Langford is a tremendous player...he did not just stumble his way to being a McDonald's All-American...the kid was the 5-time...yes, 5-time...HS Player-Of-The-Year in Alabama. He was not only thrust into the line-up early on, but, without the aid of a solid post presence to aid him or a solid/experienced PG to aid him either...Carsen had both of those things at Purdue. I would be shocked if you don't see a totally different Langford next year with the experience that he gained and with the additional talent around him.
Winston was very good down the stretch as well...either broke or approached some record that Magic had held as the PG at MSU...and, again, he lacked what Langford did that did not help him and that will not be the case this year.
The issue was not a lack of ability...it was a lack of consistency, largely the result of a lack of experience and a lack of collective experienced talent around them.
The ONLY advantage Purdue has at the guard position, assuming you are comparing them to Carsen and PJ, is that PJ has more experience...as far as skill sets...it is not even close with respect to what the two guys at MSU provide relative to Purdue...and, that does not even account for McQuaid in the MSU backcourt who is solid as well.
With Bridges back, MSU is flat out loaded and they now have depth as well...last year was a blip on the radar for them, and they still weren't horrible...heck, they were more competitive short-handed and inexperienced with Kansas than Purdue was, and they are not losing their best player, while adding significant more talent at the same time.
