What Matt Painter Said After Purdue's Win Over Marshall
Purdue improved to 5-1 on Saturday, picking up an 80-45 victory over Marshall inside Mackey Arena. It was a nice home win for the Boilermakers after losing their first game of the season on Tuesday to Marquette.
Following the game, Matt Painter talked about Purdue's lineup changes, struggles to rebound, improving in the turnover category and plenty more. Here's everything he said following the Boilermakers' big win.
On making a change to the starting lineup ...
Painter: "I think when you start and you have a couple scrimmages, you have a couple exhibitions, you have five games, there's enough data at that point. Sometimes, somebody else starting helps with rotations, sometimes it doesn't. It allows us to be more functional offensively. I've yet to see a lineup that's that good from a rebounding standpoint. If you play bigger, you should rebound better, in theory. When you don't, if you're going to struggle to rebound, now let's be more efficient in other areas.
"Myles (Colvin) had finished some games for us, CJ (Cox) finished a game for us, Gicarri (Harris) finished some games while he started. It's not that big of a deal. You're looking for positive reactions, you're looking for guys meshing better, whether that's in the rotation or starting the game. Cam makes shots early, Myles gets a quick seven points right there, so they really gave us a lift from a scoring standpoint. Gives us more space to be able to play."
On if Myles Colvin's defense helped him earn a starting spot ...
Painter: "Yeah, he's really helped his cause. And, sometimes, when you're with a good low-post player like Trey (Kaufman-Renn) and ball-dominant guard like Braden (Smith), you get cracks at things from an offensive standpoint. It depends on how they want to defend the stuff that we run.
"He's done well. He's just taken the shots that have come his way and just being an opportunistic scorer. I thought he's done a much better job going to get the ball. We're not doing a good job boxing out, but then we have some people that have done a better job of going to get it. No matter what you do, that's how you've got to finish things. I think he's done that. I think he's done a much better job defending, too. He got those two fouls at the beginning of the second half.
"More of a conscious effort, more of an understanding of what he's doing than anything."
On what he's looking forward to most with the upcoming schedule ...
Painter: "Just We getting better this week in practice and being ready for N.C. State. Obviously, I talked about rebounding, making improvements in that area. Our starters only had four turnovers. I know they didn't play the whole game, but they only had four turnovers. I think that's a better sign. When we have the ability to play without turning the ball over ... if we can rebound the basketball and take care of the basketball, we're going to put ourself in a better position.
"We have a tough stretch coming up here, with the two games in San Diego, and then two conference games and then two SEC opponents on neutral courts. That's a tough stretch there for us. But that's what you want. You want that.
"Whether it's from game to game or practice to practice, just keep getting better. Doing a better job collectively."
On Purdue struggling to shoot late in the first half ...
Painter: "The good shots that we got didn't go down. We didn't execute great, we had some turnovers in that mix. Just got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.
"Then also — I know it's not an offensive thing — you want your morale to be high. Guys will get down on themselves when they miss good shots. But I thought our guys did better things defensively. But then if you don't reward yourself and box out and miss rebounds, now you stay on defense and it kind of demoralizes you. You can't let it. We've got to do a better job of finishing off the play with a rebound. But also just do a better job of having more energy out there and helping each other."
On what he wanted to see improve from the Marquette game ...
Painter: "We did a better job, the starters, turning the ball over. It was 13 total, but I thought we did a better job taking care of the basketball. Obviously they're different opponents, different schemes. Those guys having six turnovers, Marquette, and (us) having 15 was a big hole right there. Then we had a group of guys that didn't make a shot. Three different guys that were 0-for-the game. Were they good shots? Were they not good shots? You didn't convert.
"Our ability to shoot the basketball has to be in play. If it's not, we have to have the ability to be efficient at the rim or get to the free throw line and being able to score. I thought, coming off of that game, more than anything, just having a purpose and understanding who you're going against.
"Just because you drove the ball against some team and had a lot of success doesn't mean you'll be able to drive the ball against the next opponent. Just be able to watch film and understand some things. I just thought Marquette was a lot quicker to the basketball, they were a lot tougher than us. They got us to speed up and make poor decisions."
On where Purdue can get help rebounding ...
Painter: "All of them, really, when it gets down to it. Everybody is a defensive rebounder in the game. Some people don't offensive rebound because they get back on defense, but everybody is a defensive rebounder. Right now, we're not doing a good job with it, whether you start for us our you don't start for us.
"Everybody wants to point at size every time. Sometimes they'll have the lion's share of it, but you need your guards to rebound, too. You need them to be around the ball. I thought CJ did some good things, he had four rebounds. Raleigh (Burgess) had five rebounds in 13 minutes. I thought Myles went and got a couple tough ones, Braden chased one down along the baseline that was pretty impressive. We just have to have a better nose for the basketball when it's not just the simple rebounds that come right to you."
On how Gicarri Harris responded to not starting for the first time ...
Painter: "Yeah, he's a winner. He led his team to a state title last year and sometimes he had to score a lot, sometimes he had to playmake, sometimes a little bit of both. He's great. He was fine with it.
"Obviously, I met with him and let Will (Berg) know one-on-one. I just really emphasized — like I told you all before the game — we should get a positive response from four people. Don't look at it as a demotion. Look at it as another opportunity to come in and help your team win. It's still winning basketball, right? That's what we want those guys to do, look at it as an opportunity to where, 'Ok, maybe I can play better in this role than before.' You keep your focus right there.
"He understood. He understood that he didn't finish some games. Everybody wants to start, but I think the most important thing is can you finish? Myles has finished some, CJ finished, he's finished some. When you have some blowout wins, it doesn't matter. I'm just talking about the games that are closer. That's what you want, guys to have that mentality.
"If you give us a better chance to win and that's how you play in the first 35 minutes, we're going to have you in there at the end."
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BRADEN SMITH 500 CAREER ASSISTS: Braden Smith joined elite company on Saturday, becoming just the third player in Purdue's history to reach the 500 career assist mark. CLICK HERE
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