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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S MEDIA DAYOctober 16, 2014Matt PainterCHICAGO, ILLINOIS MATT PAINTER: Obviously we're excited about this year. We've had some struggles the last couple years, and it hasn't been for a lack of talent. We really had a great situation with guys playing together, having chemistry, and we haven't had that the last couple years. There's some additions and some subtractions, I think we have that figure out. Our issue also has been we've been young and we've stayed young, and most people who do that are going to have some struggles, so I think it's really important for us to be able to get old here in time and get some consistency. But I really like our team. I like our guys. We have good size in A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas. And we were able to add a kid just recently, Jon Octeus that I think will give us some versatility and some defense, a guy that can play the point, also play off the basketball, to go along with the guys that we already have. We have a couple guys that can really shoot the basketball. So we have a nice mix of guys. Now we have to get a higher level of experience, of playing together. I think people always talk about experience or inexperience, but the ability to have guys stick together and play together and grow from that is really beneficial in high major college basketball. Q. Matt, did you feel like you needed to restore the culture that you once had at Purdue? You talked about having a lot of talent, but it didn't manifest itself on the court. MATT PAINTER: Yeah, no question, and that's nobody's fault except mine. I said it last year, and I got interviewed late in the season about, you know, it's not a school district; that's on me. We just have to get more of a Purdue guy. We feel like we have done that. But also I thought last year, especially in conference play, in the last month and a half of the season, we weren't getting beat by other teams in the Big Ten, we were beating ourselves. When you go three years ago, you're the No.1 ranked in the country in fewest turnovers and then you're the second worst team in your league in that area and then you don't make your free throws, you just keep putting yourself in position to win and then beating yourself. I think it's going to be important for us to do some of those constants of being a good half court defensive team, taking care of the basketball. We've made some strides in rebounding the basketball, and I think if we do those things, we'll be fine. Q. You were in this league when you played every other team twice. This year you're going to play eight teams once. Do you like that? What kind of an effect do you think it has on the regular season and on the regular season champion, whether it devalues that accomplishment at all? MATT PAINTER: Yeah, I don't think it devalues it, it's just different. Obviously, it's not consistent, nor is it ever going to be again, because we're not going to jump up and say we're going to play 26 league games. That's not going to happen. You're just not going to have your true champ. It doesn't mean they're not a champion. There's always been‑‑ even before, of when you've played people also was really important. You can't dictate that through the schedule. So that is still a variable that's very important because you play the two best teams and you play them at home versus being on the road, that's going to help you. But you also play those two teams and you're healthy and they're not, that's going to help you, also. So there's some other variables that are going to be consistent that were with the Big Ten when you just had actual ten teams and you played everybody twice. But I don't think it devalues it, but someone is going to have an advantage and someone is going to have a disadvantage, and there's going to be some schools that are kind of in the middle of the fray. You just don't know who those are going to be. You can take some shots at them, but for the people who are actually making the schedule, they can't control that part of it. But it isn't your dad's Big Ten anymore. It's different. It doesn't mean it's wrong. Q. Where are you at in decisionmaking in terms of the team, and then obviously that ties into the point guard. Where do you see that as of right now? MATT PAINTER: Well, I think we have options, and, obviously, the addition of Jon Octeus will help with that. He has practiced with us for one day. I've seen all of his stuff on synergy, and it's a little bit different, but it's also refreshing because he was a guy that was just kind of out there and thought he was going to go to a school and didn't get admitted, and now he has another opportunity, and he's really excited about that. But our decisionmaking in terms of who we play, lies in their effort and their production in practice. We're not going to play guys that are going to turn it over. Now we have enough guys to where we can‑‑ whether that's Bryson Scott, PJ Thompson, Jon Octeus at that spot, or a combination of those guys, we have some other guys with Rapheal Davis and Kendall Stephens and Dakota Mathias that can play that 2‑3‑2. So it's very important that we get a good mix, definitely four of that six, maybe five out of that six‑‑ I think it's tough to play six people in three spots‑‑ of people that will take care of the basketball and give us a chance. For us, the ball needs to go inside, and I think in this league if you can play inside‑out and you can make good decisions and you have someone that can score on the blocks, it really gives you an advantage. Q. Have you changed your recruiting philosophy at all heading into this year as opposed to the last couple of years? Have you felt it necessary? MATT PAINTER: Yeah, it was necessary, and we had obviously‑‑ I wouldn't say your philosophy, I would just‑‑ even though it pushes towards that a little bit, of just trying to get a guy that fits at Purdue and fits with me better. We had a lot of success. Obviously they were talented guys, but that mix of guys, sure, you would like to have an E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson, or Robbie Hummel, but Louis Jackson and Ryan Smith, guys like that, Chris Kramer, Keaton Grant, those are really good players for us, and those are the guys that you have to have. You have to have those company guys, and we feel in this recruiting class that we've brought in, we have more of those guys that I mentioned to help that. This isn't something where we waited until the end of last year to where we realized we had an issue. It's something we realized, we worked on, and obviously made some adjustments. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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