Looking back at Purdue’s profoundly disappointing 57-53 loss at Wisconsin.
First off, a superlative: The Boilermakers’ 53 points were their fewest since they scored 51 against, again, Wisconsin in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.
SHOT SELECTION/ETC.
The team that has been proud to “pass up good shots for great shots” was nowhere to be found at Wisconsin, as the Boilermakers appeared to be shot-hunting at a level unseen since the Bahamas, and it came from out of nowhere, because on Purdue’s third possession, it capped a six-pass halfcourt possession with a Carsen Edwards three.
• 15:29, first — Dakota Mathias dribbles up off a rebound, uses a Haas high-ball screen, then loses the ball going up with it trying to shoot a mid-range jumper with Ethan Happ closing in. Purdue’s not going to take issue with him being aggressive, nor should it, but it bears mentioning in the category of quick shots and looseness with the basketball.
• 14:48, first — This possession devolved simply into Vincent Edwards dribbling around for six seconds or so then finally taking Aleem Ford off the dribble and scoring at the rim. Obviously, Purdue scored, so that was a win, but perimeter iso hasn’t exactly been the Boilermakers’ identity offensively this season, nor was the spacing ideal for such a thing right there anyway. People want to talk about ‘standing around’ when Isaac Haas has the ball, but there was a situation where people were standing around when someone was dribbling.
• 10:48, first — Ryan Cline rebounds Ethan Happ’s miss, dribbles up, dribbles to the left corner, dribbles back off a Matt Haarms screen, dribbles into a long two-point jumper with 23 on the shot clock that misses.
• 9:04, first — Purdue gets a stop, Dakota Mathias dribbles up, passes off to Ryan Cline who gives to Vincent Edwards, who shoots a contested three over Nate Reuvers with 21 on the shot clock that misses.
• 7:16, first — right after Wisconsin, riding a 12-3 run, took the lead, Mathias puts up a contested three after one pass, with 14 on the shot clock. It missed.
• 6:02, first — Vincent Edwards looks inside to Haas, who’s being fronted, but decides against trying to throw it over the top, then puts his head down and drives off Happ’s closeout. He’s met in the lane, but pivots and throws up a shot that gets blocked with 14 on the shot clock.
• 5:30, first — After two passes, Carsen Edwards shoots a three with Brad Davison’s hand in his face and 17 on the shot clock. It misses.
• 4:45, first — Dakota Mathias again dribbles up a rebound, dribbles off a high screen, then shoots a fall away, mid-range J against his body, with Khalil Iverson challenging, that misses. Mathias can, and has, make that shot, but this came during a stretch where Purdue had gone forever without a basket. Fortunately for Purdue, as bad as it was on offense, Wisconsin was just as bad, if not more so, or else the Boilermakers might have found themselves down big.
• 1:30, first — Carsen Edwards takes a hand-off from Nojel Eastern at the top of the arc and misses a three with 22 on the shot clock, right after Purdue had tied the game. Obviously, such shots are part of Edwards’ game and nothing all that out of the ordinary, but we are categorizing quick shots here, so it bears mentioning.
• 18:35, second — After two passes, Dakota Mathias dribbles off a Haas screen and shoots another tough two with Pritzl all over him and Happ coming in to challenge too. Part of an almost unbelievable 1-for-7, one-assist, two-turnover game for the senior.
• 14:07, second — After Wisconsin had gone up one on an Aleem Ford three, Carsen Edwards misses a three with 16 on the shot clock, from up top, after Davison had gotten up off the floor in time to mildly challenge.
• 13:37, second — Purdue inbounds after a foul to PJ Thompson, who dribbles off a pick-and-roll with Haas in which no one was picked, right into a trio of Badgers in the lane, then loses the ball going up with it with 15 on the shot clock. I assume he was shooting, but possible his intent was to pass, not sure to who though.
• 13:03, second — Carsen Edwards is called for a push-off, driving into a jump shot with 22 on the shot clock, after zero passes
• 10:10, second — After Purdue went up three, Carsen Edwards puts his head and drives to the basket, his shot is easily blocked with 16 on the shot clock.
• 8:19 second — With Purdue up five, Dakota Mathias comes off a down screen set by Isaac Haas up top, but the screen is not effective and Khalil Iverson stays with Mathias, but he shoots the three regardless and it misses long with 15 on the shot clock.
• 6:31, second — Carsen Edwards puts his head down, drives and makes an impossible jumper off the glass with 12 on the shot clock, shooting over a 6-6 guy.
