what chances does Ryan Cline have of starting by January?

[koopmeister]

I agree Mathias wouldn't defend any teams PG, but I also wouldn't assume you take Davis off of a much larger offensive threat to fill the deficiency of DM...and that was my point. Only a few teams in the BIG do not have a very good to great shooting guard or small forward on their roster which is where you would naturally put him. Davis is most valuable not defending a PG for any prolonged period of time. I do not think the benefit would outweigh the cost on the other end of the floor. He also doesn't match up well defending better scoring PG's like Yogi and Tremble. He needs to be locking down Blackmon and Sulaimon imo. That's where he would thrive.

I am genuinely curious to hear what teams we would play in conference that would make sense to give up that much on the defensive side of the floor. We have two of the best defensive players in the league easily when they are able to stay within their defensive assignments.

 

[QuadBoiler2014]

Even if Mathias were to play point guard, he wouldn't defend point. That responsibility would belong to Davis. I also think that Purdue would need to play a pack line style of D to mitigate the quickness disadvantage.

Actually, when we played IU at home last year, Mathias was guarding Yogi a lot of the time, and did it pretty well. That was the moment I stopped thinking as Mathias as a liability and more of a decent defender.

He doesn't have great length or speed but he does have phenominal IQ. That's how he contained Yogi a few times. Yogi was giving the head fakes and body throws to try to fool him and Mathias stayed right infront of him.

Mathias is by no means a great defender, but he is a decent one, good enough to make good decisions.

 

[BoilerDaddy]

Actually, when we played IU at home last year, Mathias was guarding Yogi a lot of the time, and did it pretty well. That was the moment I stopped thinking as Mathias as a liability and more of a decent defender.

He doesn't have great length or speed but he does have phenominal IQ. That's how he contained Yogi a few times. Yogi was giving the head fakes and body throws to try to fool him and Mathias stayed right infront of him.

Mathias is by no means a great defender, but he is a decent one, good enough to make good decisions.

Interesting. He caught my eye when he got switched onto DeAngelo Russell. He did a very good job and forced some tough, contested shots (that Russell somehow made, because he was second pick in the NBA draft good).

Maybe Mathias could defend the point for 5-10 minutes per game. Being healthy and having his deviated septum repaired should help.

 

[QuadBoiler2014]

Interesting. He caught my eye when he got switched onto DeAngelo Russell. He did a very good job and forced some tough, contested shots (that Russell somehow made, because he was second pick in the NBA draft good).

Maybe Mathias could defend the point for 5-10 minutes per game. Being healthy and having his deviated septum repaired should help.

My thoughts exactly. I wouldn't feel comfortable having him head up PG duties for very long but in small segments throughout the game, I feel ok.