Three Thoughts from Big Ten Media Day

ROSEMONT, Ill. — A few thoughts from Matt Painter’s and Purdue players’ appearances at Big Ten media day Thursday afternoon in Chicago.

PURDUE AND REBOUNDING

Not sure anyone would ever come out and declare that rebounding alone fixes all of Purdue’s limitations from last season, if not turns them into strengths, but no one will tamp down its importance either.

“Adding (Oscar Cluff) and getting (Daniel Jacobsen) back from injury and moving (Trey Kaufman-Renn) moving to the 4 more,” Fletcher Loyer said, “we’re going to be elite on the glass and that’ll help us a ton.”

When Braden Smith was asked about the transition opportunities that should come this year off improved defensive rebounding, Kaufman-Renn was sitting next to him, perhaps compelling Smith to downplay the acuteness of the rebounding issue for Purdue last season. But … “We did the best that we could with what we had,” Smith said.

“We were really good in transition,” Coach Matt Painter said of last season, “but we just didn’t have enough usage because our rebounding wasn’t there.”

Kaufman-Renn himself would be the first to admit how much of an up-hill battle it was rebounding against centers. The numbers look OK, but the numbers don’t reflect the toll — just how much manpower Purdue needed to overcome its dearth of size on the boards and how that may have put the offense in neutral from the outset of possessions, nor does it account for Kaufman-Renn’s constant foul worries and the affect they may have had on him. With more front-court assets in tow now, the senior forward acknowledged it might unlock him even more to not have to worry quite as much about foul trouble.

ON PURDUE AND CONTINUITY

They say that a programs’ best recruiters are often its players and with that in mind, Purdue ought to be sending these interviews to every recruit it can find.

People still kind of look at Purdue as a bit of an oddity because it has been relatively unaffected by the market forces that have changed college basketball profoundly. Hearing Purdue’s players talking into microphones about loyalty and camaraderie and wanting to win for their coach and wanting to be at practice with their teammates speaks volumes about Matt Painter and his staff and what’s been built around Mackey Arena. It’s genuineness in a climate where there’s so little of just that.

ON MATT PAINTER

At the risk of sounding too complimentary here, there is no better voice for college basketball than Matt Painter. He’ll be in the Hall of Fame one day for his coaching accomplishments, but it’s his involvement and advocacy in college basketball that add another layer to the résumé. He’s a tremendous communicator and abnormally normal for his standing within his sport, with a plainspoken, often-funny, relatable common-sense way of talking through complicated issues.

A lot of coaches use platforms at events like these just to whine about problems or advocate for changes with their own self-interests in mind. Painter approaches every issue brought to him with an open mind, and a willingness to listen, looking at issues with every level of college basketball in mind. He may be one of the premier high-major coaches in his sport, but he’ll always be a low- and mid-major coach at heart.

On the five-in-five eligibility possibility that some coaches have been very outspoken about because they want their current teams back next season: “I’m not a big fan of it, but I’d like to be in the room to hear whoever’s pushing it, to hear what they have to say about why it’s best for college basketball.”