Purdue Exhibition

[Altmanforprez]

Overall, a strong performance, especially with the run the younger guys had down the stretch. The two biggest questions walking away for me were:

1. Guard depth - we have some unproven guys on the bench behind Ash and Pop, but I’m not sure who will emerge from the Thomas/Knox/Davis group. It’s by no means a Clement situation, but until Fedor’s eligible there’s a decent drop between the starters to the bench

2. The 3/4 backlog - Mac mentioned in the post game that Miller and Green saw some action at the 3 last night. I have to imagine that’s partially a response to how McAndrew has looked in practice, Mac knows he needs to find him some minutes. I’ll be curious how Mac manages the minutes and roles between Green/Milller/McAndrew/Neal - maybe we see Neal play more 2 when Pop or Ash need a rest?


As a side note, solid 1st half for King, but still the same defensive issues. Hope to see him continue to make strides

[drbluejay]

My standout player goes to Pop with Ash coming in a close 2nd. Both players were amazing.
Pop looked much better than I thought he would be and Ash looks faster, more confident, and overall looks improved.
The freshmen looked like soph's or Jr's with the way they played.

[SeattleJay]

I know it’s only one game and an exhibition at that, but I am very enthusiastic about this season. We just played against a team that was picked to win the Big 10 and we beat them handily. So much so, that we played our second team against their first team for the last 5 minutes of the game.

I believe it was Tom’s article that suggested that Purdue hadn’t give up that many points since 2014! And, imagine if Fedor becomes eligible.

I realize that we showed a bit of weakness in our perimeter defense and turnovers but for a first game, it seems like we might well be able to improve in both of these areas.

If we can break even or better against the top teams in the nonconference schedule we should readily be a top 10 team going into BE play.

We look deep. This could be our year to reach some goals that we have never achieved.

[Bryant]

LJ must have a long, long way to go.

[Jaysker12]

LJ must have a long, long way to go.

his scrimmage DNP didn't tip you off?

Not much to say on Kalk and Ashworth. They look good.

I was impressed with Isaacs, especially for recovering from a somewhat shaky first half. He was great. Really quick with the ball and he has nice touch on that floater.

Neal was less impressive but he gives this team what it needs. A rowdy, athletic defender and he appears to be a solid decision-maker with the ball. He reminds me of Damien Jefferson.

I was surprised at Green's play. He seemed lost on offense at times and a bit tentative on the glass. Based on the coaches' comments, that seems to be an aberration.

McAndrew's talent is legit, he's just a long ways off physically. That quick release is deadly.

I thought Ty Davis played well for a true freshman PG. Assertive with the ball.

Incremental improvements from Traudt and King. Traudt should be more confident putting the ball on the floor a little bit. They look ready to give us some impact bench play.

This team could definitely use another big guard.

[AttyAlum]

Thank goodness we got Pop. I was a little concerned how we would replace Baylor and Trey’s scoring coming onto last night, but it looks like we’ve got a good one. Kalk and Ash looked great too.

I know people are talking about our great depth, but I have concerns there. We really only have one 3 and he is obviously still learning our system. Mac was trying lots of guys at the spot last night but I don’t know that there were any other great fits. Hopefully we get news on the eligibility front soon as we need that other dude!

[#RollJays]

Thank goodness we got Pop. I was a little concerned how we would replace Baylor and Trey’s scoring coming onto last night, but it looks like we’ve got a good one. Kalk and Ash looked great too.

I know people are talking about our great depth, but I have concerns there. We really only have one 3 and he is obviously still learning our system. Mac was trying lots of guys at the spot last night but I don’t know that there were any other great fits. Hopefully we get news on the eligibility front soon as we need that other dude!

We have Fedor as well at 3. Prob going to be suspended the first 2-4 games.

[JacobPadilla]

Here's my writeup from the game.

https://hurrdatsports.com/creighton-men ... xhibition/

I also joined Matt for the W&BR Bluejay Beat on Patreon (we covered a lot of this and more, plus some nonsense).

[Jaybird]

We have Fedor as well at 3. Prob going to be suspended the first 2-4 games.

About this...

Right now, Illinois is finishing up an exhibition at Mississippi (Illini are getting clobbered btw). and Ill is playing its two prized Euro recruits, Kasparas Jakucionis from Lithuania, and Tomislav Ivisic from Croatia.

Ivisic played last season for SC Derby of the top division of something called the Adriatic League. i never heard of it either, but he played against guys like Yogi Ferrell who finished up at Indiana and Frank Kaminsky, who turned Euro pro after playing at Wisconsin.

Jakucionis, the more celebrated of the two, played for FC Barcelona, mostly for their junior squad, but he played up a lot too, as part of a roster that included Ricky Rubio and Jabari Parker.

Both these guys were paid cold hard Euros to play basketball less than a year ago. The Illini European recruiter was quoted as saying that part of the appeal of both players is that they have international experience playing against older, established guys who've been playing professionally in Europe.

BYU played Boise yesterday in their exhibition. Leading BYU with eight assists was their new Euro, Egor Demin. Egor's a Russian who played last season for Real Madrid. Real. Madrid. And he didn't do it for free.

Prior Euro pro experience hasn't been an eligibility roadblock for these guys. Is it for Fedor, or is something else getting in the way? Or do Illinois and Brigham Young just have better lawyers than we do (a possibility I just can't get my arms around)?

[Realhoops]

Nice win against a solid team. Kalk looked the exact same, Ash looked a step faster, King solid, Green was a bit off (he shines against No 1 UConn and in the Big Dance ) but the new guys showed a lot of promise. Hard to believe Mac has them gelling like that after only a summer of practice?!? Great job by the coaches and trainers. Jackson was great but my biggest surprise was POP. Wow! What a slasher! He’s going to be a star. Reminds me of Devin Carter. Going to be a fun year.

Kalk didn’t look “the exact same” at all, to me. It was very noticeable how much more assertive and decisive he was whenever they got the ball to him — he didn’t slowly think, dribble a few times, let the defense react and set, etc. — immediately straight to the rack with the ball. It was really encouraging.