The last couple of days have brought big news and mixed reactions. One thing a lot of people have agreed about is Vince's vital role next season. Vince has been polarizing for awhile, and this situation is no different. Some think he'll do great. Some think he doesn't have what it takes. This is my (extremely lengthy) way of saying that I just love Vince. For the sake of being positive (and getting it off my chest and making me feel better), I just wanted to share it.
Why I love Vince
1) He is a great teammate.
2) He never complains to the refs.
3) The guy hates to lose and loves Purdue. Just look at the end of every year, with the way he plays and how broken he is after the season. All these guys are young kids, and Vince is especially young. We love to talk about Biggie reclassifying and being a year young for his grade (sorta true, more like just on the young end of the right year traditionally). I have never once seen someone say the same about Vince. Vince was born in April 96. Biggie was born in April 97. Why make this point? 1) It shows how we can get on one narrative and just push it and push it and push it, while ignoring other things. 2) Vince was 18 when his freshman season ended, and he had to deal with missing the shot that could have won the game. He kept the missed last shot as the screensaver on his phone the whole off-season. Vince was 19 when his sophomore season ended. He again played great (24 & 13), but he had a bonehead play where he spaced that they had just went to the monitor and changed a UALR 2 to a 3 and thought Purdue was still up 1 when UALR hit the next 3. Several people tweeted horrible stuff, including some saying that a 19 year old Vince should kill himself afterward. He favorited every negative tweet. This guy has endured heartache, which is why you could see how much winning the Big Ten meant to him. He wouldn’t let go of the trophy. He carries a different demeanor than most basketball players on the court (he’s not super expressive or cocky), but he is a competitor who loves Purdue.
4) He reminds me of myself, particularly from a mental perspective. People love to talk about athletics like poor performances are always due to a lack of focus or desire: i.e. “he just didn’t show up.” As if, before the game started, a player decided it just wasn’t worth it today. I resent this so much. If there is a frustration with Vince, it should not be with his effort, but with his confidence level. If Vince has just made a 3, he becomes a phenomenal, aggressive shooter. On the other hand, no one is more affected by an 0-3 start to a game than Vince. He needs to have more confidence in himself and trust his game more. That, in turn, will give him more of the consistency he needs and fans so desperately crave. I get that it’s still frustrating at times. I also understand the confidence lapses because I went through the same thing. And in my mind it is a lot more forgivable than some lack of effort or desire, which is a cop out by fans and rarely, if ever, actually the case.
5) You can tell he has worked at every part of his game. There is no level of shot (layup, floater, mid-range, pull-up, step-back, 3 pointer) that he doesn’t have. He can dribble a bit and pass as well. He can play in the post or on the perimeter on either end. With another Vince type year, Vince is going to finish around 15th all-time for Purdue in scoring and 10th in both rebounds and assists. That’s crazy. He’ll be 1 of 2 players this millennium to put up the numbers he does in the Big Ten (The other being Denzel Valentine).
2) Did I mention first impressions are huge? Another narrative that dominated about Vince for much of the year is that he “travels every time he touches the ball.” For whatever reason, Vince did travel a lot in the first few games. His shimmy shoulder fake was often accompanied by shuffling feet. By the end of the year, though, Vince was using his pivot foot and first step off the dribble better than he has at any point in his career. Would you believe me if I told you he got called for 1 travel in 18 Big Ten games? It’s true. For most of the year, Vince did not have a traveling problem, nor did he have a turnover problem, yet these issues remained the narrative all year.
3) Here is the biggest thing, something that has defined Vince’s career. Vince lives in limbo. There are star players (Hammons, Biggie) and there are role players. Which category is Vince in? It’s not simple. He is expected to perform like a star. He is treated like a role player. What do I mean by him being treated like a role player? He does not get the benefits of being a star (foul calls, plays ran for you, offense designed to utilize strengths, guaranteed PT and shots, etc.). PJ played as many minutes as Vince this year!! Carsen took more shots than Vince!! Yet, nobody accuses them of "disappearing" at the first sign of a bad game because Vince is given all of the responsibility and none of the privilege of being a star. The offense is in no way catered to his strengths. He doesn't get to drive 1-1 when he is matched up with a big. He rarely gets to attack a closeout. No, we expect Vince to get his on the side, and then we hold him to a higher standard than every other non-privileged player when he does not.
