WBB kicks off European trip with win

[DubJellison]

There will be no livestreams of the games, but here is the box score from game one.

Opponent was a team comprised of a mix of 20-28 year olds, all with experience in Spanish professional leagues.

 

[DubJellison]

Jordyn Poole and Mila Reynolds were held out of action as well.

 

[Russ Ford]

Nice win. Surprising to see 41 points (almost half of our total) to come from Harper, McCarthy and Puryear. I'm guessing the other team may have been undersized? I'm also surprised to see only 14 TO and they had 17 steals. 2 for 17 from three is concerning....maybe the different ball affected this? Probably not the toughest of competition.....still good to see a dominant win.

 

[MichaelRR]

Some interesting (to me) observations from the box score:

4 of our starters combined for 21 pts, 10 rbs, and 11 assists in 72+ minuites
Harper had 17 pts, 8 rbs, and 0 assists in only 15 minutes
Puryear had 9 pts, 5 rbs, 0 assists but drew the most fouls of any player with 4 in only 14 minutes outscoring all starters but Harper
McCarthy had 15 pts, 9 rbs to lead team and no assists in 14 minutes
The remaining 3 transfers played a combined 40 minutes and got 17 points 7 rbs and 1 assist
Layden went 1-3 from 3 pt range but took no other shots and finished with 3 pts, 2 rbs, 2 assists in 14 plus minutes
A Reynolds went 0-2 from the field, 1-2 from the line, for one point 3 assists and 2 rebounds in 16 minutes

Our three biggest girls went off for a combined 16-22 and 41 points. but Bass was nearly invisible at 4 points on 2-5 shooting, 4 rbs, and 1 assist playing over 20 minutes.

Smith and Jones, our starting back court combined for 10 points, 5 rbs and 8 assists in over 32 minutes of playing time.

Lana McCarthy was one of only two boilers not in double digits in =/- at only +3

Lombard was highest at +24 I know its mostly a garbage stat, but those two differences intrigue me as to what it MIGHT mean for defensive prowess of the two players.

 

[Russ Ford]

Game 2 is later today at 2pm ET. I hope this team is a little better than the first one. I'm not sure we gain a lot from a 34 point blowout.

 

[Russ Ford]

Boilers win 93-41. I guess this team was made up of local high school players ages 16-20. I was hoping for a better level of competition.

Next game is Tuesday at 3:15pm ET.

 

[MichaelRR]

If the coaches wanted better competition, they would not have chosen Spain

 

[Russ Ford]

Yeah it kind of seems this was more about the trip and less about the basketball. Which is ok I guess. I would have preferred a tougher schedule. But I also can see the value of the team bonding. Especially with all the new players.

 

[MichaelRR]

Box Score Purdue at Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto 01 August (3) - Purdue Boilermakers

Box Score Purdue at Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto 01 August (3)

purduesports.com

Analysis of second game box score:

Bigs mostly led the way again:
Lana 12pts, 13 rbs including 5 offensive, 1 assist and 2 TOs
Kendall Puryear 8 pts, 5 rbs, no A and 3 TOs
Alaina 9 pts, 6 rbs, 1 A and 0 TO
Reagan Bass 8 pts, 10 rbs, 2 A and 1 TO

Smith, Jones and Swanson did show up this game better though:
Sophie 13 pts on 5-9 shooting, 3-7 from behind the arc, 0 rbs, 1 A, 1 TO
Jones 12 pts on 5-5 shooting including 1 of 3 from behind the arc, 0 rbs, 2 A and 1 TO
Smith 11 pts on 5-10 shooting including 0-1 from 3, 3 rbs, 3 A, and 1 TO

We killed them in rebounding 51-22 which is a large part for our bigs getting so many points as it seems many/most are coming off offensive boards. With Alaina having such good games we can safely guess that its the poor level of post competition and not our players excellence leading to this type of disparity. Two games combined we out rebounded the opponents 102 - 58. I am happy the posts are getting some confidence building play, but I worry its going to quickly evaporate when they start the season and face even mediocre competition.

