Sometimes, styles make fights. When Purdue schedules a Shaka Smart-coached team, it counts on that.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter said a variation of the boxing cliche Monday, a day before his team’s matchup with No. 15 Marquette (5-0); it isn’t always how you play but who that counts. And some teams do things that Purdue’s practices, or even Big Ten competition, can’t quite replicate.
Shaka Smart’s defense is one of those things. The Marquette coach is so enamored with that side of the ball he’s been known to play it on the sideline. And his unit was capable of things Purdue may not see for long stretches of its year.
Frenzied, stymied and hapless
“In practice, we don’t see that,” Painter said of the Golden Eagle’s defense. “Doesn’t mean we don’t have athletic players, doesn’t mean we don’t have good players, but they have a more experienced defensive group.”
Much of Purdue’s struggles were pinned on an inability to find Trey Kaufman-Renn in the post after the junior forward shot 23 times in his team’s upset of then-No. 2 Alabama last week.
“It was two-fold,” Painter said. “We missed him a couple times to start with, and then he’s just gotta do a good job of continuing to work down there. It’s maybe more than just the guy passing and the guy receiving … We never made it to where they were in danger.”
Kaufman-Renn’s three turnovers also did their part to depress his and Purdue’s shot volume.
Two of the forward’s giveaways were the product of Marquette’s defensive experience and intensity, as Kaufman-Renn, a good passer statistically and by his coach’s opinion, was intercepted on rather routine looks. Marquette was a step ahead.
Even when the Boilers made the right passes and got the right looks, they often didn’t reward themselves. Purdue shot 33% from 3, and only 40% from the field.
“I told our guys, like, ‘The shots that we miss that were open, like you’ve gotta hit a good percentage of those,’” Painter said. “Because when you don’t, you gotta grind them out, you’ve gotta be better on the defensive end, you gotta be better taking care of the basketball. We had to have our turnovers equal to have a crack at it.”
Instead, Painter's team coughed up 15 opportunities that the Golden Eagles converted into 19 fast break points.
Maybe the Golden Eagles’ performance gives the Boilers something to aspire to on defense, now that they’ve seen it up close. Marquette is ranked No. 10th in the country on that side of the ball (kenpom), while Purdue has slipped to No. 63.
The Mackey difference
Early last year, I tried wearing noise-cancelling earbuds in Mackey Arena for the first time, and I’ve never gone back. I haven’t missed the headaches that spring up by the third time the band plays.
Purdue’s triumph against Alabama put those earbuds to the test. I could hear plenty, and saw why: The entire arena was standing for the majority of the second half. Retirees were giving “Hail Purdue!” all they had.
Purdue played very well against Alabama, Painter said. It did not do so against Marquette. Regardless, it found itself in a similar position midway through the second half on both nights: down 6, with 10:59 left against Alabama and 8:14 to play Tuesday.
The difference amounted to, “the entire momentum,” junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn said his home court provides. “You go from probably the hardest place for an opponent to come and play at, and the biggest advantage for us, to our first official road game against one of the best teams in the country. It’s just such a big swing.”
The last two nights, that swing was something like 27 points. That’s the difference between the margins of the two games down the stretch after the 6-point deficits had been observed.
Things compounded against Purdue in its tussle with Marquette when they mostly fell neatly into place against the Crimson Tide – turnovers and defensive pressure for one, shot-making second.
Marquette’s defense and its fans made Purdue uncomfortable in a way it hasn’t been in a long time. Keep in mind, the last time Purdue played a true road game was its March 5 win against Illinois in Champaign.
And the freshmen, none of whom made a shot, have never seen something like that.
The turnover roller coaster
Purdue averages 11.4 turnovers per game so far. Could be worse.
Purdue’s number of turnovers in sequential games this year (counting exhibitions) reads like this: 7, 7, 16, 13, 10, 3, 15. Weird.
The Boilers might have expected to kick their turnover habit this year with a seasoned Smith leading the way – “Best point guard I’ve been around,” as Painter described him after Purdue beat Yale. And Smith’s numbers have improved, albeit against mushy competition.
The guard’s turnover rate has mellowed slightly to start the season, and his assists have spiked dramatically. The smallest difference between Smith’s assists and turnovers so far has been three, in the Yale game when Painter noticed a couple “screwy” plays from his star guard.
Smith isn’t the problem. Rather, it seems Purdue’s assortment of centers has affected a statistical category usually ascribed to guard play. Of Purdue’s five highest-turnover players by turnover rate, three are centers (Will Berg, Caleb Furst and Raleigh Burgess).
Kaufman-Renn doesn’t share the issues of his fellow post men. He’s third from last on the team. Perhaps, then, experience will be the salve for Purdue’s bigs as they become more comfortable receiving and passing against fierce pressure.