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    • Purdue basketball 2024-25 season preview: Best, worst case scenario
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    Purdue basketball 2024-25 season preview: Best, worst case scenario

    Harry Posted on

    WEST LAFAYETTE – This Purdue basketball Our team opens the season with a mentality specific to the last 40 years of program history.

    Matt Painter admits his mistakes last season The long-awaited Final Four run It brought “relief”. Tension throughout the entire process boiler manufacturers The experience of the past years should not be limited around this squad.

    Additionally, three-fifths of the expected opening night starting lineup was on the field for the opening pitch against UConn. Many other actors also have evidence that even niche roles produce significant results.

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    Maybe this change in the larger climate around the program has no impact on what this team can accomplish. Maybe it’s important that this roster remains very talented and Painter’s system continues to win.

    Best case scenario: Meeting at the Alamo

    I was a little surprised that last season’s breakthrough didn’t come from more of a reaction to moving the goalposts.

    “Oh, you reached the national championship with a disruptive player who was awarded the national player of the year award twice? Congratulations.”

    Such thinking would dishonestly disregard the emotional and mental resilience of last year’s Boilermakers. It wasn’t easy to face the shame of a first-round NCAA tournament defeat and overcome that stigma with confidence. Yes, it was Painter’s best team, but under the circumstances it was also one of his best coaching jobs.

    But I always assumed that the team that would break the drought might be the team that meets the moment rather than a team that chases expectations. Other programs do this all the time. Purdue faced one of these in the national semifinals last season. NC State landed in the ACC tournament and got on a plane to Phoenix three weeks later anyway.

    Nothing indicates these Boilermakers will fall this far from Big Ten title contention. On the contrary, a group of three starters, including All-American point guard Braden Smith, has positioned itself well to defend back-to-back trophies. That’s where the upside begins, with the potential to win a third consecutive Big Ten regular season title; This has only happened twice before.

    But the best-case scenario might not require a re-disbandment of the league; especially considering where and when it will be played, which opponents are more important than ever. Instead, it could look like one of the most versatile squads in the country, responding to everything it encounters in its short tournament rotations.

    This also means Purdue has to force its opponents into its preferred matchups. This requires Daniel Jacobsen’s development in other areas that allow Painter to freely use rim protection. Players like Fletcher Loyer and Camden Heide need to excel in their new defensive roles on the wing. In order for Trey Kaufman-Renn to continue the season, he needs to use diversified offensive play and regularly cash in on matchups with traditional big men.

    But none of this requires going beyond what these players can do. This maxed-out version of this Purdue roster could lead to another deep tournament run if not relying on any one factor over others becomes not just an asset, but a strength.

    Worst case scenario: No place to hang a hat means no banners to hang

    Purdue is emerging after more than two years of having an asset that was always at its disposal, stopping, reversing momentum. Painter stayed true to his philosophy and worked his way up to a perfect version of it starring Zach Edey. He’s accomplished nearly everything he could, except for one night in Columbus.

    New Boilermakers must be different. More importantly, it seems like they want to be different. They embrace the opportunity to chart their own path to similarly lofty goals with a battle-tested core.

    But Edey’s impact on every aspect of the game cannot be ignored. Since this next version of the Painter program has built its own style and power, there is no guarantee that it will do so without some loopholes.

    The first obvious omission would be the rebound, which Purdue hopes to account for in the total. Even with this schedule, a handful of lost possessions due to offensive rebounds can determine the outcome of more than one close game. Especially on the road in the Big Ten, his ability to dominate the boards and control chaos cannot be underestimated and probably cannot be duplicated.

    Last year’s key supporting roles will theoretically be filled by newcomers. Freshman guards CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris, in particular, are seen as the answer to Lance Jones’ void as a solid defender and source of energy. This can also be a big ask of true freshmen, even if they share that burden.

    How much of Purdue’s 40% collective 3-point shooting came from defenses collapsing on Edey? Painter expects Kaufman-Renn to have a spirited debut, especially when facing traditional big men on offense. But the lack of gravity created by Edey also has the potential to show up elsewhere in the offense.

    Also, this program requires a lot. The top non-conference matchups — Marquette and Alabama, Texas A&M and Auburn, the Thanksgiving tournament — are stacked into pairs. The margin for error can be small on these nights, and if it takes until January for things to really work out, there could be some big wins along the way.

    The good news is that fundamental expectations will remain relatively high. The only real danger is that without one of the most unique players the game has seen in years, even a very talented group could collectively produce something more mundane.

    Harry
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