Playing Purdue

Boilerup · March 16, 2021

On 3/14/2021 at 9:38 PM, 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!

😳 wish I’d have scrolled enough to see your post before I did essentially the same thing only waaay more half assed than you haha. BTFU!!!

UNT 90 Grad · March 17, 2021

I like that the host looks like he’s wearing a UNT tie.

Coach Andy Mac · March 17, 2021

On 3/14/2021 at 5:43 PM, Gibbz said:

Don't wanna get too far ahead, but if UNT could pull off the miracle against Purdue they'd have a very winnable round 2 matchup against Nova missing their PG or 12-seed Winthrop.

^^^^^^

This guy is right - I had the same thought.

Coach Andy Mac · March 17, 2021

tjreese · March 17, 2021

17 hours ago, greenminer said:

INDIANA’S HALLOWED HARDWOODS

My introduction as a youngster to college basketball was in the first picture...Hinkle fieldhouse. I was attending games 60 years ago. I have a brother-in-law that played back then who has his picture located between (Bobby Plump---who the movie Hoosiers is about) and Gordon Hayward. That gym served for MANY years where the high school state championship was held.

Since Indiana went to class basketball, there has been quite a notice in attendance drop, but it still is a favorite and treated as such like Texas and football...and BTW, Texas as a state has been quite good to Purdue with football players over the years. Farther down in the link you can find Mackey Arena...where Purdue plays. It is an amazing site to watch a game as all seats are good as is the product...and noted for being quite loud! 😉 It has reached 116 decibels...close to an airplane!

For any interested the following link is a couple of minutes a few years ago in mackey when Purdue 11 beat Ohio State 2 to see how loud and involved the crowd is at mackey...which I assume is similar to football in TExas...except the noise bounces off the walls in mackey and can be deafening and intimidating to a team visiting...

just an example of Purdue game at home

Edited March 17, 2021 by tjreese

CMJ · March 17, 2021

Mackey seems similar to the Super Pit (though larger - ours seats about 10K). They were built around the same time, so that isn't exactly a shock. Unfortunately, we rarely see it more than half full, but it can get really loud in there.

BoilerMKT · March 17, 2021

2 hours ago, tjreese said:

My introduction as a youngster to college basketball was in the first picture...Hinkle fieldhouse. I was attending games 60 years ago. I have a brother-in-law that played back then who has his picture located between (Bobby Plump---who the movie Hoosiers is about) and Gordon Hayward. That gym served for MANY years where the high school state championship was held.

Since Indiana went to class basketball, there has been quite a notice in attendance drop, but it still is a favorite and treated as such like Texas and football...and BTW, Texas as a state has been quite good to Purdue with football players over the years. Farther down in the link you can find Mackey Arena...where Purdue plays. It is an amazing site to watch a game as all seats are good as is the product...and noted for being quite loud! 😉 It has reached 116 decibels...close to an airplane!

For any interested the following link is a couple of minutes a few years ago in mackey when Purdue 11 beat Ohio State 2 to see how loud and involved the crowd is at mackey...which I assume is similar to football in TExas...except the noise bounces off the walls in mackey and can be deafening and intimidating to a team visiting...

just an example of Purdue game at home

My favorite part of that is how for long stretches Verne and Clark don't even try to talk over it...just let it happen. BTW, my first college basketball game was also at Hinkle in 1970--Ball State at Butler.

Checked to see if Purdue and North Texas had ever played, thinking the answer was no. But, there was actually one at Mackey in December, 1970, which Purdue won 90-73. That would have been the first year post-Rick Mount.

The Super Pit also looks like a good place to see a game. I guess our two arenas are both going to be on TV the next couple of nights.

Edited March 17, 2021 by BoilerMKT

BoilerGal74 · March 17, 2021

On 3/15/2021 at 12:34 AM, Andrew said:

Only shoots 50% from the line. Did anybody try the late game fouls on him before he got set and went to work?

....Yep. Sometimes his FTs improve. Has gone 8-10 in second half when we really needed them so its a roll of the dice...For both us and the opponent.

tjreese · March 17, 2021

4 hours ago, BoilerMKT said:

My favorite part of that is how for long stretches Verne and Clark don't even try to talk over it...just let it happen. BTW, my first college basketball game was also at Hinkle in 1970--Ball State at Butler.

Checked to see if Purdue and North Texas had ever played, thinking the answer was no. But, there was actually one at Mackey in December, 1970, which Purdue won 90-73. That would have been the first year post-Rick Mount.

