The No. 15-ranked Purdue basketball team opens its 119th season Friday night when they host McNeese State visits Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers have their highest preseason ranking since being ranked 14th in the 2010-11 poll. The Boilermakers return three starters and eight letter winners from last year’s team that posted a 26-9 record and was ranked in the nation’s top 25 all year long.
Purdue basketball has lost two excellent players and elite defenders from last year’s team in A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis.
The Davis loss probably hurts the team more because the backcourt has many more question marks and issues entering this season than the front court does. As you obviously know, Purdue’s front court was the strength of last year’s team and projects to be this year’s strength as well.
Most experts and pundits are skeptical about the guard play in 2016-17, but high on the forwards. The front line should be among the best units, not just in the league but in the entire nation. ESPN Analyst Jay Bilas did a media conference call this week, and he assessed the Purdue basketball team to be a squad that could maybe jump up and surprise as B1G championship contender.
Bilas thinks Michigan State, Purdue and Indiana are the teams to beat this year.
“Caleb Swanigan is back and he’ll be much better,” Bilas said.
“Isaac Haas also, but their guards have to play really well, and I don’t think their guard play was great last year, so I think it’s going to have to be much better than last year.”
Bilas referred to Vince Edwards as more of a wing, and a hybrid than a guard. (I would have to agree with assessment). He also said the Boilers need to take better care of the ball and get better scoring out of their guards than they did last season in order to be a Big Ten contender.
Pretty much stuff that we already knew, but it’s still interesting to hear that perspective from a big time national analyst. For the most part, they have to take the “flying at 30,000 feet” overview for most teams, since they are required to have a basic acumen of so many different schools.
It’s not the same kind of excessive detailed analysis you get from a local media who follows the team every single day of the year.
Swanigan, by the way, was named to the Naismith Award preseason watch list, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. The Naismith Award is one of college basketball’s highest honor, given to the nation’s top player. Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield won the award a year ago.
Purdue basketball does welcome the graduate transfer from Michigan, Spike Albrecht, who now also has that Perry Ellis at Kansas style “feels like he’s been in school for 8 years” kind of vibe.
However, Albrecht combines with P.J. Thompson and Carsen Edwards to give the Boilers three options at the point guard position. They should be a lot better at taking care of the rock this season, given all the ball-handling specialists they have on their roster.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.