Purdue opens the season

The Purdue Boilermakers opened up the 2019-20 men’s basketball season with a 79-57 victory over Green Bay. The Boilers are replacing two sharp shooters in Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline. On Tuesday, the Boiler faithful got a glimpse of who may the replacements.

Here are five takeaways from the opening game.

Purdue Defense

The Boilermakers led by Matt Painter did not wait to display a solid defensive effort. Green Bay shot 35.7% from the field and were forced into 16 turnovers. Off the stat sheet, the defense played outstanding ball pressure and shot contesting all night long. Add in the length of Matt Haarms and Purdue will be a tough team to score on.

Jahaad Proctor

The High Point transfer scored a game 26 points for the Boilers. He was very effective with the mid range games. He may be able to replace the scoring that graduated albeit it might come in a different methods than pure 3 point shooting.

Mackey atmosphere

Mackey Arena and the Purdue fans provide one of the best college basketball atmospheres in the country. Green Bay got off to a horrible start and their head coach Linc Darner (former Purdue player) said “The environment effect our guys….made them play too fast at the start.”

Redshirts

Purdue has decided to redshirt freshmen Brandon Newman and Mason Gillis. Coach Painter stated that it was a mutual decision and that he redshirts guys he things are good and could use the year to progress. Coach Painter mentioned that he wishes he had redshirted a few players earlier in his career, the most recent being Ryan Cline.

Nogel Eastern is a tough assignment

Eastern is a 6-7 point guard who has a great post game. How to opposing teams guard him this year will be something to watch. Put a smaller point guard on him and his mid range plus post game will be utilized. Put a bigger wing on him and he can use his driving ability. Eastern also is a long and lengthy on defense.

Purdue will need some time to work in the new players on this years team. Look for the Boilers to be very competitive in a good BIG 10 conference this year. A return to the NCAA and a sweet 16 run could happen again if all goes well. The Boilers have a big test on Saturday as they host the Texas Longhorns in Mackey Arena