LAHAINA, Maui (or somewhere between there and West Lafayette) - Six games have now come and gone for Purdue and a clearer picture for just what the Boilermakers are dealing with from a personnel standpoint has materialized.
Purdue's off to a very good start, 5-1 with a team with more newcomers, really, than returnees, looking to me like a potential, potential low-end NCAA team if things keep moving in the right direction and the trapping of youth, inconsistency, doesn't become a huge landmine.
Understand this, however: Purdue is one Tyler Haws 18-footer away from the whole picture looking different, at least from a won-loss perspective.
And understand this also: Purdue has not yet played a team with big-time athleticism, though N.C. State should be better than anything it's seen in that regard.
But also understand this: Purdue killed all three of the first teams it played these season - only one of which we safely call atrocious at this point, Grambling - then won two of three in Maui, playing well in five out of six halves, plus an overtime.
Purdue's averaging 81 points per game and that number spiked to 82.7 against "varsity" competition" at the Invitational. On top of that productivity, Purdue won one game in Maui (Missouri) with defense and another (BYU) with toughness.
But it's only been a half-dozen games.
We have nothing close to an air-tight sample size for the purpose of evaluation, but Maui was a fantastic test and that's good enough for the time being.
A player-by-player look at 5-1 Purdue heading into its Big Ten/ACC Challenge game against North Carolina State
Rapheal Davis: No telling what happens from here on out, but the Boilermakers' foremost leader might have turned a corner in Hawaii, bringing his play to the same level as his leadership. Davis willed his team to wins, stepped up when his team needed him and all sorts of other awesome sports clichés during the Maui Invitational after doing very little against Kansas State.
Something about these upperclassmen, however few of them there are: They seem to understand how badly they're needed to perform for this team to be successful and they seem to take that to heart. Davis did so in action as well as words in Maui, scoring 40 points between the Missouri and BYU games, making every meaningful free throw he attempted - and there were roughly a thousand of them - and playing some of the best defense of his life. He played at a different level than anything we've seen of him during his college career at this point.
Oh, and his words this summer about becoming faster and more explosive and a better leaper appear not to have just been puppy-dogs-and-ice-cream off-season fluff (PDICOSF). He looks like a better athlete as well as a better player, with a team around him that's running better offense and generating more driving lanes for him.
Kendall Stephens: The sign of a good, mature player: Can they impact a game outside their niche? We never would have said this about Stephens last season. Looks like he's moving that way, though.
A shooter first, second and third, Stephens couldn't throw the ball in the Pacific from the beach the other day against BYU.
Didn't stop him from making two of the three biggest defensive plays of the day for the Boilermakers - the other being Jon Octeus' challenge of Haws' potential game-winner in regulation.
Stephens is never going to be Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Year, but he's better than he was. He's rebounding and passing better than he did last season and just looks like a better player. And even after his 1-of-9 vs. BYU, he's made nearly half his threes for the season.
He's taken better shots than last season and this team has done a better job generating a better shot for him. This is a much more shooter-friendly infrastructure around him.
The pieces are in place for Stephens to have a very good season.
Bryson Scott: There's a role on this team for Scott. I don't know how reasonable it is for Purdue to play three point guards significant minutes, but he gives Purdue things it doesn't otherwise have as long as he's being smart and aware and playing under control.
There have been times where he's made great decisions attacking the basket and times where he's made not-so-great decisions attacking the basket.
But he can really attack the basket and there's a role for that and his potential in transition on this team, especially if he defends like he's capable.
Thing is, Scott can be instant offense for Purdue off the bench, but for a team that's having success with the five-as-one sort of approach, is any one player being instant offense a workable thing?
Don't write Scott off. This was always going to be a process for him and Jon Octeus changed Purdue's equation at point guard entirely.
He has to keep his head in it and I don't see any reason to think he won't. He wants to do well, always has.
Basil Smotherman: Saw some talk about how Smotherman deserved more minutes against BYU.
In the context of how Purdue won that game, can't disagree more. Outside that context, can't agree more.
He seems to the outside eye to be doing the right things. He was terrific in the areas of the game against Missouri separate from shooting.
