Purdue Defeats Marian in Exhibition Primer
By KEITH CARRELL
@BoilerColts
ISL Purdue Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue hosted Marian for their lone exhibition contest of the season Thursday night in Mackey Arena where the Boilermakers won 75-56. The game featured some of what Purdue fans have grown accustomed with things like employing a token press on inbounds plays, running a motion offense, deploying a switching-man defense, and Matt Haarms brushing his hands through his hair with frequency, but the contest also offered a few glimpses into what Purdue will be this season and for the next couple of years.
One of the big questions was answered in who would start at the forward positions this year as Painter rolled out a starting lineup featuring Haarms, Carsen Edwards, Ryan Cline, Nojel Eastern, and Grady Eifert – the five most seasoned Boilermakers. That lineup meant that Dartmouth transfer, and only other player with significant NCAA experience, Evan Boudreaux was the primary backup for Haarms.
TJ Henderson kicked off scoring for the game with a three on Marian’s initial possession and he would keep the Knights competitive for most of the first half by drilling his first three triples for nine of Marian’s first ten points, but he wouldn’t score from the field for the rest of the game. Purdue freshman, Aaron Wheeler fouled Henderson with just under two minutes remaining in the first half and Henderson sank three free throws to narrow the Boilermaker lead to one.
Purdue responded by scoring the half’s final seven points to take a 32-24 lead into the break. Cline made a pair of free throws and in a change of pace Painter signaled to the team to run a two-for-one play in the final minute. Cline threw a bullet pass into a streaking Boudreaux for an up and under and-one layup that had a finish fitting of his name. Sasha Stefanovic stole the ball from Luke Gohmann on the Knights’ ensuing possession and raced to the other end where he was fouled on a layup attempt.
The second half saw Purdue’s offense start to gel a bit more and the Boilers extended the lead to 50-31 by the 14:02 mark and never looked back. A big reason for that offense was Cline who made Purdue’s only seven three pointers (on ten attempts, 30 attempts from the team) on his way to a game high 23 points and five assists.
Highlights from tonight’s 75-56 exhibition win over Marian, courtesy @BTNStudentU pic.twitter.com/o7a4CUN3U8
— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) November 2, 2018
General thoughts on the roster:
Painter is likely to stick with this starting five to open the season, but depending on how the younger talent matures there could easily be some changes as the team edges closer to the heart of conference action. The most likely scenario there being that Boudreaux would usurp the power forward spot from Eifert. The newcomers as a whole appeared raw, but talented, so Painter may spend the first couple of weeks playing with lineups to see who meshes the best with one another. There will be drastic differences between this team and the Boiler squad that took the floor a season ago, not just in names on the jerseys, but also in style of play, strengths, and weaknesses displayed. To excel this season, the team will have to find extra possessions – be it by offensive rebounds or turnovers – and will have an interesting balance of relying on the perimeter shot more heavily while also pushing the ball up the court more in transition to generate high percentage shots.
Veteran Review:
By now, most fans have come to expect or understand what the veterans bring to the table, but the team displayed some abilities tonight where some of those expectations may need to be revised. The steady rock that is Preseason National Player of the Year, Edwards, will be an unwavering force and Eifert is as consistently all-effort as they come, but the others presented some additional food for thought. Fan favorite, Tommy Luce is also back on the team for his junior year.
The top revision belongs to Cline where he was visibly more aggressive with the ball, putting it on the floor to create his own shot or find teammates open while also upping his game on the defensive end. While he didn’t make any two pointers, he attempted two and also made it to the line for two free throws (something he attempted only six times last season).
Eastern is another player that many view as the potential breakout player for Purdue this season and they’ll witness Eastern play almost an Evan Turner style of ball rotating between the three backcourt positions, primarily as a wing when Edwards is on the court and occasionally as the point guard when Edwards is getting some rest. At this point, Eastern is still very raw, but has the capabilities to excel in the game; he finished with two points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two turnovers.
