Too young?

[Old Gold n Black]

People think worse of Furst because he's been playing longer and is more naturally talented, so their baseline of what's ok play is higher with him than Berg. I would propose that if you are a 7 footer and don't get a single shot off or a single rebound, you're pretty much a liability out there. And I get it, Furst has seriously regressed.

Willie still has a lot of work to do. He's still really raw. Almost surprisingly so.

 

[mediaexpert]

Berg has to learn how to bang. He should be told to pick up two extra fouls each game by boxing out harder, setting more devastating and sneaky picks, and knifing his way through boxouts. There is a difference between being dirty and being an enforcer.

Furst does a good job. He gathers himself well and goes up, but he needs to do a fake and then another fake until he feels the defenders are off-balanced. Maybe even body them a little when shooting.

Heide has to see himself as a 20-per-game scorer. He has a nice three and dunks well, but he needs to dribble more to get his shot—the same with Colvin. However, Heide at the 4 has a bigger advantage driving around another 4. When Waddell gets his minutes, he needs to do the same thing.

 

[tjreese]

I want to resurrect this thread to hear people’s updated thoughts. I think it can bring hope for next year. I was just looking at Texas AM’s roster. They have 2 juniors and the rest are seniors or covid seniors! Compare that with our roster of three juniors and the rest sophomores/freshman (not counting furs). That’s insane. Painter’s mantra of “get old and stay old” seems to be working against us this year.

yep, physically and mentally many teams are more mature. Purdue has a LOT of moving pieces and very young compared to a lot of teams

 

[tjreese]

It's a great opportunity for the young boys to learn and move on. We may lose, but it will make us better prepared for the BT. Just look at what Braden did today, led the team in points, assists, rebounds, steals and yes blocked shots! Loyer had a good first half, but Texas A&M took him basically out in the second half. TKR got out played from beginning to the end! He is playing out of position, true 4 not a 5. Berg played OK, he will help in the BT against most lineups, not to many teams like Texas A&M in the BIG. In big games, Colvin has to hit those wide open 3's and Heide needs to pick it up on the offensive end, to take pressure off Braden and Loyer and open up the lane for TKR. I wish Burgess could have got some minutes. Cox played pretty good for a freshman, he seems to be ahead of Harris on the offense end and not to far behind Harris on the defense side. If Braden is going to fill the stat sheet like today, it is a sign of his teammates not stepping up!

Most of us would say it was NOT a good game by braden today, but when you look at his line few players match it.

 

[tjreese]

I don't think either Berg or Furst played ok today.

Berg was very slow again. A lot of plays where his guy quickly went around him to the basket and I don't believe he had a point or rebound. Furst wasn't really any better.

He completely lost a player under the basket once, but I'm still holding on to him helping a few minutes as he gets more comfortable...without a sign that it is going to happen...

 

[tjreese]

There was only one play I could remember where Berg got beat on the baseline. Otherwise, I thought he played fine. Certainly wasn't a liability to the degree that Furst was today. Berg's problem is mainly one of anticipation. He's not any slower than Isaac Haas was, as a comparison. Just hasn't had enough PT to really develop his anticipatory skills.

He is definitely quicker than Haas, but Haas could score no matter who was defending him

 

[tjreese]

Berg has to learn how to bang. He should be told to pick up two extra fouls each game by boxing out harder, setting more devastating and sneaky picks, and knifing his way through boxouts. There is a difference between being dirty and being an enforcer.

Furst does a good job. He gathers himself well and goes up, but he needs to do a fake and then another fake until he feels the defenders are off-balanced. Maybe even body them a little when shooting.

Heide has to see himself as a 20-per-game scorer. He has a nice three and dunks well, but he needs to dribble more to get his shot—the same with Colvin. However, Heide at the 4 has a bigger advantage driving around another 4. When Waddell gets his minutes, he needs to do the same thing.

I would like for Cam and Myles to put the ball on the court more, but that has to come when a set breaks down or Purdue is in motion

 

[BoilerDaddy]

I feel like this is an expected part of Painter’s approach which focuses on retention and development. There will be times when the team gets young before it gets old again. Painter has scheduled really tough as well. As far as I am concerned, this team is on schedule and the struggles are part of their development.

 

[Wolegib]

UConn won with a true freshman starting and being a major contributor. Purdue had a lot of success with Loyer and Braden as true freshmen.

Dukexhas a star freshman who is playing very well despite his youth and inexperience

It’s not about youth and inexperience. It’s about how they blend their talents with existing players and how the pieces fit.

Our freshmen have displayed flashes of their talents but not their consistency.

If you look at our losses, it was our experienced players not making that step forward. Look at our turnovers and lack of rebounds. Tkr is not a freshman. We need more than 5 rebounds a game from him if we expect to beat tough teams.

 

[Ihaveswag29]

UConn won with a true freshman starting and being a major contributor. Purdue had a lot of success with Loyer and Braden as true freshmen.

Dukexhas a star freshman who is playing very well despite his youth and inexperience

It’s not about youth and inexperience. It’s about how they blend their talents with existing players and how the pieces fit.

Our freshmen have displayed flashes of their talents but not their consistency.

If you look at our losses, it was our experienced players not making that step forward. Look at our turnovers and lack of rebounds. Tkr is not a freshman. We need more than 5 rebounds a game from him if we expect to beat tough teams.

That is all true. But the players you are talking about are all lottery picks. Braden and fletch had the best player in college basketball in decades to help carry the load that could also hide their deficiencies. None of that is true for us.

The number of freshman that are ready for the show in college is very small. Hell, even edey wasn’t ready as a freshman.