Nothing new here: If he runs, rebounds and defends, he'll be fine and Purdue will be better off for it. He's doing that, and seems to be passing the ball well, not that he's ever been deficient in that phase.
But when Vince Edwards is killing the other team's front line with skill, he needs to be on the floor.
Smotherman has a chance to be a really good piece for Purdue as long as he keeps doing what he seems to be trying to do.
One thing: He has to be more efficient. For a player who should derive a significant chunk of his scoring from tip-ins, dunks and finishes at the rim and should probably be a low-volume shooter, 29-percent shooting sticks out like a sore thumb.
It'll balance out, though. You're still at the point in the season where a missed put-back alone can take 5 percent of your percentage.
Another thing: Smotherman projects to be a "piece" on a team aiming for its whole to exceed the sum of its parts. If being a piece means playing eight out of 45 minutes in a nationally televised signature-win-type game, he can't allow that to impact the energy Purdue needs from him in those minutes. You've read it here a thousand times: His athleticism without energy amounts to a sports car without gas.
A.J. Hammons: We can only judge him on Maui, because they're the only games relevant in evaluating him. Offensively he's been uneven though he made the season's signature play to date. Not like Purdue isn't scoring 80 a game with him only averaging eight for the season. He's done a better job as a passer - a function of a more cohesive team around him, too - but still can trim the turnovers. Offensively, it's great that he has that dimension that he can make jump shots, but results have been mixed at best so far, and maybe he wouldn't be better suited to look for something else first.
Hammons is doing fine. If you're down on him, then you may be expecting him to be Shaq or not valuing how different the game is when he's out there on the defensive end. It's entirely different. The first half against Kansas State, IMO, doesn't unfold the way it did - not even close - if Hammons isn't in foul trouble. That completely changed that game and Purdue's breakdowns in zone were breakdowns as much because of Hammons' absence as they were due to the actual breakdowns. He's averaging 6.1 blocked shots per 40 minutes and looks like a better, more alert defender, almost as importantly.
Jon Octeus: We keep blasphemously using the term 'godsend' and will stand by it. Octeus grew more and more poised from Game 1 to Game 3 in Maui and now looks like the very stable, wise presence at a position Purdue didn't have one at when it opened preseason practice. He's something different than Purdue's had at the point, more of a manager than playmaker off the dribble, with height, length and a defensive presence Purdue's not had there since Keaton Grant.
Against BYU, Octeus recognized a favorable matchup and beat the Cougar guards baseline time and again, with athleticism enough to be a finisher at the rim, though his shots rolled off in the second half.
One thing about Octeus: Purdue's never had a point guard who's as good at the rim as Octeus, short of maybe Kelsey Barlow, whether it's playing inside or as an offensive rebounder. His tip-in of Hammons' miss in overtime was a big play lost in everything else that occurred.
You have to really like how Octeus seems to play to his strengths and not force much. He's kind of a fitting microcosm of his team in that sense.
Isaac Haas: Did we think he'd be this far along this fast? Physically, of course. Otherwise, no. He's been awesome for Purdue, all things considered, with the speed-of-the-game adjustment not looking like all that big a thing for probably the largest human being in college basketball.
Haas has been a man on the boards and very effective offensively, showing a real understanding of how to use his body against a high level of competition and capitalizing on some great entry passing from teammates who are helping him find the sort of angles that make him an impossible matchup.
There are things to work on: Stop bringing the ball down at the basket, always playing higher than everyone, and improving at the foul line (because heavens knows, he's gonna be there a lot) but remember than even though he doesn't look like one, he is a freshman. His hands could use some work. Such is life when a basketball to you is like a racquetball to the rest of us.
He's going to be really good.
Vince Edwards: We told you prior to the season Edwards would be the freshman Purdue would probably get the most from. Did not see this coming though.
Through six games he's Purdue's leading scorer and rebounder and arguably its best player to this point. The college game hasn't phased Edwards a bit it doesn't look like, though there have been some mistakes, as there will be for any freshman.
Otherwise, his game has translated perfectly to the college game. Against BYU, he was better as a college player than he was as a high school player, giving Purdue the gigantic matchups advantage that at the end of the day was what won it that game.
