curiosity than concern. Hammons changes things when he comes back.
Does that mean the others around him can afford to not be physical and not chase the ball?
Lord, no.
But that presence that looms over the lane like the Death Star is certainly a game-changer.
How much has Purdue found out through two exhibitions?
No idea.
For that reason. Hammons is so influential that this is a fraction of the team it can be with him than it is without him, at least from a pieces perspective. Maybe I'm overstating it. But it's late and I don't care.
Starting five who knows? But I wouldn't be surprised if Kendall Stephens sticks, hard as it may be to envision Rapheal Davis not starting for this team. We'll see. I'm just guessing.
Season starts Friday night, people.
It's no finished product, but you're going to see a much better Purdue basketball team than you mostly saw last season.
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.
Exhibition games are literally warm-ups for major programs like the Boilermakers and thus very often are inherently mismatches.
Wayne State may be a very good Division II team this season for all we know, but just watching them warm up, it was pretty clear there was a gulf between one team and the other, just in all the measurables, whether they be size, athleticism, quickness, length, whatever. And obviously talent.
It looked like a team that might be overwhelmed should the home team put forth the effort to do so.
Purdue did, the single most important takeaway not just from Monday night, but the two-game exhibition slate as a whole.
You have to temper it based on the level of competition here, but it had to be considered encouraging that Purdue defended like it used to, like a bunch of mean (insert colorful term here) intent on treating opposing ball-handlers like Miami Dolphins offensive linemen apparently treat each other. Good to know this group of Purdue players has it in them, even if it was just in a canned hunt like this one.
Purdue played defense the way it needed to to bury this particular opponent early and the way it will need to this season if it's going to be good on defense. It played with energy, aggressiveness and a sort of mean streak.
During the exhibition season, results can be over-rated, the 'This team should beat that team by this many points' kind of stuff. The process is more important. Hell, sometimes I wonder if Matt Painter, deep down, wouldn't rather his team get beat in one of these games.
I think most coaches would probably agree that they'd rather their teams be challenged than not, to have to play through more regular season-like situations before they come upon them.
So that in mind, Monday night was just a blowout, where the game was competitive for literally minutes.
Wayne State won the opening tip; Purdue won everything that followed, by a significant margin.
But with that in mind, it was nice to see the Boilermakers crush somebody, to do to another team what last year's team wasn't wired to do or just wasn't good enough to do, probably a combination of the two. (Man, how dysfunctional was West Virginia last January? Yeesh.)
Purdue was merciless early, forcing 21 first-half turnovers, a number that seemed far more; the turnovers mattered, because the Boilermakers took advantage of them.
Trying the whole offensive efficiency thing Monday night, Purdue turned its defensive tenacity into countless easy baskets, which it didn't do virtually at all last season. Purdue scored 26 points off turnovers, with another three buckets it just flat-out blew.
It started with Errick Peck. By now, hopefully you've read the video, so there's no need to reiterate how good Peck was tonight. Purdue recruited him to play a role; in an exhibition against an overmatched team Monday night, he was a star.
Purdue can make shots now - Kendall Stephens by himself makes that so - and has two point guards who can make things happen on offense. It's deeper and more athletic and should be a better transition-offense team.
But what sticks out about the Boilermakers' offensive repertoire to me as much as anything is Purdue's ability to score out of post-ups. If you've read this blog for any period of time, you're aware of my strange infatuation with guards and wings who can score with their backs to the basket, and Peck and Terone Johnson can do that. Peck's post game is so very polished, kind of a lost art sort of thing.
But so is big man Jay Simpson, who's a couple short-armed hook shots away from having been really productive as a post scorer.
Oh, and there's No. 20, who'll be back soon. He's not bad, either.
That's four guys Purdue can go to around the basket to try to get an easy bucket or draw defenders from its improved array of shooters, a group that has a couple guys who are going to have to pick their battles wisely.
This team looks deep and it looks versatile, with so many more people who can credibly be considered threats to score.
But Purdue, through two games that don't count, turns the ball over too much, which is no bueno, which is Spanish for "not good" in case you didn't know.
And the Boilermakers have been very average on the boards against two opponents they should have manhandled.
Since I don't have to worry about pronouncing it now, I'll write it: asterisk.
The rebounding issue, to me, is more curiosity than concern. Hammons changes things when he comes back.
Does that mean the others around him can afford to not be physical and not chase the ball?
Lord, no.
But that presence that looms over the lane like the Death Star is certainly a game-changer.
How much has Purdue found out through two exhibitions?
No idea.
For that reason. Hammons is so influential that this is a fraction of the team it can be with him than it is without him, at least from a pieces perspective. Maybe I'm overstating it. But it's late and I don't care.
Starting five who knows? But I wouldn't be surprised if Kendall Stephens sticks, hard as it may be to envision Rapheal Davis not starting for this team. We'll see. I'm just guessing.
Season starts Friday night, people.
It's no finished product, but you're going to see a much better Purdue basketball team than you mostly saw last season.
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.
