Purdue Athletics 2022 - 2023

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Coach Matt Painter talks about the recruitment of CJ Cox

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1NXnrEcLzx/

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Zach making new friends

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Daniel Jacobsen suffered a broken tibia in the opening minutes of the Northern Kentucky game and is expected to take a medical redshirt

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Down one oaf, Jacobsen out for the year. Perhaps center by committee, with Furst (who has looked good,) Berg, and Burgess rotating? Painter has said that they will have to have the discussion about TKR playing the 5. It's been pretty clear to this point that he really wants TKR at the 4

God bless Willie Berg, he's played a lot better since that first game but he is so foul-prone I just can't see him being a big factor. Burgess has a lot of energy but is very raw, especially defensively. I don't know if Furst can handle the 5 defensively either but it would be interesting offensively with him there

I don't really have a handle on this team at all. If I weren't familiar with them and had watched their games I would think they are fringe top 25 at best. We will learn a lot from the Bama game on Friday

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Speaking of Will Berg, it's great to see him make the highlights on ESPN but to be honest this is pretty weak for a highlight slam

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/42276037

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^maybe the highlight was just for how hilariously open he was

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in honor of alabama's best player

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OK maybe we're a little better than a fringe top 25 team. Alabama hasn't been setting the world on fire as the #2 in the country, but still, impressive win over a team everyone has (or had) ranked in the top 5

What's up with CJ Cox? Why wasn't this kid rated higher? We'll take him

[Dab]

in honor of alabama's best player
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Mark Sears might have something to say about that but the Boilers hounded him all night and Sears scored almost 20 fewer points than he did the last time the two teams met. Purdue's defense really showed up. They don't have the rim protection they had with Edey and might have had with Jacobsen but Myles Colvin and Gicarri Harris were on it, to the point that I don't believe either even attempted a shot but it was easy to see they were having a positive impact for the Boilers

TKR had a rough start (despite the early desperation 3) but the more game went on the more he dominated. Braden was being Braden, wasn't shooting well but finished with 17 points, 10 assists and 6 boards. Fletch 3.0 seems to be more consistent. Caleb Furst has returned. The oaflet is an active one, that's for sure, popping in for some offensive rebounds and putbacks, and making the most of his few minutes. Will Berg continues to show improvement every game but he's just going to have foul trouble all year. He's actually more nimble that I gave him credit for but it's so easy to get him to bite on a fake. Cam Heide showed a lot less hesitation on offense and pulled down 8 boards

And CJ Cox just went supernova for a minute

https://youtu.be/c_dvuEVNojk?si=1ewAYB1e8oiLThdP&t=3453

(Check out Braden Smith on the bench during that run)

Mackey was loud. All the pent-up energy from not having anything to cheer about during the football season came out I think. Very cathartic I'm sure

And you have to credit the student body for behaving as this is par for the course for the program, no big deal, the court was not stormed when the #2 team in the country fell

(It should be noted though that ropes were put up during the last minute of the game to prevent that - Myles Colvin performed the reverse storm and climbed over to join the crowd)

[Dab]

Watching the replay apparently Oates ceded the game with a little over 2 minutes left when Bama got down 10. He didn't pull the starters but they took their time getting off a shot on the next possession and then did not foul Purdue letting Smith run all the time off the shot clock before taking a buzzer-beating off-balance shot that glanced off the rim and Cam Heide was fouled going for the rebound. Even on the next possession they were a little quicker but once again only pressured Purdue the other way, not fouling until Purdue drove to the rim with 9 seconds left on the shot clock

You have to credit Oates for scheduling this way. Their next game is also on the road, against Illinois. Alabama is taking their lumps now but will most likely benefit from it down the road. Speaking of which, Purdue's next game is on the road against #15 Marquette. Glad to see Painter doing the same and also playing a tough pre-conference schedule, although somehow Painter managed to get both Alabama and Auburn in Mackey this year. Auburn will move up further in the top 5 with Alabama's loss, although they could easily pickup some losses before the matchup with Purdue on December 21, as they host #7 Iowa State and #21 Ohio State, and play at #6 Duke before that

[dal9]

What's up with CJ Cox? Why wasn't this kid rated higher?

he kind of looks weird with the ball? like too upright? but who cares.

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Boilers jump to #6 in the new AP poll

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Rumor was a lineup change was happening for the Marshall game, and the Boilers come out small-ball with TKR at the 5, Colvin and Heide into the starting lineup with freshmen Gicarri Harris and CJ Cox out

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First substitutions are Furst in for TKR and Gicarri in for Colvin. I think the Will Berg experiment is pretty much over. Heide on fire

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I'd like to think Purdue played really good defense against Marshall but Marshall missed a lot of open shots

The offense definitely runs much more smoothly with TKR at the 5. He's a better, quicker passer out of the double-team than Edey was. Against a bigger athletic center he'll have problems and the whole team is going to have issues defensively, and with rebounding if they stick with the small ball lineup. Berg didn't get into the game at all until the 2nd half when the game was long over. Furst looks to be the backup now at the 5, and he played well, but against better competition he'll have to step up. He's one guy who doesn't look to have put on a whole lot of muscle during his time at Purdue but he moves well. Burgess had his moments, kid has a lot of energy. Berg played well during his time and there will be times when we really need a big oaf up front who's got five fouls to give, and he will definitely give

Speaking of giving, next up is a Thanksgiving Day Final Four rematch with NC State, in San Diego at the Rady's Children Invitational, and then either Ole Miss or BYU the day after. NC State is 5-0 and rated #51 at evanmiya.com and #53 by KenPom, which is pretty good but their schedule so far is not impressive, I'm guessing Coastal Carolina is the best team they've played? The other four being William & Mary, Colgate, Presbyterian, and South Carolina Upstate

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You know, I was skeptical of the Woodson hire a few years back, but he's grown on me. I think he just needs more time, a few more years perhaps, and he'll figure it out and get IU back to the top quartile of that upper quartile of college basketball programs

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random observation: we might at some point this year have (or maybe already have had) a lineup out there with jersey numbers 1-2-3-4-5, or 0-1-2-3-4.