Haas/Taylor

[Roeder]

Have not been able to watch any of the World University Games yet, but one encouraging thing to take away from the box scores and highlights is the play of Haas and Taylor.

Haas just looks like he is keeping things simple, making his move, and going hard to the rim (including some nasty dunks.) It appears the light has clicked that he is 7'2, 280 lbs of muscle and no one can stop him (except maybe the refs, lol). I remember him saying his NBA draft feedback was just to focus on getting better at what he does well, and it looks like he has taken that to heart so far.

It's also great to see Taylor's production in limited minutes, especially with rebounding and blocking shots. Fingers crossed his foot issues are behind him and I hope he has fun with his opportunity to contribute to the team this year.

The biggest question about Purdue in all the preseason rankings (not even ranked in ESPN's top 25) is how they will replace Biggie, and rightfully so. He was a once in every 10 year college basketball talent in terms of production. It's early, but I do feel a little better about Purdue's frontcourt depth after 4 games/scrimmages, and it's nice to see that question begin to be answered before other teams seasons have even started. Once Ewing, Wheeler, Haarms get adjusted to the program, I really like the versatility of the 4's and 5's. Eifert has evidently played great for a walk-on as an added bonus too, and I haven't even mentioned Vince yet.

Not all of these guys will play, but it is nice to have options. Michigan beat Purdue twice last year primarily due to exploiting poor matchups with Wilson and Wagner. It looks like this years team will have much more flexibility against athletic front lines, stretch 5's etc.

 

[BoilerDaddy]

The hardest area to replace Biggie will be on the defensive boards, where he was one of the best college players that I have ever seen. If Purdue can do that, I feel great about this team's chances.

 

[todd brewster]

I've said all along the key to this year is getting Haas to play 30 minutes per game and to unleash his aggression on the boards. Haas needs to feel he has to grab every defensive rebound.

Haas seems more aggressive and is rebounding better. I have not studied the stats, but it seems like he will average nearly 12 a game and I still think he can do better.

He seems much better with his left hooks and can still take more jump shots.

Taylor is playing well and should be given some minutes at the 4. I still think Vince will do better at the 3 even though he is kicking it at the 4.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

I've said all along the key to this year is getting Haas to play 30 minutes per game and to unleash his aggression on the boards. Haas needs to feel he has to grab every defensive rebound.

Haas seems more aggressive and is rebounding better. I have not studied the stats, but it seems like he will average nearly 12 a game and I still think he can do better.

He seems much better with his left hooks and can still take more jump shots.

Taylor is playing well and should be given some minutes at the 4. I still think Vince will do better at the 3 even though he is kicking it at the 4.

That would be a big task to get Haas that many minutes every single night. Honestly, if you can get 22-25 along with Taylor/Haarms/Ewing to gather the other 15-18, that would be excellent. I believe if Haas can give 14-16 points per game along with the other 3 getting 12-16 combines, that would be an excellent group in the middle because you know there will be games where Haas or one of the others will take off and play more time and score more points. Combined with the scoring propensity from the guards, getting roughly 30-35 from your bigs every night would mean Purdue would be scoring lots and lots of points.

 

[hoosierdog1]

What do you guys think we will get from the C position this year? I would guess 22-25 ppg and 12-15 rpg.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

What do you guys think we will get from the C position this year? I would guess 22-25 ppg and 12-15 rpg.

Fully expecting 30 a game and 15 boards from the 5's this season. Haas should be able to get 14-16 given his improvement and increased role in the offense. It depends largely on the other 5's Purdue has...specifically Taylor. He has shown a good feel around the hoop along with an ability to hit the outside jumper.

 

[todd brewster]

Fully expecting 30 a game and 15 boards from the 5's this season. Haas should be able to get 14-16 given his improvement and increased role in the offense. It depends largely on the other 5's Purdue has...specifically Taylor. He has shown a good feel around the hoop along with an ability to hit the outside jumper.

Your math is off. Let's average what you are expecting Haas 24 minutes Others 16 minutes. Haas scores 15 then O 10. To make the math work Haas has to score 18 and O 12. This is also supposing Taylor and others are as proficient scoring as Haas. My hope is that Haas aims for 18 points in his 30 minutes, but he gets 12 boards. It looks so far in the pre-season that Haas can achieve this. If he does, the 5 can get 22 points and 15 boards. And the O can also get minutes at the 4. If we do this, we'll be extremely successful.

