Another Year Older and Wiser, Purdue's Isaiah Thompson Off to Great Start
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It's always interesting to watch the annual journey for college basketball players, and watch how they get better and improve their games from one season to the next.
It's really been fun to watch the growth of Purdue junior point guard Isaiah Thompson. Another year older, and another year wise, the 6-footer from Zionsville, Ind., is the Boilermakers' starting point guard for now. And through Purdue's first two games — blowing wins over Bellarmine and Indiana State, Thompson has been playing at a high level.
Thompson is averaging 22.5 minutes per game, and in those 45 minutes, he hasn't made a single turnover. He's also made 6-of-11 three-pointers (54.5 percent), including five in the season opener.
A mistake-free point guard is a dream come true for Purdue coach Matt Painter
"Coach Painter really harps on his point guards taking care of the basketball, and that's what I've been trying to do,'' Thompson said Monday night when he was a guest on the Sasha Live! podcast along with teammate Sasha Stefanovic on BoilermakersCountry.com. "Obviously, we've got a lot of really good guys on this team, and it's my job to get them the ball in the right spots and the right time. I've been able to do that without making a turnover so far and I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing and finding ways to help us win.''
He loved getting off to that hot start shooting the ball because he gets a lot of good looks on the perimeter, either on kick-outs when Jaden Ivey is driving to the basket or when Purdue's centers, Zach Edey and Trevion Williams, are getting double-teamed and are kicking the ball out to open shooters.
"It felt good to get off to a hot start,'' Thompson said. "I got a lot of opportunities early in that game, and I was able to knock them down, I was just trying to be prepared to shoot and be in a good rhythm.
"I knew coming in i was going to get opportunities the way they were double-teaming the post. We fed of Jaden's penetration and him going downhill. We kind of fed off Jaden's penetration and Zach and Trevion in the post.''
Stefanovic had five three-pointers in that game, too, and they were feeding off of each others' successes. Their chemistry has been excellent so far.
"I've been playing with Sasha for three years and I know where he likes the ball and likes to shoot the basketball,'' Thompson said. "I think we do play well off of each other and feeding off each other, playing off drive-and-kick opportunities and those double teams.''
Thompson struggled through the early parts of last season, getting limited minutes and having a hard getting rolling in his brief spurts. But he kept grinding and stayed with it and things got better. He wanted to carry over that good finish into his junior year.
Another year older, another year wiser.
"I just think it comes with time and experience. The more time you get on the floor, the better you're going to play,'' Thompson said. "Last year, the first part of the year was kind of rough for me. I really wanted to make that freshman to sophomore jump, but I didn't do that.
"I had to figure out what I could add to help this team. And that was on defense, and providing that energy at all times. When you're 6-foot and 160, you've got to do different things to stand out. I wanted to build on the success I had in the second half of the season.''
When the summer rolled around, Thompson was a more vocal leader and a great locker room presence.
"I just wanted to come in with a lot of that energy and have that confidence in yourself,'' he said. "I'm an upperclassmen now and I wanted to take on that leadership role and keep moving forward and being successful.'
He's had Painter in his ear too, pushing him to be a leader. That's the job of a point guard. He says he's learned a lot from Painter, both on the court and off.
"From an off-the-court standpoint, he tells me to just be myself. He's a really simple guy. Even when he recruited him, he never sugar-coated anything. That's why I came here,'' Thompson said.
Stefanovic isn't surprised by Thompson success so far this season. He's seen it building all summer
"He's done a great job, and really stepped up in a leadership role this year, really this whole entire fall in being a leader,'' Stefanovic said during the podcast. "He's getting our team on the right track in regards to what we're trying to do. As the point guard, you've got to hold everybody accountable
"You've really seen that in our first two games in him running the show and getting guys in the right positions. "I think he's done a tremendous job these first few games, and I'm sure that will continue.''
Thompson is 100 percent bought in to all of Purdue's team goals, too. The Boilermakers, ranked No. 6 in the country this week, have championship aspirations.
"We have a lot of unselfish people on our team, and we've got talent across the board,'' Stefanovic said. "Coach Paint is always pushing us to take the first good available shot. If it's there, he wants us to shoot it. If we're able to catch and shoot it, we're pretty successful.
"I'm not really surprised by any of his success. Isaiah came into the summer with a great attitude. None of us were sure what to expect in regards to minutes or anything like that, but we've all bought in to this team winning championships. We have goals, our team goals, and that's the mindset. Isaiah's done a good job of that. He's always got a smile on his face and he's always pushing the guys in that leadership role.''
Purdue looks to go to 3-0 on Tuesday night, with a home game against Wright State, starting at 7 p.m. ET. And then it's off to Connecticut this weekend for a tournament, with No. 18 North Carolina in the first game and then either No. 5 Villanova or No. 17 Tennessee in the second game.
But first, it's Wright State, a solid mid-major that will give the Boilermakers a test.
"They're an experienced team, with a lot of juniors and seniors,'' Thompson said. "They've got some good big men and they've got guard that really like to get downhill. It's a good building block for what's to come this weekend.
"Anytime you get a chance to play against competition like this, it doesn't get any better than this. Who doesn't want to play against North Carolina?
"We're all looking forward to the challenge and we're looking forward to going out there and getting two wins.''
Watch the entire podcast here
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- HOW TO WATCH: Purdue takes on Wright State on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena. Here's how to watch, plus breakdowns on both teams, the latest on the point spread and so much more. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE MOVES TO NO. 6 IN THE AP POLL: Purdue basketball moved up to No. 6 in the AP Top 25 poll after starting the season with two dominant victories at Mackey Arena. The team entered the season ranked No. 7 before took down Bellarmine and Indiana State in its first week of play. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.