Edwards is an uncommon player and you have to give Painter and Micah Shrewsberry credit for nailing it in their early evaluation of him. They saw the Swiss Army Knife in him and perfect fit very early on.
In terms of his abilities, role and profile is the closest thing Purdue has had to Robbie Hummel and may be the closest thing it ever has, because these guys don't grow on trees. Based on early returns, we'd not write off Edwards chances of becoming that level of player either.
He's going to be really good.
Dakota Mathias: Through six games, Mathias is giving Purdue exactly what was expected: 40-plus-percent three-point shooting, great passing and an oversized (figuratively speaking, of course) basketball brain. His basketball mind is the greatest asset of what's also a profoundly skilled player.
That said, defense is going to be a battle and Purdue's going to have to help him.
But he's been offensive lubricant for the Boilermakers and maybe the face of Purdue's 'roided-up basketball IQ and movement toward the collective.
P.J. Thompson: Through six games, Thompson is giving Purdue exactly what was expected: Just a steady guy who'll move the ball, play smart and make open jump shots. Time will tell how Purdue's point guard situation will round out, but right now, Thompson is being asked to play critical minutes, not just in volume but in situations. Purdue is using Thompson for really important minutes. That speaks to the faith and trust the coaching staff has in the rookie.
Just like Edwards is showing everyone now exactly why he was recruited, so is Thompson.
Thompson's lack of height and length show up at times, maybe in the offensive rebound he doesn't get or the entry or inbound pass he can't quite deflect, but again, for Purdue so far the whole has been better than the sum of its parts. Everyone's in a position to play to their strengths and there's been no deficiency that hasn't been balanced out elsewhere.
Jacquil Taylor: The one freshman who's not going to be in Purdue's regular rotation, Taylor is going to be a long-term investment for the Boilermakers and how he improves this season will ultimately determine whether or not playing him this season was the right thing to do.
Taylor has to catch up physically - this is no surprise - and it was telling that he played vs. Kansas State as its third center amidst foul trouble to the others, but then saw Edwards play as a matchup 5 vs. BYU in a similar situation.
As someone obsessed with such things, I love the Edwards-at-the-5 offensive lineup when it's practical. Edwards is a tenacious enough rebounder to not get his you-know-what handed to him on the defensive glass, generally speaking, and the offensive matchups it can create are certainly intriguing, a la 2011 when Robbie Hummel tortured opposing big men with his skill and Purdue managed to find Terone Johnson the most favorable matchups on the floor.
If Purdue can do that three minutes here, three minutes there and maybe get an offensive jolt from it, then that's three fewer minutes Hammons and Haas aren't putting their 10 fouls on the line.
Some more, more subtle things we've learned, in this one man's opinion.
Zone has a role, but only a role: Zone was a bust against Kansas State, but Hammons' foul trouble had so much to do with that. Under normal circumstances, I think Purdue can fare better in zone than it did in that game, it just may never again play it as much as it did in that contest.
The new defense has a situational place in Purdue's playbook. It's just not on the cover, in my opinion.
The reality is that the reasons Purdue implemented zone haven't changed. Foul trouble for Hammons is still scarier to Purdue than 'Blair Witch Project' the first time you saw it and Purdue is not going to get any lighter-footed on defense on the wing.
Purdue has some quick hands on defense: The point guard trio of Octeus, Thompson and Scott (22 steals between them) are all going to get their share of steals this season, something Purdue's probably going to need if it's going to be much of a transition-offense team. Thompson and Scott especially have shown moments where they've struck quick on opponents to take it from them and that's gotten Purdue out in the open floor, where it's not exactly loaded with finishers but will be a smarter team than before at picking its spots.
On an aside, it remains utterly mind-boggling that last season, Purdue had the quickest player on the floor on most nights at the position and he averaged half a steal per game.
Another thing: Perimeter length is a good thing. Octeus and Stephens each blocked shots in overtime against BYU because of it. Length is the most under-rated of physical attribute in basketball, in our opinion.