Other than Bass the other transfers are just filling space IMO:

Collier 6 pts on 2-6 shooting, including 0-3 from distance. 1 RB, A and Steal to no TOs. For the two games combined she is 5-15 from the field, 0-6 from distance, 4-4 from the FT line, 2 rbs, 2 A, 2 Steals and 1 TO. Anyone thinking she is going to be any help is really drinking the koolaid a lot IMO. And Gearlds needs to dial down that "best shooter she's even seen" BS a whole bunch IMHO.

Lombard 6 pts on 3-5 shooting, 0-2 from 3, 3 rbs, 3 A, 0 TOs for a two game total of 11 pts on 5-10 shooting 1-4 from 3, 7 rbs, 3 A, 2 TOs

Petree 5 pts on 1-6 shooting including 0-4 from distance and 3-4 fts, 3 rbs, 0 A and 1 TO for a two game total of 9 pts, 5 RBS, 0 A, and 1 TO

Amiyah still a non-factor as the nicest way of putting it
2 pts on 1-2 shooting, 2 rbs, 0 A and 4 TOs for a two game total of 3 pts on 1-4 shooting, 4 rbs, 3 A and 7 TOs

From Smith and Jones shooting numbers its pretty clear the drive to the rim was a 4 lane highway and the Portugese girls could not stop our quick guards from getting to the rim. Take their success this game with a huge pile of salt. We would have had better competition staying home and playing against McCutcheon, Harrison, and Jeff. Likewise don't get too excited about our posts doing well against 6' or less HS girls.... Beyond site-seeing and team building these games are pointless beyond the extra practices they give the team and coaches to work with.

We have 34 Assists total two games on 72 made baskets........ and 29 TOs.

 

[Boiler Up Time]

Box Score Purdue at Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto 01 August (3) - Purdue Boilermakers

Box Score Purdue at Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto 01 August (3)

purduesports.com

Analysis of second game box score:

Bigs mostly led the way again:
Lana 12pts, 13 rbs including 5 offensive, 1 assist and 2 TOs
Kendall Puryear 8 pts, 5 rbs, no A and 3 TOs
Alaina 9 pts, 6 rbs, 1 A and 0 TO
Reagan Bass 8 pts, 10 rbs, 2 A and 1 TO

Smith, Jones and Swanson did show up this game better though:
Sophie 13 pts on 5-9 shooting, 3-7 from behind the arc, 0 rbs, 1 A, 1 TO
Jones 12 pts on 5-5 shooting including 1 of 3 from behind the arc, 0 rbs, 2 A and 1 TO
Smith 11 pts on 5-10 shooting including 0-1 from 3, 3 rbs, 3 A, and 1 TO

We killed them in rebounding 51-22 which is a large part for our bigs getting so many points as it seems many/most are coming off offensive boards. With Alaina having such good games we can safely guess that its the poor level of post competition and not our players excellence leading to this type of disparity. Two games combined we out rebounded the opponents 102 - 58. I am happy the posts are getting some confidence building play, but I worry its going to quickly evaporate when they start the season and face even mediocre competition.

Other than Bass the other transfers are just filling space IMO:

Collier 6 pts on 2-6 shooting, including 0-3 from distance. 1 RB, A and Steal to no TOs. For the two games combined she is 5-15 from the field, 0-6 from distance, 4-4 from the FT line, 2 rbs, 2 A, 2 Steals and 1 TO. Anyone thinking she is going to be any help is really drinking the koolaid a lot IMO. And Gearlds needs to dial down that "best shooter she's even seen" BS a whole bunch IMHO.