 

[tjreese]

Your math is off. Let's average what you are expecting Haas 24 minutes Others 16 minutes. Haas scores 15 then O 10. To make the math work Haas has to score 18 and O 12. This is also supposing Taylor and others are as proficient scoring as Haas. My hope is that Haas aims for 18 points in his 30 minutes, but he gets 12 boards. It looks so far in the pre-season that Haas can achieve this. If he does, the 5 can get 22 points and 15 boards. And the O can also get minutes at the 4. If we do this, we'll be extremely successful.

Look this is a team sport. he said he scored well on the verbal side. You do the math and he can write it.

 

[bonefish1]

I've said all along the key to this year is getting Haas to play 30 minutes per game and to unleash his aggression on the boards. Haas needs to feel he has to grab every defensive rebound.

Haas seems more aggressive and is rebounding better. I have not studied the stats, but it seems like he will average nearly 12 a game and I still think he can do better.

He seems much better with his left hooks and can still take more jump shots.

Taylor is playing well and should be given some minutes at the 4. I still think Vince will do better at the 3 even though he is kicking it at the 4.

Haas is not a great rebounder and expecting him to get 12 a game is about 6 more than he'll average. He's not quick off his feet, nor does he anticipate well, which is one of the things Biggie did that made him great. Even at 7'2, Haas will still get beat out by smaller players for a lot of boards.

 

[mediaexpert]

expecting him to get 12 a game is about 6 more than he'll average..

Isaac has very quick feet. Have you seen his offensive moves? Isaac didn't rebound well last year, because he concentrated on keeping his man off the board and sealing off a side of the rim.

I only been able to watch one game, but Isaac is being aggressive going after every d board and using quick feet to at least swat out several o boards.

Unfortunately many fans and refs believe in white stiffs. This works against Isaac especially since he is so strong. So far in the games, I can imagine the refs are calling quick fouls on his aggression. However, this will subside with refs who have seen him play before. In the meantime, I see he is getting 8-9 boards in 20 minutes.

IMO we need to encourage Isaac to remain aggressive and to encourage Matt to reward Isaac with more playing time for being so. I would expect Isaac to get at least 10 boards a game, but I agree with the poster that 12 is a real possibility. Especially if Matt rewards him with 30 minutes a game, which I too hope he does.

 

[BoiledSteel]

Isaac has very quick feet. Have you seen his offensive moves? Isaac didn't rebound well last year, because he concentrated on keeping his man off the board and sealing off a side of the rim.

I only been able to watch one game, but Isaac is being aggressive going after every d board and using quick feet to at least swat out several o boards.

Unfortunately many fans and refs believe in white stiffs. This works against Isaac especially since he is so strong. So far in the games, I can imagine the refs are calling quick fouls on his aggression. However, this will subside with refs who have seen him play before. In the meantime, I see he is getting 8-9 boards in 20 minutes.

IMO we need to encourage Isaac to remain aggressive and to encourage Matt to reward Isaac with more playing time for being so. I would expect Isaac to get at least 10 boards a game, but I agree with the poster that 12 is a real possibility. Especially if Matt rewards him with 30 minutes a game, which I too hope he does.

Excellent assessment. People claiming Isaac is slow really need to pay they type of attention to him that you clearly do.

 

[bonefish1]

Isaac has very quick feet. Have you seen his offensive moves? Isaac didn't rebound well last year, because he concentrated on keeping his man off the board and sealing off a side of the rim.

I only been able to watch one game, but Isaac is being aggressive going after every d board and using quick feet to at least swat out several o boards.

Unfortunately many fans and refs believe in white stiffs. This works against Isaac especially since he is so strong. So far in the games, I can imagine the refs are calling quick fouls on his aggression. However, this will subside with refs who have seen him play before. In the meantime, I see he is getting 8-9 boards in 20 minutes.

IMO we need to encourage Isaac to remain aggressive and to encourage Matt to reward Isaac with more playing time for being so. I would expect Isaac to get at least 10 boards a game, but I agree with the poster that 12 is a real possibility. Especially if Matt rewards him with 30 minutes a game, which I too hope he does.

