Thoughts from what I’ve seen..

[pboiler18]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

1. The team we played in game one was pretty good. Well, at least compared to the last 2 we have seen. That said..we played our best that game IMO and the guys showed me a lot vs. good competition.
2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.
3. The biggest point - I urge Painter not to shorten the bench on this team. The conference season…doesn’t matter THAT much. The BIG Tourney…doesn’t matter that much. We won those least year. We can’t manage the season to win those IMO…we need to play lots of guys and lineups and have the depth, experience and in game ware-withal to make a deep run. To me, Purdue was at its best in 21/22 and 22/23 playing free, not tight and diversified lineups. Painter not being scared to ride the hot hand will win us a ton of ball games But MAYBE not the Conference. At this point, we did that. Time to angle to win something more/different IMo.

 

[Thadoc1]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

1. The team we played in game one was pretty good. Well, at least compared to the last 2 we have seen. That said..we played our best that game IMO and the guys showed me a lot vs. good competition.
2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.
3. The biggest point - I urge Painter not to shorten the bench on this team. The conference season…doesn’t matter THAT much. The BIG Tourney…doesn’t matter that much. We won those least year. We can’t manage the season to win those IMO…we need to play lots of guys and lineups and have the depth, experience and in game ware-withal to make a deep run. To me, Purdue was at its best in 21/22 and 22/23 playing free, not tight and diversified lineups. Painter not being scared to ride the hot hand will win us a ton of ball games But MAYBE not the Conference. At this point, we did that. Time to angle to win something more/different IMo.

If we don't get guys to step up I agree on the deep bench....but if we're playing a good team, edey has to play big minutes at the 5, Smith big minutes at the 1, loyer and Jones have to be out there a lot at the 2 and 3, one for offensive movement and the other for defense and quickness, Waddell has been the best looking 3 in fastbreaks, defense, and scoring so he needs to play at least half the game, tkr has to be in the game when edey is out, he's by far our next best player underneath....after that sprinkle guys in that can shoot....so we can play a lot of guys but there's a core that needs to be out there a lot....

 

[Boiler Buck]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

1. The team we played in game one was pretty good. Well, at least compared to the last 2 we have seen. That said..we played our best that game IMO and the guys showed me a lot vs. good competition.
2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.
3. The biggest point - I urge Painter not to shorten the bench on this team. The conference season…doesn’t matter THAT much. The BIG Tourney…doesn’t matter that much. We won those least year. We can’t manage the season to win those IMO…we need to play lots of guys and lineups and have the depth, experience and in game ware-withal to make a deep run. To me, Purdue was at its best in 21/22 and 22/23 playing free, not tight and diversified lineups. Painter not being scared to ride the hot hand will win us a ton of ball games But MAYBE not the Conference. At this point, we did that. Time to angle to win something more/different IMo.

#2 &3....I just hope we use offensive options other than, slow down, feed the big. Particularly, I would like to see Smith more than just occasionally, run the floor with speed & vastly quicken the pace. With Waddell, Colvin, Heide, Jones, TKR we have guys that can get out & go. The deep bench keeps guys fresh, regardless of pace. Certainly puts pressure on the D, that is different than the pressure Edey provides. Why not also use that to your advantage?

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

Myles Colvin looks the real deal to me. Feathery soft jumper, dynamic physical skills and he's already bigger than Loyer. I think Fletcher has a fight on his hand to keep all his minutes.
I also think Waddell and Heide are taking the 3 spot and running with it. Maybe Colvin there if Loyer holds his spot, but I can see Colvin being a bigger (literally) threat to the opponent at the 2 if he can defend it.

 

[Boileratthebeach]

Think we are forgetting about Morton. He hasn’t been missed (especially by many on these boards) unfortunately for him. But he’s still going to be very much in the mix.

 

[DwaynePurvis00]

Think we are forgetting about Morton. He hasn’t been missed (especially by many on these boards) unfortunately for him. But he’s still going to be very much in the mix.