Lombard 6 pts on 3-5 shooting, 0-2 from 3, 3 rbs, 3 A, 0 TOs for a two game total of 11 pts on 5-10 shooting 1-4 from 3, 7 rbs, 3 A, 2 TOs

Petree 5 pts on 1-6 shooting including 0-4 from distance and 3-4 fts, 3 rbs, 0 A and 1 TO for a two game total of 9 pts, 5 RBS, 0 A, and 1 TO

Amiyah still a non-factor as the nicest way of putting it
2 pts on 1-2 shooting, 2 rbs, 0 A and 4 TOs for a two game total of 3 pts on 1-4 shooting, 4 rbs, 3 A and 7 TOs

From Smith and Jones shooting numbers its pretty clear the drive to the rim was a 4 lane highway and the Portugese girls could not stop our quick guards from getting to the rim. Take their success this game with a huge pile of salt. We would have had better competition staying home and playing against McCutcheon, Harrison, and Jeff. Likewise don't get too excited about our posts doing well against 6' or less HS girls.... Beyond site-seeing and team building these games are pointless beyond the extra practices they give the team and coaches to work with.

We have 34 Assists total two games on 72 made baskets........ and 29 TOs.

Re: "Collier 6 pts on 2-6 shooting, including 0-3 from distance. 1 RB, A and Steal to no TOs. For the two games combined she is 5-15 from the field, 0-6 from distance, 4-4 from the FT line, 2 rbs, 2 A, 2 Steals and 1 TO. Anyone thinking she is going to be any help is really drinking the koolaid a lot IMO. And Gearlds needs to dial down that "best shooter she's even seen" BS a whole bunch IMHO."

Looks like somebody is quick to draw conclusions from a couple of meaningless games. IMO, it's way too early to make such an assessment. My guess is that the competition they've faced thus far is not that different from the NAIA. Everyone has days where their shooting is off. Two time NAIA player of the year with a 90-50-40 shooting track record over years of similar competition means more to me compared to stats from a couple of games.

 

[MichaelRR]

Apparently all it took to get Collier to hit a 3 was for me to shit talk her... LOL In Game three she hit 4-6 from range and 1-2 from inside the arc to lead the team with 14 points. She was the only player with 20 minutes played, McCarthy got 12 pts in 12 minutes and 5 O boards. Full examination of the box score for game 3 tomorrow when I have more time for it.

 

[MichaelRR]

Sorry this is later than expected, haven't felt really good the last two days. Starters were Jones, Collier, Swanson, Bass and McCarthy for game three. Collier finally found her stroke and his 4-6, 1-2 inside the arc to lead Purdue with 14 points in 20 minutes.Alaina had 13 in about 16 minutes on 5-9 shooting and 3-3 from the ft line. Both had 4 rbs. McCarthy and Petree tied at 12 pts for next in scoring, McCarthy on 6-9 with 5 O rbs and 6 total rebounds. Petree went 4-8 including 2-3 from range and 2-3 on fts in 17 minutes, McCarthy got 12 minutes of playing time.Jones got 10 pts on 4-9 shooting in 19+minutes and 3 assists to 2 TOs. Smith got 5 pts on 2-9 shooting including 1-1 from 3. Also 2 assists to 1 TO.

The weak link in all three games has been Amiyah Reynolds. Her scoring in 3 games has been 1 pt, 2 pts and 0 pts. She has played right around 15 minutes each game and really had no impact on the box score. She had 3 assists first game and 0 0 for the next two and 8 turnovers, 3, 4, and 1. McKenna hasn't shown out either. 3,1,3 with 9 boards, 2,2,5 five assists total and 2 total turnovers in the second game. Lombard and Bass neither one broke double digits in any game.

Swanson got 8 pts on 8 shots in game 3, going 2-7 from range.