Purdue has a chance to not just be a better foul-shooting team, but a good one, dare we say: Its centers, the guys who are going to draw the lion's share of the whistles have to pick it up, but otherwise, Purdue's primary ball-handlers are more reliable at the stripe than they've been in past seasons. Octeus and Thompson are terrific and those are the two players we'd think will have the ball in their hands at the ends of games to protect leads. Scott's history in that phase of the game is a good one, and we're not sure he's going to be the closer at the point anyway. Dakota Mathias, too, and Kendall Stephens will always be out there too when opponents have to foul. Rapheal Davis (81 percent, has been ridiculous at the foul line, a very positive thing considering how much his game is predicated on getting to the basket and absorbing contact.
A week ago, I'd have tabbed Edwards as one of Purdue's biggest non-center concerns at the foul line. He was shaky in scrimmages and - maybe I just caught him on the wrong day(s) - was suspect in some of the high school games I covered.
Yeah, well, he's shooting 88 percent and a lot of them have been big ones.
Purdue has a very different dynamic at point guard. It might not have the top-end speed it did last season, but it has guys who have been generating offense off defense and making their free throws.
Passing has improved tenfold: Just watch the games. Not only is this a better, smarter, more willing passing team than the past two, but its chemistry given the circumstances has come along quickly. These guys look like they've been playing together a lot longer than they have been and that's a credit to having the sorts of player who make the game easy on the people around them. Edwards, Thompson and Mathias come to mind and I think you have to throw Octeus in there somewhat too and give some credit to some older guys. Seems like the freshmen have worn off on some veterans. Stephens has been an excellent passer and Smotherman has looked to have improved also. Not that it's the tell-tale of a good passer, but both have made plays for other people.
The numbers don't lie: Purdue's assisted on 65 percent of its field goals, up almost 17 percent from last season. That's significant.
From an individual perspective: Davis, Hammons (eight shy of last year's total), Stephens and Smotherman (10 shy) are on pace to absolutely obliterate their assist numbers from last season.
You wonder if sometimes Purdue isn't too eager to move the ball, because it's been prone to the occasional steal by a defender jumping a passing lane anticipating a snap pass around the perimeter. This has been a pretty decent pass-faking team, though, too and has shown some savvy beyond its years in the often-overlooked art of manipulating defenses.
Dribble penetration remains an issue: Octeus has brought a real mano-y-mano defensive presence to point guard for Purdue, one it's not had since Lewis Jackson was such a pain in opponents' you-know-what and we wonder if the time won't come where he rotates onto shooters too against certain matchups. He's Purdue's best perimeter defender, though Rapheal Davis kind of came of age as a defensive player in Maui. Still a lot of potential there for Scott also.
But by and large, Purdue is not the fleetest team afoot and is very susceptible to straight drives, particularly from the wing, where opponents are going to go at Mathias, Stephens and to a lesser extent Davis often and if they have a big capable of doing so, do what they can to make Hammons and especially Haas guard in space. Kansas State and BYU (to a lesser extent) showed that Haas can be driven on or shot over - such is just the reality with size like that - and the best way to neutralize rim-protectors like that is to put them in ball-screen defense away from the basket.
Thus, zone.
It should be noted that not every team - very few actually - have big men capable of playing on the perimeter or skilled enough to exploit these matchups, but a few will.
The wing is the greater concern.
That said, the path to the goal against Purdue is a treacherous one with Hammons and Haas serving as last line of defense.
On Haas starting OT: Dawning on me now that Painter starting Haas over Hammons in overtime against BYU was clearly an attrition play to make sure they had Hammons on the floor - both centers had four fouls - at the end. That worked out pretty well, I guess.
Turnovers are a continued problem: It's no one thing and no one guys, so is there a quick fix?
Twenty-four of 90 Purdue turnovers have been committed by centers, and that speaks nothing of those that occurred on passes to them. But that seems reasonable given the emphasis and potential payout of getting the ball inside to those players.
The fat that can be cut lies in the slop, the casual passes up top that get jumped - for a team that does things with purpose on offense, for one, that seems odd - and the offensive fouls on the big men.
Purdue would be 6-0 right now without turnovers. So many teams can say such things but it's especially true for these Boilermakers, which have done way too much of their opponents' scoring for them. If not for turnovers, Purdue beats Kansas State. If not for turnovers, it never needs overtime vs. BYU.
