Upon Further Review: Purdue’s loss to A&M in Indy

Following each Purdue basketball game this season — or at least most — GoldandBlack.com will take a closer look back at some finer points in our long-standing Upon Further Review series. Today, the 11th-ranked Boilermakers’ 70-66 loss to No. 17 Texas A&M at the Indy Classic.

PDF: Purdue-Texas A&M stats

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(Video clips via CBS)

PURDUE OFFENSE

First off, all the credit in the world to Texas A&M, whose off-ball switching was symphonic (yeah, that’s right) and whose synergy defensively was distinct.

A&M stuck to Purdue’s guards on handoff actions like its life depended on it, closed out like it had extra people on the floor and just played hard, fast and physical.

Texas A&M had the best plan yet for Trey Kaufman-Renn, but also the personnel to do it. The Aggies, as others have done, bracketed TKR front and back and mixed things up enough to where Kaufman-Renn was clearly thrown off. Handling extra attention has been something he’s generally handled well this season, but on Saturday, he committed a few really ugly turnovers, though he was not alone in that regard. He was 3-of-9 from the floor with five turnovers, and didn’t make a field goal ’til deep into the second half.

That back-side help guy doubled as reinforcements against the the short roll.

(Furst needed to cut to the rim here when TKR was stood up, looks like.)

PURDUE DEFENSE

Purdue’s greatest defensive vulnerability right now — perhaps its greatest vulnerability, period — is containing initial dribble surges.

Braden Smith and Myles Colvin aren’t doing a great job containing the bounce. This looked like miscommunication of some kind between the two.

But it has really been an issue with the freshmen, who are taking their full-court-pressure responsibilities seriously at the cost of losing leverage too often.

Purdue has forever been committed to ball pressure at the 1 extending full-court, but the payout for it in recent seasons has seemingly been pretty scant while the cost of it this season might be really showing up.

That initial dribble advance in halfcourt or fullcourt is putting Purdue’s whole defense behind everything. As Painter has said 200 times this season, “You can’t live in help.” Against good teams, this has been an every-game issue, and on this day it was the reason a 30-percent three-point shooting team went 9-of-22.

FOUL DIFFERENTIAL

Look, I know this sounds like fan boy crap. but real time, it felt like Texas A&M being called for only 11 fouls after playing that hard and that fast and that physical against a Purdue team that does play in ways conducive to drawing whistles, that didn’t seem to add up.

Purdue never got in the bonus. A&M had fouls, plural, to give in the final minutes.

Understanding that it wasn’t the officials that caused this loss for Purdue but not wanting to ignore something we wrote about after the game last night, let’s take a look.

Bumping Braden Smith

Opponents are hard-hedging Braden Smith coming off ball screens, an effective strategy oftentimes but one some coaches shy away from as to not expose their big men to cheap fouls. You see, big men are, well, big and when you get them moving fast in a straight line, it’s easy to commit inadvertent contact on the guard you are containing. These bumps, intentional or not, get called all the time, but I don’t recall Smith getting a single call this season in such situations. Maybe if he sold it more like some other more theatrical guards do.

Anyway …

The A&M big man here looks like he sticks his leg out.

Texas A&M is very good and very crafty using its legs. This was a charge on Smith. Wade Taylor clearly positions his leg to entangle Smith’s here, which if nothing else means that Taylor wasn’t “set” since his feet were still moving.

Couple other things …

• Smith just gets knocked down here. Worked out OK.

• Smith gets just knocked down here. The defender literally steps up into him. There’s not even grey area on this one.

• Caleb Furst gets hit here.

Late in the game — too late — Purdue found some success offensively with TKR slipping these high screens.

It may not be as clear here as it was live from courtside, but the third time Purdue tried it, the A&M defender hugged TKR before he could make his move. Like, two arms around him. TKR then seems frustrated and commits an offensive foul. Modest and probably not something that’s gonna get called in that situation often, but also reflective of the sort of minutia that just didn’t get called in Purdue’s favor.

This getting called still wouldn’t have put Purdue in the bonus.

Earlier in the game, TKR dribbled off a Smith screen and unless he just decided he was randomly going to clothesline his teammate while trying to turn the corner, it sure looks like his arm is being held.

Early in the game, this is a moving pick.

Now, a few things that went against Purdue.

What is this?

This is just a bad break, wrong place at wrong time.

Tough day for Heide, who didn’t get a call on this.

Look, the refs didn’t lose Purdue the game, but in a game in which every point mattered, the bonus would have helped, so that 20-11 foul differential mattered, too. Any of this little stuff goes Purdue’s way …

That said Purdue has to be better in these more physical games against these more physical teams.

MISC

• Fletcher Loyer probably should have shot this three or drove it. He didn’t even look at the basket, didn’t look like.