Purdue's Hope: Sophomore guards now better positioned to close season strong
As excellent as Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have been as sophomores, it’s now time for them to show how much things are different for them.
A year ago at this time, both were enduring as much as they were thriving, carrying bulk minutes and immense responsibility at the highest level they’d ever played at, in the middle of the longest seasons they’d ever played, every experience still being new, no matter how much they’d done prior during their revelatory freshman seasons.
Ultimately, neither finished the season as strong as they’d have liked, which hindsight probably should have been expected.
Smith wore down some after dominating Purdue’s point guard minutes all season. It’s easy to forget that he arrived at Purdue having just undergone surgery on his foot, idling him for most of the summer, the sort of thing that can ripple throughout a season.
Loyer battled a bad shin for weeks and saw his shooting tail off late in the season.
Things ought to be very different this season, one of the most promising safe assumptions that can be made about an elite team looking to peak at the right time.
“They’re mentally tougher than they were last year,” Coach Matt Painter said, “even though they did some really good things last year. But when you don’t have the experience, it’s just more difficult.”
Nothing is new anymore, and there’s virtually no experience that’s foreign to either sophomore now.
“The mental part is bigger than the physical part,” said Smith, one of the college basketball season’s true breakout stars. “Once you know, once you’ve been through it, what’s going to happen, and what could happen, you know how to better avoid it. I think we’ve done a great job of that so far.”
Top 10
- 1
Elko pokes at Kiffin
A&M coach jokes over kick times
- 2Trending
Dan Lanning
Oregon coach getting NFL buzz
- 3
Bryce Underwood
Michigan prepared to offer No. 1 recruit $10.5M over 4 years
- 4Hot
5-star flip
Ole Miss flips Alabama WR commit Caleb Cunningham
- 5
Second CFP Top 25
Newest CFP rankings are out
Purdue’s won eight straight games to position itself for another Big Ten championship and another No. 1 seed to the NCAA Tournament. History, in some senses, is repeating itself. Except that this season, its guards ought to be trending better than they were 12 months ago.
It has obviously helped that Lance Jones has alleviated a measure of burden on both, both from minutes and responsibility perspectives. But that’s just one of several factors working in Smith’s and Loyer’s favor.
They’re ready for most anything, benefiting from wisdom that comes from experience, both mental benefit and physical.
“The easy answer is you’re more prepared,” Loyer said. “You’ve been there before; you’ve done it before. Now, after practice every day, it’s just all about what you need to do to get your body ready for the next game. Being more fresh and more ready to go has been very helpful and made us more steady.”
