I just hope the guards (Hill/Thompson/Stephens/Mathias/Cline/Davis) can step up and deliver better shooting and generate more steals and points off of turnovers this season. I am confident in the capabilities of the frontcourt (Smotherman, Edwards, Swanigan, Taylor, Hammons, Haas).
Practice Video: Bigs... Biggie can get up easily and Taylor looks strong
- Thread starter punaj
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I don't expect Purdue's guards to force a lot of turnovers this year. They'll get some, but I just don't think that pressuring the perimeter is what this team needs to do on a regular basis.
That guard dominated/oriented play [quick transition/fast break, up & down the court], is exactly what the vast, vast majority of our opponents will be throwing/using against our Boilers, especially, if the opponents start to get in trouble, behind. They will try to run our bigger, slower, more physical team & post players out of the arena. If our team is in good cardio, running shape, we'll have our best chance to successfully combat those games & moments.
Go Boilers!!!
Toby Miles
Actually, our guards will be the ones geting the presure from opposition guards, early & often, from game one. When I see how successfully our guards can handle that sustained, prolonged, intense, full court, opposition guard presure, from good, or better guards, then, I'll have a handle on how good this Purdue team can be, & our limitations.
Go Boilers!!!
Toby Miles
It would certainly benefit the team if they collectively improved at anticipating passes, an opposing player's next dribble, and generally being more disruptive. Purdue's steals per game and points off of turnovers numbers seem to have stayed down and been relatively lower ever since Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant finished their Boilermaker careers. It would be nice to see them create an uptick in those areas this season.
Forced turnovers are great, but I just don't realistically see it as a strength of this team, which is totally different than the Kramer teams. I think that Purdue can still be a tremendous defensive team by forcing low percentage shots and owning the defensive boards, without forcing a large number of turnovers.
I'm not saying that Purdue shouldn't be opportunistic, however. There will be opportunities to jump the passing lane, strip a ball handler, or spring a trap and Purdue should do those things, but I really can't imagine Painter trying to replicate the way that the Kramer teams played defense with the personnel that he has now.
I posted some results in a new thread. Steals bottomed out in RJ's freshman year, and only slightly improved from there. The top 2 returning players are PJ and Basil, both anticipated to be subs. Edwards was terrible at getting steals. Davis has been below average. Going to have to hope Swanigan and Hill raise the bar and Davis continues to improve.
Just thinking out loud here. I have a theory, without real proof. I don't really like the windage estimate of how "athletic" a given player is, when looking at his ability to cause turnovers. Almost any kid that plays in the back court of a BIG team is an athlete, period. Sufficiently an "athlete" to get to the right place to steal the ball occasionally.
Here is what I think: As our general defense gets better, opposing teams have to take more chances with the ball to score. Hence, our steals go up. Against the RJ lead teams, our defense, and offense sucked. No need to be careless with the ball to win a game against us. Against our better defensive teams, opponents had to take more risky passes to get past the Purdue defense, causing more turnovers.
What this means is that the degree of mythical "athleticism" has little to do with getting turnovers. After all, RJ was a considerable "athlete" and yet, his steals were noting to be excited about.
If true, we should see our steels last year be better in the second half of the year as our defense improved and our offense clicked. Of course, the teams we played were significantly better teams in the second part of the season than the first, so maybe it will be a wash. Anyone want to see if that was the case?
Just thinking out loud here. I have a theory, without real proof. I don't really like the windage estimate of how "athletic" a given player is, when looking at his ability to cause turnovers. Almost any kid that plays in the back court of a BIG team is an athlete, period. Sufficiently an "athlete" to get to the right place to steal the ball occasionally.
Here is what I think: As our general defense gets better, opposing teams have to take more chances with the ball to score. Hence, our steals go up. Against the RJ lead teams, our defense, and offense sucked. No need to be careless with the ball to win a game against us. Against our better defensive teams, opponents had to take more risky passes to get past the Purdue defense, causing more turnovers.
What this means is that the degree of mythical "athleticism" has little to do with getting turnovers. After all, RJ was a considerable "athlete" and yet, his steals were noting to be excited about.
If true, we should see our steels last year be better in the second half of the year as our defense improved and our offense clicked. Of course, the teams we played were significantly better teams in the second part of the season than the first, so maybe it will be a wash. Anyone want to see if that was the case?
I don't think RJ wast THAT "athletic." I think LewJack and Bryson were both superior athletes, in terms of explosiveness, than RJ.
Look at some of the best defenders (Tony Allen, Lebron, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, etc.)...they are all pretty explosive guys.
That's not to say that defense is solely based on athleticism, because it ABSOLUTELY IS NOT, but I think a lack of athleticism can limit a defender's ceiling.
Consider that basketball is a team sport and that individual stats may also represent style of play and team members. I also suspect that most steals come off passes rather than the dribble. That said a recipient or one with the most opportunity would be the one guarding the two or three usually for the other team since those are the positions for many teams leading scorers. Stealing passes is many times a function of the pressure on the passer and so if that pressure is not there it is harder to get the steal. It helps when all five can move a little and bottle up their man. JJ was agile and quick enough he could go out in space...Hammons and Haas not so much. "Some" of the lack of steals may be a slower team overall and thereby always allowing a release valve and another part may just be playing a little more position basketball.
Not if he develops into our very own coldblooded, go-to, game winning basket making, no bullshit, jugular ripping, blood crazed monster.
Like Ming the Merciless or Ivan the Terrible......
And he doesn't really have far to go to get there.
