What Purdue Basketball Coach Matt Painter Said After 85-66 Win Against Hofstra
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The No. 4-ranked Purdue basketball team jumped on Hofstra in the opening minutes, fueling an 85-66 win on Wednesday night at Mackey Arena to remain undefeated.
Here's the full transcript of coach Matt Painter's postgame press conference.
On keeping Hofstra off the glass...
Painter: Just the fact that they only had one offensive rebound, and it was a team rebound. I don't think I've ever been in a game when an opposing team, no individual has an offensive rebound. So I think that's really the separation in the game.
We had the same turnovers, they shot the ball pretty well, we shot the ball pretty well and did some things. Obviously, we go to the free-throw line more, but we're going to do that with Zach [Edey] down there. Just our ability to rebound, our ability to get it inside. We had some really good looks that didn't go down for us, so that's what we just gotta keep doing. There's no doubt that was a big part of the game.
On Hofstra guard Amar'e Marshall...
Painter: You want to give him credit, he gets the nod when [Aaron] Estrada goes out of the game, and he steps up. He's had a couple individual games this year, I think Middle Tennessee State and then Princeton if I'm not off the chart there, where he had six field goals in both those games.
I watched the middle game, and he's just aggressive. He's looking for his, and he has to be one of those guys in rhythm. So we told them when he got the nod to start, that this guy can really score and you gotta be there with him, but give him credit.
I thought our concentration was lacking, especially coming off the bench. We've started games where our starters either turned it over or missed shots and we weren't all there to start a game, and then our bench has came in and really got us going. And I thought tonight, the starters really got us going. I think it was 29-8, really the game is equal after that. ... The first 10 minutes of the game, we dominated it. Then for 30 minutes, it's a straight-up basketball game.
And for a team that doesn't have a guy that's Player of the Year in their conference, averaging 23 points and controls the basketball. Estrada is a fabulous player. Not to have him, they're going to be really good. That's an NCAA Tournament team right there when you put Estrada back in there.
On Fletcher Loyer playing off of screens...
Painter: You gotta have guys that can move and be able to come off a screen, and make plays, and make passes and make shots. But just his ability to kind of understand things, you know, he's not the fastest guy in the world but he knows angles. So when he can put the ball on the deck and he gets an angle, he can make passes and he can make shots.
He's got a pretty good intermediate game even though it hasn't come out a lot because he hasn't had as many opportunities. But he's really good with his pull-up, and he's got a little floater there. But just a high-basketball IQ and very competitive. And a really good balance for us. Him and Braden [Smith], I think they've shown that they do a good job of feeding off each other.
On what it's like being Zach Edey's coach...
Painter: Well, I like it because they can't take somebody on their team and really practice for two or three days and they can get a feel for it. I compare it to a great pressing team. So you take a great pressing team, and then you try to work on that press in your practice, and you're not a pressing team. And so you'll put six or seven guys out there and you'll do crazy stuff because you're trying to get it to where it's going to be the same as the game, but it's never the same as the game.
Playing Florida State and the way they play, and the way they switch, and the way they do things, it's always taken us about a half to adjust to it. Sometimes it's been too late, that half it's been too late for us because we've been down against them.
I think it's the same thing for him, for those guys that are guarding him. I thought their two big guys really played hard. I thought they really gave a good effort and battled him, and was on him. Sometimes guys get into him, and I thought both those guys played. With that being said, he had 23 and 18, but there's no way they can get practice and really know what's coming. You can watch film and see that.
Guys his size don't go after every rebound. He goes after every rebound. He gives an effort, he gives great effort. He's not one of those big dudes that just sits there and scores baskets because he's big. He's got a good skill level, and he's got a good motor.
On if it's normal to keep Zach Edey on the floor for the first 10 minutes of the game...
Painter: No, but I normally have one more player. Just trying to keep our best player in the game.
If you ever get your own team, guys, keep your best player in the game.
On the importance of his players understanding the game from top to bottom...
Painter: I think people get lost when they see people play 10-15 minutes a game and they wonder why they don't do certain things. Well, they've been sitting over there for 20 minutes cold. Now they have to come in and play a role and do things and help your team win. That is a really hard role to play, but I think the balance that we have, whether it's Fletcher, or it's Braden, or it's Trey [Kaufman-Renn], or it's Mason Gillis. Brandon Newman, who's really been good and did some really good things for us tonight.
