Playing Purdue

TheFranchise · March 15, 2021

This matchup excites me a lot just because Purdue is Mrs. Franchise's Alma Mater. It will be a fun one to watch!

MeanGreen2019 · March 15, 2021

14 hours ago, BoilerMKT said:

Greetings, Mean Green. Boilermaker here. Congrats on winning your conference! Thought I would stop by and familiarize you with the team you will be facing in the first round. I hope you will provide the same in return.

Starters:

Trevion Williams--6'10", 265, junior. Trevion made first-team all-B1G, averaging about 16 and 9. He is mostly a back-to-the-basket player with a quick first step and a wide variety of post-moves. Loves the jump hook over his left shoulder, but also likes to spin and hit the reverse layup. He is an elite rebounder and an elite passer for a big man. Very patient with double teams. He is an average at best defender and occasionally takes dumb fouls. He is a very below average free throw shooter despite having what looks like good form. Was backup center on the '19 Elite Eight team.

Mason Gillis--6'6", 230, redshirt freshman. Glue guy. Always seems to be around the ball. Most of his points come on putbacks or dives to the basket. Is a capable three-point shooter but not a volume one. Excellent free-throw shooter and makes them when it counts.

Jaden Ivey--6'4", 200, freshman. Future NBA player. Elite athlete. Got off to a slow start this year due to a foot injury but has really come on the last two months. Averaging 14 over the last dozen games. Great at attacking the basket and finishing. Is an improving 3-pt shooter and has been about 85% at the line on high volume over those same twelve games. Also a very good on-ball defender. He makes multiple plays per game that we haven't seen at Purdue since probably Glenn Robinson.

Sasha Stefanovic--6'5", 200, junior. Our best 3-point shooter and best post-feeder, which is very important in our offense. Can be stifled by really good defenders, but the attention he draws opens things up for others. Is capable of putting on the deck and finishing, but that's usually a last option. Average one-on-one defender, but is very important in the team defense concept. Backup 2 on the Elite Eight Team.

Eric Hunter, Jr.--6'4", 170, junior. Our best perimeter defender, having shut down some of the B1G's elite scorers. Generally a good decision-maker at the point. Is a very capable but often inconsistent scorer who is most comfortable in the mid-range pull-up game. Backup point on the Elite Eight Team.

Bench:

Zach Edey--7'4", 285, freshman. An absolute revelation. The #429 recruit in his class. Has only been playing basketball for three years after spending his youth playing hockey and baseball in Canada. Everyone expected him to redshirt, then he went out and scored 36 points in the first two games of the season vs. Liberty and Clemson. I saw someone refer to him as really slow, but he actually moves very well for his size, and when your wingspan looks like it covers the whole lane you probably don't have to be all that quick. Great hands and footwork, soft touch (except for when he's tearing down rims). Flushes alley-oops while barely jumping. Unlike Trevion, an excellent free throw shooter. He is not yet an elite shot blocker. Will generally just wall up to try to avoid fouls. And if drawn out high in P&R situations, he is pretty easy to get around. Is foul prone, but draws a ton of them, too. Finished the regular season with 21 and 20 vs. Wisconsin and Indiana in just 39 minutes.

Brandon Newman--6'5", 195, redshirt freshman. Our next best three-point shooter. Can score at all three levels, but most shots are from three. Good rebounder for a guard and pretty good defender. Started most of the season until the emergence of Ivey and the return of Sasha from COVID. Foul prone. Has not totally adjusted to coming off the bench. Had a 29-point game vs. Minnesota.

Aaron Wheeler--6'9", 205, junior. Message board whipping boy for most of the last two years as his shot wasn't falling like it did during his freshman season, but has found himself again over the last few games, dropping 7 of 11 from distance. Has always rebounded well and is very athletic. Began the season as a starter, but now splits minutes about 60/40 with Gillis depending on who's having the better night. Key bench contributor on the Elite 8.

Isaiah Thompson--6'1", 160, sophomore. Backup point. Provides some quickness and occasionally gets hot from three. Can be overpowered by more physical guards.

Offensive approach:

Purdue runs a mix of motion offense and sets that have options off of options off of options. Looks to play through the post most of the time, taking advantage of Williams one-on-one moves and passing ability and Edey's ability to obliterate the sun. They like to shoot the three, but have not made them at the rate they've grown accustomed to in recent years. Medium to below average pace. Have worked in more P&R this year because of Ivey's capabilities. Shot selection has consistently gotten better as the freshman have matured. Still a bit more turnover prone than a typical Painter team. Very good offensive rebounding team.

