Purdue Basketball: Ten things that stand out

As Friday evening’s exhibition game at ninth-ranked Kentucky nears, No. 1 Purdue is looking the part of its ranking and up to the challenge of the expectations ahead.

Beyond its rock-solid roster and ample starpower, there are a bunch of positive trends that have shown up the past several weeks and months.

A look at some of them.

TREY KAUFMAN-RENN’S EVERYTHING

Already established as one of the top players in college basketball, Trey Kaufman-Renn is about to show he’s also one of its more complete, as the assets around him should create more rebounds and assists for him to go along with his robust scoring numbers again.

Moving to power forward full-time — it’s not outside the realm of possibility he could still line up at center here and there — should allow Kaufman-Renn more opportunities to drive out of face-ups, to bully-ball dribble into post-ups, to survey the floor and pass and to even shoot jumpers if there’s value in him doing that.

BRADEN SMITH’S COMMAND

Nobody in college basketball controls a game better than Braden Smith. Last you saw him, he was shredding the scariest matchup in the sport for point guards: Houston.

With more relevant weapons around him, a better rebounding infrastructure, reliable rim finishers, more layers to Purdue’s ball-screen offense and a viable backup should he need or want (haha) breaks, this is about to go to a whole different level.

More so than maybe any guard in college basketball, Smith has shown he can get what he wants pretty much whenever he wants it, whether it’s his own shot or shots for others.

FLETCHER LOYER’S PASSING AND PLAYMAKING

One of college basketball’s truly elite shooters, Fletcher Loyer’s passing gets over-looked. Not just how good he is at it, but that he is so willing. For a great shooter, he rarely takes bad ones.

The attention defenses will dedicate to not letting Loyer be the guy who kills them makes his passing critical, along of course with his decision-making. Purdue runs intricate offense and players like Loyer make for good offense.

This stuff is just advanced-degree-level offense.

OSCAR CLUFF ROLLING AND FINISHING

New Purdue center Oscar Cluff is defined by his size, girth, motor and physicality, but he’s also shown some real fluidity in pick-and-roll that belies the typical bruiser blueprint.

The Boilermakers aren’t going to need to run offense for Cluff, but they will need to run their ball-screen-heavy offense with him, especially when Kaufman-Renn is off the floor. Cluff’s presence as a screener, too, is going to create opportunities for him.

Cluff, for a newcomer who didn’t show up at Purdue ’til late summer, looked Saturday as if his chemistry with the playmakers around him is spot on.

These are three different passers accounting for these four baskets.

THE DANIEL JACOBSEN LOB THREAT

Daniel Jacobsen may be 7-foot-4, but that doesn’t mean elevating to catch the ball above the rim to flush it is easy. Purdue’s had players his size before who just didn’t have the requisite ball skills or hand-eye coordination or whatever to do it.

But as the lob dunk is resurrected as part of Purdue’s offense this season, Jacobsen’s going to be the beneficiary.

Defenders are going to try to disrupt his paths to the rim, but when he can move freely, this is his strength.

Purdue has back-line finishers now unlike anything it had last season. Jacobsen’s not going to be Zach Edey but he’s going to make 90 percent of his dunks in an offensive set-up that will create them, and he’ll draw fouls in a dynamic Boilermaker opponents last season didn’t even have to consider.

THE SOPHOMORE GUARDS’ EFFICIENCY

CJ Cox and Gicarri Harris have to be Purdue’s tone-setters defensively, as the Boilermakers’ first line of resistance against the ball. They’re both able to be excellent in that role.

But with that value comes their high-efficiency, low-volume opportunistic scoring, the stuff “glue guys” are made of.

When you have stars on your team, as Purdue does, there’s no overstating the importance of the complementary pieces making the centerpieces better while not turning the ball over, while creating possessions and while making the most of their opportunities.

The two then-frame did that last season, both being 40-plus-percent three-point shooters after Jan. 1.

Now, both have been outstanding in recent months and weeks, particularly in the context that’ll apply to them when games start.

In Purdue’s two scrimmage settings, the pair combined to go 10-of-23 from three. Saturday during Fan Day, neither committed a turnover, while both made plays finishing fast breaks, a key avenue of scoring for Purdue this season. Saturday, they combined for 10 rebounds, two offensive rebounds and eight steals, against just a combined two turnovers. That’s really something when you look at it all in its totality.

ANTIONE WEST’S DEFENSE

Is Antione West ready to be an impact guy right now defensively? Well, few are right away in their college careers, but Purdue is enthused about the rookie in large part due to his two-way potential, the defensive piece having shown itself in both an on-ball and off-ball settings.

West might be hard-pressed to make his presence felt right now, but the day Purdue has West, Cox and Harris together down the line, that could be quite a defensive backcourt.

JACK BENTER’S OFFENSIVE SKILL SET IN CONTEXT

Purdue has been great offensively playing big with 4 men like Caleb Swanigan and Kaufman-Renn over the years, but deep down, Painter covets dribble-pass-and-shoot elements at that spot.

That’s where redshirt freshman Jack Benter could make things interesting now, then really interesting in the years to come. Benter came to Purdue known for his shooting, but his shooting is just one player of an offensive toolkit that profiles like Ryan Cline or Dakota Mathias, players who could handle the ball, make decisions and really pass. They were offensive orchestrators as much as they were scorers; while Benter may not have to be put in that role as a leading man type this season, he does provide threats Purdue just did not have last season.

The 4 man isn’t always the leading man in Purdue’s ball screen actions but he does get positioned often as either the far-side floor-spacer or the “indirect” sliding in behind the play. Those roles create open threes, but also golden opportunities to exploit scrambling defenders. Purdue’s 4s last season, dribbling past closeouts and making decisions, it wasn’t really their thing. Benter will be much better suited for it.

Liam Murphy is an elite spot-up shooter, so Purdue will have some fun seeing what they get offensively with its backup forwards, but Benter’s all-around offensive repertoire is really intriguing. He’s a zone-buster, not just as a shooter, but as an inside-out facilitator possibility.

As Purdue looks for a forward in recruiting, likely the portal, there’s nothing that says Benter can’t be its guy for the three seasons that follow this one.

OMER MAYER’S SHOT CREATION

Freshman Omer Mayer is literally a pro, having played professionally in Israel before coming to Purdue on his way to presumably being an NBA draft pick. International play is different from American college basketball, more like the NBA than college.

At both pro levels, it’s about shot-creation, iso ball, etc., as much as structure.

Mayer can do pro things, and sometimes great teams just need a guy who can go get a bucket here and there, especially if they’re coming off the bench.

Remember how important Smith’s pull-up jumper turned out to be in unlocking Purdue’s pick-and-roll offense? Well, Mayer can do the same stuff Smith does, because of that scoring threat he poses.

RALEIGH BURGESS’ ENERGY

Clearly, Raleigh Burgess‘ moment at Purdue is not right now. He needs to be healthy for an extended period of time.

But even as he eases back into things after a summer spent idled, his effort and enthusiasm stand out. He tries really, gets around the ball and is always talking, clearly one of this roster’s most positive influences.

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