Plenty of both young and experienced Purdue players next year with motivation and room for improvement. Team chemistry looks to be a bonus catalyst for improvement and teamwork.
Who are you most interested in watching improve next year?
- Thread starter boilernuke
- Start date
I'll go with a few...
1. AJ Hammons. While he certainly made improvements and became more consistent, there were still times where he disappeared. And quite frankly, he has the capacity to be a 15+ ppg guy. Can he put together a complete season? He needs to be our Kaminsky that can take over games. And if he can improve his hands, can be a great a great asset in passing (he's a pretty decent passer).
2. Kendall Stephens. His defense really improved this past year and hopefully he can stay injury-free. If he can continue to improve defensively and shoot at the 40% clip he was - he could be really dangerous. In addition, he put forth an effort to not just shoot 3s, and if he can improve his driving and "closer" shooting, that should be great for him as he'll be tough to guard with his size.
3. PJ. He really showed some great flashes and whether we bring in a PG or not, he will still be getting some PT. If he gets in the weight room, gets a bit quicker and gets a consistent shot down, he will be solid.
4. Dakota. He showed a ton of improvement and hopefully like Stephens, if he stays injury free he can be another 40% 3 point shooter. Would love to be able to have Stephens and Mathias out there at the same time some.
It's kinda amazing to refer to a 38% 3 point shooter as having a sophomore slump. While he certainly lacked consistency, he still performed pretty well. But I agree that he could really be a star for us.
Granted, I have not really seen him play and none of us have seen really how he stacks up now, but he'd have to be pretty good to break into a line-up now that Hammons is coming back. Certainly has an opportunity, but who do you take off the floor to have him play?
Edwards will need to rest. It would be great if Taylor could back up the four and also play some five if Painter wants to go small or quicker. Either way he's a frosh in eligibility.
Taylor! I really think this kid is going to be a diamond in the rough. IF (big if) he can stay healthy, I think he'll be a fan favorite within 2 years.
My #1 is Edwards. I feel like he has the most upside on the roster and is a genuine basketball talent.
I want to say AJ too but I feel like I already know who he is. He's been a starter for 3 years and while he made improvements to his game, I just don't see where a major jump will come from. I think he might become more consistent but I think he's going to have a similar season. So I'll go with Davis. I think Davis has all the tools to be a great offensive asset. In a way he's the most frustrating player to me because I feel like sometimes he's just too passive or timid. I still remember the game he had against ND. He needs to be -- and CAN BE -- that player in almost every game.
Next would be Stephens. He has the body and quickness to be a decent defender and an offensive player with multiple weapons but his soph year was a disappointment to me. Defensively he needs to get more active. Offensively, while he shot well "on average" from the 3, he shot pretty bad if you look at his median shooting %. I believe it's around 30%.
I'm much less excited about PJ and Taylor. Yes, PJ was a freshman but he was one of the least impressive freshmen we've had in a while. I know nothing about Taylor's game, but Painter doesn't really redshirt freshmen who are impact players.
I want to say AJ too but I feel like I already know who he is. He's been a starter for 3 years and while he made improvements to his game, I just don't see where a major jump will come from. I think he might become more consistent but I think he's going to have a similar season. So I'll go with Davis. I think Davis has all the tools to be a great offensive asset. In a way he's the most frustrating player to me because I feel like sometimes he's just too passive or timid. I still remember the game he had against ND. He needs to be -- and CAN BE -- that player in almost every game.
Next would be Stephens. He has the body and quickness to be a decent defender and an offensive player with multiple weapons but his soph year was a disappointment to me. Defensively he needs to get more active. Offensively, while he shot well "on average" from the 3, he shot pretty bad if you look at his median shooting %. I believe it's around 30%.
I'm much less excited about PJ and Taylor. Yes, PJ was a freshman but he was one of the least impressive freshmen we've had in a while. I know nothing about Taylor's game, but Painter doesn't really redshirt freshmen who are impact players.