The Super Pit also looks like a good place to see a game. I guess our two arenas are both going to be on TV the next couple of nights.

I think George Theofanis (sp?) ex shortridge coach may have been there then. If, I'm right (and I haven't looked) Ill even impress myself. 😉 IF correct I think he had his high school player Oscar Evans back then. You are taking me back. I think I have posted before about my brother-in-law being asked what happened to Butler Basketball and he told them it was no longer a priority with a previous president and the president said we are going to bring them back. Yes, for any NT fans that see that red gym or Ass hall, that is home of our little brother (IU) and it is called Mackey south because it is south of the Purdue gym that Purdue also wins in.

BTW NorthTex-I said previously Texas was very kind to PUrdue with some football players give or take a few years from 2000 and the most celebrated one is

GOAT

BoilerGal74 · March 17, 2021

On 3/15/2021 at 1:02 PM, outoftown said:

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.

He’s not leaving Purdue until we finish the Dance. Team loves Shrew but Painter is prolific preparing his Assistants for HC jobs. We get great assistants but sadly for us they move along to HC jobs pretty frequently so not anything new. Would love to have hm for a couple more years though. Shrewsberry was an assistant at Purdue several years ago then went to Butler as Brad Stevens Asst Head Coach, followed Brad to the Celtics and then came back to Purdue to get ready for HC job inNCAA.

tjreese · March 17, 2021

On 3/15/2021 at 12:34 AM, Andrew said:

Only shoots 50% from the line. Did anybody try the late game fouls on him before he got set and went to work?

As Boilergal74 said he is capable of hitting them, but in a close game it "should" be a consideration if he is scoring at will. When he is really engaged and playing well his concentration level is focused and he can hit them...even when really tired. However, if not totally focused and a bit tired he is capable of missing as his stats show. You can usually tell by watching if he gets some arm lift on the ball before thrusting towards the basket he will make them, but if there is little lift and just flips his wrist...it will be a miss. He is VERY effective backing into the lane and going over his left shoulder for a jump hook in the lane. I suspect Simmon needs to deny because if Tre is focused and can get to where he wants it take a really physical player to keep him from getting there once he gets the ball. I think I saw that he gets about 39% of the touches...and he doesn't play the whole game and so that says...he is a focal point for Purdue.

His FT shooting has always been a concern for me in a close game, but for the most part it hasn't affected games like you might think it would.

tjreese · March 17, 2021

On 3/16/2021 at 5:03 PM, greenminer said:

INDIANA’S HALLOWED HARDWOODS

This is from a pay site, but I don't think I'm really doing any damage to the pay site with sharing this little tidbit about your coach from Matt-

"Matt Painter says North Texas does a lot of different things stylistically on defense and can change considerably from game to game, which might help Purdue or hurt Purdue. Gushed about Grant McCasland as a coach"

just wanted to share

greenminer · March 17, 2021

42 minutes ago, tjreese said:

This is from a pay site, but I don't think I'm really doing any damage to the pay site with sharing this little tidbit about your coach from Matt-

"Matt Painter says North Texas does a lot of different things stylistically on defense and can change considerably from game to game, which might help Purdue or hurt Purdue. Gushed about Grant McCasland as a coach"

just wanted to share

There’s a ton of Coach speak happening.

denton_days · March 18, 2021

Grant did an nice interview with Sicem 365 and talks about what he thinks of purdue. Worth a listen heading into to dance. Also Think we have to get Sicem 365 Radio to start covering UNT stuff, as they keep interviewing Ex-Baylor now UNT people.

https://f5s001media.blob.core.windows.net/audio/0042368-dugn-0.mp3

Cougar King · March 18, 2021

Wake me up when The Sweet 16 is here and all of the riff-raff is weeded out. Making the tournament is the easy part.

tjreese · March 18, 2021

1 hour ago, denton_days said:

Grant did an nice interview with Sicem 365 and talks about what he thinks of purdue. Worth a listen heading into to dance. Also Think we have to get Sicem 365 Radio to start covering UNT stuff, as they keep interviewing Ex-Baylor now UNT people.