Defensive approach:

100% man-to-man. Not a pressing team, but will pick up the primary ball-handler for 94 feet. Switch almost everything. General philosophy is to force tough twos. Can be exposed by elite P & R teams, and the freshmen still make freshmen mistakes on that end. Also vulnerable to teams that have bigs who can shoot the three.

Miscellaneous:

The team does not quit. Won a game they trailed by 17 at half at Michigan State, and just went to overtime two days ago vs. Ohio State after trailing by 18 at half.

Won their last five and eleven of their last fourteen regular season games and finished 4th. At the beginning of the year, being on the bubble was a reasonable expectation, but the freshmen have played well beyond their years and the juniors have stepped into leadership roles. Playing with house money at this point. It's next year that should be really fun.

Again, don't know anything about NT. KenPom makes it look like you are very good defensively, very good at shooting the three and play at a Wisconsin pace, meaning you will force us to defend. Would love to hear your thoughts and looking forward to the game Friday.

Oh, by the way. We won't be allowed to play at Mackey Arena of course, but if the game is at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, recognize that is our auxiliary home court 🙂

Cheers!

Welcome to the board and thanks for the insight, it was definitely a fun read. Here is a run down of the team from my perspective.

Starters:

Javion Hamlet- 6’4” 193 ilbs starting guard and our best player. He is the engine that makes our offense run. He averaged something like 19/7/7 in the conference tourney and averaged 15/4/3 in the regular season. He also has range and can shoot pretty well from 3 at 36.2%. You will see a lot high screens so Javion can get in the paint and either create an open opportunity (he is an excellent passer and has great vision) or finish at the rim. He has a great floater and has integrated his step-back jump shot into the mix this season. He is truly a tremendous finisher and will find ways to contort his body to finish at the rim. When Javion stalls or gets tired, our offense is not the same and can struggle like it did for 8 minutes on Saturday. If we win on Friday, Javion will be a major reason why.

James Reese- 6’ 4” 167 ilbs guard. He complements Javion really well with his ability to spot up and shoot. He’s currently averaging 10.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg. You’ll see some sets called where he gets open off some off-ball screens. I think where he’s most valuable is his perimeter defense. He brings a high level of intensity and devotion to the defensive side of the ball. His help defense and rotations are quick and top notch. He has the quickness to cut off ball handlers to prevent them from driving and creating. He can be very streaky at times on offense and weirdly misses more open shots than contested shots.

Mardrez McBride- 6’ 2” 178 ilbs guard. He plays a lot like Reese and complements Javion well. He is a great spot up shooter and possesses the ability to finish at the rim when needed. He is shooting the three ball at a clip of 39.8% and is averaging 7.6 points a game. He isn’t as quick as Reese defensively on the perimeter, but he has active hands and will usually start some fast breaks with the steals he gets. He, like Reese, can be inconsistent from the field but he can also catch fire and completely change a game. He’ll be someone to watch in this game.

Thomas Bell- 6’ 6” 190 ilbs forward. He is our glue guy, especially on defense. While he is only 6’ 6” he is really athletic and plays like he is 6’ 10”. He is currently averaging 10.3 ppg and 5.7 rebounds on 52.9% from the field with a 39.5% 3pt FG percentage. His energy and motor on defense is contagious and is evident with his 1.2 bpg. He usually takes it inside where he’s most comfortable, but will take what the defense gives him. Last game WKU made him shoot from 3 and he struggled mightily until OT where hit that big shot to put us up.

Zach Simmons- 6’ 10” 239 ilbs Forward. This guy has been a foundation piece for the last four years. He was with us when we were awful and he has been instrumental in where we are today as a program. Simmons is averaging 10.5 ppg with 6.3 rpg on 64% from the field. He plays with his back to the basket and usually will get 5-10 plays a game where we throw him the ball down in the post and let him work. He is somewhat inconsistent on defense, but has improved in this area over the years to where he can hold his own against almost anybody. He did a great job containing a 5 star recruit and a hell of a player in Charles Bassey on Saturday. His matchup with Trevion Williams/ Edey will be the key matchup to watch for NT.

Bench:

JJ Murray- 6’ 1” 179 ilbs guard. He doesn’t show up on the stat sheet very much with only 2.7 ppg on 34.5% from the field, but this guy on defense is a pure dog. He isn’t the best defender, but he is a constant nuisance. Always in the face of his guy and is always contesting shots. He averages 1.2 steals a game so occasionally he’ll start a fast break and finish at the rim. He plays a significant amount averaging about 19.2 mpg.

