Mailbag: Fletcher Loyer's shooting volume
Throughout the off-season, GoldandBlack.com will run its long-standing Purdue Basketball Mailbag series, taking reader questions in hopes of diving deeper into more off-the-radar sorts of topics.
Today’s topic: Fletcher Loyer.
(Questions: DM @Brian_GoldandBlack.com or e-mail [email protected])
Q: After watching Fletcher Loyer play for three seasons now, I can only count a handful of games I haven’t said to myself that wish he would shoot more. I’m not saying he should just randomly take more shots. I’m suggesting I would like to see Matt Painter run more offense for him. Remember how Bobby Knight used to run Steve Alford through a myriad of screens just to get him an open shot? That sort of thing. I just think it would benefit both Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn to have a little more scoring support from the third member of the top scorers on the team.
Answer: Yes, this is a pretty common thought I hear expressed from fans.
But, a few things.
- Since Loyer has been at Purdue he has shared the floor with really dominant sorts of offensive dynamics like Zach Edey and TKR playing on the interior and more notably in ball screens with Braden Smith. Every play run for something else is a play not run for some of the most efficient offense in college basketball. And Loyer is an elite entry man, floor-spacer and mover without the ball, so his fingerprints are all over that efficiency even if he’s not shooting. His influence with this offense has made his scoring numbers and his actual value two pretty different things. The attention Loyer commands doesn’t show up in box scores but is a big deal.
- Loyer shoots a really high percentage not just because he’s a great shooter, but because he takes only really high-quality shots. I think that was something Purdue was quietly pretty good at all season this past year: Shot selection and decision-making, at least when it came to shooting. Loyer — or any shooter for that matter — shooting more wouldn’t necessarily guarantee the percentages would translate.
- You have to give Loyer credit as a teammate for being one of the unselfish guys that has made up the substance of these recent teams. He has really thrived as a complementary sort of player and has made Edey, Smith and TKR better by doing it. A lot of players as good as Loyer would get to a point where they feel they need to get theirs and start playing differently. But he’s been good playing a really important complementary role, while also having the sort of game-wrecking capabilities to can dictate how defenses approach Purdue.
Long story short: Loyer has been really good and really impactful doing what he’s doing, both in using defensive attention to everyone’s advantage, but also taking and making the best looks he gets. I think as long as he’s not turning down great shots, he’s doing his job.
