Loyer looks, feels different

The first time this season that Fletcher Loyer drives into contact, but doesn’t budge, don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised either when someone tries to back him down on defense, only for him to hold his ground with more authority than he might have the past two seasons.

The Purdue junior guard’s basketball value has never been tied to size and strength, nor should he ever have been expected to transform into such a player if he wanted to, which he shouldn’t.

But nevertheless, the Loyer you’ll see this season will be very different, even if he doesn’t necessarily look like it, as convoluted as that may sound.

From a distance, Loyer may appear about the same. Such is his body type and general look.

Up close, though, there are differences, measurable differences.

One morning last week, Loyer weighed in at 177 pounds. That’s up seven from where he started last season and up much more from where he ended it, as he dropped a bunch of weight during the longest season in school history. Starting this spring, he added 15 pounds of “good weight,” all muscle.

“In all, he’s made about a 30-35-pound change in his body,” said Jason Kabo, Purdue’s strength and conditioning coach. “You just don’t necessarily see it looking at him.”

The machines do, though. Purdue players go through DEXA scans during the off-season to measure bone density, body fat, lean muscle and such things. Loyer’s year-to-year results showed marked progress, he said, in the reduction of less-than-ideal weight and its replacement with valuable mass.

It was an emphasis, a reason Loyer remained on campus basically the entire off-season.

Again, no one expected Loyer to turn into Anthony Edwards physically or athletically, but the basketball practicalities of just a shred more sturdiness, a bit more strength, for a shooter are real.

“Adding that muscle and lower-body strength, that’s going to help him coming off pin-downs and a lot of the actions we get for him,” said Purdue staffer Sasha Stefanovic, who ran most of the same offense in his college career that will be asked of Loyer now. “From a foundation standpoint with his jump shot and mechanics, it’s better than it was, and he had a really good shot before. I think it helps him get into awkward positions but still feel comfortable getting to his jump shot.

“It’s a huge thing being able to come off screens and maintain your balance. … Maintaining your balance throughout the cut and the duration of it, then being able to square yourself to the basket with all your momentum going to the basket, that’s the most important thing.”

Loyer’s developed as a player much of his life with an ability to do things unconventionally, to make off-balance plays and rely on his cunning as a scorer. A little extra strength might allow for a more straight-forward approach at times now.

“Just being able to take a bump and still shoot my regular shot, that’s what good scorers do,” Loyer said. “By putting on a little more muscle, it’s about being a little more stable.”

Faster as well.

Strength and muscle tend to make players more efficient in their athletic movements, creating additional horsepower. Again, Loyer won’t soon be confused with Peak Russell Westbrook or anything, but his three-quarter-court-sprint and lane-agility drill results this summer have stacked up with high-level comparable guards, Kabo said.

Through two seasons, Loyer’s been an offensive stalwart for Purdue, averaging 10.6 points through 74 games and coming off a season in which he shot a blistering 48.5 percent from three-point range in Big Ten games, 44.4 percent for the entire season. Most importantly, Purdue’s won back-to-back Big Ten titles and just played for a national title.

Now, things inevitably change a bit for Loyer, who’s been content, and effective, in playing off the departed Zach Edey and classmate Braden Smith. It’s now fair to assume Purdue will need more.

He seems ready. Loyer has ridden a sustained shooting tear in summer and fall practices, taking and making some different types of shots. Purdue’s going to run Loyer more this season with and without the ball, most likely. That’s how it was when players like Stefanovic, Ryan Cline, Carsen Edwards and Dakota Mathias were around; lots of sprinting to spots and running off complex off-ball screening structures.

“I’ve been in a good rhythm, and I’d say I’ve gotten better shooting off screens, coming off ball screens with the ball in my hands, fading a little bit,” he said. “… Nowadays when I feel like I’m shooting bad, I’m still shooting pretty damn good, so that’s not something I can really complain about.”

“Ready” takes on new meaning now, as well. Loyer’s off-season physical gains have aligned with him developing a routine that works for him, he said. That’s part diet, but also stretching, and maybe not as much idle time during the extra shooting work he has always done.

“I’ve come to find out that when my legs feel good and my body feels good, I’m a pretty good player and when I’m stiff or my body’s not ready to go, I’m oftentimes not as good,” Loyer said. “I just have to find that right mix of doing everything I can to get my body ready but also get the same amount of shots up and still have my legs feel good.”

Kabo notes that when a player gains muscle and strength, things come a bit easier, thus curbing wear and tear a bit. Another area where Loyer’s physical gains could matter during a long season, particularly given the importance of his legs “feeling good.”

It could all add up to being a really big deal for Purdue as Loyer moves into even more of a featured role. Assertiveness will be more of a focus for Loyer now, but not to the point of recklessness.

“When we’ve gotten stagnant or we lost games, it was often when I found myself not getting too involved,” Loyer said. “But we had so many guys who could score. Now it’s just finding that balance of taking good, efficient shots but also getting my game on a little bit more and going and scoring.”