While I think that is where he will struggle ultimately, I did not think that was the case yesterday...he was not overmatched at all on that end of the floor (and that may not be the case during conference play or other better high D-I schools) yesterday, and he appeared to know what was going on at that end and where to be. If he struggled at anything yesterday, it was making shots...hopefully that was an anomaly, but given the struggles of "premier" shooters that struggled as well the past two years, who knows?
Don't doubt much of what you said, and my response got cut off by a phone call so I just hit send. Offensively he had a very high IQ and his passing was very crisp. Defensively he simply wasn't all that good. He was losing his man and seemed confused on the switches. But the bottom line is in 4 years which one of the two do you want coming back for another year, Weatherford or Cline. Wasting a year of his ability when shooters like him just don't come along every day, seems disingenuous to me. Both Stephens and Mathias can shoot the three, Ray seems comfortable and Vince isn't afraid. I guess I just don't see the reason to muck up the roster with 4 guys vying for 40 minutes. Doesn't make sense to me.
If it is as easy as deciding who I would rather have more in four years, the answer is obvious...that said, I am not convinced a choice has to be made as I don't know that Weatherford will end up staying for four years...and, Cline is a kid who benefits from the talent around him...that talent is there this year to afford him to excel...it may not be in four years. I tried to watch him closely on the defensive end yesterday, as like you, I think that is where he will struggle the most. I admittedly did not watch every possession, so maybe I missed him getting lost or confused, but when I was watching, I felt like he had done a decent job on weak-side defense, helping, etc. and that given the level of competition, that he was not overmatched. Like say, he needs to get physically stronger and would benefit in that regard by redshirting, but I just think that given the shooting struggles of this team a year ago and feeling that he is Purdue's best pure shooter (as well as not feeling like Stephens or Mathias have shown the ability to consistently hit shots), Purdue is a better team with him than without him this year. Your point about vying for minutes is fair, but if he can consistently knock down open shots (which he failed to do yesterday but allegedly has done in practice/scrimmage, etc.), he will get minutes...just as Mathias did a year ago. Stephens lost minutes a year ago to Mathias, and he may end up losing more of them this year to Cline as well...the caveat is having Davis move and taking some of those minutes as well. I can see a case for him redshirting if he is not going to get enough minutes to justify not redshirting him, but tough to know at this point how that shakes out.
I can appreciate that that is how the story is told to fans, but I hope you don't think this was an out-of-the-blue situation where he runs into Painter's office and says "Coach, I've got an idea... now just hear me out." I think it's a lot more likely that the staff told him that without significant improvements in between start of classes and start of season (i.e. practically impossible), then he would get very few minutes this season and they gave him the choice of redshirting or effectively wasting a year of eligibility. Given the options the staff invariably discussed with him, yes, he "chose" the redshirt.
Understood, and agree. I didn't know exactly where you were coming from on your post that I responded to (so that's my fault), I just know how some of these things that get reported and posted can take on a life of their own. I was just imaging 5 years from now someone posting "remember when Smotherman waltzed into Painter's office and announced he'd be redshirting?", haha. I think you and I are on the same page though.
+1. I'm not as sold on KS and DM as some others. Not that I dislike them, just don't think they are consistently good enough. I'm glad Cline is playing and the fact he is suggests strongly that Painter feels the same way about KS and DM.
And yet Cline couldn't hit diddly squat in the two exhibitions and there were zero plays run for him that I saw. Please don't make the mistake of believing that Mathias and Stephens don't have a huge advantage in actually having played last year at the D1 level.
Nope but the reports of his total points would indicate he wasn't exactly torching the nets.
That and the fact that injuries often happen and that both Mathias and Stephens have already dealt with multiple health issues in their careers. I think that going down to 10 available scholarship players was just too few.
I'm not making the mistake of thinking that. What I am saying and have been saying is that KS and DM are too inconsistent. How could you watch them for the past 2 and 1 years respectively and come to any other conclusion. I didn't say they were bad guys or that they couldn't play. What I said was they weren't consistent enough and we need a third option.
How could it not have anything to do with KS and DM? CMP even said the one thing Cline does better than anyone on the team is move and shoot. Isn't that what you want from a 2 guard? If KS and DM were doing that consistently then RS Cline would have been an easy decision.
No inside info, but I'm sure Basil and his father could read the tea leaves and didn't need to be convinced...