I didn't say Haas is a stiff, and I do think he's a pretty good athlete for 7'2, but he's not quick off his feet. He usually has to gather himself before going up, which is fine, but he's going to get out jumped by smaller, quicker players sometimes. That's all I'm saying.
But, I don't think you realize how hard it is to get 10 boards a game. You're basically asking him to average a double/double, which I don't see happening. He'll put up some big numbers in preconf games against lower level competition but against high majors and in the B10, I'd be happy with a 12/7 average. He's not going to be needed to score as much as Biggie or Hammons because we've got bunch of scorers.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

I'm sticking with my claim that Taylor is comparable to JJ. There were ?s at the 5 coming into this year, but they've been answered big time.

 

[SnowLeopard]

Let's be realistic.....you guys know Swanigan is the only player in the BIG to average double digit rebounds in the last five seasons? I would be very happy with Haas if he averages more than 7 rbs a game

As for Taylor, yes, if he stays healthy, I think he is a seasoned 4th year player who can give us comparable productivity to an underclassman JJ

 

[punaj]

I think people forget that JJ wasn't all that great when he first came to Purdue... he left and AA, but he didn't start that way. JJ was even pushed around he senior year because he was still such a bean pole. Give Taylor some time to play healthy - if he averages 8 boards and 2 blocks a game, that's almost as good as JJ ever was on defense.

F: 5.4 pts, 3.1 trb, 1 blk
S: 13.4 pts, 5.6 trb, 2.1 blk
J: 15.5 pts, 7.1 trb, 2.1 blk
S: 20.5 pts, 8.6 trb, 2.3 blk

If Martin didn't leave, it would be interesting to see how those numbers would have changed. But you can play the what if game all you want though... what if Hummel played 4 straight injury free years, etc.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

Look this is a team sport. he said he scored well on the verbal side. You do the math and he can write it.

HILARIOUS!

 

[mediaexpert]

Right now, IMO our line up should be Isaac (30), Jacquil (21), Vincent (30), Dakota (30) and PJ (24) with our 6th man Carsen (26). That leaves us 39 minutes for two guys (a guard and power forward to fight for playing time.

We would have made the final 8 with this line up with Caleb last year. Except we were afraid of our big men fouling out. This year, we have an extra big man in reserve in case of foul trouble.

We have the right blend of 3 guys to post up, 3 guys to hit the 3 and 3 guys to drive. We also will have more power on the boards to offset the loss of Caleb.

Defensively, we put Isaac on the guy who can't hit 3's. He will find driving on Isaac is tougher than it looks. We then have Isaac sag to the middle and it satisfies the posters wanting zone. I am impressed how well this unit plays D and the little (really big) thing I look for is how well this unit helps out on D. They can also gamble knowing the rim is protected.

The more I analyze and project the reports from the pre-season the more excited I get!!!

 

[bonefish1]

Right now, IMO our line up should be Isaac (30), Jacquil (21), Vincent (30), Dakota (30) and PJ (24) with our 6th man Carsen (26). That leaves us 39 minutes for two guys (a guard and power forward to fight for playing time.

We would have made the final 8 with this line up with Caleb last year. Except we were afraid of our big men fouling out. This year, we have an extra big man in reserve in case of foul trouble.

We have the right blend of 3 guys to post up, 3 guys to hit the 3 and 3 guys to drive. We also will have more power on the boards to offset the loss of Caleb.

Defensively, we put Isaac on the guy who can't hit 3's. He will find driving on Isaac is tougher than it looks. We then have Isaac sag to the middle and it satisfies the posters wanting zone. I am impressed how well this unit plays D and the little (really big) thing I look for is how well this unit helps out on D. They can also gamble knowing the rim is protected.

The more I analyze and project the reports from the pre-season the more excited I get!!!

#1, CE will start. He's our best ball handler, best scorer and only person who can consistently get his own shot.
#2. PJ and DM are not drivers. They score 90% of their points on jumpers, not drives.
The best lineup would be CE, DM, NE, VE and IH. That's 3 drivers, 3 shooters and 3 rebounders with 2 guards who can get out on the break and finish at the rim.

