Purdue Basketball Scrimmage Recap: Boilers Coming Together

A fair warning, I did not see any of the scrimmage today, I was on dad duty at various Halloween festivals around Indianapolis, but I did get the stats e-mailed to me. Reader Chris Flory promised a FanPost later after he was there today, but here is what I have. I will try to say something about each player based on the stats alone.

Jon Octeus - I did see on Twitter where Octeus went right at Haas for a dunk, so that at least sounds impressive. He was 1 of 5 from the floor today and had three points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. I will definitely take any 10 assist game we can get. It sounds like he is a very unselfish player that wants to get everyone involved.

Bryson Scott - Bryson finished with 20 points, but more importantly he was 8 of 10 from the free throw line and he added six assists and three steals. If Octeus and Scott combine for 16 assists per game Purdue is going to do very well at the point.

Jon McKeeman - The junior walk-on did not have any stats today. That's right, he threw up a trillion in all four matches.

P.J. Thompson - I hope that the Octeus signing does not affect Thompson too much. I thought that P.J. could come in and seize the PG position as a true frosh, but instead he is now relegated a bit behind Scott and Octeus. He still did plenty today, though. He was 2 of 7 from the field, both as threes, and he had five assists. Unfortunately, he had four turnovers vs. the one combined from Scott and Octeus. He finished with 8 points.

Basil Smotherman - I am perfectly fine with Smotherman being an athletic freak on both ends and if he becomes Kelsey Barlow with his give-a-shit turned on. You know what though? We got more today.We got a 4 OF 7!!!!! from three point range. He had five rebounds and three dimes, but if Smotherman is suddenly a deep bomber I can only get so erect.

Stephen Toyra - I love a kid like Toyra. He is a walk-on that has fought his ass off to earn regular PT (and a scholarship this year). He didn't score, but he had seven assists.

Vince Edwards - 5 of 6 from the field, hit his only three, 6 of 9 from the line, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 17 points. Edwards was recruited as a bit of a do everything player and today it looks like he showed it. He can score, shoot, pass, rebound, and defend. That a five-tool player and hopefully he can be something special.

A.J. Hammons - Let the Big Man eat. Just a 22 and 8 from him, but he battled against Haas all day. I really hope these two are just beating the crap out of each other and making each other better. As a down note, AJ hit a three. DO NOT SHOOT THREES, AJ. Lay waste to the post.

Kendall Stephens - Stephens is the Mad Bomber What bombs At Midnight (yes, it is a The Tick reference). He was 8 of 13 from long range and had 32 points to lead Purdue today. All we need is other shooters to draw attention from Stephens and he will snipe the lights out of the gym.

Jacquil Taylor - Only one player did not lose in the four contests today and it was the Mystery Man, Taylor. He was 4 of 7 from the field and had 11 points,s o he was doing something right.

Anfernee Brown - The sophomore walk-on also had a trillion in all four contests.

Neal Beshears - Purdue's lone four-year senior was 1 of 2 from the field for two points with four rebounds. Will he out score Chris Reid's senior year this year (Reid had one point)?

Dakota Mathias - Mathias had 16 points and was 4 of 7 from long range. I really hope we can play him and Stephens at the same time to have two good three-point options simultaneously.

Rapheal Davis - Davis is the team leader and he was the only winless player today. He was still 8 of 17 with 24 points and nine rebounds. It is a solid line, and he needs to be the pseudo Red Button as a guy that can get a basket when we absolutely need it.

Isaac Haas - Big Country (and yes, I am calling a 7'2" guy from Alabama with a Southern Drawl ‘Big Country') was only 4 of 10 from the field, but had 13 points and 7 rebounds. That's okay. His job is to be a very large boot in Hammons' ass this year.

Overall - The numbers are nice, but I want an attitude from this team. I want a team that fights like mad bastards and scraps on every defensive possession. I want a team like the 2007 team that dragged an all-time great Florida team into a 40 minute war. Numbers are great, but the last two years we have had numbers. We haven't had an attitude. I want to get back to the Purdue that is personally offended when a team scores on a possession. That's the only thing that will bring us back.