Purdue Coach Matt Painter Previews Indiana Game
Ahead of Saturday's game against No. 21 Indiana, Purdue coach Matt Painter met with the media to discuss his thoughts on the game. The Boilermakers have won nine games in a row, and were voted the unanimous No. 1 team this week with a 22-1 record.
Here's what Painter said.
On Indiana and Trayce Jackson-Davis...
Painter: Well obviously they have a really good team. They have a lot of experience. With Xavier Johnson being out, it's allowed a lot of the other guys a lot more experience and a lot more opportunity. Hood-Schifino is a really talented player and very dangerous. His last game at home he was 6-for-7 from 3 against Ohio State, and just someone that you've got to be with at all times, especially when he gets it going. Then Trayce Jackson-Davis is just having one of the best years in college basketball, and he's hard to deal with whether he has the ball on the perimeter or he has the ball in the mid post or the low post and you just got to know where he is at all times. His ability to kind of make that second effort or the second jump is pretty impressive. So like when he misses, he usually gets it back or keeps it alive so someone else can get it. Just got to know where he is at all times and stick with him, don't give into him, don't foul him, just try to stay ahead of the play because when you get behind plays, it's normally over.
On having success against Trayce Jackson-Davis in his career...
Painter: I think when he was younger, it was harder to deal with doubles. Some people didn't double him. We've always had such great respect for him, recruiting him and watching him devour people in high school and leading into college. You just want somebody else to beat you at that time, but now he's much better at handling that. He's much better at passing, the schemes that they're using, what they do, really puts you in a bind. You have to have a good double or he's going to find that guy across court or he's going to find the guy diving. But no, I think earlier in his career it was just something that didn't happen all the time and now it happens most of the time. You see it at Illinois, they didn't double him and he gets 35 points. Some other teams haven't doubled him and he just kills you. He gets to the free throw line and he kind of gets anything he wants. He's going to score points against you, it's just dependent on what you want to try to take away with the effort being on try. When you have a guy like that, you've got to take things away and you've got to do the best you can to try to limit his vision and limit his touches and not let him get second-chance opportunities.
On his message to the team heading into the game...
Painter: It's just trying to stick with what we've been doing all year and the game plan. Anytime you're playing someone for the first time, especially younger guys, just knowing the personnel like who can shoot, who can drive, who can do both, who's streaky. Last year we had a game you know where [Rob] Phinisee was the one, we get Trayce Jackson-Davis in foul trouble and Phinisee comes in and just plays an unbelievable first half and makes that shot at the end. So we talk about that a lot, how sometimes guys can have big nights, just don't let a guy coming off the bench who averages three or four points have a huge night against you. You have to respect everybody and be prepared. But yeah, it's a great game. It's a great game for the fans. It's a great game for both teams, and you're always excited to play your rival.
On Jalen Hood-Schifino...
Painter: Well you've got to try to get into him and not let him get comfortable. When he drives and can attack the rim or just drives to get to a spot to get pull-ups, he gets in that rhythm and you've just got to try to make it hard for him and not let him get angles or use size against him or use quickness against him depending on who's guarding him for us. He's a good player, and getting into that rhythm for him also opens a lot of things for other people, so it's a really important matchup for us.
On Indiana's defensive approach against bigger lineups...
Painter: They're a good defensive team, and they do a good job of keeping the ball out of the paint. They do a good job of over-helping and not letting the ball get in there off penetration. You have to be able to play with control and move the basketball when they over help. But they do a great job. Defensively they really want to keep that basketball – a lot of people like to attack the middle – and they do a great job of holding their guy to the nail and really trying to stop that type of action. So it's going to be important for us that when they're being that stingy and that aggressive, just to probe the defense and moving the basketball.
On Trayce Jackson-Davis' shot-blocking ability...
Painter: Yeah, you have to know where he is defensively. He does a good job in ball screen defense of ignoring it and kind of playing possum and luring you into thinking you have a layup and then he blocks it and they go to the other end. He's very experienced in some areas around rim. He tries to make you feel comfortable and he's just walking you into a trap so he can block your shot. So very good instincts, very, very good instincts. So you have to be aware of him, but when you get and angle, you've got to get to him. If you don't get to him, he's normally going to get those.
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