From the Athletic today. By Eamonn Brennan
No, but seriously: For all of our desire not to make this piece a clinical exercise in who is ranked where, it is hard to tell the story of Purdue at this stage in the 2021-22 season and not bring up the notion that they really just do look like the best team in the country. It’s not just that Gonzaga lost to Duke, and then Duke lost to Ohio State. It’s that regardless of whatever else is happening around the country, regardless of whatever else could happen, Purdue looks like the most complete, most high-functioning, most potentially dominant outfit in the country. Right now, Purdue stands alone.
We’ve discussed the reasons before, and basically all of them were on display in Tuesday’s 93-65 win (in 68 possessions!) over (a notably undermanned, but still) Florida State — when the Boilermakers scored 1.38 points per possession, the first time in 15 years an FSU team has allowed that number in any game. Every “if” statement from Purdue’s offseason — if we do this, if a player gets better at this, etc. — is happening all at once.
Could Jaden Ivey take his lottery pick physicality and electrifying open-floor talent and blend it with a viable perimeter jumper and slightly more control with the ball in his hands? Yes.
Could Zach Edey and Trevion Williams co-exist, if not as frequent frontcourt mates then as the best versions of themselves in an atypically but potentially devastating timeshare? Yes. Edey is putting up ludicrous rate stats, Williams is almost matching him, and between them Purdue basically has one of the best rebounders in the country on the floor for every 40 minutes it plays. Could Purdue ramp up its shooting around the two big guys such that last season’s occasionally sluggish offense (which made just 30.7 percent from 3 in Big Ten play and attempted just 36.2 percent of its field goals from beyond the arc) would be less dependent on difficult post-ups, more balanced, and more efficient? Yes and yes.
Basically everyone involved here is better, and they’ve been joined by 6-foot-10 freshman forward Caleb Furst, who was a top-100 player but hardly a can’t-miss, will-contribute-right-away sort of prospect, and who now already looks like one of the best glue guys in the country. This is the most efficient offensive team in the country to date. It is the second-best 3-point shooting team, and the third-best inside the arc. It’s shooting a bunch more 3s, and assisting on many more of its made field goals. Everything flows. Everything works. The pie-in-the-sky, 100th-percentile outcome is here.
It’s a long way to go yet, of course. Big Ten play will present issues, and losses, and Matt Painter will still be looking to shore up a defense that allowed 158 points in 137 possessions to North Carolina and Villanova. Still, it’s hard to look at Purdue and not think the Boilermakers will occupy this spot, or something close to it, for much of the rest of the season. Until further notice, this is Purdue’s year.
1. Purdue (7-0)
… ladies and gentlemen, the Purdue Boilermakers!No, but seriously: For all of our desire not to make this piece a clinical exercise in who is ranked where, it is hard to tell the story of Purdue at this stage in the 2021-22 season and not bring up the notion that they really just do look like the best team in the country. It’s not just that Gonzaga lost to Duke, and then Duke lost to Ohio State. It’s that regardless of whatever else is happening around the country, regardless of whatever else could happen, Purdue looks like the most complete, most high-functioning, most potentially dominant outfit in the country. Right now, Purdue stands alone.
We’ve discussed the reasons before, and basically all of them were on display in Tuesday’s 93-65 win (in 68 possessions!) over (a notably undermanned, but still) Florida State — when the Boilermakers scored 1.38 points per possession, the first time in 15 years an FSU team has allowed that number in any game. Every “if” statement from Purdue’s offseason — if we do this, if a player gets better at this, etc. — is happening all at once.
Could Jaden Ivey take his lottery pick physicality and electrifying open-floor talent and blend it with a viable perimeter jumper and slightly more control with the ball in his hands? Yes.
Could Zach Edey and Trevion Williams co-exist, if not as frequent frontcourt mates then as the best versions of themselves in an atypically but potentially devastating timeshare? Yes. Edey is putting up ludicrous rate stats, Williams is almost matching him, and between them Purdue basically has one of the best rebounders in the country on the floor for every 40 minutes it plays. Could Purdue ramp up its shooting around the two big guys such that last season’s occasionally sluggish offense (which made just 30.7 percent from 3 in Big Ten play and attempted just 36.2 percent of its field goals from beyond the arc) would be less dependent on difficult post-ups, more balanced, and more efficient? Yes and yes.
Basically everyone involved here is better, and they’ve been joined by 6-foot-10 freshman forward Caleb Furst, who was a top-100 player but hardly a can’t-miss, will-contribute-right-away sort of prospect, and who now already looks like one of the best glue guys in the country. This is the most efficient offensive team in the country to date. It is the second-best 3-point shooting team, and the third-best inside the arc. It’s shooting a bunch more 3s, and assisting on many more of its made field goals. Everything flows. Everything works. The pie-in-the-sky, 100th-percentile outcome is here.
It’s a long way to go yet, of course. Big Ten play will present issues, and losses, and Matt Painter will still be looking to shore up a defense that allowed 158 points in 137 possessions to North Carolina and Villanova. Still, it’s hard to look at Purdue and not think the Boilermakers will occupy this spot, or something close to it, for much of the rest of the season. Until further notice, this is Purdue’s year.
