Purdue Basketball: Purdue vs Milwaukee Preview

Game information

season opener

Tuesday, November 8 – 6:30 EST

Mackie Arena – West Lafayette, Indiana (Noisiest Venue in America)

Big10 network

Purdue starting lineup

Purdue will stick to the exhibit lineup to start the season. Coach Painter evenly distributed minutes, with 11 players posting his double-digit minutes appearances in a 102-57 exhibition win over Truman State.

Zach Edey led the starters with 23 points in 16 minutes of action. Tuesday night, that game plan remains the same. As I said in the exhibition preview, I don’t think this is Purdue’s best line-up in terms of pure basketball skills. I think this is Purdue’s top 5. In terms of scoring and shotmaking, there isn’t much other than Zach on the floor to start the game, but never mind, give it to Eddie and let him eat fast.

Freshman guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Royer managed just three combined points in the exhibition and need to improve. We like the idea of ​​a young back playing his court with an experienced frontcourt, but when teams start scouting for his Boilermaker, they’re going to be left wide open and challenged to score. , the young player must put the ball in the bucket.

Ethan Morton is the “glue guy” and he’s another player Purdue needs to beef it up on offense. Unless he stays, he needs to score some more. My concern with this starting lineup of his is point generation, and Morton, in theory (so far not in practice), can deliver a steady point.

Finally, Gillis does what he does. He bounces his ball rebounds loose with his 3s and Ds, a smaller stretch 4 (for his height). He also fouled in several games last season. I like brawling, but he’s reckless when he doesn’t have to be reckless. Purdue needs a shot in this lineup.

bench

Weird team. His four of Purdue’s top five scorers (in my humble opinion) start the game wearing his warm-up top. In exhibition games, the bench has significantly outnumbered the starters, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that were true every season (unless the line-up changed).

Furst and Kaufman-Renn are frontcourt headliners. Both are big, athletic guys who can score in different ways. First is a bruiser who can step and Kaufmann Ren is a finesse player who can step and that makes for a nice compliment. They compliment each other well, give Purdue the chance to play uptempo, and after Zach checks out of the game, they can give their opponents something completely different.

Brandon Newman and David Jenkins will provide support in the backcourt. We all know Brandon’s story. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finally breaks out of the starting line-up. He may have the most diverse game of all the Boilermakers in his guard. He can hit from deep, midrange (still legal in basketball) and finish at the rim. Brandon’s problem isn’t ability, it’s his confidence. I don’t care if he comes off the bench or starts. As long as he is happy with his role, good things will happen.

Finally, I’ve grown accustomed to David Jenkins. A fellow H&R writer of his, Jed, compared him to Terone Johnson, and I think that’s a good comparison. If the exhibition game is a preview of what’s to come, Jenkins is a better passer than Terrone, but both are big-bodied guards that rely more on strength than quickness. Jenkins, to Smith’s relief, will be a nice change of pace and strength off the bench. Opponents will transform from precocious young guards to grizzled veterans who can crush defenders. Thanks to Jenkins’ experience and his free throws (81% of his shots in Utah last year), we expect Jenkins to be on the court in the closing stages of a close game.

Bryan Waddell (who got mixed up with Carson Barrett last week because he watched his father of two play at Purdue…and now wants to jump out the window) is outside the rotation in and looking out after finally recovering from a torn ACL. Season. His shooting and sense of the game may buy him time as the season progresses. If your shooting is struggling early on, look out for Waddell for a chance to attack from the perimeter.

Purdue attack key

UMW plays small ball. In their ideal world, the forward plays around his four perimeter his players. Forwards Vin Baker Jr. (yes, son of that Vin Baker) and Ahmad Land (no relation to Ain) hold the post at 6’9 and his 6’8, respectively. The Punters also have a 7’1-inch Moses Boll (Manute and Boll’s cousin) who throws Zach to his Eddie.

All this shows that Purdue needs to pass the ball to Zach Edey early and often. UMW throws more corpses at him than Truman State, but this is no test for Big Maple. When Zach needs rest, the Brothers of Destruction (Furst and TKR… I’m trying some nicknames) need to be ready to come to court and clean up the remaining shards of internal defense. there is.

Of course, this all depends on Purdue’s ability to shoot the ball. With Boilermakers playing at a normal Glacier pace and centering Edy, expect to be swarmed, scaled and traversed by the Panther defenses. Perimeter shots are open and Purdue needs to prove they can hit those shots early in the season.

Key to Purdue Defense

Protect Edie at all costs.

A team led by Bert Landy expects to hit Edie on defense at every opportunity. Zach cannot dominate the game from the bench and Randy his coach knows he will bench him with two fouls in the first half.

Smith and Royer must prove they won’t give up a straight drive to Eddie’s chest by dribbling the ball down. Keep an eye on guard Angelo Stuart. He’s finished his JuCo season in the All-American (3rd team), can score, and is, from what I know about basketball players from Queens, NY, fearless. He led the Panthers in the exhibition game by 24 points in 23 minutes and won 3-5-8. Sure, he won’t face the Milwaukee School of Engineering, but it should be an interesting early test for Smith or Royer. Try enclosing. Their ability to keep players like Stuart out of lane dictates their ability to stay in the first rotation (and possibly regular rotation).

If Purdue Wins

They show up and take UMW seriously. This team is capable of scoring and has some solid Power 5 transfers on the roster. Purdue can’t take this game lightly. Otherwise Panthers can drop his 70+ and keep the game relatively close.

I don’t think that’s happening in the home opener, but it looks like Purdue has at least one early season game where the shot doesn’t fall. requires 25+ from Edey.

Think confidence with the slightest shade of “This is Purdue, anything can happen” gnawing at the back of my brain.

predict

Drew

Purdue – 87

UMW-67

Confidence – 100%

This might stay close for a while, but Purdue has too much firepower and is too large for Panthers to sustain for 40 minutes.

Kempom

Purdue – 83

UMW-57

Confidence – 99%