Looking back at Purdue’s win at Iowa this weekend …
• First off, I think you obviously have to give Purdue a ton of credit for making 20 threes and executing the ball movement necessary to generate them, but the Boilermakers obviously also exploited a team that isn’t wired to defend and looked this weekend like it's this close to packing it in. So many soft closeouts and so many half-a$$ed attempts to fight through screens on Iowa’s part.
Still, 20 threes is a big number, and starting for a Big Ten road game.
As noted this weekend, five Purdue players made at least three threes. That’s a first in program history and something you won’t soon see happen again.
• Seemed like Iowa did have a chance to stay afloat early as Purdue missed a bunch of shots to start the game, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t get great looks off the Boilermakers defensively and one of the few they did get, and make, required a knee — inadvertent — to Carsen Edwards’ mid-section. A good example of how complete Purdue is playing right now, that even if things aren't working offensively, it still has pretty high-level defense to fall back on.
• Another example of Purdue’s knack offensively for finding a weakness or opportunity and attacking: Them finding Vincent Edwards on a post-up against Jordan Bohannon for their first two-point basket of the game, giving them an 8-6 lead. Iowa got put in scramble mode after Purdue’s pass against the zone trap was deflected and nearly turned over, maybe the only time the whole game that gave Purdue an issue.
When it wasn’t, everybody had to find somebody and Bohannon got Edwards. It looked like Dakota Mathias saw it from the opposite side of the court, used P.J. Thompson as the relay man, got it to Edwards, who drove baseline past the point guard and scored. That started the 18-0 run.
• They were already down big, but it seemed like Iowa found a little something with Tyler Cook posting Vincent Edwards, getting a good look that missed, then a bucket, off two opportunities. Then, at a time when its guards were getting worked, it stopped doing it. It did come back to it in the second half.
• Maybe it’s not opponents, maybe it’s Purdue, but again there were examples of the opponent passing up OK shots to take worse ones. Minnesota was particularly bad about this. But maybe Purdue is creating that sort of dynamic in its opponents with its pressure. There was a play right at the start of Purdue’s run where Cordell Pemsl posted Matt Haarms, Dakota Mathias came down to help, and Pemsl made the right play and hit Maishe Dailey open. Dailey, though, awkwardly hesitated, took a weird dribble to turn a three into a two and missed the shot.
Then Vincent Edwards made a three over a bad Tyler Cook closeout and a bad Dailey closeout, then Dakota Mathias stripped Cook from behind going up around the basket on what should have been a high-percentage look.
Mathias and the rest of Purdue’s guards have been so good lately disrupting other teams’ bigs around the basket lately. It's almost seemed like when the ball gets low on Purdue, Purdue's playing 6-on-5 defensively.
Another example: Tyler Cook did get position down low inside five minutes in the first half on Grady Eifert, but Eifert stood him up and Matt Haarms’ came over, forcing a blind baseline pass to Pemsl, left open by Haarms’ help. Cook made the pass, Carsen Edwards darted in and stole it, then ran and hit Dakota Mathias for a three.
• I don’t know if Purdue’s big men are just more active in it, the guards are finding them more, it’s just the natural evolution of things or opponents are defending different up top with their bigs or what, but Purdue is thriving now too in hitting Matt Haarms screening and rolling to the rim. Isaac Haas has made a couple plays off it, too, lately, but mostly in quick-hitting stuff with Carsen Edwards. At Iowa, it was Nojel Eastern who hit Haarms for a bunny after Dakota Mathias previously found him for what wound up a tie-up, IIRC.
Nice luxury to have when you have a 7-3 guy who not only be functional doing that, but good at it.
• Still say the most impressive play of the game was Vincent Edwards striking like a cobra from behind to block Cordell Pemsl’s layup after Carsen Edwards missed a three and Purdue got caught behind the play, obviously stunned it missed a shot.
Purdue was up 45-16 at the time and Edwards was well behind the play when Pemsl caught it.
• There are obviously reasons why Isaac Haas has gotten very limited opportunities the past two games, but taking into account that he's 3-of-8 at the foul line and badly short-armed a couple shots at the rim vs. Wisconsin, and missed a dunk, hopefully for his sake and Purdue's you're not seeing a bit of wear and tear show up.
• So you might already have seen this from someone willing to pull clips off TV, which we're not, but if not here you go ...