• 5:09, second — Carsen Edwards takes a dribble hand-off from Isaac Haas after no other passes and uses the high screen to get downfill, but misses at the basket in a crowd. Wisconsin changes ends with numbers on its side and Brad Davison hits Iverson for the dunk that ties it.
• 1:39, second — It wasn’t a quick shot, but Carsen Edwards shoots a three with Purdue down four in which he’s not even open by his standards. It’s blocked by Khalil Iverson and controlled by Wisconsin. Purdue ran Edwards through three screens coming right to left. Not a single one of them broke Iverson’s stride in pursuit of Edwards, who shot with nine on the clock.
TURNOVERS
It took Purdue all of 30 seconds to match its turnover total from 30-plus minutes at Michigan State. On Purdue’s first possession, Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas criss-crossed in the lane, Haas got hung up on Khalil Iverson and Dakota Mathias entry went out of bounds. Would have been a different sort of position for Haas to catch the ball in anyway.
LAPSES
• Heady play by Brad Davison late to go up for that three, but noticed no one guarding Khalil Iverson under the basket. So he threw it to him for a dunk.
That play put a face on the listlessness Purdue showed in Madison, because four Boilermakers were facing Davison, literally watching him shoot, yet none of them seemed to be doing anything to position themselves for a rebound. Purdue didn’t need to be guarding Iverson there; it needed to be blocking him out.
As far as lapses go, that was egregious.
• I'll try to ask Painter what happened in the first half, when T.J. Schlundt — “who had six points this calendar year,” said the announced — scored on a back cut, throwing the ball in over his head after getting past Mathias to the basket. Painter doubled over in apparent frustration on that play, and I don’t know if a switch was supposed to happen there and didn’t or if that was just a one-on-one lapse. I might be imagining thing but there have been a couple examples the past few weeks where it’s almost seemed like Mathias has been trying to cover more than one base at a time on defense.
SLIPPERY SLOPES
• When Matt Painter spoke after the game after one end of the floor affecting the other, here might be an example.
With eight minutes to go in the first half, and Purdue up three, Wisconsin takes Happ out, but Brevin Pritzl nailed a long three with three left on the shot clock, over Vincent Edwards’ outstretched arm. It tied the game at 12.
Players talk sometimes about the toll it takes when an opponent beats the shot clock, and that’s happening to Purdue a lot lately. (See also: Brad Davison’s jumper at 12:28 of the second after Purdue couldn’t get to a loose ball in the lane.)
Next time down, Vincent Edwards’ pass to Mathias up top gets stolen by Pritzl for a pick-six bucket that gives Wisconsin the lead.
Again, this sequence occurred with Happ on the bench.
• In the final four minutes of the first half, Purdue doubled Happ with PJ Thompson to swipe at the ball, but Grady Eifert seemed to be slow to get out to Davison in rotation after a couple passes and he nailed the three. Next time down, Haas loses the ball in the post, the loose ball slips through Mathias, Pritzl scores in transition and Wisconsin leads by five suddenly.
(Matt Painter calls timeout, they get the ball to Haas right away thereafter and score immediately, then Carsen Edwards makes a three behind Isaac Haas — who caught the ball 18 feet from the basket — to tie it.)
ETC
• It did work to Wisconsin’s favor to have Ethan Happ bring the ball up as much as it did, negating the pressure Purdue might otherwise have put on its ball-handlers and allowing Happ to dribble into a isolation a few times. They did a good job getting him in space with Purdue’s size, which swings the matchup advantage to Happ.
• The biggest shot of the game was Davison’s jumper to beat the shot clock with 2:30 or so left, putting Wisconsin up 49-46. Happ was out of the game, and the Badgers were generally directionless offensively without him on the floor. Someone had to make a play and the freshman did, with seven on the shot clock and Carsen Edwards right there with him. That was so Rutgers game for Purdue. Again, you typically want the opponent shooting long, contested two-point jump shots late in shot clocks and opponents keep making them.
• Not that anyone needs to be reminded, but it was absolutely crushing for Purdue that Haas fouled Happ with 26.5 seconds left. Obviously, a mistake on his part and that happens, but to have left 21 seconds come off the shot clock there before doing it was simply devastating. If Purdue plays that possession out and gets a stop and a rebound, then it has the ball down three, with 17 seconds left, time enough to either run something for a three or even take a quick two and foul again.
If that mistake is going to be made, it's too bad for Purdue it didn't happen 15 seconds earlier.
Instead, Happ makes both and the game’s over, though Wisconsin did take a page out of Michigan’s book by fouling a three-point shooter in a low-percentage win-probability situation.
