so what did PU do well and what does PU still need to work on? Couldn't watch, curious on what everyone thinks.......step forward? Line up change help? Who needs to play more, etc?
OK............we all agree on the much needed win.......
- Thread starter PU pit bull
- Start date
We don't even have to be on fire from outside, just make a decent % It opens up the inside sooooo much more. Silly lazy first half passes hurt. Second half was the ticket!
the passing was incredible. score would have been more but we missed bunnies and forced some things in the first half. gotta play through the post. great effort out there. loved the way kendall started.
Less Biggie and the return of the captain on offense. But honestly everyone just played better on offense then they did in the 2nd half for the Iowa game. More confidence all around.
We cooked in the 1st and 2nd half with Swanigan on the bench. Ray played an excellent offensive game. Cline's minutes went up a little and his passing was pretty good. Vince was much more aggressive and looked good on O. Probably should have had about 17. Missed 2 or 3 lay-ups in the first half.
Team finally realized that when you get past the trap, the rim is basically wide freaking open for our All BigTen center or drives for Ray/Hill/Vince OR for kick outs to wide open three point shooters.
We cooked in the 1st and 2nd half with Swanigan on the bench. Ray played an excellent offensive game. Cline's minutes went up a little and his passing was pretty good. Vince was much more aggressive and looked good on O. Probably should have had about 17. Missed 2 or 3 lay-ups in the first half.
Team finally realized that when you get past the trap, the rim is basically wide freaking open for our All BigTen center or drives for Ray/Hill/Vince OR for kick outs to wide open three point shooters.
11 points in the first 12 minutes. 76 points in the next 28. After a 3-15 start, we were a cool 27-39 from the floor.
Knee jerk reactions:
Ray picked his spots a lot better tonight, took open threes with confidence and drove to the basket in transition. Great on D as usual, probably should have had him on Abdul-Rockmond a little more
AJ did a better job in the second half of passing out of the post. Found Dakota who is starting to like that corner a couple times for easy buckets. The matchup hurt though, he wants to be close to the basket on D and his man burned him from 3 a bunch. Usually off pick and pop.
Isaac has no idea how to do anything but attempt to score when he gets the ball. Looks like he has the move he wants to make in his head before he reads the defense as well.
Swanigan playing out of control, trying to force shots. Attempted a wide open three from the corner which I was fine with.
Pj and Johnny both got back to doing what they do best. PJ taking and making open threes and driving when the lane opened up. Johnny forcing the d to react with his driving, able to finish inside a couple times. Both played d well but will get called for silly fouls in away games the way they ride the opposing guard up the court.
Vince was quiet (I think, I didn't see final stats and that's the thing with him, you don't realize what he's racking up sometimes). He hit an open three which we need him to do and was aggressive going to the basket early without much success.
Overall I think the most important thing is this Michigan team wouldn't go away, always hung around and we finally put them away, and definitively. We limited mistakes even when they went to the zone trap and we made them pay when they helped off. They threw a couple different schemes at us and we adjusted. They didn't have lever but I don't think he was worth 18 tonight, especially with the way Abdul-rockmond played. Great win for us.
Ray picked his spots a lot better tonight, took open threes with confidence and drove to the basket in transition. Great on D as usual, probably should have had him on Abdul-Rockmond a little more
AJ did a better job in the second half of passing out of the post. Found Dakota who is starting to like that corner a couple times for easy buckets. The matchup hurt though, he wants to be close to the basket on D and his man burned him from 3 a bunch. Usually off pick and pop.
Isaac has no idea how to do anything but attempt to score when he gets the ball. Looks like he has the move he wants to make in his head before he reads the defense as well.
Swanigan playing out of control, trying to force shots. Attempted a wide open three from the corner which I was fine with.
Pj and Johnny both got back to doing what they do best. PJ taking and making open threes and driving when the lane opened up. Johnny forcing the d to react with his driving, able to finish inside a couple times. Both played d well but will get called for silly fouls in away games the way they ride the opposing guard up the court.
Vince was quiet (I think, I didn't see final stats and that's the thing with him, you don't realize what he's racking up sometimes). He hit an open three which we need him to do and was aggressive going to the basket early without much success.
Overall I think the most important thing is this Michigan team wouldn't go away, always hung around and we finally put them away, and definitively. We limited mistakes even when they went to the zone trap and we made them pay when they helped off. They threw a couple different schemes at us and we adjusted. They didn't have lever but I don't think he was worth 18 tonight, especially with the way Abdul-rockmond played. Great win for us.
