Interesting get. Nice to have another 3 point shooter as our guys have been great this year at knocking down open looks. I do wonder what role having CS underneath plays in our guys shooting success (giving them open looks). Without another CS coming in that we know of, I still hope guys that are not particularly athletic but can shoot will still play a significant role next year and beyond.
I've been voicing it for a while... this team needs athletic playmakers that can not only spot up and shoot but also create their own shot, and just as important, stay in front of their man on D. Not to say there isn't a role for Sasha on this team, but I'm still holding out hope for that stud guard who can come in and take us to the next level, as athletic playmaking guards seem to be the most common tie to leading their teams to victory in March.
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I understand what you are saying. A team needs a person that can get a shot off by himself in crunch time. In the tourney when there are good teams playing...teams with good, if not great front lines, and if the games are close towards the end of the game it is an advantage to get a shot at the end that does not require involving others unless wide open. Other that the very top players, most players go from high school where they had the ball, had the interest from the team to receive the ball probably 2/3 the time. That changes in college, where the stars many times just become another player. Still needing to play with one ball it is better to have more players off the ball than on, but as you said nice to have one…maybe a couple on the team that creates for himself absent several…unless those creators reel back their individual abilities to play with others. It is easier for any perimeter player to get the ball than to get it inside with the current clock. The whole purpose of the rule emphasis and change was to enhance the little guy since there are a lot more of them than big guys. A guard that gets to the rim on a regular basis may require others to be back for defending any transition, since that person is no longer back. Too many players that create their own shot may struggle in an offense that requires team play and yet a team needs people that are capable of that...with reins naturally since the game is a team sport with only one ball and four others needing to do “things” without the ball.
I do not see Sasha being a player whose strength was creating his own shot effectively, similar to Dakota coming in. I do not see Sasha being a player with great quickness, but will be more of a liability on D than offense as almost all freshmen. He will learn and need to grasp the team D like any high school player going to college. He might struggle shooting the ball due to quicker players and expending himself more on D than the energy high school players need to expend.
In this team sport it is imperative to score behind the arc, at the rim and in-between those two areas. How you do that may be different ways but coaches want to score in those areas with a team chemistry that can score inside, shoot the three ball and have an in-between game. Added to that is the need to drive the ball. Other than Wheeler and Ewing being athletic (along with Eastern) I don’t know their skill set. Many athletic players are drivers and suspect they are too. That thought was enhanced when Sasha stated that his ability to work without the ball and come off screens would work well with the “slashers” coming in…and so Sasha obviously has been instructed that Purdue considers some of the players, if not all, slashers or people driving the ball. We know Eastern can do that and we know Carson if he can get a step can get to the rim. Now it appears that others (Ewing & Wheeler)will fill that role as well. We also can see that Haams is not your banger inside that we are used to seeing, but rather a skilled 7’2” comfortable a few feet from the basket that will also not clog the teams O inside. He still will be 7’2” to score over as he learns to defend inside. What will Taylor do? Will he be able to play? If able I see him as one that will make strides a little quicker, but definitely needs playing time. Will Epperson commit? After the Haas tenure I see Purdue moving to a team game that feeds the post, but not as predominate as today. It will score inside still, but will do so due to mismatches due to size of players demanding a more mobile player to defend them on the perimeter and yet play big enough inside to guard the Purdue players on quick posts.
What can be said is that Matt recruited a team…players with different skill sets, but none that has to have the ball to be effective...although it appears Eastern is capable of doing a lot of things Valentine did...minus the jump shot at this time. In time we will learn how well Purdue recruited this year, but it is safe to say…much better than a few years ago as the recruiting does in fact trend in a “more” positive manner even without the five stars.