Rubin Jones- He is out for the tourney I believe, but he played a massive role for us this season. Won’t get into detail here but he is someone we will be building our program around in the next couple of years.

Abou Ousmane- 6’ 10” 250 ilbs forward. If Simmons gets in trouble, you’ll see him pop in the game. He averaged 8 minutes a game and 3ppg on 55% from the field. He’s a freshman, so he is really raw but he has already come a long way from the beginning of the season. I don’t like him on Trevion on at all so if Zach gets in foul trouble we could be in major trouble.

Offense:

We like to wind the clock down and look for the extra pass. We unfortunately don’t run a motion, our system consists of on-ball and off-ball screens to get Javion the ability to create and allow our shooters to get open from three. We like to work inside-out as well when Javion is not creating. We’ll throw the ball down to Simmons to see if he can get a bucket or kick out for an easy three. Getting easy buckets at the rim first is our priority so we can open up the 3pt game. We did the opposite against WKU and we’ll have to do the same against Purdue. Our pace is glacial and we like it that way.

Defense: We run straight man regardless of who we play. We hedge hard on PnR and do a great job of limiting free trips to the basket. This team is known for taking charges to shift the momentum and create turnovers. Our energy is relentless and we crash the boards hard to make up for our lack of size. We didn’t double Bassey that much last game, but we’ve doubled post players before. It’ll be interesting to see how we handle Trevion. Our defense really starts by limiting drive and kick outs and forcing contested shots. Our defense has been the backbone of our entire team this year. The one thing we struggled with when playing Arkansas was limiting points in the paint by their bigs.

On another note, our team is not afraid of the big stage. We traveled to West Virginia on something like two days notice to play them. Coach Mac and the team aren’t scared of competition and actually thrive on it. We were leading WVU at half, were within a bucket or two of Loyola Chicago the entire time, and played just awful against Miss St. We were pretty even with Arkansas statistically, but we shot 15% from three and that buried us. We haven’t finished the big dog yet, but I don’t think it really matters to them.

Our team will come out excited to play with tons of energy, the question is will the offense be able to contribute consistently throughout the entire game.

I’m sure the rest of the board will agree or disagree with some, all, or none of my post, but this is my perspective of our squad this year. I look forward to the game on Friday and hopefully we can pull off the upset!

Edited March 15, 2021 by MeanGreen2019

MeanGreenTexan · March 15, 2021

@BoilerMKT Williams is going to be a load, but we've seen Simmons really shine against these kinds of guys:

Charles Bassey - C-USA Player of the year and likely draftee.
Derek Culver (WVU)- All Big12 1st Team.
Obi Toppin - you know who Toppin is. Naismith winner & lottery pick. Our game was likely his worst last year.
Carlton Bragg Jr. - All MWC, McDonalds All-American

All these guys were held WAY UNDER their averages against (or just flat outplayed by) Simmons over the past few years.

If Purdue is going to beat NT, it's going to be with stellar guard play. Just like most other tournament games.

outoftown · March 15, 2021

Looks like Purdue is losing one of its most important assistants, as he got hired to become Penn States new HC. Got no clue if and how this affects Purdue this week.

97and03 · March 15, 2021

Good look at the South region

greenminer · March 15, 2021

26 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

@BoilerMKT Williams is going to be a load, but we've seen Simmons really shine against these kinds of guys:

Charles Bassey - C-USA Player of the year and likely draftee.
Derek Culver (WVU)- All Big12 1st Team.
Obi Toppin - you know who Toppin is. Naismith winner & lottery pick. Our game was likely his worst last year.
Carlton Bragg Jr. - All MWC, McDonalds All-American

All these guys were held WAY UNDER their averages against (or just flat outplayed by) Simmons over the past few years.

If Purdue is going to beat NT, it's going to be with stellar guard play. Just like most other tournament games.

I'm not worried about Williams. We've done fine against top tier big guys.

What worries me is Purdues length every where else.

BoilerMKT · March 15, 2021

53 minutes ago, MeanGreen2019 said:

Welcome to the board and thanks for the insight, it was definitely a fun read. Here is a run down of the team from my perspective.

Starters:

Javion Hamlet- 6’4” 193 ilbs starting guard and our best player. He is the engine that makes our offense run. He averaged something like 19/7/7 in the conference tourney and averaged 15/4/3 in the regular season. He also has range and can shoot pretty well from 3 at 36.2%. You will see a lot high screens so Javion can get in the paint and either create an open opportunity (he is an excellent passer and has great vision) or finish at the rim. He has a great floater and has integrated his step-back jump shot into the mix this season. He is truly a tremendous finisher and will find ways to contort his body to finish at the rim. When Javion stalls or gets tired, our offense is not the same and can struggle like it did for 8 minutes on Saturday. If we win on Friday, Javion will be a major reason why.

