Purdue Basketball ULTIMATE SEASON PLAYER PREVIEW

Are we done doubting Fletcher Loyer yet?

All Loyer does is win.

He's done it as an undersized true freshman starter. He did it as an undersized true sophomore starter.

In two years, he's started all 74 games at Purdue. Purdue has won an incredible 63 of those games. His Purdue Boilermakers have won the Big Ten Conference by three games and then three games again in those two seasons.Loyer helped lead Purdue to a Final Four and National Championship Game. Something Purdue hadn't done in about 44 years.

It took Loyer just two collegiate seasons.

Loyer averaged 11 points a game his freshman year and dropped to 10.3 his sophomore year, but Loyer's efficiency skyrocketed as a shooter.

Loyer's three point percentage went up from 32.6% his freshman year to 44.4% in his second year.

Loyer led the Big Ten in three-point shooting in Big Ten play at 48.5%.

But still, the discouse around Loyer is always about what he isn't. He's not big enough. He's not athletic enough. He's too skinny. Blah blah blah.

Loyer is a winner and he does stuff that wins games. There is no one inside of Purdue's team and coaching staff that doubts him.

That said, he did look a little bigger this off season. People need to stop obsessing over Loyer's frame, but it's still encouraging that he could add some weight to get through the grind of the Big Ten. (We said the same thing last year, and hey, maybe we were right with how the season went.)

The good news for Loyer, the addition of CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris, matched with two big wings in Camden Heide and Myles Colvin another year into the program, should mean that teams will have an even harder time focusing their defense on Fletcher Loyer.

If you don't remember what happens when teams stick bad defenders on Loyer, go back and watch both Purdue-Tennessee games where Loyer roasted Dalton Knecht in Hawaii and again in the Elite Eight when they were matched up on each other.

Purdue won both those games.

Does Loyer need to be better on the defensive end? Maybe.

It won't hurt, but Purdue also has more capable defenders on the wing than perhaps either of the last two seasons.

Colvin and Heide will handle the big wings and Cox and Harris both offer even more defensive guards to throw at teams. Braden Smith is small, but mostly a decent defender who has grown more and more comfortable being aggressive as a small, super quick guard with great hands.

Not everyone is going to be a great defender, even on a successful team, and if Loyer is the only bad defender on the wing for Purdue, it's going to feel just fine with him out there again.He still has decent anticipation and plays hard off ball.

Loyer's role will be a fascinating one as Purdue tries to figure out how to split up all those shots that Zach Edey ate last year.

Don't be shocked if Loyer is Purdue's leading scorer.

"I think Fletch's room is gonna come from different lineups," Assistant Coach PJ Thompson told me ahead of the season.

Colvin and Heide in particular should allow Loyer to play all over the lineup, both having size and defensive versatility that will let Loyer be comfortable on that end of the floor. They are also both major threats to shoot, rebound, and get to the rim.

How comfortable will teams be hiding their worst defenders on either of them?

If teams do decide to focus their defensive firepower elsewhere, Loyer will eat.

The more movement and spacing inside, the more Loyer's game will flourish. Loyer did the hard part last year, transitioning from shooting threat by high school reputation to bonafide sniper, making over 45% of his threes. That knock down ability mixed with an offense that moves more with more space inside means Loyer's ability to be aggressive off the ball and get into space will be even more effective.

Loyer still has to learn his limitations on drives, and gets himself into too many bad positions where he doesn't have good options, something Thompson reiterated to me, but Loyer's such a canny, smart, and aggressive player that he's been hamstrung at time with how much space around the basket Edey took up. Some of those decisions will be easier without Edey always at the rim. (Not better, mind you, but easier.) Loyer's lack of raw speed means help can get to him when he thinks he has a lane, especially if the defender is already in the paint.

Purdue will have lineups that offer five shooters and Loyer will have a chance to see open lanes to the rim and get to spots around the perimeter more easily. He's also still the second pick and roll guy until someone steps up with the youngins or Colvin.

Expect Purdue to lean on Loyer when Smith isn't on the floor, staggering the two guards that have helped define this current team.

It also can't be understated how much of a hand Loyer and Smith will have in the development of Cox and Harris. If those two freshmen have a successful first year, the two junior guards will deserve a good bit of credit as they move into the roles of elder juniors.

They'll be looking at their elders for how to guide the younger classes.

"Doing things that Ethan Morton, Mason Gillis did for us," Loyer said this summer about guiding the freshman. "Doing things that Zach did for us. Whether it's showing up at seven a.m. or whether it's diving on loose balls or whether it's talking to them after drills. It's just showin them what to do and how to act because getting to the National Championship is tough. And we want to do it again."

Loyer has been one of Purdue's most maligned guards even as he's set to graduate alongside Smith as the most winning tandem in school history at the guard position.

Loyer's junior year could be a breakout year that will shut up even the haters.