I remember Taylor being one of the top 10 rated centers in his class before his injury. he was considered a coup when we first started recruiting him. and then by not playing his senior year, his ranking took a nosedive. that being said, this will be his 3rd (?) year at Purdue. I'm not sure if he's fully healthy. I also don't know if he will be as good as he once was. I had thought he'd be fully healthy last year. he's obviously a wildcard. but he also shouldn't be discarded. At one time , he was rated higher than Haas. but admittedly, that was 4/5 years ago.
To me, Haarms is a project. he can shoot the three. he's tall and big and supposedly quick. but his competition has been very suspect. I have no idea about his ability to play defense. When being recruited, the reports on him were that he was a very tall perimeter player, and not a dominant inside man. based on those reports, my thoughts were that we still needed a dominant inside man, because Haarms was better suited to be a 4 than 5.
this brings up two questions. Haarms spent half of last year practicing at Purdue. Did he spend that time learning how to play inside? and the center position? Did he learn how to play defense? or did he just spend his time bulking up? perhaps that was what Painter was alluding to. Haarms is a great physical specimen, but he hasn't quite learned how to play the position Painter wants him to play. He has talents, but also deficiencies. is that what painter meant when he said he'd be great some day? then again, very few coaches berate their players' ability.
