BROOKLYN — A few final musings from Purdue's 82-72 overtime win over N.C. State in Brooklyn, because I know how you like musings.
• Great that they won, but Purdue's got to be so much better than this, obviously.
• Purdue's shooting struggles lately do have something to do with some jacking that's going on, but only to a point.
That's college basketball, I guess, but Purdue had been so consistent in that area prior to coming out east. Isaiah Thompson didn't make a shot out here, Brandon Newman really struggled, Sasha Stefanovic struggled until making two big ones tonight, and the Boilermakers just didn't make the good, rhythm, wide-open threes out here that they did to start the year.
That hurt, because it was harder for Purdue to execute the past few games, and when they did but didn't make the great shots they produced, that's a double-whammy.
• Thank heavens for the offensive glass and kudos to Purdue for putting in the needed to effort to make sure that should-be strength is just that. Trevion Williams and Mason Gillis were great on the boards tonight. Gillis has re-emerged as a real impact player for Purdue.
• I don't know what the issue with Brandon Newman has been the past two games, but his over-eagerness has really come to bear and it's going to cost him playing time if it doesn't swing back in the right direction. This was one of those events where there's a sparse enough crowd to where you can hear the coaches from up top some times, and when Newman came out in the first half you could hear Painter yell something about "bad shots" at him. If I could hear it in the upper level, with one ear bruised and battered from years spent covering games in Mackey Arena, everyone could hear it.
Newman can be a really good player, and you have to love his competitiveness, but he has to give himself a chance.
• Prior to the season, I wasn't sure where Ethan Morton would fit in, and figured if anyone was at risk of not making the rotation it might be him. I thought he'd redshirt, and that wasn't just me guessing.
Instead, he has become a profoundly valuable multi-purpose player who's filling gaps for Purdue as they arise and doing a good job with it at both ends of the floor. What a success story this has been.
The past two games were an aberration for Caleb Furst, I'm quite certain. There are going to be nights where his guy is a bad matchup, and it just so happens that that's been the case two nights in row.
• Not that it matters now, but the big-to-big lob attempt with 2.1 seconds left in regulation was a high-reward sort of call if you could complete the pass but also a high-risk play, which is why I was surprised they went to it with that much time on the clock.
The risk is precisely what happened, throwing the ball straight out of bounds. Purdue was fortunate N.C. State botched its turn to win the game at the buzzer.
• Purdue just keeps letting bad shooting teams get in rhythm and become decent shooting teams because of it. I know Purdue concedes some things defensively in order to try to cover itself against the dribble, but they still have to be better than they've been getting out to shooters and making things more difficult.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
• Great that they won, but Purdue's got to be so much better than this, obviously.
• Purdue's shooting struggles lately do have something to do with some jacking that's going on, but only to a point.
That's college basketball, I guess, but Purdue had been so consistent in that area prior to coming out east. Isaiah Thompson didn't make a shot out here, Brandon Newman really struggled, Sasha Stefanovic struggled until making two big ones tonight, and the Boilermakers just didn't make the good, rhythm, wide-open threes out here that they did to start the year.
That hurt, because it was harder for Purdue to execute the past few games, and when they did but didn't make the great shots they produced, that's a double-whammy.
• Thank heavens for the offensive glass and kudos to Purdue for putting in the needed to effort to make sure that should-be strength is just that. Trevion Williams and Mason Gillis were great on the boards tonight. Gillis has re-emerged as a real impact player for Purdue.
• I don't know what the issue with Brandon Newman has been the past two games, but his over-eagerness has really come to bear and it's going to cost him playing time if it doesn't swing back in the right direction. This was one of those events where there's a sparse enough crowd to where you can hear the coaches from up top some times, and when Newman came out in the first half you could hear Painter yell something about "bad shots" at him. If I could hear it in the upper level, with one ear bruised and battered from years spent covering games in Mackey Arena, everyone could hear it.
Newman can be a really good player, and you have to love his competitiveness, but he has to give himself a chance.
• Prior to the season, I wasn't sure where Ethan Morton would fit in, and figured if anyone was at risk of not making the rotation it might be him. I thought he'd redshirt, and that wasn't just me guessing.
Instead, he has become a profoundly valuable multi-purpose player who's filling gaps for Purdue as they arise and doing a good job with it at both ends of the floor. What a success story this has been.
The past two games were an aberration for Caleb Furst, I'm quite certain. There are going to be nights where his guy is a bad matchup, and it just so happens that that's been the case two nights in row.
• Not that it matters now, but the big-to-big lob attempt with 2.1 seconds left in regulation was a high-reward sort of call if you could complete the pass but also a high-risk play, which is why I was surprised they went to it with that much time on the clock.
The risk is precisely what happened, throwing the ball straight out of bounds. Purdue was fortunate N.C. State botched its turn to win the game at the buzzer.
• Purdue just keeps letting bad shooting teams get in rhythm and become decent shooting teams because of it. I know Purdue concedes some things defensively in order to try to cover itself against the dribble, but they still have to be better than they've been getting out to shooters and making things more difficult.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and have a good night.