Purdue played a good game tonight. As the announcers said multiple times, the game did not feel nearly as close as it was at times. This is a good and bad. First, Purdue was controlling the game which is good. Bad, you obviously don't want to control a game and be within a couple scores of a tie game.
With Lavert out, we obviously did not get Michigan's best game. But, it's sometimes hard to face teams at these times. Michigan played very well without him the other day and with Michigan having a lot of injury issues over the past couple seasons, they have a lot of experience on their team.
In terms of good and bad...
Did well:
-9 turnovers! Michigan is one of the best in the league with turnover margin. So kudos to the Boilers. While this was a good outing, it'd be nice for this to not be a good outing, but a regular outing.
-26 assists on 30 made field goals. That's just ridiculous. Michigan's defense isn't great, but it's not bad either. On top of that, we shot 55% and I thought we had a good balance of 3 point shots.
-Thought the PGs had pretty good games tonight. Defensively they are typically strong and they both also had an impact offensively tonight too. These guys don't need to have 15 point games - and they don't need to combine for 18 points like they did tonight, but we're going to be better if they are involved.
-Given that Haas has been getting some grief, I thought he played a good game tonight. I know it is easier said than done (and it's being told to him), but he just needs to be quicker shooting. Nearly every time he receives the ball, he has an advantage, but the longer he takes (and if the ball comes down), the less advantage he has.
-Free throw shooting is good. For all the suffering we've had with some below average over the last couple years, this team is 2nd in the Big Ten at nearly 75%. Tonight, 86%.
Work on:
-Three point defense wasn't great. Michigan shot 40% from 3, which is obviously not good, but they shot poorly inside the arc. Obviously with 3 point shooting, you can do what you can - if you're facing a good shooting team, only so much you can do.
-Swanigan is struggling in some areas still. Turnovers (3) and he was the only guy with no assist tonight. He's a good passer - he needs to look to pass the ball more. He seems determined to shoot every time he gets the ball, good idea or not, which I think is a big reason his turnovers are high.
-Given how Purdue was dominating the stats, it probably shouldn't have been as close as it was for so long. Obviously Michigan's 3 point shooting played into that (and without seeing the halftime stats, it seems like we did better limiting 3 point opportunities later in the game).
-While I don't want to turn into a "just look for AJ (or Haas)" team, I think our big guys, particularly Hammons, could see some more looks. Over the last 2 games, Hammons and Haas have combined for 25 shots - making around 75%. Michigan had 1 guy take 16 shots alone tonight. Not saying that's what we want, but I'd like to see AJ get some more looks in the first half. Maybe not as much right away when teams are overly-focused on him, but I feel like when AJ starts getting involved, Purdue starts getting more in a rhythm offensively.
I'd also point out, while not just a Hammons/Haas thing, drawing contact is so important for this team. I mentioned the free throwing shooting - we're the 2nd best team in the Big Ten at the line! We need to use this as an advantage and we have the tools - not just with H/H, but the rest of our team is also typically bigger than the opponents.
Hammons starting tonight resulted in no early fouls, which is great. However, Hammons ended up with 0 fouls! AND, Haas ended up with 0 fouls! You don't want your centers fouling out and/or getting into foul trouble, but when you have 0 fouls going into the second half, these guys need to be more aggressive. Not stupid, but aggressive. And don't shy away from contact. These guys combined for 4 free throws tonight. These guys should be shooting 7-10 free throws a night combined.
In addition to having a rebounding advantage each night, we should also have a free throw advantage each night.
Coach Painter benched some guys...the players, for the most part, stuck to the "grind it out" plan, and Dakota hit some big 3's down the stretch...Purdue didn't crap their pants when Michigan brought pressure...maybe they learned something from the Iowa game, but Michigan isn't as good as Iowa...Purdue played better in the 2nd half than they did the 1st...I think with 7 minutes left, Purdue only had 8 turnovers....
I think you are on to something here........
Swanigan is struggling in some areas still. Turnovers (3) and he was the only guy with no assist tonight. He's a good passer - he needs to look to pass the ball more. He seems determined to shoot every time he gets the ball, good idea or not, which I think is a big reason his turnovers are high.
They dialed Mount into the pre game fire up video. That made all the difference.
As much as I've been down on Hill recently, I have to admit he had a hell of a game. He made it to the basket to score, drew contact, made great passes, and played good defense. Can't ask for more! I was a little disappointed with how bad his one long shot looked (can't remember if it was a three, or long two). I know it's not his bread and butter, but he needs to be able to make some wide open jump shots.