I'm missing obviously two or three other guys, but I think we're going to have that throughout the year and that's a good thing, especially when you get on the road. You can put Trey Kaufman in there at the 4 and he can get post-up baskets. Mason Gillis can stretch the defense, Caleb [Furst] can do both. Obviously, Trey Kaufman showed today he can do both also.
So when you look at our front line, we have some good pieces to balance out Zach. And then with Ethan [Morton], Braden and Fletch, all three of those guys are really good passers where they should have good assist/turnover ratios. And then you bring someone like Brandon off the bench who can really score the basketball. David Jenkins just hasn't gotten going yet, we have to try to get him some shots because he can get going and change the game with his ability to shoot the basketball.
And then you mentioned Brian [Waddell] who does a lot of little things for us, who's really just kind of coming into his own, what he's trying to recover from with his ACL and MCL surgery.
On Trey Kaufman-Renn getting into foul trouble...
Painter: On two of them, he got away from his post D rules and just let the guy get it. And then ends up getting a foul. On the one, they absolutely blew it. You know, he gets cracked two different times, then at the end of the play, as they're flailing, they call a foul on him. That's what the ref kept explaining to me.
You know, refs don't explain good calls. That's just not the way it works. He caught the tail end of it, he was the outside guy, and the guy on the baseline just ignored. I mean, he got cracked, and so the one was bad luck. But the other two, 2 and 4 were just posting, and he just got away from doing what he normally does. You gotta keep the ball out of there. If not, you gotta give resistance. But you learn. You go back and watch tape, and you learn from that, and you don't let it happen again.
On the team's disruptiveness...
Painter: Well, more than anything, it's just keep making the play. Keep defending, if you get behind in a rotation, trying to just fly around and get some good contests. I thought to start the game, we really did a good job contesting shots. The one play that you're talking about is just anybody that can drive the basketball that's a center is going to drive Zach.
You saw a couple of those layups they scored, but we also got three or four deflections with him doing the same thing. So just having awareness, I think we have pretty good awareness and understanding when guys are driving the basketball. What gets tough is when they spread you out and everybody can shoot. That's when you can't get as much help.
But when you can give some help, or they turn a blind eye to you, there, you really got to pounce on that basketball.
On the stat that's most important for Zach Edey's success...
Painter: So you have two things, rebounds and turnovers. Because he has a lot of opportunities. So the other night, I don't think he had any turnovers. Today he had two. That's pretty good for how many times he gets it.
That's like a point guard, like the greatest point guards that are out there. You know what I mean? They're gonna turn over some. The ball is just in their hands forever. I like talking to those guys, like treat turnovers like interceptions in football. There's never been a quarterback who played football that said it's okay, it's just to pick six. Never. It's just a turnover, just an interception, no big deal. Because that's what flips football games.
Well in basketball, there are more possessions, so it's not the same. You're just going to turn it over and they get two points, but enough of them can hurt you. But that's not the way you should feel as a player. As a player, you should look at that the same way. Sometimes you're trying to do the right thing, and you turn the basketball over.
But with Zack, that's the number one thing I look at is the turnovers, and then I look at the rebounds. Because if he doesn't turn it over and he dominates the glass, he's put you in a really good position.
On the backcourt's focus while getting the ball to Zach Edey...
Painter: Anytime you put yourself in position to a game and you get up twenty, and you get in those positions, you want to extend your lead. But I think their stinginess and their competitiveness kept it right around 20, right there.
But sometimes [Edey] doesn't get a chance to play with different people, different lineups. And so we tried David Jenkins a little bit more with Braden a couple times in the game. But then Zach gets different guys with him. Mason's a guy that can really mesh and stretch the defense, and so can those other two.
We're just trying to utilize him to the best of our abilities, but also balance things out. People say, well you just can't rely totally on him. Well, if he can catch the basketball down there, it makes sense for us to deliver it.
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- Purdue Opens Big Ten Play With 89-70 Win Over Minnesota: Purdue had five players score in double figures, led by a career-high 31 points from junior center Zach Edey. He also set a career-best with 22 rebounds while freshman guard Fletcher Loyer finished with 20 points and a team-high eight assists. CLICK HERE
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