Purdue Conference Preview

Purde Basketball started the year with high hopes aand a lot of freshman stepping into big roles. Throughout the season so far there have been highs and lows but ultimately we can see the potential for growth. Purdue started the year down to 9 scholarship players with EHJ and Dowuona injured.

They headed to Florida for the space coast challenge. They started strong with a good win over a tough Liberty squad. Then were harrassed by the pressure of Clemson and fell in the championship game of the Challenge. The Challenge showed that Edey was ready to play along with Newman and Ivey showing some real flashes. Ivey unfortunately went down with a foot injury that held him out for the rest of the nonconference games. While the loss showed that we needed to work on handling thee press (seems like thats a continuos problem) two of our best ballhandlers were out that game.

Next we had two cupcake games. Against Oakland we started slow and then hit full gear with an offense that moved the ball and hit open shots all game. Then Valpo came and even when the offense ran smoothly the shots were not falling. The team leaned into the veterans to get to the line and make sure the game was a win even with a subpar performance. These two games showed the ultimate potential but also the tough times that come with a young but talented team.

In the B1G ACC challenge we saw the tale of two halves. Purdues defense was tout and the offense made the most of the size advantage down low. The second half showed that not being able to stop drives to thew baskets our bigs will get in foul trouble as both Edey and Williams fouled out. Free throws and falling in love with the 3 killed all the good work of the first half.

The game against ISU showed some more positives along with aareas of improvement. Turnovers and missing free throws are the two biggest things that need to improve for a successful season. Purdue pounded the ball down low all game with Williams dominating in the post. The veterans are continually looking like they are the ones to trust with the lineup finishing the game being Hunter, Thompson, Stefanovic, Wheeler, and Williams. Honestly while this game was closer than it should have been I think the offense in this game is what will lead to a successful season. Most games Purdues advantage is going to be in the post and the continuous effort to get the ball down low paid off.

With one game remaining against ND Purdue begins B1G play Wednesday against OSU. The B1G looks to be even deeper than last year and easily the best conference in the Nation right now. For Purdue to be successful they really need to play their best on a nightly basis. Purdue will have an advantage down low even against most of the B1G. Purdue needs to continually focus on getting the ball in the post. Williams will either score or make the right pass as he gets into the groove again. Our guards need to show improvement and shot making to space the floor. If Purdue can do that, they will grow into one of the better offensive groups in the B1G. Now on the defensive end there is a lot more room for improvement. Without Eastern we lack a lockdown defender and while Hunter and Newman have shown flashes as solid defenders they still leave a lot to be desired. Without time to meld as a team on defense you can see they are still learning when to switch and when to help weakside. Without Haarms they also don't have a bonfide defender down low. To get this defense to a higher level they need to become more than a sum of their parts. That takes time they haven't gotten and will be tough to do during the season.

All in all I see this group taking its lumps this season, but also showing its potential and growing into a really solid team. At the end they'll be in the upper half of the B1G and getting ready to dance come tourney time (if there is a noraml 68 team tourney that is). I loko forward to seeing the progression and as always Boiler Up!.