https://f5s001media.blob.core.windows.net/audio/0042368-dugn-0.mp3

Interesting...thank you! There is a perception and have no idea how it was started...maybe due to the quick improvement of Baylor that Scott Drew might not be up and up, but your coach is respected and obviously thinks the world of Scott and so I found that of interest. Scott's father coached in Indiana for several years (Homer) and Scott's brother Bryce also a coach was a player and so the whole family was immersed in basketball. I didn't realize NT lost Rubin and that will be a blow if there are tight whistles everywhere forcing the bench for major minutes and not playing D is not NT's way and so that depth loss could be an issue...if not with Purdue, but the next game maybe. Anyway, most Purdue fans suspect a slow, grinding battle since I don't think NT gets into a scoring race with Purdue and it is easier to slow down a game than to force one faster.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow I think both sides believe that NT has the right coach that has won at all levels and that many good days lie ahead for North Texas. I didn't realize he may have been at Texas Tech with a potential overlap with Bob Knight.

denton_days · March 19, 2021

2 hours ago, tjreese said:

Interesting...thank you! There is a perception and have no idea how it was started...maybe due to the quick improvement of Baylor that Scott Drew might not be up and up, but your coach is respected and obviously thinks the world of Scott and so I found that of interest. Scott's father coached in Indiana for several years (Homer) and Scott's brother Bryce also a coach was a player and so the whole family was immersed in basketball. I didn't realize NT lost Rubin and that will be a blow if there are tight whistles everywhere forcing the bench for major minutes and not playing D is not NT's way and so that depth loss could be an issue...if not with Purdue, but the next game maybe. Anyway, most Purdue fans suspect a slow, grinding battle since I don't think NT gets into a scoring race with Purdue and it is easier to slow down a game than to force one faster.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow I think both sides believe that NT has the right coach that has won at all levels and that many good days lie ahead for North Texas. I didn't realize he may have been at Texas Tech with a potential overlap with Bob Knight.

Rubin is out, but I don't think many people were optimistic about him playing. We are really lacking in depth right now, but happy all our starters finally got some rest. I agree that UNT would have to really avoid the fouls. Denton really LOVES McCasland. We're really wanting to stay with him. A truly great coach.

denton_days · March 19, 2021

3 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Wake me up when The Sweet 16 is here and all of the riff-raff is weeded out. Making the tournament is the easy part.

cry about it, NIT. Keep our stadium warm while we're busy in Indy.

RiseUNT · March 19, 2021

3 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Wake me up when The Sweet 16 is here and all of the riff-raff is weeded out. Making the tournament is the easy part.

Weak

CMJ · March 19, 2021

4 hours ago, Cougar King said:

Wake me up when The Sweet 16 is here and all of the riff-raff is weeded out. Making the tournament is the easy part.

Nice to see you considered yourself riff raff for 30+ years.

UNTLifer · March 19, 2021

I have spent quite a bit of time in Indy for work the last couple of years and the Purdue fans are an example of what I discovered up there. Good, friendly people that love their basketball, and a little auto racing. Honestly, I am just ready for the game, and now I found out that I have been volunteered to help some people pack up to move tomorrow night at 6! I will be recording the game and staying off of here until after I can see the game. If you know me, please do not text me during the game.

BoilerMKT · March 19, 2021

55 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I have spent quite a bit of time in Indy for work the last couple of years and the Purdue fans are an example of what I discovered up there. Good, friendly people that love their basketball, and a little auto racing. Honestly, I am just ready for the game, and now I found out that I have been volunteered to help some people pack up to move tomorrow night at 6! I will be recording the game and staying off of here until after I can see the game. If you know me, please do not text me during the game.

Geez, that's worse than someone having the audacity to set their wedding date in the midst of March Madness. The people you're helping must be IU fans. They never have anything to do this time of year.

UNTLifer · March 19, 2021

9 hours ago, BoilerMKT said:

Geez, that's worse than someone having the audacity to set their wedding date in the midst of March Madness. The people you're helping must be IU fans. They never have anything to do this time of year.

I agree. Actually, it is a recently retired employee of mine that has moved to Wisconsin and was scammed by some movers. I agreed prior to the game day/time being announced.

Andrew · March 19, 2021

Are we all clear on the Covid front?

I have heard some teams have had positive tests as early as yesterday pop up for starters.

Are we in the clear?

xyresic · March 19, 2021

52 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Are we all clear on the Covid front?

I have heard some teams have had positive tests as early as yesterday pop up for starters.

Are we in the clear?

Always with the concern trolling.

Throughout the season you are saying Coach can't develop talent.

We get in the tourney and you are saying we will lose bc Coach Mac can't recruit.

We win CUSA and you are writing about why our 10th man isn't playing and taking digs at Wise.

We make the big dance and you are asking if our guys have Covid.

They have been testing guys all the time and the team has its own hotel room floor and is being kept in a "bubble" - why even bring this up?