Haarms appeared largely the same, but his footwork was markedly improved and the team can expect to garner more rebounds and handle switches on defense more gracefully than what Isaac Haas presented – a style of play more reminiscent of JaJuan Johnson than the recent centers for Painter. That more agile style of play may suit this roster of players better, but Haarms will need to stay out of foul trouble; he picked up three fouls in 15 minutes of action.
The Newcomers:
This is largely still a question mark as each of the newcomers, save for Boudreaux, is inexperienced and often raw at their craft. Boudreaux will provide a consistent force in the frontcourt with a more traditional offensive gambit and isn’t afraid to bang inside on either end. Emmanuel Dowuona didn’t see any action until the final four minutes so the freshman center is likely to redshirt. Freshman walk-on Kyle King is also unlikely to see any meaningful time, but that’s about where the certainty ends at this juncture of the season.
“A lot of the guys that come off the bench for us, outside of (Boudreaux), are trying to find their way through scoring and that’s just part of being a good player and having confidence in yourself, but they’re going to find their way playing for us by rebounding, not turning the ball over and guarding their man. Whoever can figure that out the quickest is really going to help themselves in getting to a role for us; the people that can’t do that aren’t going to play very much.” – Painter on how the roster will shake out this season.
Trevion Williams, freshman forward, is a prime candidate to play a significant number of minutes this season backing up both frontcourt positions. He has the size of a Big Ten big already, but his skills still need refined. His progression could play a key role into how Boudreaux is employed by Painter. If Williams is able to assert himself then it will free Boudreaux to shift to his more natural power forward position while Williams would become the primary backup to Haarms. For that to happen effectively this season, Williams would need to be ready for that type of role by mid-January.
Freshman Eric Hunter, Jr. will play both guard positions, but is the top candidate to spell Edwards at the point. Hunter had a poor shooting night (1-5, 0-3 from three) as he appeared a bit rushed, but he still managed to dish five assists and grab two steals.
Redshirt freshman, Aaron Wheeler will play both forward positions and displayed flashes of his high ceiling talent against Marian. He’s an athletic forward that is deceptively fast and at this point is Purdue’s best off-the-ball slasher. Look for Wheeler to get plays off of the screen and roll or to break up zone defenses as he did tonight with an athletic dunk off of a feed from Hunter in the second half. It’s still early, but the Hunter-Wheeler combination seems to have some strong chemistry already.
Redshirt freshman, Sasha Stefanovic could grow into the same type of player Dakota Mathias was for Purdue with lights out shooting, a knack for finding the open man, and solid defense. He was questionable to play versus Marian after suffering a concussion, but was cleared and played 19 minutes contributing four points, two steals, a rebound, and an assist. While he’s sure to get hot scoring occasionally, Stefanovic is a prime example of a player who can make the team better without it showing in the box score; he’s immensely talented, but clearly has a passion for the game to be all effort all of the time. He has also spent time with the USA East team and the Serbian National team having unique heritage and strong lineage – his father, Lou, played for Illinois State before being drafted by the Seattle Supersonics (though he did not play in the NBA).
Next up:
Home: Purdue opens the regular season against Fairfield Tuesday night, 11/6 (7 pm, BTN+)
Quick Hits:
This was the only exhibition game for Purdue as the team played West Virginia in a scrimmage as has been the custom in recent years… Ten players scored for Purdue, but only Cline and Haarms (twelve) broke into double digits… Although Boudreaux is a transfer, he graduated Dartmouth early and will have two years of eligibility… While turnovers may be a concern this season, the team only committed seven against Marian while the Knights had 19… Purdue outscored Marian 40-14 in the paint… Larry Clisby, battling cancer, was on the radio call for his 41st season… the Paint Crew stuck with “IU Sucks” rather than the newly minted “Cancer Sucks” chant after the Boiler Brass’ Horse… Marian Center Reginald Kissoonlal fouled out with over 13 minutes remaining… Marian entered the game as the 8th best team in the NAIA and sit 1-0 on the season (107-75 win over Ohio Christian)… In Marian’s opening game, they made 21 threes (32 attempts) – they went 8-21 against Purdue.
