Which player will have a " surprise good impact" a lot to choose from.
- Thread starter Bleedinggoldandblack
- Start date
The biggest breakout year will be from a guy not on your list...Waddell. Mark it down.
I read that Waddell and TKR are both looking good in practice. So I wouldn’t be totally surprised if he garners some PT and TKR I believe will have a productive year.
My 3 are Jones, Smith, TKR
I think Jones will surprise a lot of people. Defense first guard who can score off dribble. Everyone balks at his 3pt percentage, but he's shot 35% plus on lower volume years. Upgrade over Jenk and maybe even gets Morty's minutes.
I'm all in on the Braden Smith train. Very, very very few true frosh PGs could handle those minutes as only primary ballhandler on a top 5 team and have those kind of numbers. His last game was bad, but season as a whole was pretty remarkable.
Painter said he regrets not playing TKR more. I'll take his word for it and if he gets more minutes I think he'll produce and be a top 5 production guy.
Furst is just ready to hit his stride too...
I really, really like this team.
I think Jones will surprise a lot of people. Defense first guard who can score off dribble. Everyone balks at his 3pt percentage, but he's shot 35% plus on lower volume years. Upgrade over Jenk and maybe even gets Morty's minutes.
I'm all in on the Braden Smith train. Very, very very few true frosh PGs could handle those minutes as only primary ballhandler on a top 5 team and have those kind of numbers. His last game was bad, but season as a whole was pretty remarkable.
Painter said he regrets not playing TKR more. I'll take his word for it and if he gets more minutes I think he'll produce and be a top 5 production guy.
Furst is just ready to hit his stride too...
I really, really like this team.
We could certainly use more shot creation at the 3 and 4 spots, so there’s an opportunity for someone to step up.
I think we know what we have there at this point… whereas with some of the younger guys we may have some more upside, hopefully?
Ya know, I kinda feel bad for Morton. Only guy whose name is not on the list. Maybe...throw him on as a dark horse?
Yes by some fans, like me.
No by the coach.....coach loves him some Morton! He thinks it's like looking in the mirror @ his younger days. And Morton will win some in season games for Purdue. So there's that.
I picked Edey, no one is gonna see it coming! NPOY candidate... book it ;-)
Won't give me another spot for some reason!!! watch hell avg 18, assists like crazy....and defensive star. 🤪Ya know, I kinda feel bad for Morton. Only guy whose name is not on the list. Maybe...throw him on as a dark horse?
Well let's put TKR,Furst in the paint, Berg, Gillis, Edey as PF shooting 3's, and guards in rotation .....Edey needs to show NBA he can drop 3s ....how would you guard that lineup....🤣🤣🤣🤣
Purdue has a long history of guys stepping up and being "all that they can be" as seniors after being bench or low rotation guys.
Seeing your career come to an end so much quicker than you expected (seemingly) does do that to some motivated types.
not saying that's Ethan but given his work ethic it certainly wouldn't surprise me.
I'd expect Smith and Loyer to be at the top of this list. Big time competitors that got beat up (literally) last year and are going to bring FIRE to their games.
Hoping Heide has something to say about it.
As he should be. He's a solid role-player, but not gonna make deep runs in March with him playing heavy minutes.
He offers something that Morton doesn’t offer at the 2/3. Kid is a baller. Not sure where else his minutes come from but Painter needs to go against his gut this year and shake things up. No more sacred cows for lineups.
The original question can provide multiple answers from the same person depending on "surprise good impact" meaning to each. I can name the returning players, but will they be a surprise to others? I could add Myles and Camden, but don't we already expect an impact?
I answered Brian Waddell because nobody has talked about him playing. Some thought he needed to transfer, some others didn't think he was Big material. He is in a log jam at the 3 and minutes will be hard to get. There were a lot of reasons for people to not expect him to get off the bench in their minds. That said, it is my understanding that he has worked in hope of meaningful minutes before the word got out that he has played well in practice. If he gets meaningful minutes...which won't surprise me I think he is the surprise good impact, since very few expected anything.
To boil it down: I have no doubt about Morton’s work ethic, but I think we will see a player this year that is pretty similar to what we’ve seen his first 3 years. And I hope that someone else is better than that.
