A closer look back at Purdue's 77-48 win over Butler at the Crossroads Classic
I skipped the last eight minutes.
JADEN IVEY'S GRAVITY
Just wanted to illustrate some of the effect Jaden Ivey's ability to get to the basket has on defenses.
We'll start with this play on Purdue's third possession, where the Boilermakers seem to just be in halfcourt motion here, with Ivey winding up with a ball screen around the three-point arc, moving left to right.
Big man Bryce Golden is in containment here and sticks with Ivey as he engages to try to take away his ability to turn the corner. He does not.
Now, Ivey's in the lane, and here comes half of Butler's team to converge on him.
This leaves Trevion Williams and Caleb Furst completely alone on the weak side. It results in an easy putback for Williams.
Here's a little bit later. Purdue ran a ton of dribble-handoff-type stuff for Ivey at the elbow, trying to get him an angle to get to the basket with his right hand, and here the big again sticks with Ivey, and when he reaches the opposite side of the lane, Sasha Stefanovic's man cheats off to try to collapse on Ivey, creating a triple team.
This all allows Ivey to make a great play, stopping and pivoting to pass back to Caleb Furst as the back-side indirect for a great look from three. Didn't make it, but that's a shot Purdue will take.
Lastly, this where Ivey penetrates, draws three guys, and once he shows his hand that he's gonna pass out of the convergence, the back-side help defender is stuck between sticking with Zach Edey or shooting out to Caleb Furst to take away the three. He chooses Furst — Ivey cleverly looked him off — and Ivey dumps off to Edey for a dunk.
DEFENSIVE POSITIVES
• This was the most engaged I think Jaden Ivey has been as an off-ball defender. Butler tried to back cut him numerous times in the first half, clearly going after him specifically. Ivey was all over it every time. The last time it happened in the first half, he took away the cut, and when Butler resorted to trying to run offense again, he jumped an uninspired pass and dunked it. It was a minimal-risk play.
• Purdue did a good job staying in front of the basketball. I know this wasn't a team full of John Walls they were guarding, but that's not mattered at times before. There was one stop during Butler's six-and-a-half-minute scoreless streak where both Caleb Furst and Sasha Stefanovic were attacked off the bounce and both did really nice jobs staying between their man and the basket, keeping Purdue out of help. Butler wound up missing a tough three.
This was around the point in the game where Butler seemed sped up by the reality they weren't going to be getting good looks.
• Effort. This play late in the first half exemplifies it. Isaiah Thompson sprinted to close out on a shooter, but moving at full speed he was able to deflect their work-around pass after said closeout, knocking the ball out toward midcourt and forcing Butler into a tough three against the shot clock. (Thompson makes a three at the other end to put Purdue up 18.)
And then this play Zach Edey made — right after subbing back in — to block this three at the end of an intensely coached final 2.9 seconds with Purdue up 18 before the half was really something.
• Purdue started the second half great.
Butler's first offensive possession after halftime was stymied by three straight clean and effective switches by Purdue, then an effective post double, then a good effort by Isaiah Thompson rotating to the rim to deflect away a pass out of said double. Butler against wound up shooting a three to beat the shot clock, which missed.
• Eric Hunter and Isaiah Thompson were both really good on D, on the ball and off the ball.
All this said, Butler missed a lot of decent looks from three, and Purdue did allow a lot of offensive rebounds. You do wonder if perhaps the hyper-focus on details defensively didn't take some off the defensive glass.
Anyway, great defensive game for Purdue.
PURDUE VS. ZONE
• First possession of zone Butler ran: Dunk.
Next possession, Isaiah Thompson breaks down the zone for a runner that misses but Purdue keeps it off the offensive rebound and scores off the inbound.
• After a turnover — a mishandle by Zach Edey between two defenders — there's this absolute gem.
Purdue passes the ball in to Caleb Furst at the foul line, in the middle of the zone, common practice against zone, to play inside-out from the high post, drawing the defense. Look at the valley to the basket that's now created for Jaden Ivey on the wing.
Furst moves the ball quickly to Ivey, who attacks that valley while Furst immediately dives to the basket.
What follows is a play you can only make when you're Jaden Ivey. Luckily for Jaden Ivey he is Jaden Ivey, so he is able to leave his feet and still wrap a pass around three dudes to hit Furst for this dunk.
• Next time down, Butler is trapping up top out of a 2-2-1. Leaving Sasha Stefanovic to trap Eric Hunter, maybe not such a good idea. Hunter just has to catch the ball, let the double come, then bounce pass it back to Stefanovic for his most open three of the day. Good.
GETTING ISAIAH THOMPSON SHOTS
Purdue wanted to get Thompson some shots against Butler, I think, and here what was a nice action they ran that I can't remember seeing before yesterday.
It starts with Sasha Stefanovic running one of his bread-and-butter routes through the lane off a down screen from Trevion Williams, getting him a catch at the top of the arc.
Stefanovic's guy did get right through the screen, though, so they were able to take away the shot. A defensive win, right?
Nope.
After passing off to Caleb Furst on the wing, Stefanovic then sets a screen for Thompson moving from the corner to the same spot Stefanovic just passed out of. It's a wide-open look for Thompson and he splashes it.
Next time down Purdue went right back to Thompson off a down screen by Zach Edey, but he missed that one.
