Before Jordan Murphy had even dropped his head, Grady Eifert had set his feet.
If it looked like the Boilermaker senior knew what Minnesota's wrecking ball of a big man was going to do before he did it early in Sunday's Purdue win, it's because he did. He'd studied Murphy in advance and diagnosed his intent before it could even be carried out.
Because of that anticipation, as well as the willingness, if not eagerness, to get snow-plowed in help defense, Eifert was right there as soon as Murphy spun off Matt Haarms and right into him, knocking Eifert to the floor and pinning the first of three offensive fouls on the day on Murphy.
It's been a strength of Eifert's this season, taking charges, but also a long-standing staple of Purdue's program, one that this latest Boilermaker team has kept in accordance with.
“I think it’s a big part of any program that has success," Matt Painter said, "just being in good guarding position and being able to take it and embrace that physical contact.”
It is a skill, one Purdue happens to be pretty good at this season, never more evident than on Sunday, when Haarms took two charges on Murphy and Eifert the other, using one of the top big men in the Big Ten's aggressiveness against him and neutralizing him in the come-from-behind Purdue win.
“It’s a huge energy booster," Eifert said prior to the Minnesota game. "The rest of the team can pick up on it and the crowd loves it. It’s been sort of the M.O. at Purdue, playing defense and taking charges.”
It was not the first game heavily influenced by Purdue's ability to draw offensive fouls, whether they be traditional secondary-defender charges or Boilermaker defenders baiting opponents into smashing them outside the parameters of the rulebook, in an official's assessment anyway.
When Purdue won at Ohio State a few weeks ago, it did so in part because it relegated Buckeye big man Kaleb Wesson to benchwarmer status, because of foul trouble. Eifert took a help-side charge on Wesson for one of his fouls, then later — while it might not have counted as a traditional charge — beat Wesson to a loose ball on the floor, leading to the center falling on Eifert and being called for No. 4.
When Purdue beat No. 6 Michigan State in Mackey Arena, it led by a far-from-insurmountable margin of seven with 2:55 to play when Haarms bodied up Spartan big man Nick Ward and was happy to get trucked, resulting in a positional charge and pivotal turnover.
Eifert and Haarms both say that knowing opponents' tendencies matter. Eifert clearly did when he stepped into Murphy's path — shoulders square, arms tucked — against Minnesota, and Haarms may have as well when he absorbed that contact from Ward, who Purdue had frustrated with double-teams throughout a game he finished just 4-of-10 from the floor, suggesting that perhaps an act of aggression might be forthcoming in a high-stakes moment.
But, Haarms says, it's also about understanding the powers-that-be.
“You also want to know the ref, if he just doesn’t want to call it or if he does," said Haarms, who unofficially leads Purdue with at least 11 offensive fouls drawn. "Some refs don’t. Especially from a post player’s perspective, you have to be really smart about it because sometimes you can get it in the post and you can never get (the call) on the first hit. You just have to know how it’s called, how a ref’s going to call it. Some just don’t want to, but some are a lot more charge-happy.
“It’s like a scouting report, and you learn through the game. The Ohio State game was a little more physical and (officials) are going to react to that, as well.”
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Eifert has drawn at least nine offensive fouls — matching Evan Boudreaux's rough total — most of them as the help defender.
He says he will not flop.
What he will do, however, is accentuate.
"It’s more embellishing than flopping out there," Eifert said. "You never want to flop.”
Flopping can cut into a player's credibility with officials and maybe turn the next 50/50 call 60/40 against the offended player.
“It’s about being smart about it," Eifert said. "The officials aren’t dumb. They’re not going to see you get hit by (someone smaller) and believe that you went flying.”
Well, sometimes that happens.
Against Indiana, Haarms — who's 7-foot-3, but uncommonly mobile and fluid for his dimensions — slid to the baseline to cut off IU point guard Robert Phinisee's path to the basket. A player roughly 15 inches shorter extended his arm, bumping Haarms and knocking him off his feet.
Offensive foul.
“More of it’s about anticipation, and then being able to sell the charge," Eifert said. "Sometimes you do get absolutely drilled and sometimes there is a little bit of acting, and I think everybody knows that. But it’s mostly about anticipation.”
It's a skill, one that you can't practice.
Or at least won't practice.
“If you try to practice taking charges, you’re going to put yourself in positions to get people hurt," Painter said. "You just talk about, ‘Hey man, in the game, if that guy gets it and does that, you have to go down, take that.’”
It's more about positioning and preparation than practicing.
That doesn't stop certain players from trying in practice.
Haarms says redshirt freshman Sasha Stefanovic is particularly present where there are charges to be taken, and the guard — without Haarms' or Eifert's size to insulate him — has taken the occasional knee or kick because of it.
Just the cost of doing business, he says.
“Becoming a good defender is something I really want to do in my career," said Stefanovic, whose taken at least a half dozen charges this season. "This can be a huge part of it.”
He came to Purdue with a thorough understanding of the school's history, built on such things as toughness and effort and whatnot, elements that have defined many Boilermaker teams over many years and led to them taking so many charges.
“I think you have to play hard on defense here and I think that’s something maybe you can’t teach," Stefanovic said, "but it comes naturally with playing hard, and when you do that, things like (taking charges) happen. I’m happy to do whatever to help the team win.”
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