Re: Biggie--
He's not letting the game come to him. Instead of deciding to take a shot before even getting the ball, he needs to improve his decision making based on the current circumstances when he receives the ball. That's OK though... he's very young and bad decision making is part of stepping up to the college game. I am confident he will improve. It was a bummer tonight though.
He's not letting the game come to him. Instead of deciding to take a shot before even getting the ball, he needs to improve his decision making based on the current circumstances when he receives the ball. That's OK though... he's very young and bad decision making is part of stepping up to the college game. I am confident he will improve. It was a bummer tonight though.
Pretty sure that's common with froshmen, especially with his accolades...which is why he'll be back next year...NBA 1st rounders aren't drafted because of their rebounding...he knows he need to work on his game...
Edit: BHAH, this format
It seems to me that Purdue finally began the run that ended the game when Painter had Rapheal guard Mohamed. It shut down the only reason they hung around so long. As we expect...nice job Ray.
Many on Swanigan alone. He is a super talent, but has to work on that or it will hold him back in the draft.
I mean, I don't know why we say or "it will hold him back in the draft". There is no draft in the picture for him right now, period. And not just because of turnovers.
He needs to work on it or it will hold him back playing collegiately. He's been playing fewer minutes.
I like Swanigan and he has great potential. And I certainly have NO idea what his mentality is on this, but on this forum, it's he's going to be a one and done, he will be here one or two years, etc. - well, the NBA will come to him when he's ready for the NBA. I don't think him forcing stuff is a product of that, but maybe he thinks he needs to be so involved offensively so he can make it to the NBA. I don't think he's putting himself ahead of his team by any means, but I'm sure people are talking to him about the NBA all the time just like on here.
And that really goes for all of our players. Several people on this forum earlier in the season were talking about losing Edwards to the draft, losing Haas to the draft, etc. - I don't get the obsession with talking about that. It's going to happen when and if it's ready to happen. Look at Hammons - took the guy (who was not some shabby recruit) 4 years to get to the point of people actually talking about his future potential.
Having so much focus on the NBA is not the best thing for a player in most cases. Not saying these guys have that. But if people are talking about it on here, people are probably talking about it to them. It's hard not to think about it in that case.
I meant it more as to when he declares. If he doesn't get it fixed say in 4 years, then yeah it will hold him back which was my point.
It's pretty clear he will be around for at least another year or so.. or should be.
they played with lots of intensity tonight, but I still think they have to work on beating a press. they looked shaky against a good one, so what happens against a great one? THAT`S THEIR ACHILLES HEEL!!
If Haas makes the same strides next year that he did this year he will be quite formidable, much more so than he already is.
I'll be interested to see how Haas does when he gets more minutes with Hammons graduating. Will he get more into a grove in games and take advantage. Or do we keep playing the same sort of rotating big man basketball with Taylor or someone else?
Just a quick note on Haas from last night and foreshadowing his minutes next year.
7 points, 3 rebs, 1 assist in 10 minutes.
If he gets the same minutes AJ got (29-30) last night, his line would be 21 pts, 9 rebs, 3 assists.
He is doing fine and BTW, still the second leading scorer on the team while receiving the 9th most minutes.
7 points, 3 rebs, 1 assist in 10 minutes.
If he gets the same minutes AJ got (29-30) last night, his line would be 21 pts, 9 rebs, 3 assists.
He is doing fine and BTW, still the second leading scorer on the team while receiving the 9th most minutes.
I agree completely. Isaac is very talented and outside of a stretch against Butler, Vandy and Wisconsin, he's played very well this year. His "problem" is he shares a position with a guy that would be a lottery pick if he was 19 years old. IMO, that's a good problem as it allows Isaac to improve at a rate that will limit those lapses.
Obviously, I will miss AJ next year but I can't wait to see the jump Haas makes in the offseason and what he does with the opportunity to play 25+ minutes.
I am sure it is on their radar and being worked on, but for as huge as Isaac is, conditioning for 30+ mins of play could be an issue. He could still do some major damage in 20-25 mins of hard play.
Haas has made a tremendous improvement over the offseason in his conditioning. Obviously with a guy his size (not only height, but still has to maintain weight), there has to be some figuring out how to keep him the most effective. I'd imagine with another offseason of hard work (which Isaac has a great work ethic), he will be in good shape.
