Purdue Boilermakers Coach Matt Painter stayed close to 90 minutes at the round table sessions for Big Ten Media Day. That’s 50% more than what is expected and required of Big Ten players and coaches. In other words, Painter went above and beyond the call of duty, and essentially set an unofficial record for media opportunity time.
During this session (which is completely differentiated from his time on dais, which was televised) Painter got into an interesting discussion about the fundamentals of playing defense. A Purdue player has now won the B1G Defensive Player of the Year Award in six of the last 15 seasons (as Painter said in the audio file embedded below). That’s more than a trend; it’s indicative of a cultural fabric in West Lafayette.
Here, Matt Painter and a reporter discuss the development of Rapheal Davis defensively. The discussion begins around the 2 min mark, with the following analogy coming around the 2:30 mark.
“We’re not saying something different than somebody else over here is saying. It’s five guys, it’s not football, we’re not running flea flickers,” Matt Painter said.
“It’s five guys, it’s the most common game for someone to just watch and know. When you watch Monday Night Football, some things are going on, you’re like uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh, ‘I’m not sure about that coverage,’ when you watch Major League Baseball you say ‘I know I can’t hit that curve.’
“But you can make a free throw, you can really believe that you can make that free throw, why shouldn’t you, it’s 15 feet and no one’s guarding you, so there’s things to basketball, defense is discipline, being able to learn.”
Painter also gave his opinion on who should succeed Bo Ryan at Wisconsin (read that here). Also, you’ll want to check out the audio from our exclusive with Rapheal Davis discussing the friendly rivalry he was with teammate A.J. Hammons in regards to winning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Award this year.
Picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten entering last season, Purdue surprised everyone by finishing in the top four (so I guess they’re in the UEFA Champions League then). I wouldn’t pick Purdue to finish outside the top four this season. Matt Painter has restored his program.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.