First off, a superlative: The Boilermakers’ 53 points were their fewest since they scored 51 against, again, Wisconsin in the 2015 Big Ten Tournament.
SHOT SELECTION/ETC.
The team that has been proud to “pass up good shots for great shots” was nowhere to be found at Wisconsin, as the Boilermakers appeared to be shot-hunting at a level unseen since the Bahamas, and it came from out of nowhere, because on Purdue’s third possession, it capped a six-pass halfcourt possession with a Carsen Edwards three.
• 15:29, first — Dakota Mathias dribbles up off a rebound, uses a Haas high-ball screen, then loses the ball going up with it trying to shoot a mid-range jumper with Ethan Happ closing in. Purdue’s not going to take issue with him being aggressive, nor should it, but it bears mentioning in the category of quick shots and looseness with the basketball.
• 14:48, first — This possession devolved simply into Vincent Edwards dribbling around for six seconds or so then finally taking Aleem Ford off the dribble and scoring at the rim. Obviously, Purdue scored, so that was a win, but perimeter iso hasn’t exactly been the Boilermakers’ identity offensively this season, nor was the spacing ideal for such a thing right there anyway. People want to talk about ‘standing around’ when Isaac Haas has the ball, but there was a situation where people were standing around when someone was dribbling.
• 10:48, first — Ryan Cline rebounds Ethan Happ’s miss, dribbles up, dribbles to the left corner, dribbles back off a Matt Haarms screen, dribbles into a long two-point jumper with 23 on the shot clock that misses.
• 9:04, first — Purdue gets a stop, Dakota Mathias dribbles up, passes off to Ryan Cline who gives to Vincent Edwards, who shoots a contested three over Nate Reuvers with 21 on the shot clock that misses.
• 7:16, first — right after Wisconsin, riding a 12-3 run, took the lead, Mathias puts up a contested three after one pass, with 14 on the shot clock. It missed.
• 6:02, first — Vincent Edwards looks inside to Haas, who’s being fronted, but decides against trying to throw it over the top, then puts his head down and drives off Happ’s closeout. He’s met in the lane, but pivots and throws up a shot that gets blocked with 14 on the shot clock.
• 5:30, first — After two passes, Carsen Edwards shoots a three with Brad Davison’s hand in his face and 17 on the shot clock. It misses.
• 4:45, first — Dakota Mathias again dribbles up a rebound, dribbles off a high screen, then shoots a fall away, mid-range J against his body, with Khalil Iverson challenging, that misses. Mathias can, and has, make that shot, but this came during a stretch where Purdue had gone forever without a basket. Fortunately for Purdue, as bad as it was on offense, Wisconsin was just as bad, if not more so, or else the Boilermakers might have found themselves down big.
• 1:30, first — Carsen Edwards takes a hand-off from Nojel Eastern at the top of the arc and misses a three with 22 on the shot clock, right after Purdue had tied the game. Obviously, such shots are part of Edwards’ game and nothing all that out of the ordinary, but we are categorizing quick shots here, so it bears mentioning.
• 18:35, second — After two passes, Dakota Mathias dribbles off a Haas screen and shoots another tough two with Pritzl all over him and Happ coming in to challenge too. Part of an almost unbelievable 1-for-7, one-assist, two-turnover game for the senior.
• 14:07, second — After Wisconsin had gone up one on an Aleem Ford three, Carsen Edwards misses a three with 16 on the shot clock, from up top, after Davison had gotten up off the floor in time to mildly challenge.
• 13:37, second — Purdue inbounds after a foul to PJ Thompson, who dribbles off a pick-and-roll with Haas in which no one was picked, right into a trio of Badgers in the lane, then loses the ball going up with it with 15 on the shot clock. I assume he was shooting, but possible his intent was to pass, not sure to who though.
• 13:03, second — Carsen Edwards is called for a push-off, driving into a jump shot with 22 on the shot clock, after zero passes
• 10:10, second — After Purdue went up three, Carsen Edwards puts his head and drives to the basket, his shot is easily blocked with 16 on the shot clock.
• 8:19 second — With Purdue up five, Dakota Mathias comes off a down screen set by Isaac Haas up top, but the screen is not effective and Khalil Iverson stays with Mathias, but he shoots the three regardless and it misses long with 15 on the shot clock.
• 6:31, second — Carsen Edwards puts his head down, drives and makes an impossible jumper off the glass with 12 on the shot clock, shooting over a 6-6 guy.