I think there is a thread about this below from Nage. Here is what I said there..as I want the TEAM to improve offensively - not any one player per say.....
#1 The guards we have need to work on improving attacking the lane....they need to be quicker off the dribble and more decisive in the lane. Lastly, they need increased strength to finish around the lane. Octeus Prime was able to do this. Next year, we need DM, PJT, KS & GW to be able to score more around the rim and create offense for others when that shuts down.
#2 With Cline, Mathias and to some degree Stevens we need all the guys to work on screening for the shooter and the shooters on working their man into the screen. We could create a lot of offense through improved screening and use of screens.
#3 Coach needs to work with Haas to keep his elbows from fouling others and getting position without using the arms...as it is his use of arms that get him in trouble arm fighting with others in the lane.
#4 PJT, Cline, Mathias, Davis, and Stephens need to work on extremely hard on increasing endurance as they will have to do a lot of moving and there were times they got gassed in the motion offense; Painter's strategy of making the other team work very hard & use tons of energy on D depends on guys who can cut continuously & relentlessly without getting gassed.
#5 Obviously, Hammons needs to work on strength in his hands, his handle and short range jumper to cut down on TOs and to increase offensive efficiency....there is no reason he should not be the league's most efficient offensive player as long as he cuts out shots over 15 feet.
#6 All these guys need to work on FTs.
#7 The guards need to work on beating the press through practice & by increasing their handle to increase ball security
Agree with you on the fact that Davis has shown true ability to simply take over a game, on both ends of the floor. However, I wouldn't say he has been timid or passive. He is a great motion offensive player in that he isn't going to look for his shot unless he truly has an opportunity OR the shot clock is winding down. This past season, any time the clock got to 8-10 seconds, you could see the other players looking to get Davis the ball so he could make something happen. There is no reason in Coach Painter's system to play hero ball (look at the Johnson's) until it is absolutely necessary.
If Hammons can get to 12-15ppg and Davis can do the same, you would be looking at an incredibly successful season as that would clearly open up the arc for Edwards, Mathias, Stephens, and Cline to operate.
38% from 3 is decent (I think 15-20 range in the conference) but 35% overall from the field needs to change. He's too good of a shooter and we have the inside presence to get him good shots. KS has a lot of potential and can be the biggest difference maker for this team in whether they are in the NIT/1 and done category or something special next year IMHO.
"We have all the pieces … everything we need right here," said Hammons, whose second-team All-Big Ten season and dramatic midseason turn were pivotal in Purdue winning 21 games and returning to the NCAA Tournament. "We just have to build on it."
Personally, as tight as this team is, I'm watching for everyone's improvement. As AJ said in that interview, Purdue can be a FF team.
I'd call 38% more than "decent". Being in the top 15 in the conference is a solid "good". I appreciate Stephens' attempt to expand beyond a 3 point shooter. While he didn't have a lot of success, continuing to build on that would be huge because he is a tough match-up.
I think next year is going to be fun. Both IU and PU have opportunities to be Top 15 type teams. Been a while since we could say that. It just sucks that they can't protect our rivalry and that we only play once next year. BS.
I can't believe Haas hasn't been talked about much here, he's the true future of this program and I need to see if he's going to be able to improve or if he's exactly what he's going to be for the next three years. Only thing keeping him off the court this year was himself. If he can fix those things and get some stamina, he still has the opportunity to lead this team to big things even after next year.
Well, I think if you're looking at specifically next year, there are certainly some "first string" guys that would have more of an impact. The improving he does into next year is gravy, but not really most important to the team.
It's in Bloomington next year. Hopefully we can meet in the B10 Tourney or something. I thought a good way to get around it would be to play you guys in the Crossroads Classic in addition to only playing you once in the B10. Someone told me that won't happen. Can't remember why.
When Purdue/IU played in Indy with the same scheduling quirk, I think it was a bit shaky of a situation. I think we played in W Lafayette that year, and then the game in Indy. But when it was us playing in Bloomington, there was no game in Indy.
