What Matt Painter Said After Purdue's 79-61 Win Over Northwestern
Purdue picked up an important home win over Northwestern Sunday, defeating the Wildcats 79-61. With the win, the Boilermakers improved to 3-1 in Big Ten play and 11-4 overall.
Braden Smith had another big day, finishing the game with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds. CJ Cox and Trey Kaufman-Renn both finished the afternoon with 12 points.
After the game, coach Matt Painter spoke with reporters about the victory. Here's everything he said.
On Caleb Furst's resiliency throughout his career ...
Painter: "I think how well he played in our Toledo game, we were better with him on the court. I think sometimes you don't have the hard stats to show that, but you have the results of your team playing better when you're out there. That was something I didn't think we had, just that overall physical presence. I thought it was perfect timing, because (Minnesota's) Dawson Garcia causes problems if you can't move your feet and you can't handle him physically. So, I thought he did a good job matching up to him.
"I thought he did a really good job matching up to (Nick) Martinelli tonight. Just trying to use his size and his quickness and just overall physicality with those guys. But it's different, because those guys can muscle you, they also can drive by you. He possesses both of those qualities to guard people, so he's really helped us in the last three games."
On Purdue "being around the basketball" better ...
Painter: "Yeah, it's been better the last couple of games. I think each team that you play causes different challenges, and then some people — Maryland caused some real challenges on their front line with that elite size. But I thought our guys were good tonight. Anytime we can outrebound somebody and have fewer turnovers, we've been really successful. Our guys were around the ball and CJ (Cox) had eight."
On limiting Brooks Barnhizer and Nick Martinelli ...
Painter: "We might have overdid it a little bit, but we were just scheming to keep them out of the paint. Whether they were iso'ing us up top, which is harder to scheme against, but when you get on the side, it's a little easier to scheme.
"We're fortunate that when they skipped a couple of them, they missed them. They usually make those shots. We just didn't want them getting into a rhythm of scoring on us and getting fouled, just kind of having the smorgasbord of things. But how we did things was really a back-handed compliment to those two guys, they've really played well and had great careers. They're both physical, they have good size, but they also have skill in terms of driving and wheeling and dealing.
"Martinelli is so good when he gets at that intermediate space shooting his floater. And then Brooks is just like a big guard, but they put him to force that three or four to handle him. He has good positional size but he's quick and he can plays, he can make pull-ups, he can make fadeaways, he can make threes, he can drive it to the glass. That was something where we were trying to make it hard for them and have active hands and not let them get to their sweet spots."
On the defensive efforts from CJ Cox and Myles Colvin on Brooks Barnhizer ...
Painter: "We didn't think much of it in terms of when they get us in the post. No matter what guard we put on him, they were going to have a size advantage and we were going to switch so they wouldn't get any action out of that to where they were getting open shots. So, we knew they were going to get to it and force switches or force you to play from behind. We didn't want to play from behind. We didn't worry about the matchup, we just told CJ to pressure him as much as possible when he's out on the perimeter, or when he's bringing the ball up the court.
"We were going to switch it, and then when we had those matchups, stay square on them until they started to dribble it out and turn their back. Then we were going to double. They did a good job of diving a couple times and took out our guy who was supposed to rotate. Now, when things of that nature happen, you've got to be able to make the next play. But they didn't get to that a lot, they got to it some.
"I liked it, it was successful, obviously forced a lot of turnovers there. I also know that if we played them in a week at their place, they'd probably get that figured out and make better decisions."
On Purdue getting off to a hot start vs Northwestern ...
Painter: "The one thing with good starts, sometimes you get good shots and you miss them. You have to let them know that the scoreboard doesn't say it's a good start, but you've taken good shots. So, you try to get them into it from a process-base, but there's no question that it helps when the ball goes in. Now, if you can get stops and you can score the ball, that's how you're going to lead to runs, and that's what you want.
"If you can get a run in each half, you're probably going to win the game. If you can get a 10-0 or 12-0 run in each half, you're going to win the game. If you get one of them, sometimes it's a difference maker. We are always trying to do that, it just doesn't always come off that way."
On Braden Smith's performance ...
Painter: "He's a good player, he allows us to do a lot of different things in ball-screen offense with his ability to pass the ball. It's not the easiest thing to do to make those pocket passes to Trey Kaufman-Renn the way he does.
"To me, for him, it all starts with him being hungry and shooting. When he dribbles down and shoots or he doesn't pass and shoot in those situations, we encourage that, we think those are high-percentage shots. But it also keeps everybody honest. So, now, when those guys are hedging, or switching, or getting out, we just have to make the right reads. When he's making the right reads and being aggressive, we've had a lot of success.
"I thought he was really good. Obviously, he's had some high-level games in terms of his own stats. We don't take him out much and he sticks in there. He had a couple turnovers tonight. Anytime you're dealing with a great player, you really pick at him, because the great ones can always make adjustments. Sometimes he gets frustrated with some things, but great ones get frustrated, too.
"His ability to shoot the basketball and pass the basketball is very unique. Good leader, good player, very competitive, he just needs to keep growing and keep getting better."
On if Gicarri Harris and CJ Cox pushing the ball after rebounds has been an emphasis ...
Painter: "Not really, they're just kind of doing it. But that's good, because it shows they're getting more comfortable out there. It's not that we're not confident in them, it's just that Braden is so good in the open court. We do drills in terms of working on our outlets, but when they do get it in that drill, they're supposed to push and advance to him.
"I think it was Toledo, (Braden) had a couple of threes where he was the recipient of that, where he's running on the break and just catching and shooting the basketball. But I thought Gicarri, especially that drive he had, I thought he looked more comfortable out there.
"Anytime you start or play more, it should boost your confidence, it should help you get comfortable while you're playing out there. Sometimes, it takes a while to get comfortable while you're out there, especially if you get spot minutes or inconsistent minutes."
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