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Purdue's off to a very good start, 5-1 with a team with more newcomers, really, than returnees, looking to me like a potential, potential low-end NCAA team if things keep moving in the right direction and the trapping of youth, inconsistency, doesn't become a huge landmine.
Understand this, however: Purdue is one Tyler Haws 18-footer away from the whole picture looking different, at least from a won-loss perspective.
And understand this also: Purdue has not yet played a team with big-time athleticism, though N.C. State should be better than anything it's seen in that regard.
But also understand this: Purdue killed all three of the first teams it played these season - only one of which we safely call atrocious at this point, Grambling - then won two of three in Maui, playing well in five out of six halves, plus an overtime.
Purdue's averaging 81 points per game and that number spiked to 82.7 against "varsity" competition" at the Invitational. On top of that productivity, Purdue won one game in Maui (Missouri) with defense and another (BYU) with toughness.
But it's only been a half-dozen games.
We have nothing close to an air-tight sample size for the purpose of evaluation, but Maui was a fantastic test and that's good enough for the time being.
A player-by-player look at 5-1 Purdue heading into its Big Ten/ACC Challenge game against North Carolina State
Rapheal Davis: No telling what happens from here on out, but the Boilermakers' foremost leader might have turned a corner in Hawaii, bringing his play to the same level as his leadership. Davis willed his team to wins, stepped up when his team needed him and all sorts of other awesome sports clichés during the Maui Invitational after doing very little against Kansas State.
Something about these upperclassmen, however few of them there are: They seem to understand how badly they're needed to perform for this team to be successful and they seem to take that to heart. Davis did so in action as well as words in Maui, scoring 40 points between the Missouri and BYU games, making every meaningful free throw he attempted - and there were roughly a thousand of them - and playing some of the best defense of his life. He played at a different level than anything we've seen of him during his college career at this point.
Oh, and his words this summer about becoming faster and more explosive and a better leaper appear not to have just been puppy-dogs-and-ice-cream off-season fluff (PDICOSF). He looks like a better athlete as well as a better player, with a team around him that's running better offense and generating more driving lanes for him.
Kendall Stephens: The sign of a good, mature player: Can they impact a game outside their niche? We never would have said this about Stephens last season. Looks like he's moving that way, though.
A shooter first, second and third, Stephens couldn't throw the ball in the Pacific from the beach the other day against BYU.
Didn't stop him from making two of the three biggest defensive plays of the day for the Boilermakers - the other being Jon Octeus' challenge of Haws' potential game-winner in regulation.
Stephens is never going to be Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Year, but he's better than he was. He's rebounding and passing better than he did last season and just looks like a better player. And even after his 1-of-9 vs. BYU, he's made nearly half his threes for the season.
He's taken better shots than last season and this team has done a better job generating a better shot for him. This is a much more shooter-friendly infrastructure around him.
The pieces are in place for Stephens to have a very good season.
Bryson Scott: There's a role on this team for Scott. I don't know how reasonable it is for Purdue to play three point guards significant minutes, but he gives Purdue things it doesn't otherwise have as long as he's being smart and aware and playing under control.
There have been times where he's made great decisions attacking the basket and times where he's made not-so-great decisions attacking the basket.
But he can really attack the basket and there's a role for that and his potential in transition on this team, especially if he defends like he's capable.
Thing is, Scott can be instant offense for Purdue off the bench, but for a team that's having success with the five-as-one sort of approach, is any one player being instant offense a workable thing?
Don't write Scott off. This was always going to be a process for him and Jon Octeus changed Purdue's equation at point guard entirely.
He has to keep his head in it and I don't see any reason to think he won't. He wants to do well, always has.
Basil Smotherman: Saw some talk about how Smotherman deserved more minutes against BYU.
In the context of how Purdue won that game, can't disagree more. Outside that context, can't agree more.
He seems to the outside eye to be doing the right things. He was terrific in the areas of the game against Missouri separate from shooting.
Nothing new here: If he runs, rebounds and defends, he'll be fine and Purdue will be better off for it. He's doing that, and seems to be passing the ball well, not that he's ever been deficient in that phase.