James Reese- 6’ 4” 167 ilbs guard. He complements Javion really well with his ability to spot up and shoot. He’s currently averaging 10.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg. You’ll see some sets called where he gets open off some off-ball screens. I think where he’s most valuable is his perimeter defense. He brings a high level of intensity and devotion to the defensive side of the ball. His help defense and rotations are quick and top notch. He has the quickness to cut off ball handlers to prevent them from driving and creating. He can be very streaky at times on offense and weirdly misses more open shots than contested shots.

Mardrez McBride- 6’ 2” 178 ilbs guard. He plays a lot like Reese and complements Javion well. He is a great spot up shooter and possesses the ability to finish at the rim when needed. He is shooting the three ball at a clip of 39.8% and is averaging 7.6 points a game. He isn’t as quick as Reese defensively on the perimeter, but he has active hands and will usually start some fast breaks with the steals he gets. He, like Reese, can be inconsistent from the field but he can also catch fire and completely change a game. He’ll be someone to watch in this game.

Thomas Bell- 6’ 6” 190 ilbs forward. He is our glue guy, especially on defense. While he is only 6’ 6” he is really athletic and plays like he is 6’ 10”. He is currently averaging 10.3 ppg and 5.7 rebounds on 52.9% from the field with a 39.5% 3pt FG percentage. His energy and motor on defense is contagious and is evident with his 1.2 bpg. He usually takes it inside where he’s most comfortable, but will take what the defense gives him. Last game WKU made him shoot from 3 and he struggled mightily until OT where hit that big shot to put us up.

Zach Simmons- 6’ 10” 239 ilbs Forward. This guy has been a foundation piece for the last four years. He was with us when we were awful and he has been instrumental in where we are today as a program. Simmons is averaging 10.5 ppg with 6.3 rpg on 64% from the field. He plays with his back to the basket and usually will get 5-10 plays a game where we throw him the ball down in the post and let him work. He is somewhat inconsistent on defense, but has improved in this area over the years to where he can hold his own against almost anybody. He did a great job containing a 5 star recruit and a hell of a player in Charles Bassey on Saturday. His matchup with Trevion Williams/ Edey will be the key matchup to watch for NT.

Bench:

JJ Murray- 6’ 1” 179 ilbs guard. He doesn’t show up on the stat sheet very much with only 2.7 ppg on 34.5% from the field, but this guy on defense is a pure dog. He isn’t the best defender, but he is a constant nuisance. Always in the face of his guy and is always contesting shots. He averages 1.2 steals a game so occasionally he’ll start a fast break and finish at the rim. He plays a significant amount averaging about 19.2 mpg.

Rubin Jones- He is out for the tourney I believe, but he played a massive role for us this season. Won’t get into detail here but he is someone we will be building our program around in the next couple of years.

Abou Ousmane- 6’ 10” 250 ilbs forward. If Simmons gets in trouble, you’ll see him pop in the game. He averaged 8 minutes a game and 3ppg on 55% from the field. He’s a freshman, so he is really raw but he has already come a long way from the beginning of the season. I don’t like him on Trevion on at all so if Zach gets in foul trouble we could be in major trouble.

Offense:

We like to wind the clock down and look for the extra pass. We unfortunately don’t run a motion, our system consists of on-ball and off-ball screens to get Javion the ability to create and allow our shooters to get open from three. We like to work inside-out as well when Javion is not creating. We’ll throw the ball down to Simmons to see if he can get a bucket or kick out for an easy three. Getting easy buckets at the rim first is our priority so we can open up the 3pt game. We did the opposite against WKU and we’ll have to do the same against Purdue. Our pace is glacial and we like it that way.

Defense: We run straight man regardless of who we play. We hedge hard on PnR and do a great job of limiting free trips to the basket. This team is known for taking charges to shift the momentum and create turnovers. Our energy is relentless and we crash the boards hard to make up for our lack of size. We didn’t double Bassey that much last game, but we’ve doubled post players before. It’ll be interesting to see how we handle Trevion. Our defense really starts by limiting drive and kick outs and forcing contested shots. Our defense has been the backbone of our entire team this year. The one thing we struggled with when playing Arkansas was limiting points in the paint by their bigs.