Curious to see if he really has a hamstring issue and if so, how long it lingers…or “tin foil hat time” they made it up so they could see what others can do (just made that up and highly doubtful haha). But I’d be willing to bet he gets minutes early in the season and would suspect those reduce as the season goes on as long as painter lets Colvin, heide, Jones and Waddell gain experience.

 

[DwaynePurvis00]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

1. The team we played in game one was pretty good. Well, at least compared to the last 2 we have seen. That said..we played our best that game IMO and the guys showed me a lot vs. good competition.
2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.
3. The biggest point - I urge Painter not to shorten the bench on this team. The conference season…doesn’t matter THAT much. The BIG Tourney…doesn’t matter that much. We won those least year. We can’t manage the season to win those IMO…we need to play lots of guys and lineups and have the depth, experience and in game ware-withal to make a deep run. To me, Purdue was at its best in 21/22 and 22/23 playing free, not tight and diversified lineups. Painter not being scared to ride the hot hand will win us a ton of ball games But MAYBE not the Conference. At this point, we did that. Time to angle to win something more/different IMo.

I am A HUGE fan of Braden’s. Love how he plays—Kid is a Gamer. He has the potential to be the conferences next Aaron craft. However, I think pump the brakes on saying he is “dripping” nba material. Again, love the kid with his swagger he plays with and how he runs the team. He might get a chance for an nba tryout after he (hopefully!!!) has an amazing career at Purdue — which could be possibly one of the best PGs we have ever had. Excited to see his growth this year. His handles already look better than last year and seems like he’s added some muscle. If he can replicate his stats from last year (maybe cut the TOs in half if possible) and shoot around the same, then I think we are in a good spot. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he improves his stats too.

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

Think we are forgetting about Morton. He hasn’t been missed (especially by many on these boards) unfortunately for him. But he’s still going to be very much in the mix.

Totally agree. He's getting ignored because he hasn't had a chance to show what he can do THIS year.
But if he struggles like the end of the season, this team has a lot of other options.
He will be in the mix for sure, off the bench or not.

 

[Middawg]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.

You know going from 5'10" to 6'2" does not move the needle for NBA scouts right?

This point is so wonky it makes me think you need 4 more inches to get to average as well.

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

From the 3 games we played overseas so far…

1. The team we played in game one was pretty good. Well, at least compared to the last 2 we have seen. That said..we played our best that game IMO and the guys showed me a lot vs. good competition.
2. Braden Smith took way too much crap last year and after the loss in the FDU game. Guy is dripping NBA potential and if he was 4 inches taller he’d be gone already. Guy is a cerebral, next level type athlete. Yes..he struggles last year but he was an 18-19 year old Freshman. More ups than downs ahead of him.
3. The biggest point - I urge Painter not to shorten the bench on this team. The conference season…doesn’t matter THAT much. The BIG Tourney…doesn’t matter that much. We won those least year. We can’t manage the season to win those IMO…we need to play lots of guys and lineups and have the depth, experience and in game ware-withal to make a deep run. To me, Purdue was at its best in 21/22 and 22/23 playing free, not tight and diversified lineups. Painter not being scared to ride the hot hand will win us a ton of ball games But MAYBE not the Conference. At this point, we did that. Time to angle to win something more/different IMo.

I've been one of Braden's biggest fans since he was in high school.
That said, you are highly over valuing him at THIS point.
Watch the Pacers T.J McConnell some time and tell me what Braden does that TJ doesn't?
TJ is 3d string at this point and likely to be traded before the trade deadline.
Small, great ball handler and beautiful passer, pesky defense, ENERGY always. Braden shoots it better but otherwise....you are likely seeing Bradens future if he makes the NBA.
That is looking at that NOW, he has 3 years to get better.
And I certainly expect him to.
I expect him to be the schools all time leader is assists. (but also expected that from Lewis Jackson)
But he won't get much faster or bigger.