But when Vince Edwards is killing the other team's front line with skill, he needs to be on the floor.
Smotherman has a chance to be a really good piece for Purdue as long as he keeps doing what he seems to be trying to do.
One thing: He has to be more efficient. For a player who should derive a significant chunk of his scoring from tip-ins, dunks and finishes at the rim and should probably be a low-volume shooter, 29-percent shooting sticks out like a sore thumb.
It'll balance out, though. You're still at the point in the season where a missed put-back alone can take 5 percent of your percentage.
Another thing: Smotherman projects to be a "piece" on a team aiming for its whole to exceed the sum of its parts. If being a piece means playing eight out of 45 minutes in a nationally televised signature-win-type game, he can't allow that to impact the energy Purdue needs from him in those minutes. You've read it here a thousand times: His athleticism without energy amounts to a sports car without gas.
A.J. Hammons: We can only judge him on Maui, because they're the only games relevant in evaluating him. Offensively he's been uneven though he made the season's signature play to date. Not like Purdue isn't scoring 80 a game with him only averaging eight for the season. He's done a better job as a passer - a function of a more cohesive team around him, too - but still can trim the turnovers. Offensively, it's great that he has that dimension that he can make jump shots, but results have been mixed at best so far, and maybe he wouldn't be better suited to look for something else first.
Hammons is doing fine. If you're down on him, then you may be expecting him to be Shaq or not valuing how different the game is when he's out there on the defensive end. It's entirely different. The first half against Kansas State, IMO, doesn't unfold the way it did - not even close - if Hammons isn't in foul trouble. That completely changed that game and Purdue's breakdowns in zone were breakdowns as much because of Hammons' absence as they were due to the actual breakdowns. He's averaging 6.1 blocked shots per 40 minutes and looks like a better, more alert defender, almost as importantly.
Jon Octeus: We keep blasphemously using the term 'godsend' and will stand by it. Octeus grew more and more poised from Game 1 to Game 3 in Maui and now looks like the very stable, wise presence at a position Purdue didn't have one at when it opened preseason practice. He's something different than Purdue's had at the point, more of a manager than playmaker off the dribble, with height, length and a defensive presence Purdue's not had there since Keaton Grant.
Against BYU, Octeus recognized a favorable matchup and beat the Cougar guards baseline time and again, with athleticism enough to be a finisher at the rim, though his shots rolled off in the second half.
One thing about Octeus: Purdue's never had a point guard who's as good at the rim as Octeus, short of maybe Kelsey Barlow, whether it's playing inside or as an offensive rebounder. His tip-in of Hammons' miss in overtime was a big play lost in everything else that occurred.
You have to really like how Octeus seems to play to his strengths and not force much. He's kind of a fitting microcosm of his team in that sense.
Isaac Haas: Did we think he'd be this far along this fast? Physically, of course. Otherwise, no. He's been awesome for Purdue, all things considered, with the speed-of-the-game adjustment not looking like all that big a thing for probably the largest human being in college basketball.
Haas has been a man on the boards and very effective offensively, showing a real understanding of how to use his body against a high level of competition and capitalizing on some great entry passing from teammates who are helping him find the sort of angles that make him an impossible matchup.
There are things to work on: Stop bringing the ball down at the basket, always playing higher than everyone, and improving at the foul line (because heavens knows, he's gonna be there a lot) but remember than even though he doesn't look like one, he is a freshman. His hands could use some work. Such is life when a basketball to you is like a racquetball to the rest of us.
He's going to be really good.
Vince Edwards: We told you prior to the season Edwards would be the freshman Purdue would probably get the most from. Did not see this coming though.
Through six games he's Purdue's leading scorer and rebounder and arguably its best player to this point. The college game hasn't phased Edwards a bit it doesn't look like, though there have been some mistakes, as there will be for any freshman.
Otherwise, his game has translated perfectly to the college game. Against BYU, he was better as a college player than he was as a high school player, giving Purdue the gigantic matchups advantage that at the end of the day was what won it that game.
