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Unexpected sources of rim protection anchoring Purdue defensively

Despite the towering dimensions of its two centers — 7-foot-3 redshirt freshman Matt Haarms and 7-2 senior Isaac Haas — Purdue came into this season without much compelling reason to expect to be one of the nation's better shot-blocking teams.

In his first three years at Purdue, Haas had never been much of a shot-blocker; in his first few months at Purdue, Haarms had given little indication he would be.

It just set up one of the most pleasant surprises for this season for the Boilermakers, as the two 7-plus-footers have put Purdue in the top 25 nationally in the category, an element the No. 21 Boilermakers couldn't possibly have counted on coming into this season.

Purdue averages 5.8 blocked shots per game, good for just fifth in the Big Ten, but 25th nationally.

But frame that number in the context of last season's and the marked turnaround is more apparent.

It averaged less than 2.5 last season.

It's been mostly Haarms.

He's averaging 3.2 blocked shots, good for 12th nationally, in an average of just over 17 minutes per game.

He's averaging almost seven-and-a-half blocks per 40 minutes. The NCAA's current shot-blocking leader, Reggie Lynch of Minnesota, averages 6.6 per 40 minutes.

No one saw this coming.

When he enrolled at Purdue mid-season last year, then spent the rest of the season as a practice-floor sparring partner for Caleb Swanigan and Haas, Haarms didn't show this sort of shot-blocking prowess, Matt Painter has said.

During the summer, he practiced so much less than his teammates — as a non-U.S. citizen, he couldn't play in the World University Games, or take advantage of the unlimited-practice allowances that came with it — he barely even had a chance to.

Last season while redshirting, Haarms blocked Swanigan now and again with his length, he said, but Haas posed different challenges.

"It was more locking down, two feet in the ground and digging my heels in to stand my ground," Haarms said. "Now, having gained weight, having gained strength, I feel more freedom of movement. I don't have to be there to stop somebody. I can trust in my strength a little more to stop them and move around the paint more freely."

It's a different deal for him now, too.

Prior to Purdue, believe it or not, Haarms played mostly forward, whether it was in his one season in prep school or his stint playing club ball in Spain.

His blocked shots then were more the product of help-side situations.

Now that he's playing center, operating at the rim more often and being posted up more, more opportunities have come his way.

"Being there and having already built that wall in the paint, it makes it a lot easier," Haarms said.

But Haarms has blocked shots of every form this season. He's protected the rim against drives and putbacks, turned away turnarounds out of post-ups and even blocked jumpers, including at least one three-pointer.

He's blocked shots at a rate that to this point has yielded all sorts of eye-opening superlatives.

With 32 blocks already this season, Haarms has already bested Purdue's season-high individual total of a year ago, the 28 recorded by Swanigan. It took him just nine games to match that total, 10 to break it.

And he's put himself beyond par with some of the finest shot-blocking seasons in school history. At this rate, he's on pace to pass up Joe Barry Carroll's freshman record of 82 set in '77-78, maybe even challenge Carroll's overall record of 105.

Some historical perspective ….

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HOW MATT HAARMS' BLOCK NUMBERS STACK UP THUS FAR
Player Season Games Total Blocks Per Game Per 40 Minutes

Matt Haarms

2017-18 (FR)

10

32

3.2

7.44

A.J. Hammons

2016-17 (SR)#

33

84

2.6*

4.1

A.J. Hammons

2015-16 (JR)

34

96

2.8*

4.6

A.J. Hammons

2014-15 (SO)

31

96

3.1*

5.0!

A.J. Hammons

2013-14 (FR)

34

67

2.0

3.9

JaJuan

Johnson

2011-12 (SR)#

34

79

2.3*

2.6

JaJuan Johnson

2010-11 (JR)

35

72

2.1

2.6

JaJuan Johnson

2009-10 (SO)

37

78

2.1*

3.1

Joe Barry Carroll

1977-78 (FR)^

28

82

2.9

5.7

Joe Barry Carroll

1976-77 (SO)

27

105

3.9!

4.9

Joe Barry Carroll

1980-81 (SR)!

33

92

2.8

3.2

John Allison

2002-03 (SR)

31

59

1.9*

3.0

* Led or tied for lead in Big Ten (all games); # Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Year; ^ Purdue freshman record; ! Purdue single-season record

Haarms' stunning emergence has overshadowed the modest improvement of Haas, who blocked 78 shots in 1,678 minutes his first three seasons — 1.9 per 40 minutes — but through 10 games this season has upped that per-40 number to almost 2.4.

He blocked four shots in Purdue's narrow win at Maryland on Friday. In the Bahamas, his two-handed block from behind of Wildcat millionaire-in-waiting Deandre Ayton might have been one of the defining moments of the Boilermakers' blowout win.

Haas said the improvement has been the product of both experience and physical improvement.

"It's just a matter of timing and understanding when to come over," Haas said after the Maryland game. "Last year, I'd come over too early and they'd just dump it off to my guy. This has been more about timing and understanding when the ball's getting to the basket and when they've committed to that shot, then being able to stay vertical and make it a tough shot."

Whether it's been Haarms or Haas, Purdue's enjoyed a shot-blocking and rim-protecting element it couldn't have counted on coming into the season, one that should pay dividends offensively, too, for a team that aims to attack in transition as often as it can.

"Your defense turns into your offense, so when you get stops you can get out in transition and get easier buckets," guard Dakota Mathias said. "When you have intelligent guys and skilled guys in the open court, good things are usually going to happen. Isaac and Matt — and (Vincent Edwards) — are doing a great job down there blocking shots and it just leads to the break and us having numbers, three-on-two, four-on-three. It's just a great asset to have."

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