For Purdue, depth may be a good problem to have; Big Ten Media Day notebook

INDIANAPOLIS — Matt Painter will be the first to tell you that he believes every player on his highly touted team can help the Boilermakers win.

But for that to happen, "sacrifice" might be necessary.

"Coach Painter has let us know that this summer, that our team is very deep and he feels good about every player on our team, and guys have earned that," senior Eric Hunter said. "But it's also something where if this guy isn't doing this, that or the other, we have another person who can come in and play well, and if he's doing what he's asking, he'll stay in the game.

"He let all that be known early, so none of that will catch anyone off guard."

Painter let that be known to everyone Friday in Indianapolis during his podium time at Big Ten Media Day in Indianapolis.

"We're going to have to have some sacrifices with our team, like any team that's successful," Painter said. "The keys don't come down to talent. They come down to the production that comes from that talent, and the sacrifices you have to make to be on a team, and that's hard to do.

"But we have to earn that every single day and do a lot of little things so your program can be successful."

Purdue has 12 scholarship players, of which freshman Brian Waddell is already pegged for a redshirt season.

Of the remaining 11 ...

"Across the board," Painter said, "we just have good players. It's just about figuring out what works the best. I don't really have the correct answer today, but whatever that will be, I think it will be a good one."

It's not realistic for Painter to use 11 players relatively equally. He himself often talks about the challenges players face being effective in sparse or sporadic minutes.

He mentioned on Friday the possibly this team may even take on something of a double-unit dynamic, where the starters may not necessarily be Purdue's "best players" but rather a group that works well together, followed by a similarly crafted second unit.

"We're going to try to come up with the best (answer), but whatever we decide, that will still be pretty good," he said.

Painter said the changing landscape of college basketball will not affect how he handles his team. New transfer freedoms might give some coaches more reason than ever to placate players with guarantees or softer coaching styles.

He also remains a proponent of redshirting, which could come into the picture as Purdue sorts through its numbers the remainder of the preseason.

"We'll still utilize redshirts when it's there and discuss that with guys, because you're making the best decision for them more times than not," Painter said. "We live in a basketball landscape that's got a little microwave to it, where if something doesn't happen right away, it's wrong. It's important to develop."

Inevitably, minutes will be hard to come by for someone.

Painter cited both Trevion Williams and Mason Gillis as examples of the sort of leadership his team may need in certain situations this season. He said when Williams moved to the bench while then-freshman Zach Edey carried critical minutes, Williams was positive about it. Same for Gillis as he shared minutes with Aaron Wheeler.

Purdue has dedicated two practices this past week to playing Williams and Edey alongside one another, a much-discussed curiosity about the Boilermaker team this season.

"It's a little bit better (than last week)," Painter said. "There's areas that they're just really good at and then areas where we really struggle. When we turn it over with that big lineup, it's really hard. But if it's a rebounding drill, or just rebounding, period, we normally get it."

Painter says the viability of those pairings will depend largely on Trevion Williams' ability to defend the 4, but also mentioned there being offensive spacing concerns, not just for the big men but for the guards.

"The problem in coaching is, 'Do you have the time to really work on and plan for playing different ways?'" Painter said. "It's just difficult, because you're going to put in the time on what you're going to do. You don't want to put that much time into something you're going to do 10-15 percent of the time.

"I believe we're going to be able to do it when we can against the other team. It's going to be more about who we're playing as opposed to us saying, 'This is how we're going to play no matter what.'"

When Purdue goes with Williams and Edey together, they normally go against freshmen Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Painter said those matchups have often played out evenly, in part because the two freshmen complement one another better at this point than the two big men complement one another.

"You're not just watching to say, 'Is this good?'" Painter said. "You're watching to ask, 'Is this better than other ways?'"

When Williams plays the 4, Painter said he'd expect to see more zone defense, even though the Big Ten isn't a big zone league. Purdue would want to use him in the high post — it runs a good deal of offense for him at the elbow — as an entry man, but would also attack smaller 4 men in the post.

• Painter on Furst and Kaufman-Renn: "I'd be shocked if those guys aren't all-conference players at some point."

• On Brian Waddell, who'll redshirt this season, Painter said it "blows my mind" he didn't have any other high-major offers out of Carmel High School.

• Painter on Kaufman-Renn: "The best thing he can do is score. When he gets into situations, we want him to be aggressive when he has space. We can't rebound his turnovers. We want him to be aggressive and shoot, because we can always rebound the misses."

• Painter on Furst: "Caleb Furst has really shot the ball well from the perimeter. He's been really fluid shooting the basketball.

"He's shooting the ball really well from three. Now, he's not shooting 20 of them a practice Iike Carsen Edwards was. It's a low-volume deal, but he's done a really good job of picking his spots."

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