I hope so too. But I know that it could be him taking that step just as well. As I noted, long history of guys that weren't factors before becoming them as srs. Not sure why you expect the same player.
This is a nice way to put it. Not questioning the kids worth ethic or desire, but we have a pretty clear picture of what he brings to the table after 3 years. He could very well be that awesome piece off the bench to shut someone down when he doesn't have to worry about fouls if he isn't expected to play 20+ minutes.
And a longer history of guys whose senior years were “pretty similar” to their junior years.
You're probably right. I just don't get why some fans are so eager to write Ethan off. Last year was his first year playing more than 15 mpg and he struggled to shoot the ball despite getting great looks all year. The year before he shot over 44% on similar looks. I have no idea whether last year or the year before were the outlier but I hope he can get it fixed.
I hope he gets back to shooting better too. You could clearly see his confidence was down a little last year. Really need the better shooting Ethan. Pretty sure he's going to be on the court quite a bit.
I’m going with Loyer. Had a nice first year, but I would guess his goal and intention is to be great all season long this season.
In many years I would agree with you but I wouldn't be surprised if we only see glimpses of what Trey can become this season before his big breakout year next season.
I think it's Braden this year because he had all the tools already last year, if the game slows down for him a bit this year and he can break a few bad habits I think he's a second or third team all conference type player.
The 44% is thrown around a lot but he only made 15 on 34 attempts that year. A pretty small sample size. He shot nearly three times as many threes last year. He should be able to improve on the 28% he shot last year but I would be surprised if he shoots much higher than 35% this year.
Let's see who we have in the back court.
Smith
Loyer
Jones
Colvin
Heide
Morton
Waddell
That's 7 guys for three positions. By January, 5 will play. I would think Smith, Loyer and Jones are locks. Jones...only because we don't have anyone else to backup Smith. So pick two from this bunch.
Colvin
Heide
Morton
Waddell
If Waddell is playing two of the other three guys will literally be getting zero minutes after January 1st. I can't see it. I suppose its possible but..."Mark it down"?
I agree but the problem is where does he get minutes? Same players, same situation as last year. He's not going to take minutes from Zach and is he a better fit at the 4 than Furst or Gillis? Tough situation. If Zach hadn't come back TKR would be my choice.
Certainly a smaller sample size introduces the possibility of greater randomness but the minimum sample size for a normal distribution is generally considered to be around 30, so it would be unlikely that he hit 44% purely on luck.
He shot 33.3% on 54 attempts in Big Ten play last year, so I doubt that 35% is his ceiling but I would certainly be surprised if he shot 44% again on higher volume. Shooting 40% or better on 50+ attempts would be a major win for Ethan and the team, shooting in the mid to high 30's seems like a more realistic goal to me, but it's all speculation until we see some real data starting with the summer trip.
Heide or Furst. I dont see a major Kaufman breakout until Edey is gone. One more year for him. I dont think I can vote for Smith considering he will be a top 3 guard in the big ten going into the season expectation wise already.
Really good points.
- Agree that Smith, Loyer and Jones are essentially locks.
- Have heard reports that Waddell has been very good. Has he been better than Heide? Seems like that's an either / or situation.
- I would be very surprised if Morton doesn't play, particularly if he's shooting the ball at a decent clip (35%+ from three).
- Given the points above, I don't know how they get down to 7 players at the 1 through 3 unless Colvin redshirts. Not saying that will happen, but if he doesn't I think MP has to find a way to play 8. That may mean that we see more guys who end up with DNP-CD based on lineups and how they're playing. That's not something that MP has done much of in the past, he likes consistent lineups.
You mean like dribble drive, a better handle, quickness & shooting?
All those would be welcomed whomever provides it. Waddell? We will see.
I hope Zach coming back doesn't increase the changes of TKR leaving after this year, especially if he continues to get limited minutes.
I know you're not thinking it happens. But I still have to say that is the first time I have seen anyone even mention Colvin and Redshirt in the same sentence. No way that is happening. He brings the one thing that this team so badly lacks (athleticism). If he's not starting or at the very least, playing major minutes, we have a story.
