Glimpse of the future

[rgarlitz]

Rewatching the Maryland game...

IMO --- the concerns about Haas's defense are realistic, but then again, not many teams have the depth and athleticism up front that Maryland has. Both Stone and Layman look like the real deal. They'll give a lot of opposing coaches heartburn.

I think we'll be fine at the 5. Haas has the potential to be a dominant scorer and aggressive rebounder, which should make up for some of his slowness on defense.

Again, just my opinion here, but I think Mathias will turn out to be as tenacious a defender as Ray Day. And let's not forget that PJ can be a little pit bull on defense, too. I think we'll be fine defensively in the front court next year as long as Mathias, Cline, Stephens, and Thompson keep progressing.

 

[SIBoiler2]

You aren't going to develop those heavy feet. Teams will throw it to the guy he is guarding every time down the floor, and he will get taken off the dribble. NBA coaches are ruthless.

Yes, NBA coaches are ruthless and starstruck owners are stupid when it comes to judging talent. You can see the problem and I can see the problem but NBA history over the past 20 years is littered with a great many guys that got a paycheck then disappeared.

 

[chaspark]

I don't know why people are worried about our defense. Yes, we will lose Hammons and Davis, but we will get Taylor and Smotherman PLUS whatever improvement Haas and Swanigan gain next year. This is Purdue, Matt Painter's team. We never lose focus on defense. Any defensive deficiency we have, you can be certain they will work on it off-season. Our primary concern always has been the offense and careless turnovers, never the defense, so what's the point worrying about it?

 

[plaxico80]

I really believe Blackmon leaves IU at the end of the season. He's been told that his defense has to improve drastically to get playing time, and without him, IU has done a much better job on the defensive end. As for Bryant, what does he have to gain by staying another year?

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm sure Blackmon is just dying two sit out nearly two full seasons by transferring. You meant he'd be transferring, right? Blackmon has ZERO CHANCE at playing in the NBA without major improvement on the defensive end.

Blackmon is going nowhere.

Bryant isn't ready for the NBA either. He can improve his draft stock plenty by returning to school and improving both defensively and on the offensive end. He may leave, but I doubt he will.

Even Troy Williams is no lock to leave. He isn''t going to be a lottery pick.

 

[TC4THREE]

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm sure Blackmon is just dying two sit out nearly two full seasons by transferring. You meant he'd be transferring, right? Blackmon has ZERO CHANCE at playing in the NBA without major improvement on the defensive end.

Blackmon is going nowhere.

Bryant isn't ready for the NBA either. He can improve his draft stock plenty by returning to school and improving both defensively and on the offensive end. He may leave, but I doubt he will.

Even Troy Williams is no lock to leave. He isn''t going to be a lottery pick.

Why would Bryant not leave if he projects to be a first round pick? Doesn't matter if he's not ready to play. Many teams draft on potential. If he's a first rounder that's guaranteed money. I don't know if he is but I would advise anyone to leave if they had the guaranteed money of a first round draft pick on the table.

 

[Chuchumutha]

I won't comment on IU's situation, but I will give you my take on 2017 Purdue Team. Even as he is now, Haas changes opponent's shots. Hammons waits for the shot to go up and then blocks. Haas stands with his hands over the shooter, and stops the shot, forcing either a circus type maneuver, or a pass back out of the paint. He will never have the block numbers Hammons has, but he is just as effective in the paint defensively. We may miss Hammons offense more than his defense.

As for replacing Ray Davis, I think we will be okay from a physical perspective. Smotherman is an excellent high-energy defender. He may be better at defending stretch 4's and tall 3's than Ray Day. Ray was often assigned taller players, and he did okay by pure hustle. Smotherman brings that same hustle. It is Ray's off-court leadership we will miss. I hope others step up. Swanigan, Mathias, and Cline all have potential leadership in their DNA.

As for defending opponents' guards, that will be done by committee. Mathias, Stevens, and Cline will be okay, but not as good as Davis. The offset is that all 3 will be more of a scoring threat than Ray. The idea is to score more points than the opponent, which can be done through either better defense or better offense. Remember, Ray Day came into his own his Junior year. Mathias and Edwards will be juniors next year.

I don't expect much impact from the 2016 class. Carson will be an important addition, but the 2017 class will be the hallmark for Purdue and not the 2016 class.

Agreed. From a defensive standpoint, if we're protecting a lead and we have a bad perimeter match up, we can throw Weatherford on him.

 

[mathboy]

Why would Bryant not leave if he projects to be a first round pick? Doesn't matter if he's not ready to play. Many teams draft on potential. If he's a first rounder that's guaranteed money. I don't know if he is but I would advise anyone to leave if they had the guaranteed money of a first round draft pick on the table.

I agree with your position here. If some NBA team is willing to drop several million $$$$'s on the kid, he should go. Frankly, I don't think he is ready to play NBA basketball. He needs at least another year to be competitive in the league. However, stranger first round picks have been made by some really stupid NBA GM's. Take the money and run! You can ride the bench for 3 years learning the game and collecting the money. First rounder's are a protected species.