 

[CRBoiler]

It seems likely we’ll tighten the rotation at some point due to a set of players separating themselves. Yes, we’re far from that point now. My memory ain’t what it used to be, but I can’t remember many final four teams with balanced 10-player rotations. Those teams rely on their best players. If, say, 8 guys emerged as being our best group to form competitive lineups and they can handle the minutes, then they’ll get most of the minutes come Jan/Feb.

 

[pboiler18]

It seems likely we’ll tighten the rotation at some point due to a set of players separating themselves. Yes, we’re far from that point now. My memory ain’t what it used to be, but I can’t remember many final four teams with balanced 10-player rotations. Those teams rely on their best players. If, say, 8 guys emerged as being our best group to form competitive lineups and they can handle the minutes, then they’ll get most of the minutes come Jan/Feb.

My point was…we generally struggle when this happens. Part of our success early in the last 2 seasons was our depth and having 5-6 guys who can be the hot hand any night. When that drops to 3-4 and they are tired from the season and logging more minutes…overall we suffer. Team was gassed at the end of the year and playing incredibly tight. Niether of those happen IMo if we rotated a bit more. That’s all I’m saying there.

 

[Gman544]

Most of Painters teams play incredibly tight in the NCAA tourney. Going deeper early will help prevent tired legs late, but tightness is something else. Not sure what.

 

[northside100]

Most of Painters teams play incredibly tight in the NCAA tourney.

Hyperbole + Recency Bias

 

[tenwest]

Most of Painters teams play incredibly tight in the NCAA tourney. Going deeper early will help prevent tired legs late, but tightness is something else. Not sure what.

Don’t you think GKs teams did too? Seems like Gene’s cheeks were always a little rosier in the NCAA games

 

[Gman544]

Hyperbole + Recency Bias

Yes the 9 final fours and one NCAA tournament win, I forgot about those. Oh no, that was Izzo.

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

It seems likely we’ll tighten the rotation at some point due to a set of players separating themselves. Yes, we’re far from that point now. My memory ain’t what it used to be, but I can’t remember many final four teams with balanced 10-player rotations. Those teams rely on their best players. If, say, 8 guys emerged as being our best group to form competitive lineups and they can handle the minutes, then they’ll get most of the minutes come Jan/Feb.

The last 2 games basically don't count at all because the competition was so bad. An easy practice at best.
As the games tighten we'll see who still performs and who gets quiet.
I hope we'll utilize our depth and play as many as he can. We have a chance to wear teams down and we need that as we won't be most athletic.

My point was…we generally struggle when this happens. Part of our success early in the last 2 seasons was our depth and having 5-6 guys who can be the hot hand any night. When that drops to 3-4 and they are tired from the season and logging more minutes…overall we suffer. Team was gassed at the end of the year and playing incredibly tight. Niether of those happen IMo if we rotated a bit more. That’s all I’m saying there.

In almost any other year it's a given that there's really not more than 8 guys that really are equivalent in talent and deserving of the prime time minutes.
This year "seems" like it's very unique and everyone brings something to the table that helps the team.
IF we really have the complete 2nd squad that it seems like we might, it would be deadly to run them both in and out in regular intervals and just run the legs right off them.
Of course Zack makes that problematic..........

 

[Schmedly_Whiplash]

Don’t you think GKs teams did too? Seems like Gene’s cheeks were always a little rosier in the NCAA games

It became clear to many of us over the years that Gene's intensity and will to win got his players TOO hyped up.
And they'd come out "hotter than hell" with energy that then burned up quickly. Tired teams get tight trying to keep it going.

 

[northside100]

Yes the 9 final fours and one NCAA tournament win, I forgot about those. Oh no, that was Izzo.

Go root for MSU, you will not be missed.

 

[Gman544]

Go root for MSU, you will not be missed.

Missed the point. But that's OK.

 

[New Pal Boiler]

Missed the point. But that's OK.

You apparently missed the point that Painter isn’t running a win at all costs program, like the little scumbag up north.

 

[tjreese]

You know going from 5'10" to 6'2" does not move the needle for NBA scouts right?

This point is so wonky it makes me think you need 4 more inches to get to average as well.

just for the record Braden is probably "close" to 6' in shoes