 

[BoilerAndy]

#1, CE will start. He's our best ball handler, best scorer and only person who can consistently get his own shot.
#2. PJ and DM are not drivers. They score 90% of their points on jumpers, not drives.
The best lineup would be CE, DM, NE, VE and IH. That's 3 drivers, 3 shooters and 3 rebounders with 2 guards who can get out on the break and finish at the rim.

I can't see PJ not starting. I just can't see it.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

I can't see PJ not starting. I just can't see it.

Agreed. Yes Nojel has been wonderful in his early playing time BUT there will be an uptick in competition when the actual season starts in terms of consistency. Barring injury, Nojel will probably be the first or second option off the bench during the game.

 

[mediaexpert]

All excellent points and I have not seen enough of the new players yet to make an assessment. I have heard enough about Jacquil to project that he plays good D and can rebound. Replacing Caleb scoring will not be a problem. We need to psyche up Isaac to be aggressive on the boards, but having another rebounder and rim protector at times in the lineup is necessary to go to the next level.

If you noticed, I decreased PJ's minutes a bit, but we need him running the show. His senior leadership is steady and needed at times. He is a water bug on D and distributes the ball well and take good shots. One of the attributes about Carsen is his quick hands on D. He is growing leaps and bounds and can dominate a game, but he may be erratic - time will tell.

I am not bragging enough on Dakota or Vincent, but they are our rocks. They both play both good O and D.

 

[SIBoiler2]

The clips I've seen so far seem to indicate Isaac has developed a more complete game with and without his back to the basket. Seems more versatile at this point.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

Boiler Ball uploaded a stats sheet that has the totals from the three games up to this point. Here is how the big men break down:

Haas: 12.7 and 18
Taylor: 7.7 and 19
Ewing: 4.3 and 5

For a total average of 24.7 & 14.

I believe with more minutes than what Haas is getting due to blowouts and trying to get some minutes for younger players, his numbers will be up in the season for both scoring and rebounds along with Haarms probably giving about the same as Ewing is giving...it isn't unreasonable to assume the bigs could get to an average of 30 & 16 for games in the season. That is a lot and given Vince's average of nearly 18 a game right now...that's a large scoring punch from what would be considering the front line of Purdue's team (roughly estimated out to 48 & 24. That obviously excludes the fact that Vince has, at times, disappeared during the season as he did at the start of last season....BUT the fact that the positions that had the most question marks at coming in to this season appears to be a very strong point up to this point.

 

[BoiledSteel]

#1, CE will start. He's our best ball handler, best scorer and only person who can consistently get his own shot.
#2. PJ and DM are not drivers. They score 90% of their points on jumpers, not drives.
The best lineup would be CE, DM, NE, VE and IH. That's 3 drivers, 3 shooters and 3 rebounders with 2 guards who can get out on the break and finish at the rim.

I am truly grateful you aren't coaching Purdue. PJT will start, there is no reason to think otherwise and he has earned that role.

 

[Wolegib]

I am truly grateful you aren't coaching Purdue. PJT will start, there is no reason to think otherwise and he has earned that role.

PJ has earned the role as starter, but we can now see that if injured or in foul trouble, he now has a very capable back-up waiting for his chance to shine.

 

[Dakota Girl]

#1, CE will start. He's our best ball handler, best scorer and only person who can consistently get his own shot.
#2. PJ and DM are not drivers. They score 90% of their points on jumpers, not drives.
The best lineup would be CE, DM, NE, VE and IH. That's 3 drivers, 3 shooters and 3 rebounders with 2 guards who can get out on the break and finish at the rim.

I would add Vince to the getting out and finishing the break categorie also.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

#1, CE will start. He's our best ball handler, best scorer and only person who can consistently get his own shot.
#2. PJ and DM are not drivers. They score 90% of their points on jumpers, not drives.
The best lineup would be CE, DM, NE, VE and IH. That's 3 drivers, 3 shooters and 3 rebounders with 2 guards who can get out on the break and finish at the rim.

PJ, DM, and RC have made 15 two pointers at the WUG. 2 years ago they only made 43 two pointers the whole season. This isn't 2 years ago.