(Eight passes. One senior on the floor.)
• First off, I think you obviously have to give Purdue a ton of credit for making 20 threes and executing the ball movement necessary to generate them, but the Boilermakers obviously also exploited a team that isn’t wired to defend and looked this weekend like it's this close to packing it in. So many soft closeouts and so many half-a$$ed attempts to fight through screens on Iowa’s part.
Still, 20 threes is a big number, and starting for a Big Ten road game.
As noted this weekend, five Purdue players made at least three threes. That’s a first in program history and something you won’t soon see happen again.
• Seemed like Iowa did have a chance to stay afloat early as Purdue missed a bunch of shots to start the game, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t get great looks off the Boilermakers defensively and one of the few they did get, and make, required a knee — inadvertent — to Carsen Edwards’ mid-section. A good example of how complete Purdue is playing right now, that even if things aren't working offensively, it still has pretty high-level defense to fall back on.
• Another example of Purdue’s knack offensively for finding a weakness or opportunity and attacking: Them finding Vincent Edwards on a post-up against Jordan Bohannon for their first two-point basket of the game, giving them an 8-6 lead. Iowa got put in scramble mode after Purdue’s pass against the zone trap was deflected and nearly turned over, maybe the only time the whole game that gave Purdue an issue.
When it wasn’t, everybody had to find somebody and Bohannon got Edwards. It looked like Dakota Mathias saw it from the opposite side of the court, used P.J. Thompson as the relay man, got it to Edwards, who drove baseline past the point guard and scored. That started the 18-0 run.
• They were already down big, but it seemed like Iowa found a little something with Tyler Cook posting Vincent Edwards, getting a good look that missed, then a bucket, off two opportunities. Then, at a time when its guards were getting worked, it stopped doing it. It did come back to it in the second half.
• Maybe it’s not opponents, maybe it’s Purdue, but again there were examples of the opponent passing up OK shots to take worse ones. Minnesota was particularly bad about this. But maybe Purdue is creating that sort of dynamic in its opponents with its pressure. There was a play right at the start of Purdue’s run where Cordell Pemsl posted Matt Haarms, Dakota Mathias came down to help, and Pemsl made the right play and hit Maishe Dailey open. Dailey, though, awkwardly hesitated, took a weird dribble to turn a three into a two and missed the shot.
Then Vincent Edwards made a three over a bad Tyler Cook closeout and a bad Dailey closeout, then Dakota Mathias stripped Cook from behind going up around the basket on what should have been a high-percentage look.
Mathias and the rest of Purdue’s guards have been so good lately disrupting other teams’ bigs around the basket lately. It's almost seemed like when the ball gets low on Purdue, Purdue's playing 6-on-5 defensively.
Another example: Tyler Cook did get position down low inside five minutes in the first half on Grady Eifert, but Eifert stood him up and Matt Haarms’ came over, forcing a blind baseline pass to Pemsl, left open by Haarms’ help. Cook made the pass, Carsen Edwards darted in and stole it, then ran and hit Dakota Mathias for a three.
• I don’t know if Purdue’s big men are just more active in it, the guards are finding them more, it’s just the natural evolution of things or opponents are defending different up top with their bigs or what, but Purdue is thriving now too in hitting Matt Haarms screening and rolling to the rim. Isaac Haas has made a couple plays off it, too, lately, but mostly in quick-hitting stuff with Carsen Edwards. At Iowa, it was Nojel Eastern who hit Haarms for a bunny after Dakota Mathias previously found him for what wound up a tie-up, IIRC.
Nice luxury to have when you have a 7-3 guy who not only be functional doing that, but good at it.
• Still say the most impressive play of the game was Vincent Edwards striking like a cobra from behind to block Cordell Pemsl’s layup after Carsen Edwards missed a three and Purdue got caught behind the play, obviously stunned it missed a shot.
Purdue was up 45-16 at the time and Edwards was well behind the play when Pemsl caught it.
• There are obviously reasons why Isaac Haas has gotten very limited opportunities the past two games, but taking into account that he's 3-of-8 at the foul line and badly short-armed a couple shots at the rim vs. Wisconsin, and missed a dunk, hopefully for his sake and Purdue's you're not seeing a bit of wear and tear show up.
• So you might already have seen this from someone willing to pull clips off TV, which we're not, but if not here you go ...
(Eight passes. One senior on the floor.)