4) Expectations. The last point speaks to this as well. Vince gets held to a standard that he is not empowered to meet. I also think his strong start to his career has worked against him in some people’s minds. People love Mathias because the improvement this year was so evident. A guy that’s been steady and productive for 3 years? Eh. Boring. We expect 13, 5, and 3 and great shooting percentages from Vince. Why did that guy make 3rd team!? The lack of support (and at times, anger) over Vince making 3rd team this year was embarrassing.
5) Vince’s minutes per game have hardly went up throughout his career. Vince may wind up as one of the best players never to average even 29 minutes a game. His production has gone up, just not as much as some would like. I would suggest people’s numbers improve partly because they simply play more minutes. Vince hasn’t really had that luxury. Again, if you want him to be a star, then you have to empower him to be one.
6) People praise Vince for his versatility. But, do we realize this versatility has come from countless hours of hard work and dedication to the game of basketball? The narrative with Vince seems more often to be that he underachieves, not that he gets the most out of his ability by working on all parts of his game. I think this comes from some wrong ideas about Vince’s natural ability. Vince has super long legs, a high center of gravity, and not great (at all) lateral quickness. Vince looks like a basketball player, yes. But he doesn’t have the lateral quickness that even a Mathias does. We love Mathias because we see him as an overachiever. Great. He is. But I think there is some assuming/stereotyping that goes into thinking if Vince just applied himself he would be a better defender than Mathias. Despite his NBA looking body, Vince has serious physical limitations, and yet he holds his own in every facet of basketball. Vince is an overachiever too.
I am confident Vince will fulfill whatever role he is asked to fill next year. Maybe he'll be treated like a star; maybe he won't. Either way, I just wanted to say that I'll love watching him play.
Why I love Vince
2) He never complains to the refs.
3) The guy hates to lose and loves Purdue. Just look at the end of every year, with the way he plays and how broken he is after the season. All these guys are young kids, and Vince is especially young. We love to talk about Biggie reclassifying and being a year young for his grade (sorta true, more like just on the young end of the right year traditionally). I have never once seen someone say the same about Vince. Vince was born in April 96. Biggie was born in April 97. Why make this point? 1) It shows how we can get on one narrative and just push it and push it and push it, while ignoring other things. 2) Vince was 18 when his freshman season ended, and he had to deal with missing the shot that could have won the game. He kept the missed last shot as the screensaver on his phone the whole off-season. Vince was 19 when his sophomore season ended. He again played great (24 & 13), but he had a bonehead play where he spaced that they had just went to the monitor and changed a UALR 2 to a 3 and thought Purdue was still up 1 when UALR hit the next 3. Several people tweeted horrible stuff, including some saying that a 19 year old Vince should kill himself afterward. He favorited every negative tweet. This guy has endured heartache, which is why you could see how much winning the Big Ten meant to him. He wouldn’t let go of the trophy. He carries a different demeanor than most basketball players on the court (he’s not super expressive or cocky), but he is a competitor who loves Purdue.
4) He reminds me of myself, particularly from a mental perspective. People love to talk about athletics like poor performances are always due to a lack of focus or desire: i.e. “he just didn’t show up.” As if, before the game started, a player decided it just wasn’t worth it today. I resent this so much. If there is a frustration with Vince, it should not be with his effort, but with his confidence level. If Vince has just made a 3, he becomes a phenomenal, aggressive shooter. On the other hand, no one is more affected by an 0-3 start to a game than Vince. He needs to have more confidence in himself and trust his game more. That, in turn, will give him more of the consistency he needs and fans so desperately crave. I get that it’s still frustrating at times. I also understand the confidence lapses because I went through the same thing. And in my mind it is a lot more forgivable than some lack of effort or desire, which is a cop out by fans and rarely, if ever, actually the case.
5) You can tell he has worked at every part of his game. There is no level of shot (layup, floater, mid-range, pull-up, step-back, 3 pointer) that he doesn’t have. He can dribble a bit and pass as well. He can play in the post or on the perimeter on either end. With another Vince type year, Vince is going to finish around 15th all-time for Purdue in scoring and 10th in both rebounds and assists. That’s crazy. He’ll be 1 of 2 players this millennium to put up the numbers he does in the Big Ten (The other being Denzel Valentine).
