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[WindsorBlue]

Happy New Year everyone. Took a bit of a break which was probably a good thing cause I was just about to wade into a debate on in-state recruiting from which no good could come.

Didn’t see a PSU post-mortem thread but just wanted to share a couple observations:

1. I was very impressed with the ball movement in LeVert’s absence, especially with Walton having an off day. Irvin and Robinson in particular looked like elite passers. MAAR also stepped up a showed an inkling of what he can do on offence when he’s aggressive and not deferring to LeVert. Hopefully LeVert gets back to form asap but also hope that we see Irvin, Robinson, MAAR, and Dawkins continue in their expanded roles rather than regressing into a situation where LeVert and Walton are the only consistent playmakers.

• One area for improvement was breaking the press/zone press thingy that PSU deployed late. IIRC the game was basically in hand by that point and it seemed the team was content to get the ball over center and run clock. But when PSU sends 4 guys into the backcourt, I think you need to punish them by moving the ball and scoring easy uncontested buckets. On BTN I heard that part of the reason Purdue struggled vs Iowa was because of their inability to break Iowa’s press (did not see that game so correct me if I am wrong). The 12-13 team was really excellent at breaking the press and pushing the pace when the opportunity presented itself – isn’t that how they shredded the VCU havoc in the tourney?

[93grad]

Doyle has clearly regressed for some reason. He looks like Donnal looked last year. Its odd because he looked better last year when he was a true freshman, out of shape and often sick. Maybe he bulked up too much?

[tarverine]

I agree, and it really doesn’t make sense. Last year it was clear he had issues catching the ball, but right now he misses it over 50% of the time, and when he does catch it he won’t keep the ball high and they just knock it away.