Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter addressed the media across a variety of topics after his Boilermakers defeated Maryland, 83-78, on Sunday afternoon. Here is a summary of his responses:
On coping with Maryland’s bigs, Julian Reese and Derik Queen:
“It helped that Reese got into foul trouble. Those guys didn’t score much in the first half, they just got every rebound. Maryland was plus nine on the glass (in the first half), and then in the second half we did a much better job. I think we were plus-six. Those guys (Reese and Queen) are aircraft carriers, they got great size, great skill. Queen’s fabulous with the way he can pass, and he’s 0 for 10 from three coming into the game and he makes a couple of them just kind of shows you his upside with his ability to pass and rebound. Anytime you have that combination–we used to have it with Trevion (Williams)–you really help your cause because you got a big that can see over everybody and pass at an elite level, they can rebound at an elite level, and then his ability to dribble and spin is very, very uncanny. You don’t see that a lot but he’s got a bright future.”
On his team’s improvement on the offensive end:
“I think in the first half we did some really good things offensively but we didn’t make shots, so it comes off as if you’re struggling when in reality you’re doing some good things.
“I’m just proud of our guys for hanging in there, and it obviously helps our morale when we make shots, trying to build off it. I think you saw a lot of good execution in the game on our end but more shot making in the second half. Anytime you’re making shots, now you got a better chance because you’re setting your defense.”
On his point guard, Braden Smith, allowing the game to unfold:
“Obviously, we’re very fortunate to have Braden because I thought he took over the game in the second half, made shots but also made some big plays and made some big passes.
“He was looking for his, especially in transition and in ball-screen action, just taking what they’re giving him. If they’re going to be up, they’re going to be aggressive, try to hit the roll guy, try to get the ball out of your hands. If they’re going to give you space, which they gave him more space in transition, look for your pullup or look to play off your shot fake after you drive the basketball and just see how they’re handling it. When you don’t have those predetermined thoughts and you play off of instincts and have his skill package, good things are going to happen.”
On how Purdue’s rebounding improvement stemmed from better all-around defense:
“When you beat us off the dribble and you got us in rotations, it’s harder for us because now we don’t have great rebound balance. Some of that came into play. I thought we did a better job guarding, (but) you can’t let the ball get into the paint. When the ball got into the paint, whether it was driven or passed, good things normally happen for them. That was make or miss, so I think that was more important for us. I think we were more active there, but to their defense, they also didn’t have one of those guys (Reese) in there half of the second half. We were very fortunate, and when he was in there in foul trouble, you’re just not always the same aggressive player on the glass, especially the offensive glass because you don’t want to get a cheap one.”
On the benefit of fielding an experienced lineup that does not panic when behind by five at halftime:
“We’re just trying to feed them the accurate numbers. When you have two turnovers at half and you’ve take shots, I thought we had a handful of possessions where our size didn’t really crash the glass. You saw Myles (Colvin) get in there and get some putbacks that really sparked us and got us going. I thought we had some opportunities with our four and our five and just floated back in transition defense. You gotta be able to steal some points there because we missed some shots at the rim, Derik Queen blocked a couple, Reese blocked a couple. I thought they (his team) kept their poise.
“We just kept saying how we were getting the shots that we wanted. That was the case the other night against Penn State, we weren’t getting shots. To have that stat and say at the end of the game, it got a little lopsided and it moved back in our favor. But we shot a better percentage than them. Nobody would have walked out of that gym (at Penn State) and said that until you grabbed a box score, right? It was just a blowout. It was a 30-point blowout that ended up at 11. When you get there and you look at that you’re like, well, you have 24 possessions where you don’t have a shot, just give yourself a chance. I thought tonight we got really good shots and we gave ourselves a chance.”
See Also: Highlights of Purdue’s Victory Over Maryland:
#11-ranked Purdue next takes the floor on Saturday, December 14, against #17 Texas A&M, in Indianapolis.