 

[purduedavie]

Sorry this is later than expected, haven't felt really good the last two days. Starters were Jones, Collier, Swanson, Bass and McCarthy for game three. Collier finally found her stroke and his 4-6, 1-2 inside the arc to lead Purdue with 14 points in 20 minutes.Alaina had 13 in about 16 minutes on 5-9 shooting and 3-3 from the ft line. Both had 4 rbs. McCarthy and Petree tied at 12 pts for next in scoring, McCarthy on 6-9 with 5 O rbs and 6 total rebounds. Petree went 4-8 including 2-3 from range and 2-3 on fts in 17 minutes, McCarthy got 12 minutes of playing time.Jones got 10 pts on 4-9 shooting in 19+minutes and 3 assists to 2 TOs. Smith got 5 pts on 2-9 shooting including 1-1 from 3. Also 2 assists to 1 TO.

The weak link in all three games has been Amiyah Reynolds. Her scoring in 3 games has been 1 pt, 2 pts and 0 pts. She has played right around 15 minutes each game and really had no impact on the box score. She had 3 assists first game and 0 0 for the next two and 8 turnovers, 3, 4, and 1. McKenna hasn't shown out either. 3,1,3 with 9 boards, 2,2,5 five assists total and 2 total turnovers in the second game. Lombard and Bass neither one broke double digits in any game.

Swanson got 8 pts on 8 shots in game 3, going 2-7 from range.

Mila Reynolds injured? I agree about Amiyah, little concerning seeing those numbers.

 

[MichaelRR]

Mila Reynolds injured? I agree about Amiyah, little concerning seeing those numbers.

Mila and Poole both were held out because of injuries.

 

[Russ Ford]

I don't think Mila's injury is really bad. Coach Gearlds was quoted as Mila got a shot and would be shutdown for a couple weeks. Whatever that means. Lol. Poole's injury is more serious. A fracture in a bone in the foot. Could be out until well into the season. Coach did say that Jordyn Poole's last trip to the doctor was encouraging and maybe she could be back sooner than initially thought.

I put little stock in Amiyah Reynolds stats on this trip. As many have said, she has been out for over 18 months. There has to be some rust there. On top of that, Coach was quoted as saying they are taking it real easy with her. Slowly bringing her back up to full strength. I think they fully realize she is a big key to this season.

Some people are skeptical of the praise that Coach Gearlds puts on her. I've never seen her play. But I've read and heard the same kind of praise for her from Tim Newton, Mike Carmin and others. Those two guys have seen a lot of Purdue basketball. I trust their opinions.

 

[MichaelRR]

I don't think Mila's injury is really bad. Coach Gearlds was quoted as Mila got a shot and would be shutdown for a couple weeks. Whatever that means. Lol. Poole's injury is more serious. A fracture in a bone in the foot. Could be out until well into the season. Coach did say that Jordyn Poole's last trip to the doctor was encouraging and maybe she could be back sooner than initially thought.

I put little stock in Amiyah Reynolds stats on this trip. As many have said, she has been out for over 18 months. There has to be some rust there. On top of that, Coach was quoted as saying they are taking it real easy with her. Slowly bringing her back up to full strength. I think they fully realize she is a big key to this season.

Some people are skeptical of the praise that Coach Gearlds puts on her. I've never seen her play. But I've read and heard the same kind of praise for her from Tim Newton, Mike Carmin and others. Those two guys have seen a lot of Purdue basketball. I trust their opinions.

I'm sorry, but weren't you the one telling us Amiyah had been practicing with the team since February and would be way ahead as a rookie because of this? As to Carmin and Newton, those same guys have been gassing up Smith and Jones for years, but I am not seeing the results on the court in any kind of a consistent manner. Their job is to hype up the team, not necessarily to tell the truth, they are rabid homers that see the glass as always full all the time. And of course you take the European trip results with a grain of salt, you are little better than Carmin and Newton in the way you always gas up the lady boilers, whether there are obvious issues or not.

 

[DocRon]

Good analysis of Europe trip at Mike Carmen's blog on SubStack Here. I especially appreciate his saying “Not that playing three games wasn’t important because it was, but don’t put a lot of stock in the scores, the numbers, and other items on a stat sheet. Several players posted some nice numbers, but don’t lean on them as the gospel for how this season will play out.”
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