What's Purdue's getting in new 2015 commitment Ryan Cline? More of exactly what it needs.
When looking at Cline in context, perhaps the Boilermakers' single-greatest deficiency last season was decision-making. Cline's going to get the most acclaim for his precision shooting, but like Dakota Mathias, he's as good a decision-maker as he is a shooter.
He's intelligent, both off the court and on it, another log on the fire for Purdue as it looks to extinguish its tire fire of playing bad, sometimes silly basketball the past two seasons. Again, in context, what the Boilermakers need more than anything is guys who'll pass first, pass second and make shots third. And when they pass or shoot, they make the right pass or take the right shot more often than not.
It's simple stuff, but the simple stuff has been the hard stuff for Purdue lately.
In looking at Cline's potential worth, we're starting off here with decision-making, because it would seem like the most urgent of needs at this juncture, a year-plus before Cline can even enroll next June.
But he was recruited above all else for one obvious reason: He is an elite shooter. I mean, just a ridiculous shooter.
Kendall Stephens has a real chance to play in the NBA. Dakota Mathias could have played for Purdue this past season, a year early, and been one of its best shooters.
Yet, Cline might - might - walk in the door and be the Boilermakers' best pure, straight-up three-point shooter from Day 1.
His delivery's a little unconventional, but he can absolutely turn a game on its side with his shooting, very much able to make a bunch in a row, seemingly without the "streaks" most shooters are subject to. In the games we've seen, he's been incredibly consistent. As shooting volume goes down at the next level and the quality of the average attempt increases, so might that consistency.
Cline won't need to be a primary ball-handler at Purdue the way he's been for his high school and AAU teams, but what those roles have done for him is help tighten his ball-handling and sharpen the aforementioned decision-making.
He's not terribly quick and wouldn't qualify as a tremendous ball-handler, but when he's brought the ball up in the game's we've seen and been pressured by quicker players, no one's ever really disrupted him, let along taken the ball from him. I've seen him play probably 15 games this spring and doubt I've seen him turn the ball more than 10 times.
That falls under the umbrella of decision-making but also speaks to his ability to handle, which isn't what he was recruited specifically for by Purdue, but simply gravy if he can do it at a credible level in college.
Cline will play away from the ball in college, where his ability to come off screens will take center stage. That's something he really excels at now, his ability to use screens to generate shots. It must have a dozen times in the games I saw this spring, where he popped to the top of the arc off a simple down screen to splash a three. Basic stuff that won't be quite so easy in the Big Ten, but also something not all shooters learn very well in high school. Cline's been well coached not only to make shots but get shots. Might credit dad for that.
Cline is not a high-level athlete, nor is he particularly quick. He will struggle to guard in space, an issue Purdue will run into with some other guys on its roster moving forward, too. Like Ryne Smith, though, you hope if you're Purdue his intelligence and savvy can help make him a passable man defender, though Smith was better than just passable late in his career. Cline will really have to work hard on defense, though, to overcome some deficiencies there.
But the thought is what he provides on offense trumps what he won't - at least not immediately - on defense and Cline will fit well.
That's the operative term here: "Fit."
The guess here is that Purdue didn't recruit a star on Monday. It didn't land a commitment from a pro. But it did get a player who'll fit well in the context of team-building, stockpiling skill and hording intangibles.
I don't think there's a blue-print in place for what Purdue is trying to build with these recent classes, but the trio of Stephens, Mathias and Cline projects to be comparable to that Smith-D.J. Byrd-Robbie Hummel trio of shooters from a few years ago, the difference being, however, that Hummel played the 4, adding a much different dimension than this group could.
That team won largely on its shooting.
But it won even more off its decision-making.
In Cline, Purdue gets both.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
Ryan Cline video
When looking at Cline in context, perhaps the Boilermakers' single-greatest deficiency last season was decision-making. Cline's going to get the most acclaim for his precision shooting, but like Dakota Mathias, he's as good a decision-maker as he is a shooter.
He's intelligent, both off the court and on it, another log on the fire for Purdue as it looks to extinguish its tire fire of playing bad, sometimes silly basketball the past two seasons. Again, in context, what the Boilermakers need more than anything is guys who'll pass first, pass second and make shots third. And when they pass or shoot, they make the right pass or take the right shot more often than not.
It's simple stuff, but the simple stuff has been the hard stuff for Purdue lately.
In looking at Cline's potential worth, we're starting off here with decision-making, because it would seem like the most urgent of needs at this juncture, a year-plus before Cline can even enroll next June.
But he was recruited above all else for one obvious reason: He is an elite shooter. I mean, just a ridiculous shooter.
Kendall Stephens has a real chance to play in the NBA. Dakota Mathias could have played for Purdue this past season, a year early, and been one of its best shooters.
Yet, Cline might - might - walk in the door and be the Boilermakers' best pure, straight-up three-point shooter from Day 1.
His delivery's a little unconventional, but he can absolutely turn a game on its side with his shooting, very much able to make a bunch in a row, seemingly without the "streaks" most shooters are subject to. In the games we've seen, he's been incredibly consistent. As shooting volume goes down at the next level and the quality of the average attempt increases, so might that consistency.
Cline won't need to be a primary ball-handler at Purdue the way he's been for his high school and AAU teams, but what those roles have done for him is help tighten his ball-handling and sharpen the aforementioned decision-making.
He's not terribly quick and wouldn't qualify as a tremendous ball-handler, but when he's brought the ball up in the game's we've seen and been pressured by quicker players, no one's ever really disrupted him, let along taken the ball from him. I've seen him play probably 15 games this spring and doubt I've seen him turn the ball more than 10 times.
That falls under the umbrella of decision-making but also speaks to his ability to handle, which isn't what he was recruited specifically for by Purdue, but simply gravy if he can do it at a credible level in college.
Cline will play away from the ball in college, where his ability to come off screens will take center stage. That's something he really excels at now, his ability to use screens to generate shots. It must have a dozen times in the games I saw this spring, where he popped to the top of the arc off a simple down screen to splash a three. Basic stuff that won't be quite so easy in the Big Ten, but also something not all shooters learn very well in high school. Cline's been well coached not only to make shots but get shots. Might credit dad for that.
Cline is not a high-level athlete, nor is he particularly quick. He will struggle to guard in space, an issue Purdue will run into with some other guys on its roster moving forward, too. Like Ryne Smith, though, you hope if you're Purdue his intelligence and savvy can help make him a passable man defender, though Smith was better than just passable late in his career. Cline will really have to work hard on defense, though, to overcome some deficiencies there.
But the thought is what he provides on offense trumps what he won't - at least not immediately - on defense and Cline will fit well.
That's the operative term here: "Fit."
The guess here is that Purdue didn't recruit a star on Monday. It didn't land a commitment from a pro. But it did get a player who'll fit well in the context of team-building, stockpiling skill and hording intangibles.
I don't think there's a blue-print in place for what Purdue is trying to build with these recent classes, but the trio of Stephens, Mathias and Cline projects to be comparable to that Smith-D.J. Byrd-Robbie Hummel trio of shooters from a few years ago, the difference being, however, that Hummel played the 4, adding a much different dimension than this group could.
That team won largely on its shooting.
But it won even more off its decision-making.
In Cline, Purdue gets both.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2014. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
Ryan Cline video