Edwards is an uncommon player and you have to give Painter and Micah Shrewsberry credit for nailing it in their early evaluation of him. They saw the Swiss Army Knife in him and perfect fit very early on.
In terms of his abilities, role and profile is the closest thing Purdue has had to Robbie Hummel and may be the closest thing it ever has, because these guys don't grow on trees. Based on early returns, we'd not write off Edwards chances of becoming that level of player either.
He's going to be really good.
Dakota Mathias: Through six games, Mathias is giving Purdue exactly what was expected: 40-plus-percent three-point shooting, great passing and an oversized (figuratively speaking, of course) basketball brain. His basketball mind is the greatest asset of what's also a profoundly skilled player.
That said, defense is going to be a battle and Purdue's going to have to help him.
But he's been offensive lubricant for the Boilermakers and maybe the face of Purdue's 'roided-up basketball IQ and movement toward the collective.
P.J. Thompson: Through six games, Thompson is giving Purdue exactly what was expected: Just a steady guy who'll move the ball, play smart and make open jump shots. Time will tell how Purdue's point guard situation will round out, but right now, Thompson is being asked to play critical minutes, not just in volume but in situations. Purdue is using Thompson for really important minutes. That speaks to the faith and trust the coaching staff has in the rookie.
Just like Edwards is showing everyone now exactly why he was recruited, so is Thompson.
Thompson's lack of height and length show up at times, maybe in the offensive rebound he doesn't get or the entry or inbound pass he can't quite deflect, but again, for Purdue so far the whole has been better than the sum of its parts. Everyone's in a position to play to their strengths and there's been no deficiency that hasn't been balanced out elsewhere.
Jacquil Taylor: The one freshman who's not going to be in Purdue's regular rotation, Taylor is going to be a long-term investment for the Boilermakers and how he improves this season will ultimately determine whether or not playing him this season was the right thing to do.
Taylor has to catch up physically - this is no surprise - and it was telling that he played vs. Kansas State as its third center amidst foul trouble to the others, but then saw Edwards play as a matchup 5 vs. BYU in a similar situation.
As someone obsessed with such things, I love the Edwards-at-the-5 offensive lineup when it's practical. Edwards is a tenacious enough rebounder to not get his you-know-what handed to him on the defensive glass, generally speaking, and the offensive matchups it can create are certainly intriguing, a la 2011 when Robbie Hummel tortured opposing big men with his skill and Purdue managed to find Terone Johnson the most favorable matchups on the floor.
If Purdue can do that three minutes here, three minutes there and maybe get an offensive jolt from it, then that's three fewer minutes Hammons and Haas aren't putting their 10 fouls on the line.
Some more, more subtle things we've learned, in this one man's opinion.
Zone has a role, but only a role: Zone was a bust against Kansas State, but Hammons' foul trouble had so much to do with that. Under normal circumstances, I think Purdue can fare better in zone than it did in that game, it just may never again play it as much as it did in that contest.
The new defense has a situational place in Purdue's playbook. It's just not on the cover, in my opinion.
The reality is that the reasons Purdue implemented zone haven't changed. Foul trouble for Hammons is still scarier to Purdue than 'Blair Witch Project' the first time you saw it and Purdue is not going to get any lighter-footed on defense on the wing.
Purdue has some quick hands on defense: The point guard trio of Octeus, Thompson and Scott (22 steals between them) are all going to get their share of steals this season, something Purdue's probably going to need if it's going to be much of a transition-offense team. Thompson and Scott especially have shown moments where they've struck quick on opponents to take it from them and that's gotten Purdue out in the open floor, where it's not exactly loaded with finishers but will be a smarter team than before at picking its spots.
On an aside, it remains utterly mind-boggling that last season, Purdue had the quickest player on the floor on most nights at the position and he averaged half a steal per game.
Another thing: Perimeter length is a good thing. Octeus and Stephens each blocked shots in overtime against BYU because of it. Length is the most under-rated of physical attribute in basketball, in our opinion.