On another note, our team is not afraid of the big stage. We traveled to West Virginia on something like two days notice to play them. Coach Mac and the team aren’t scared of competition and actually thrive on it. We were leading WVU at half, were within a bucket or two of Loyola Chicago the entire time, and played just awful against Miss St. We were pretty even with Arkansas statistically, but we shot 15% from three and that buried us. We haven’t finished the big dog yet, but I don’t think it really matters to them.

Our team will come out excited to play with tons of energy, the question is will the offense be able to contribute consistently throughout the entire game.

I’m sure the rest of the board will agree or disagree with some, all, or none of my post, but this is my perspective of our squad this year. I look forward to the game on Friday and hopefully we can pull off the upset!

Thanks for the overview. This is going to be a really interesting chess match. Your comment about Simmons inconsistent defense and the lack of comfort with his backup are worth noting. That will really get tested, because Purdue is the most post-heavy offense in the country. We look to enter the ball into the post on damn near every possession and there will be a focus on drawing fouls on Simmons. Williams draws 5.9 fouls per 40 and Edey 7.2. Would you go small ball with Bell as the 5? That could create issues for us. You'd have a hard time stopping anything inside, but if you were trading 3s for 2s you could gain an advantage for a while at least.

Defensively, we work hard to fight over the top of screens and do not hedge hard on them. If Hamlet can get into the lane all day, it will cause us a lot of problems. We try to force the ball to one side and keep it there. Once we get into rotations, a lot of freshman (and junior) mistakes start showing up.

97and03 · March 15, 2021

6 minutes ago, BoilerMKT said:

Thanks for the overview. This is going to be a really interesting chess match. Your comment about Simmons inconsistent defense and the lack of comfort with his backup are worth noting. That will really get tested, because Purdue is the most post-heavy offense in the country. We look to enter the ball into the post on damn near every possession and there will be a focus on drawing fouls on Simmons. Williams draws 5.9 fouls per 40 and Edey 7.2. Would you go small ball with Bell as the 5? That could create issues for us. You'd have a hard time stopping anything inside, but if you were trading 3s for 2s you could gain an advantage for a while at least.

Defensively, we work hard to fight over the top of screens and do not hedge hard on them. If Hamlet can get into the lane all day, it will cause us a lot of problems. We try to force the ball to one side and keep it there. Once we get into rotations, a lot of freshman (and junior) mistakes start showing up.

Conversely, what do you think the chances are you go big early to try to get our starting front court in foul trouble?

MeanGreenTexan · March 15, 2021

3 minutes ago, BoilerMKT said:

Thanks for the overview. This is going to be a really interesting chess match. Your comment about Simmons inconsistent defense and the lack of comfort with his backup are worth noting. That will really get tested, because Purdue is the most post-heavy offense in the country. We look to enter the ball into the post on damn near every possession and there will be a focus on drawing fouls on Simmons. Williams draws 5.9 fouls per 40 and Edey 7.2. Would you go small ball with Bell as the 5? That could create issues for us. You'd have a hard time stopping anything inside, but if you were trading 3s for 2s you could gain an advantage for a while at least.

Defensively, we work hard to fight over the top of screens and do not hedge hard on them. If Hamlet can get into the lane all day, it will cause us a lot of problems. We try to force the ball to one side and keep it there. Once we get into rotations, a lot of freshman (and junior) mistakes start showing up.

Part of what our guys really pride themselves on defensively is the ability to deny that inbound pass to the post from the outside. That's why those other top post players had such a hard time with NT. Those bigs didn't get the ball as often because the perimeter D was looking to keep the passes outside, and when they did, Zach is big enough and good enough to cause disruption to the shot.

I wasn't feeling very good until you mentioned that Purdue likes to go to the post "damn near every possession". That might work out well for NT as failure to get the ball inside could really frustrate your interior guys.

BoilerMKT · March 15, 2021

4 minutes ago, 97and03 said:

Conversely, what do you think the chances are you go big early to try to get our starting front court in foul trouble?

If by that you mean playing Williams and Edey together, I'd say almost nil. It happened a little bit briefly in the BTT game vs. OSU, but that was when Liddell for OSU had 4 fouls late. It doesn't work well defensively.

RiseUNT · March 15, 2021

Our guards can rebound and we don’t look to push. So if they try a big lineup I think we will be getting open looks all day and their rebounding advantage won’t be that great.

BoilerMKT · March 15, 2021

2 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Part of what our guys really pride themselves on defensively is the ability to deny that inbound pass to the post from the outside. That's why those other top post players had such a hard time with NT. Those bigs didn't get the ball as often because the perimeter D was looking to keep the passes outside, and when they did, Zach is big enough and good enough to cause disruption to the shot.