Why I think others are more negative about Vince
1) First impressions are huge. Vince’s defense was real bad in the first game that mattered (Villanova) last year. The narrative about Vince’s defense for the most of the year kept going back to that game. From about mid-December to March (excepting some possessions where he was too concerned about not fouling) Vince’s defense was well above average. Not only did Vince do a decent job on the ball, but he also plays more help defense than anyone on the team. A few times a season this is frustrating when he loses track of his man for a backdoor dunk, but more often he keeps other guys from giving up lay-ups by being very eager to rotate when he is away from the ball. Yes, he led the team in charges taken, but honestly, that is just a fraction of the picture of the times he rotated to prevent an easy basket, particularly on high ball screens. Vince was not a consistently great defender last year, and in one very defining, very memorable game he was really bad. But, on the whole, Vince’s defense was both above average and underappreciated.
2) Did I mention first impressions are huge? Another narrative that dominated about Vince for much of the year is that he “travels every time he touches the ball.” For whatever reason, Vince did travel a lot in the first few games. His shimmy shoulder fake was often accompanied by shuffling feet. By the end of the year, though, Vince was using his pivot foot and first step off the dribble better than he has at any point in his career. Would you believe me if I told you he got called for 1 travel in 18 Big Ten games? It’s true. For most of the year, Vince did not have a traveling problem, nor did he have a turnover problem, yet these issues remained the narrative all year.
3) Here is the biggest thing, something that has defined Vince’s career. Vince lives in limbo. There are star players (Hammons, Biggie) and there are role players. Which category is Vince in? It’s not simple. He is expected to perform like a star. He is treated like a role player. What do I mean by him being treated like a role player? He does not get the benefits of being a star (foul calls, plays ran for you, offense designed to utilize strengths, guaranteed PT and shots, etc.). PJ played as many minutes as Vince this year!! Carsen took more shots than Vince!! Yet, nobody accuses them of "disappearing" at the first sign of a bad game because Vince is given all of the responsibility and none of the privilege of being a star. The offense is in no way catered to his strengths. He doesn't get to drive 1-1 when he is matched up with a big. He rarely gets to attack a closeout. No, we expect Vince to get his on the side, and then we hold him to a higher standard than every other non-privileged player when he does not.
4) Expectations. The last point speaks to this as well. Vince gets held to a standard that he is not empowered to meet. I also think his strong start to his career has worked against him in some people’s minds. People love Mathias because the improvement this year was so evident. A guy that’s been steady and productive for 3 years? Eh. Boring. We expect 13, 5, and 3 and great shooting percentages from Vince. Why did that guy make 3rd team!? The lack of support (and at times, anger) over Vince making 3rd team this year was embarrassing.
5) Vince’s minutes per game have hardly went up throughout his career. Vince may wind up as one of the best players never to average even 29 minutes a game. His production has gone up, just not as much as some would like. I would suggest people’s numbers improve partly because they simply play more minutes. Vince hasn’t really had that luxury. Again, if you want him to be a star, then you have to empower him to be one.
6) People praise Vince for his versatility. But, do we realize this versatility has come from countless hours of hard work and dedication to the game of basketball? The narrative with Vince seems more often to be that he underachieves, not that he gets the most out of his ability by working on all parts of his game. I think this comes from some wrong ideas about Vince’s natural ability. Vince has super long legs, a high center of gravity, and not great (at all) lateral quickness. Vince looks like a basketball player, yes. But he doesn’t have the lateral quickness that even a Mathias does. We love Mathias because we see him as an overachiever. Great. He is. But I think there is some assuming/stereotyping that goes into thinking if Vince just applied himself he would be a better defender than Mathias. Despite his NBA looking body, Vince has serious physical limitations, and yet he holds his own in every facet of basketball. Vince is an overachiever too.
I am confident Vince will fulfill whatever role he is asked to fill next year. Maybe he'll be treated like a star; maybe he won't. Either way, I just wanted to say that I'll love watching him play.
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