Purdue has a chance to not just be a better foul-shooting team, but a good one, dare we say: Its centers, the guys who are going to draw the lion's share of the whistles have to pick it up, but otherwise, Purdue's primary ball-handlers are more reliable at the stripe than they've been in past seasons. Octeus and Thompson are terrific and those are the two players we'd think will have the ball in their hands at the ends of games to protect leads. Scott's history in that phase of the game is a good one, and we're not sure he's going to be the closer at the point anyway. Dakota Mathias, too, and Kendall Stephens will always be out there too when opponents have to foul. Rapheal Davis (81 percent, has been ridiculous at the foul line, a very positive thing considering how much his game is predicated on getting to the basket and absorbing contact.
A week ago, I'd have tabbed Edwards as one of Purdue's biggest non-center concerns at the foul line. He was shaky in scrimmages and - maybe I just caught him on the wrong day(s) - was suspect in some of the high school games I covered.
Yeah, well, he's shooting 88 percent and a lot of them have been big ones.
Purdue has a very different dynamic at point guard. It might not have the top-end speed it did last season, but it has guys who have been generating offense off defense and making their free throws.
Passing has improved tenfold: Just watch the games. Not only is this a better, smarter, more willing passing team than the past two, but its chemistry given the circumstances has come along quickly. These guys look like they've been playing together a lot longer than they have been and that's a credit to having the sorts of player who make the game easy on the people around them. Edwards, Thompson and Mathias come to mind and I think you have to throw Octeus in there somewhat too and give some credit to some older guys. Seems like the freshmen have worn off on some veterans. Stephens has been an excellent passer and Smotherman has looked to have improved also. Not that it's the tell-tale of a good passer, but both have made plays for other people.
The numbers don't lie: Purdue's assisted on 65 percent of its field goals, up almost 17 percent from last season. That's significant.
From an individual perspective: Davis, Hammons (eight shy of last year's total), Stephens and Smotherman (10 shy) are on pace to absolutely obliterate their assist numbers from last season.
You wonder if sometimes Purdue isn't too eager to move the ball, because it's been prone to the occasional steal by a defender jumping a passing lane anticipating a snap pass around the perimeter. This has been a pretty decent pass-faking team, though, too and has shown some savvy beyond its years in the often-overlooked art of manipulating defenses.
Dribble penetration remains an issue: Octeus has brought a real mano-y-mano defensive presence to point guard for Purdue, one it's not had since Lewis Jackson was such a pain in opponents' you-know-what and we wonder if the time won't come where he rotates onto shooters too against certain matchups. He's Purdue's best perimeter defender, though Rapheal Davis kind of came of age as a defensive player in Maui. Still a lot of potential there for Scott also.
But by and large, Purdue is not the fleetest team afoot and is very susceptible to straight drives, particularly from the wing, where opponents are going to go at Mathias, Stephens and to a lesser extent Davis often and if they have a big capable of doing so, do what they can to make Hammons and especially Haas guard in space. Kansas State and BYU (to a lesser extent) showed that Haas can be driven on or shot over - such is just the reality with size like that - and the best way to neutralize rim-protectors like that is to put them in ball-screen defense away from the basket.
Thus, zone.
It should be noted that not every team - very few actually - have big men capable of playing on the perimeter or skilled enough to exploit these matchups, but a few will.
The wing is the greater concern.
That said, the path to the goal against Purdue is a treacherous one with Hammons and Haas serving as last line of defense.
On Haas starting OT: Dawning on me now that Painter starting Haas over Hammons in overtime against BYU was clearly an attrition play to make sure they had Hammons on the floor - both centers had four fouls - at the end. That worked out pretty well, I guess.
Turnovers are a continued problem: It's no one thing and no one guys, so is there a quick fix?
Twenty-four of 90 Purdue turnovers have been committed by centers, and that speaks nothing of those that occurred on passes to them. But that seems reasonable given the emphasis and potential payout of getting the ball inside to those players.
The fat that can be cut lies in the slop, the casual passes up top that get jumped - for a team that does things with purpose on offense, for one, that seems odd - and the offensive fouls on the big men.
Purdue would be 6-0 right now without turnovers. So many teams can say such things but it's especially true for these Boilermakers, which have done way too much of their opponents' scoring for them. If not for turnovers, Purdue beats Kansas State. If not for turnovers, it never needs overtime vs. BYU.
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