I wasn't feeling very good until you mentioned that Purdue likes to go to the post "damn near every possession". That might work out well for NT as failure to get the ball inside could really frustrate your interior guys.

I should clarify a bit and say we try to get them touches. With Trevion, that does not have to be on the low block due to his passing ability. There is a lot of dribble handoff action with Trevion handling the ball in the high post and hitting cutters to the basket. On low post feeds, our guards are big enough to be able to enter the ball most of the time, and if you devote too much attention to trying to eliminate it then either Ivey attacking or Stefanovic/Newman being open from three could become an issue. Again, fascinating chess match in store. Painter has a lot of respect for McCasland and knows how hard NT is going to play.

RiseUNT · March 15, 2021

The big question will be the refs. If Bell and or Simmons gets into foul trouble it’s going to be a quick tournament.

akriesman · March 15, 2021

9 minutes ago, RiseUNT said:

Our guards can rebound and we don’t look to push. So if they try a big lineup I think we will be getting open looks all day and their rebounding advantage won’t be that great.

Our guys do hustle. But, Purdue is going to get their points inside and a lot of 2nd chances IMO. We can win if we hit our 3's, play aggressive from start to finish and force occasional turnovers before they can post up.

I can't wait. It will indeed be a chess match.

akriesman · March 15, 2021

9 minutes ago, RiseUNT said:

The big question will be the refs. If Bell and or Simmons gets into foul trouble it’s going to be a quick tournament.

Spot on. This will be huge.

MeanGreenTexan · March 15, 2021

38 minutes ago, BoilerMKT said:

I should clarify a bit and say we try to get them touches. With Trevion, that does not have to be on the low block due to his passing ability. There is a lot of dribble handoff action with Trevion handling the ball in the high post and hitting cutters to the basket. On low post feeds, our guards are big enough to be able to enter the ball most of the time, and if you devote too much attention to trying to eliminate it then either Ivey attacking or Stefanovic/Newman being open from three could become an issue. Again, fascinating chess match in store. Painter has a lot of respect for McCasland and knows how hard NT is going to play.

Good Stuff!

Thanks for coming on and sharing some so we'll know what to watch for. Looking forward to it!

BoilerMKT · March 15, 2021

Just noticed you guys are in the same conference with ODU, so that will make it Purdue's second straight CUSA opener. In '19, we played the Monarchs in a 3-14 matchup, winning 61-48. It was not a thing of beauty. We had to adjust on the fly when our starting PG rolled an ankle in pre-game warmups. They held their own rebounding, but we kept them to 27% shooting. Game was tight for the first fifteen minutes, but the last five of the first and first five of the second saw us blow it to 20 and then just trade baskets the rest of the way.

All of which has nothing to do with the upcoming game. ODU profiled similarly to NT on defense, but was much worse offensively. And, Purdue was a much more 3-point reliant team in that season (remember Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline?). In terms of total points scored, however, I won't be surprised if this game is within the same range as that one.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · March 15, 2021

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

@BoilerMKT Williams is going to be a load, but we've seen Simmons really shine against these kinds of guys:

Charles Bassey - C-USA Player of the year and likely draftee.
Derek Culver (WVU)- All Big12 1st Team.
Obi Toppin - you know who Toppin is. Naismith winner & lottery pick. Our game was likely his worst last year.
Carlton Bragg Jr. - All MWC, McDonalds All-American

All these guys were held WAY UNDER their averages against (or just flat outplayed by) Simmons over the past few years.

If Purdue is going to beat NT, it's going to be with stellar guard play. Just like most other tournament games.

Zach had one of his best games in his career against Toppin. 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7/10 shooting. But I agree on the experience part. Williams will be tough, but the whole team needs to be contributing to help stop Eden and Williams on rebounding. Offensive rebounds and bad fouls will lose us the game

tjreese · March 15, 2021

19 hours ago, BoilerMKT said:

Greetings, Mean Green. Boilermaker here. Congrats on winning your conference! Thought I would stop by and familiarize you with the team you will be facing in the first round. I hope you will provide the same in return.

Starters:

Trevion Williams--6'10", 265, junior. Trevion made first-team all-B1G, averaging about 16 and 9. He is mostly a back-to-the-basket player with a quick first step and a wide variety of post-moves. Loves the jump hook over his left shoulder, but also likes to spin and hit the reverse layup. He is an elite rebounder and an elite passer for a big man. Very patient with double teams. He is an average at best defender and occasionally takes dumb fouls. He is a very below average free throw shooter despite having what looks like good form. Was backup center on the '19 Elite Eight team.

