Depth Chart

[nagemj02]

Here's how I see the depth chart right now for the scholarship players going into the 2015-2016 season. The players are listed at I would describe as their most natural position (or the closest thing to it):


1: P.J. Thompson, Grant Weatherford

2: Dakota Mathias, Kendall Stephens/Ryan Cline

3: Rapheal Davis/Vince Edwards, Basil Smotherman

4: Jacquil Taylor

5: A.J. Hammons, Isaac Haas


Besides the obvious need for a PG (Dylan Ennis? Anthony Collins?), does everyone here want Caleb Swanigan to be the other addition? Or would you rather see someone else receive that scholarship?

 

[Cleanface]

Uhhhhh, yeah...

I think I'd like Swanigan to fill that scholarship.

 

[Jcashall]

No way Vince Edwards doesn't start, he is the perfect 4 in the motion offense. If Swanigan chooses us, ve might come off the bench as the 6th man or start at the 3.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[GodFamilyCountryPurdue]

Something about Swanigan scares me. I'd love to have a 5 star at Purdue. I'd love to finally get another Mr. Basketball back at Purdue. I'd love for Painter to finally win a recruiting battle. BUT, there's just something about him. After watching him play these last couple of weeks, the kid really seems to whine a lot! I've seen him complain to the official after almost every play. I've seen him get angry at his teammates for not passing him the ball. He just seems to be able to manhandle his opposition in high school and I'm not sure he'll be able to do that at the college level. He's not athletic, and I haven't seen much of an outside shot. I'm sure I'm wrong, as he is rated so high; but something just doesn't seem right with the eye test.

 

[nagemj02]

Originally posted by Jcashall:
No way Vince Edwards doesn't start, he is the perfect 4 in the motion offense. If Swanigan chooses us, ve might come off the bench as the 6th man or start at the 3.



Posted from Rivals Mobile

I wrote in the post above that I was putting the players in the spots that I think are their most natural positions. That doesn't mean that CMP is going to play them at their most natural position, as we saw with Edwards this past season. You are misunderstanding my intent of posting a chart.



This post was edited on 4/8 7:24 AM by nagemj02

 

[*4purdue*]

Your right... CMP needs to recruit more players like Kenny Willams, Todd Shottlecotte, Matt Tendam, & Pat Bade type players. That has worked out really well for us. Why would we want an All American like that? I think some people on this board just need to have something to complain about.

 

[*4purdue*]

lol... I'm sure that is Matt's selling point. That's like saying Glenn wouldn't start at PF because we had Justin Jennings. CS will start and play 35 min. a game if he comes to Purdue. VE will play the 3 or come off the bench. I agree VE will probably start, but the offense will revolve around CS and the Bigs.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

If Swanigan chooses Purdue, he will start at the 4 with Hammons/Haas/Taylor getting reps at the 5.

If Swanigan chooses Purdue, I think this is a very feasible lineup:

G: Davis
G: Mathias
Point Forward: Edwards
Power Forward: Swanigan
C: Hammons/Haas/Taylor

Look at how much Valentine brought the ball up in the tournament. Although a true PG or a combo guard is a nice thing to have, it is losing its importance in the college game much like it has in the NBA. Is Lebron a true PG? No, but he frequently brings the ball up the floor (yes, I get it...he has unreal skills). Davis has the ability to work in the off season to be a serviceable guard and has the ability to guard the other teams PG. If the opposing team's PG is a great on ball, full court defender...simply allow Mathias or Edwards to bring the ball up.

If Painter wants to go 'small,' he could easily switch out Swanigan to the 5 and sub in Stephens/Cline for the center. That would look like this:

G: Davis
G: Mathias
G: Stephens/Cline
PF: Edwards/Smotherman
C: Swanigan

That puts 4 legitimate long range shooters on the floor and subbing in Smotherman, you could really get out and run by adding in Thompson or Weatherford (if he shows an ability to maintain control on the break and makes smart decisions on both ends of the floor.

The end all be all is that adding Swanigan gives Purdue an incredible amount of flexibility in its' offense and even defensive matchups. With two bigs on the floor, the motion offense becomes increasingly difficult to defend because a big can come out and pick and roll while also leaving another big to post up. What other teams can boast that kind of ability?

 

[GodFamilyCountryPurdue]

I see what I said went right over your head. smh

 

[BoilerFan#35]

PJ, Weatherford, or Cline will start at point next season. Painter said Cline could be an option. When I saw Carmel vs Homestead Cline brought it up the whole game against a really good player for Homestead. I think Cline could handle it whenever there isn't a press.

 

[BoilerJS]

Cliine and Dakota with an occasional Davis at point. I really think Stephens makes huge strides this off season and is the starting 2 guard.

 

[nagemj02]

Originally posted by BoilerFan#35:
PJ, Weatherford, or Cline will start at point next season. Painter said Cline could be an option. When I saw Carmel vs Homestead Cline brought it up the whole game against a really good player for Homestead. I think Cline could handle it whenever there isn't a press.

Cline bringing it up against a good Homestead HS guard isn't really comparable to bringing the ball up against say, 'Melo Trimble of Maryland or even someone like Bronson Koenig of Wisconsin.

Cline, Mathias, Davis, and Edwards all have promise as players that could help out Thompson by improving their handle and poise bringing the ball up against a tough defender or even versus traps. However, there's no way to know for certain that they can make the strides necessary to be capable of doing that consistently next season. That's why the addition of someone that has already established themselves in this capacity is becoming a more popular idea (at least on this board) as of late.

 

[CRBoiler]

Originally posted by GodFamilyCountryPurdue:
Something about Swanigan scares me. I'd love to have a 5 star at Purdue. I'd love to finally get another Mr. Basketball back at Purdue. I'd love for Painter to finally win a recruiting battle. BUT, there's just something about him. After watching him play these last couple of weeks, the kid really seems to whine a lot! I've seen him complain to the official after almost every play. I've seen him get angry at his teammates for not passing him the ball. He just seems to be able to manhandle his opposition in high school and I'm not sure he'll be able to do that at the college level. He's not athletic, and I haven't seen much of an outside shot. I'm sure I'm wrong, as he is rated so high; but something just doesn't seem right with the eye test.

I checked some videos. Swanigan seems like another big who, like Hammons and Haas, has natural size and some skills mostly around the basket. In the videos he does dribble sometimes, better than Haas and probably also better than Hammons, though maybe not since the competition for Swanigan in the videos is not nearly as tough as B1G. Same thing with passing - Biggie makes some good, quick, well-placed passes in the videos, similar to what we see from Hammons now (& better than Hammons as a frosh). I'd say Caleb is also similar to Hammons running the floor based on what I saw - he's not an antelope - BUT more than Hammons or Haas, I think he (with his body) has an opportunity get better at that through conditioning. Like any highlight reels, Swanigan is shown making some outside shots. I think it's likely he'll be better from outside than Hammons or Haas, but not sure what is actual potential is.

Can he play the 4? Yes, I think so, but he will obviously need to work on his conditioning. What could be tough is when we play small ball teams... not sure he'll be able to hang with a smaller, quicker 4, though AJ would have his back. It could be that Taylor would be the more natural player at the 4 with teams like that.