Lineups remain fluid as Purdue heads to Creighton this weekend
Purdue dedicated much of its preseason to toying with different lineups, trying to decipher which configurations might work best and who might function best with who. As Saturday’s exhibition game at Creighton looms, there are no firm answers beyond the fact Matt Painter values the flexibility he’ll have.
The crux of Purdue’s lineup malleability is frontcourt stalwart Trey Kaufman-Renn, who will play as both a big forward and a “small” center, without having to play like a traditional center.
There seems to be a clear delineation point between those two lineups and the various other moving parts that come with them.
“I think we’re really good when I”m at the 5 offensively, with a lot of different actions we can get into and things we can’t do otherwise,” Kaufman-Renn said. “But I think we’ll be better defensively with me at the 4.”
For his part, Painter has no questions about the offensive potency of playing Kaufman-Renn at center next to, most likely, Camden Heide at the 4, where the sophomore can space the floor with his shooting and presumably out-athlete most opponents in transition and as a switchable defender.
“I like it offensively,” Painter said. “How much I like it defensively is the question.”
The most important part of defense, you could argue, is rebounding.
There’s the concern, that the smaller configurations could be vulnerable on the glass. But the days of ultimate size for Purdue did not end with Zach Edey.
Seven-footer Will Berg is Purdue’s “most physical player,” per Painter.
“We just have to get him to be physical without fouling,” Painter said.
That physicality should — should — show up on the glass and in Berg’s screen-setting — while freshman Daniel Jacobsen, ready or not, will bring extraordinary height and length to the frontcourt, plus quickness (relative to height), a shot-blocking presence and three-point range.
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“There’s not a great deal of separation in our frontcourt,” Painter said. “You could go a lot of different ways. There’s nothing clear-cut.”
Throughout the preseason, Purdue’s clear-cut starters have been Kaufman-Renn and guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, the parts around them changing regularly.
But one piece of the puzzle that may have fallen into place around them is freshman Gicarri Harris, who may open the season as a starter and is positioned to play a major role for the Boilermakers.
Purdue covets the value of having an extra ball-handler on the floor with Smith and Loyer and would often engineer defensive matchups to put Harris on the ball rather than Smith, as it did at times last season with Lance Jones.
“I like a lot of different looks
“It helps (Smith and Loyer) when you have a third ball-handler in there and another guy who can guard the point.”
Tradeoffs.
“I know offensively it will be a strength.”
