Asked him before practice today after Carsen Edwards' play lately and got some responses that sort of harkened back a year to when Purdue's coaching staff sort of tightened its control over things from the sideline in order to head off some of the bad and quick shots that kicked them in the face at Atlantis.
Asked about his message to him since Michigan
"Same as it is is any situation or after any game: He has to make good decisions. He makes good decisions and he's going to play well. He doesn't make good decisions and he's not going to play well. But sometimes when you make good decisions, the ball doesn't go in for you, and that's the difference. When you have games where you don't make shots, but you make good decisions, that's where you have to live with it. But when you're turning the basketball over and taking bad shots on top of it ... sometimes you have turnovers, but sometimes you also have bad shots that are turnovers. If you're having both, like he is, that really hurts you, it hurts him, and it hurts our team. He has to be able to learn from those and he's had those types of experiences before. It's not like this is something that's new. I think the volume is a little different because he's in a position where he has more opportunities. He has to be able to curtail that and fix that. I definitely think it's fixable and I definitely think he'll do that."
Painter historically tells players in situations like this to 'let the game come to them.' Is he even capable of that?
"I think letting it come to him is dribble-up threes, 25-footers. Take those in stride when you're in rhythm and open. Don't take them when they're contested, especially if we're in the middle of a bad run or he's missed two or three in a run. Understand the flow of the game, how you're playing, if you've made or missed shots. It's sort of the definition of 'feel.' You have to have a feel to those things, and if you can't handle that feel. ....
"Part of his struggles are on me, too, because I've given him some freedom it looks like he's not ready for. As you a coach you have to be (willing) to take responsibility, also, so this isn't just on him. That's something he has to understand, because you have that thirst as a player to want more, but sometimes getting more doesn't mean you're going to be more productive, and right now that's really the epitome of where he is and until he can learn to handle that, I really think he'll be more productive with less opportunities, because it's going to come within the offense, the ball's going to move more, we're going to have more balance, things work out, and then you can get into a rhythm and get more aggressive. I've always told him to be aggressive when you're in scoring opportunities; you just can't try to score when you're not in scoring opportunities. You're going to get yourself in trouble."
Asked about his message to him since Michigan
"Same as it is is any situation or after any game: He has to make good decisions. He makes good decisions and he's going to play well. He doesn't make good decisions and he's not going to play well. But sometimes when you make good decisions, the ball doesn't go in for you, and that's the difference. When you have games where you don't make shots, but you make good decisions, that's where you have to live with it. But when you're turning the basketball over and taking bad shots on top of it ... sometimes you have turnovers, but sometimes you also have bad shots that are turnovers. If you're having both, like he is, that really hurts you, it hurts him, and it hurts our team. He has to be able to learn from those and he's had those types of experiences before. It's not like this is something that's new. I think the volume is a little different because he's in a position where he has more opportunities. He has to be able to curtail that and fix that. I definitely think it's fixable and I definitely think he'll do that."
Painter historically tells players in situations like this to 'let the game come to them.' Is he even capable of that?
"I think letting it come to him is dribble-up threes, 25-footers. Take those in stride when you're in rhythm and open. Don't take them when they're contested, especially if we're in the middle of a bad run or he's missed two or three in a run. Understand the flow of the game, how you're playing, if you've made or missed shots. It's sort of the definition of 'feel.' You have to have a feel to those things, and if you can't handle that feel. ....
"Part of his struggles are on me, too, because I've given him some freedom it looks like he's not ready for. As you a coach you have to be (willing) to take responsibility, also, so this isn't just on him. That's something he has to understand, because you have that thirst as a player to want more, but sometimes getting more doesn't mean you're going to be more productive, and right now that's really the epitome of where he is and until he can learn to handle that, I really think he'll be more productive with less opportunities, because it's going to come within the offense, the ball's going to move more, we're going to have more balance, things work out, and then you can get into a rhythm and get more aggressive. I've always told him to be aggressive when you're in scoring opportunities; you just can't try to score when you're not in scoring opportunities. You're going to get yourself in trouble."