I hate the Crossroads Classic, so glad that's not an option.
It'd be cool to play in Indy in Bankers Life and split the tickets 50/50.
I'll go with Hammons if for no other reason than that I'd like to see him rewarded for returning by moving up to a first round pick. I also want Purdue to be identified as a great destination for big men to develop.
Somewhere along the line, AJ developed into one of my favorite players to root for. He just seems like a down to earth, genuine guy who has been misunderstood, but is growing into a man. The relationship between Hammons and Haas has been particularly fun to watch.
I'd like to see him develop a stronger go to move and counter and I'd even like to see him show that he can consistently hit his jumper. I'd like to see him build on the success that he had in the second half of last season and take all aspects of his game to the next level. I'd also like to see him win Big Ten Player of the Year. Most importantly, I want to see him be the best player on Matt Painter's best team thus far.
I would love to see Smotherman shoot the ball better, i think better shooting would take him to another level
Very similar things were said about Jacob Lawson. Let's hope JT breaks through.
Lawson had the physical ability to be a good player, but it didn't work out for other reasons.
I don't know how much Taylor will contribute, but I would love to see him have a surprise impact..........things would get real interesting. I will be pulling for the young man. I know he will be part of the Boiler "Paint Protectors"!
True. But, I could cherry pick stats for lots of players in the same way. Take Yogi Ferrell, for example. Yogi shot 42% from 3 last year which is excellent, but take away his combined 8/13 against MVSU, Lamar, and New Orleans and his percentage is lower.
In fact, Yogi's drop in 3 point field goal percentage in Big Ten games was greater than Stephens'. Stephens shot 38% from 3 overall and 37% in Big Ten games while Yogi shot threes at a 42% clip overall and 38% in Big Ten games.
Another way that you could look at Stephens' three point shooting is to ignore the games after his finger injuries. If you take away the three games starting with the BYU game (when he dislocated his pinky) as well as the 10 games starting with the Iowa game (when he reinjured his hand and almost was shut down for a month for surgery), Stephens' three point shooting percentage for the remaining games was 44%. It is possible that a healthy Stephens would have shot close to 44% from three last season.
I'd like to see AJ and Haas cut down on their turnovers. I've always said AJ has good hands (he can catch the ball in traffic) but he doesn't have strong hands (gets it knocked away a lot). I think Haas gets fouled a lot and not called, I guess because he is so big, but gets it knocked away some. AJ also tries some risky passes.
AJ has tremendous feet for a big man. He can slide much better than Haas. Haas needs to improve in that area IMO I love the luxury of having them both, and think the Sweet 16 is a realistic expectation for next year, with the hope of going even further.
AJ has tremendous feet for a big man. He can slide much better than Haas. Haas needs to improve in that area IMO I love the luxury of having them both, and think the Sweet 16 is a realistic expectation for next year, with the hope of going even further.
I don't care about Yogi. And I'm not really cherry picking - just taking out the three in a row cup cakes at home.
To argue that Stephens had a good year by stats is crazy...the naked eye test will tell you something different. His sophomore year was disappointment - lets be serious.
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Yogi was just an example of a solid three pointer shooter they most fans are familiar with.
The way that I read your original post was that you were discrediting Stephens' 38% three point shooting as illegitimate (using stats) and I was showing why I wasn't buying it. Stephens' was a legit 38% three point shooter.
As far as whether Stephens overall season was a disappointment, I actual agree with you. I expected a better season from him. On the positive side, I thought that his defense and post entry passing were greatly improved over his freshman year, but I thought that he would add a mid-range game and he didn't and he had too many unforced errors. That said, he was pretty solid until the Iowa game when he reinjured his hand. In the stretch after the Iowa game he played very poorly in most aspects of his game (including making some head scratching plays) and the fan base seemed to turn on him. Still, by the end of the year he was playing much better and a very important contributor.
I really liked how hard he worked on offense down the stretch. He certainly gave Painter no reason to yell "move, move, move". It put a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.