Mason Gillis--6'6", 230, redshirt freshman. Glue guy. Always seems to be around the ball. Most of his points come on putbacks or dives to the basket. Is a capable three-point shooter but not a volume one. Excellent free-throw shooter and makes them when it counts.

Jaden Ivey--6'4", 200, freshman. Future NBA player. Elite athlete. Got off to a slow start this year due to a foot injury but has really come on the last two months. Averaging 14 over the last dozen games. Great at attacking the basket and finishing. Is an improving 3-pt shooter and has been about 85% at the line on high volume over those same twelve games. Also a very good on-ball defender. He makes multiple plays per game that we haven't seen at Purdue since probably Glenn Robinson.

Sasha Stefanovic--6'5", 200, junior. Our best 3-point shooter and best post-feeder, which is very important in our offense. Can be stifled by really good defenders, but the attention he draws opens things up for others. Is capable of putting on the deck and finishing, but that's usually a last option. Average one-on-one defender, but is very important in the team defense concept. Backup 2 on the Elite Eight Team.

Eric Hunter, Jr.--6'4", 170, junior. Our best perimeter defender, having shut down some of the B1G's elite scorers. Generally a good decision-maker at the point. Is a very capable but often inconsistent scorer who is most comfortable in the mid-range pull-up game. Backup point on the Elite Eight Team.

Bench:

Zach Edey--7'4", 285, freshman. An absolute revelation. The #429 recruit in his class. Has only been playing basketball for three years after spending his youth playing hockey and baseball in Canada. Everyone expected him to redshirt, then he went out and scored 36 points in the first two games of the season vs. Liberty and Clemson. I saw someone refer to him as really slow, but he actually moves very well for his size, and when your wingspan looks like it covers the whole lane you probably don't have to be all that quick. Great hands and footwork, soft touch (except for when he's tearing down rims). Flushes alley-oops while barely jumping. Unlike Trevion, an excellent free throw shooter. He is not yet an elite shot blocker. Will generally just wall up to try to avoid fouls. And if drawn out high in P&R situations, he is pretty easy to get around. Is foul prone, but draws a ton of them, too. Finished the regular season with 21 and 20 vs. Wisconsin and Indiana in just 39 minutes.

Brandon Newman--6'5", 195, redshirt freshman. Our next best three-point shooter. Can score at all three levels, but most shots are from three. Good rebounder for a guard and pretty good defender. Started most of the season until the emergence of Ivey and the return of Sasha from COVID. Foul prone. Has not totally adjusted to coming off the bench. Had a 29-point game vs. Minnesota.

Aaron Wheeler--6'9", 205, junior. Message board whipping boy for most of the last two years as his shot wasn't falling like it did during his freshman season, but has found himself again over the last few games, dropping 7 of 11 from distance. Has always rebounded well and is very athletic. Began the season as a starter, but now splits minutes about 60/40 with Gillis depending on who's having the better night. Key bench contributor on the Elite 8.

Isaiah Thompson--6'1", 160, sophomore. Backup point. Provides some quickness and occasionally gets hot from three. Can be overpowered by more physical guards.

Offensive approach:

Purdue runs a mix of motion offense and sets that have options off of options off of options. Looks to play through the post most of the time, taking advantage of Williams one-on-one moves and passing ability and Edey's ability to obliterate the sun. They like to shoot the three, but have not made them at the rate they've grown accustomed to in recent years. Medium to below average pace. Have worked in more P&R this year because of Ivey's capabilities. Shot selection has consistently gotten better as the freshman have matured. Still a bit more turnover prone than a typical Painter team. Very good offensive rebounding team.

Defensive approach:

100% man-to-man. Not a pressing team, but will pick up the primary ball-handler for 94 feet. Switch almost everything. General philosophy is to force tough twos. Can be exposed by elite P & R teams, and the freshmen still make freshmen mistakes on that end. Also vulnerable to teams that have bigs who can shoot the three.

Miscellaneous:

The team does not quit. Won a game they trailed by 17 at half at Michigan State, and just went to overtime two days ago vs. Ohio State after trailing by 18 at half.

Won their last five and eleven of their last fourteen regular season games and finished 4th. At the beginning of the year, being on the bubble was a reasonable expectation, but the freshmen have played well beyond their years and the juniors have stepped into leadership roles. Playing with house money at this point. It's next year that should be really fun.

Again, don't know anything about NT. KenPom makes it look like you are very good defensively, very good at shooting the three and play at a Wisconsin pace, meaning you will force us to defend. Would love to hear your thoughts and looking forward to the game Friday.