I skipped the last eight minutes.
JADEN IVEY'S GRAVITY
Just wanted to illustrate some of the effect Jaden Ivey's ability to get to the basket has on defenses.
We'll start with this play on Purdue's third possession, where the Boilermakers seem to just be in halfcourt motion here, with Ivey winding up with a ball screen around the three-point arc, moving left to right.
Big man Bryce Golden is in containment here and sticks with Ivey as he engages to try to take away his ability to turn the corner. He does not.
Now, Ivey's in the lane, and here comes half of Butler's team to converge on him.
This leaves Trevion Williams and Caleb Furst completely alone on the weak side. It results in an easy putback for Williams.
Here's a little bit later. Purdue ran a ton of dribble-handoff-type stuff for Ivey at the elbow, trying to get him an angle to get to the basket with his right hand, and here the big again sticks with Ivey, and when he reaches the opposite side of the lane, Sasha Stefanovic's man cheats off to try to collapse on Ivey, creating a triple team.
This all allows Ivey to make a great play, stopping and pivoting to pass back to Caleb Furst as the back-side indirect for a great look from three. Didn't make it, but that's a shot Purdue will take.
Lastly, this where Ivey penetrates, draws three guys, and once he shows his hand that he's gonna pass out of the convergence, the back-side help defender is stuck between sticking with Zach Edey or shooting out to Caleb Furst to take away the three. He chooses Furst — Ivey cleverly looked him off — and Ivey dumps off to Edey for a dunk.
DEFENSIVE POSITIVES
• This was the most engaged I think Jaden Ivey has been as an off-ball defender. Butler tried to back cut him numerous times in the first half, clearly going after him specifically. Ivey was all over it every time. The last time it happened in the first half, he took away the cut, and when Butler resorted to trying to run offense again, he jumped an uninspired pass and dunked it. It was a minimal-risk play.
• Purdue did a good job staying in front of the basketball. I know this wasn't a team full of John Walls they were guarding, but that's not mattered at times before. There was one stop during Butler's six-and-a-half-minute scoreless streak where both Caleb Furst and Sasha Stefanovic were attacked off the bounce and both did really nice jobs staying between their man and the basket, keeping Purdue out of help. Butler wound up missing a tough three.
This was around the point in the game where Butler seemed sped up by the reality they weren't going to be getting good looks.
• Effort. This play late in the first half exemplifies it. Isaiah Thompson sprinted to close out on a shooter, but moving at full speed he was able to deflect their work-around pass after said closeout, knocking the ball out toward midcourt and forcing Butler into a tough three against the shot clock. (Thompson makes a three at the other end to put Purdue up 18.)
And then this play Zach Edey made — right after subbing back in — to block this three at the end of an intensely coached final 2.9 seconds with Purdue up 18 before the half was really something.
• Purdue started the second half great.
Butler's first offensive possession after halftime was stymied by three straight clean and effective switches by Purdue, then an effective post double, then a good effort by Isaiah Thompson rotating to the rim to deflect away a pass out of said double. Butler against wound up shooting a three to beat the shot clock, which missed.
• Eric Hunter and Isaiah Thompson were both really good on D, on the ball and off the ball.
All this said, Butler missed a lot of decent looks from three, and Purdue did allow a lot of offensive rebounds. You do wonder if perhaps the hyper-focus on details defensively didn't take some off the defensive glass.
Anyway, great defensive game for Purdue.
PURDUE VS. ZONE
• First possession of zone Butler ran: Dunk.
Next possession, Isaiah Thompson breaks down the zone for a runner that misses but Purdue keeps it off the offensive rebound and scores off the inbound.
• After a turnover — a mishandle by Zach Edey between two defenders — there's this absolute gem.
Purdue passes the ball in to Caleb Furst at the foul line, in the middle of the zone, common practice against zone, to play inside-out from the high post, drawing the defense. Look at the valley to the basket that's now created for Jaden Ivey on the wing.
Furst moves the ball quickly to Ivey, who attacks that valley while Furst immediately dives to the basket.
What follows is a play you can only make when you're Jaden Ivey. Luckily for Jaden Ivey he is Jaden Ivey, so he is able to leave his feet and still wrap a pass around three dudes to hit Furst for this dunk.
• Next time down, Butler is trapping up top out of a 2-2-1. Leaving Sasha Stefanovic to trap Eric Hunter, maybe not such a good idea. Hunter just has to catch the ball, let the double come, then bounce pass it back to Stefanovic for his most open three of the day. Good.
GETTING ISAIAH THOMPSON SHOTS
Purdue wanted to get Thompson some shots against Butler, I think, and here what was a nice action they ran that I can't remember seeing before yesterday.
It starts with Sasha Stefanovic running one of his bread-and-butter routes through the lane off a down screen from Trevion Williams, getting him a catch at the top of the arc.
Stefanovic's guy did get right through the screen, though, so they were able to take away the shot. A defensive win, right?
Nope.
After passing off to Caleb Furst on the wing, Stefanovic then sets a screen for Thompson moving from the corner to the same spot Stefanovic just passed out of. It's a wide-open look for Thompson and he splashes it.
Next time down Purdue went right back to Thompson off a down screen by Zach Edey, but he missed that one.
