Mason Gillis and Brandon Newman Have One Message - Keep Going
While Caleb Furst's length and defense has been critical for Purdue throughout the season, Purdue's team needs shootings and while the guards struggled, Gillis offered Painter his best chance for points next to Zach Edey. Gillis had 20 in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament on 7 of 8 shooting.
But the battle wages on inside his body from the way Gillis plays on the court.
He tells me he's great right now, physically, right after telling me the real answer when I asked him about maintaining the back injury that cost him three games in early December.
"It's gonna be an issue for me my entire life," he tells me before sighing, and moving onto what he has to believe. "But yeah, I'm great right now. It takes a lot of effort to keep it where I'm at already. Just based on my build and just my natural," he seems to struggle for the words here and settles with. "Being."
"The way you play?" I offer him.
Gillis laughs a little and flashes that big grin of his. "Exactly, yes. I take a lot of beating. I play hard. I know what I need to do to be safe and keep my body healthy and so it's just a constant process of doing that every day."
While Caleb Furst's length and defense has been critical for Purdue throughout the season, Purdue's team needs shootings and while the guards struggled, Gillis offered Painter his best chance for points next to Zach Edey. Gillis had 20 in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament on 7 of 8 shooting.
But the battle wages on inside his body from the way Gillis plays on the court.
He tells me he's great right now, physically, right after telling me the real answer when I asked him about maintaining the back injury that cost him three games in early December.
"It's gonna be an issue for me my entire life," he tells me before sighing, and moving onto what he has to believe. "But yeah, I'm great right now. It takes a lot of effort to keep it where I'm at already. Just based on my build and just my natural," he seems to struggle for the words here and settles with. "Being."
"The way you play?" I offer him.
Gillis laughs a little and flashes that big grin of his. "Exactly, yes. I take a lot of beating. I play hard. I know what I need to do to be safe and keep my body healthy and so it's just a constant process of doing that every day."