Oh, by the way. We won't be allowed to play at Mackey Arena of course, but if the game is at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, recognize that is our auxiliary home court 🙂

Cheers!

********************************************************************************

Good job...tjreese here. what moniker should I recognize on GBI? I'll only add to what you said since I think you did a good job with the players.

I've watched the first half of the WKU game and that is all. Having scouted before, I know one game can be VERY far off and so I can be off. First NT seems to want to frt the post and bring help from weak side from 4 man mostly to prevent post feed. It isn't due to doubling, but sag. It appears they want to deny post feeds rather than defend after the ball enters. naturally Purdue will prefer to enter on top wiht a high low, or a quick reverse pivot and seal on their big (to not allow help) ...and if they sag to prevent and the ball is on top...hopefully they can hit a wing to baseline player that will be open with their sag. NT does a really good job of packing the lane and early in the game there was space to shoot and then they ramped it up a bit and extended to cover more like we would see in the big. Tre/Zach will have to ride them up high if they frt or seal as I said. On wing entry to the post it looks they will double down and dig.

It appears in teh WKU game they would lay off those that they didn't think they could shoot. With Purdue's stats they may lay off a lot, but I doubt that. I just hope Purdue doesn't fall in love with the 3 ball since I think there will be more space than usual to shoot it. THAT alone may be enough time for Brandon to find his stroke again. jaden will be scouted and so he will have to carefully pick his spots as to when he can drive, but everytime in a push and open court I look for him to finish at the rim. NT will pack the lane and hope to draw a charge, but that typically is not an issue for Purdue since they are not a dribble drive team, but something Jaden will have to stay under control. If Mason or Aaron struggle shooting and Purdue as a whole struggles, I'm not sure how many sets Brandon may know at the 4, but this might be a team for him to get going. NT is ready to push when they have an advantage and so it is important that Purdue have someone back (which they usually do) to slowdown the push.

NT is a very old team and even though they made some careless passes in the WKU first half(all I've seen so far) they are a very mature team. All I've seen is man D, but with their steals and block it speaks to athletes and the steals make me think they may at times press. To have steals with so many players...either the competition helped with that or they have a zone press or run and jump...because a strict man press would just have the offense clear out and give space I would think. Matt is on record saying they have a good coach tht he knows. I'm trying to go off memory a bit, but I seem to recall Old Dominion a couple of years ago as being similar? NT offense other than a pin down here and there actually starts with clearing out some space and then dribble drive to beat the man or kick out to a shooter. Somewhere in the game I look for them to play small ball and 5 out behind the arc. If they keep Simmons (6'9" kid?), Purdue will lay off him and not go out so high I expect. None of the shooters in the first half although effective shooting the ball seemed to be lightening quick on the release and wonder if Matt will go under some screens to keep them out of the lane wiht maybe time to cover the shot. Lastly, it looks like they have 3 left handed players which is a lot on a tea, I look for a physical battle between Bell and Mason. Overall basic thoughts, I think NT wants to keep ball away from Tre/Zach and hope they can recover on Purdue shooters and they have a bad game shooting. Purdue, play smart and not get into a foot race, and stop dribble penetration. I'm not sure how much offense NT can start without the dribble to break down the D. Well, there you have it...random thoughts from a guy that just watched one half and may be 180 off. 😉

Edited March 15, 2021 by tjreese
long original post

BoilerMKT · March 15, 2021

16 minutes ago, tjreese said:

TJ, I'm MTobin on GBI

tjreese · March 15, 2021

5 minutes ago, BoilerMKT said:

TJ, I'm MTobin on GBI

Just wanted to compliment you...you did a good job! 😉

RiseUNT · March 15, 2021

Take that nice crap off this board!

CMJ · March 15, 2021

I read the Boiler board, and I did wanna let tjreese know, that despite our steal numbers, we do not press. In fact, I'm not sure we've pressed at all this season unless in some sort of end of game desperation mode.

tjreese · March 15, 2021

1 hour ago, RiseUNT said:

Take that nice crap off this board!

mean green I see... 😉

tjreese · March 15, 2021

58 minutes ago, CMJ said:

I read the Boiler board, and I did wanna let tjreese know, that despite our steal numbers, we do not press. In fact, I'm not sure we've pressed at all this season unless in some sort of end of game desperation mode.

Thank you. How do you explain so many people with steals? It looks like your D is set to keep people out of the lane, more than pressure and yet you have a lot of steals by different postions and players? Do you find a lot of teams just dribbling or passing into places that there is no room to do so?