• 5:09, second — Carsen Edwards takes a dribble hand-off from Isaac Haas after no other passes and uses the high screen to get downfill, but misses at the basket in a crowd. Wisconsin changes ends with numbers on its side and Brad Davison hits Iverson for the dunk that ties it.
• 1:39, second — It wasn’t a quick shot, but Carsen Edwards shoots a three with Purdue down four in which he’s not even open by his standards. It’s blocked by Khalil Iverson and controlled by Wisconsin. Purdue ran Edwards through three screens coming right to left. Not a single one of them broke Iverson’s stride in pursuit of Edwards, who shot with nine on the clock.
TURNOVERS
It took Purdue all of 30 seconds to match its turnover total from 30-plus minutes at Michigan State. On Purdue’s first possession, Vincent Edwards and Isaac Haas criss-crossed in the lane, Haas got hung up on Khalil Iverson and Dakota Mathias entry went out of bounds. Would have been a different sort of position for Haas to catch the ball in anyway.
LAPSES
• Heady play by Brad Davison late to go up for that three, but noticed no one guarding Khalil Iverson under the basket. So he threw it to him for a dunk.
That play put a face on the listlessness Purdue showed in Madison, because four Boilermakers were facing Davison, literally watching him shoot, yet none of them seemed to be doing anything to position themselves for a rebound. Purdue didn’t need to be guarding Iverson there; it needed to be blocking him out.
As far as lapses go, that was egregious.
• I'll try to ask Painter what happened in the first half, when T.J. Schlundt — “who had six points this calendar year,” said the announced — scored on a back cut, throwing the ball in over his head after getting past Mathias to the basket. Painter doubled over in apparent frustration on that play, and I don’t know if a switch was supposed to happen there and didn’t or if that was just a one-on-one lapse. I might be imagining thing but there have been a couple examples the past few weeks where it’s almost seemed like Mathias has been trying to cover more than one base at a time on defense.
SLIPPERY SLOPES
• When Matt Painter spoke after the game after one end of the floor affecting the other, here might be an example.
With eight minutes to go in the first half, and Purdue up three, Wisconsin takes Happ out, but Brevin Pritzl nailed a long three with three left on the shot clock, over Vincent Edwards’ outstretched arm. It tied the game at 12.
Players talk sometimes about the toll it takes when an opponent beats the shot clock, and that’s happening to Purdue a lot lately. (See also: Brad Davison’s jumper at 12:28 of the second after Purdue couldn’t get to a loose ball in the lane.)
Next time down, Vincent Edwards’ pass to Mathias up top gets stolen by Pritzl for a pick-six bucket that gives Wisconsin the lead.
Again, this sequence occurred with Happ on the bench.
• In the final four minutes of the first half, Purdue doubled Happ with PJ Thompson to swipe at the ball, but Grady Eifert seemed to be slow to get out to Davison in rotation after a couple passes and he nailed the three. Next time down, Haas loses the ball in the post, the loose ball slips through Mathias, Pritzl scores in transition and Wisconsin leads by five suddenly.
(Matt Painter calls timeout, they get the ball to Haas right away thereafter and score immediately, then Carsen Edwards makes a three behind Isaac Haas — who caught the ball 18 feet from the basket — to tie it.)
ETC
• It did work to Wisconsin’s favor to have Ethan Happ bring the ball up as much as it did, negating the pressure Purdue might otherwise have put on its ball-handlers and allowing Happ to dribble into a isolation a few times. They did a good job getting him in space with Purdue’s size, which swings the matchup advantage to Happ.
• The biggest shot of the game was Davison’s jumper to beat the shot clock with 2:30 or so left, putting Wisconsin up 49-46. Happ was out of the game, and the Badgers were generally directionless offensively without him on the floor. Someone had to make a play and the freshman did, with seven on the shot clock and Carsen Edwards right there with him. That was so Rutgers game for Purdue. Again, you typically want the opponent shooting long, contested two-point jump shots late in shot clocks and opponents keep making them.
• Not that anyone needs to be reminded, but it was absolutely crushing for Purdue that Haas fouled Happ with 26.5 seconds left. Obviously, a mistake on his part and that happens, but to have left 21 seconds come off the shot clock there before doing it was simply devastating. If Purdue plays that possession out and gets a stop and a rebound, then it has the ball down three, with 17 seconds left, time enough to either run something for a three or even take a quick two and foul again.
If that mistake is going to be made, it's too bad for Purdue it didn't happen 15 seconds earlier.
Instead, Happ makes both and the game’s over, though Wisconsin did take a page out of Michigan’s book by fouling a three-point shooter in a low-percentage win-probability situation.
