{"id":14892,"date":"2025-06-26T00:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T00:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14892\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T00:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T00:35:17","slug":"purdue-basketball-film-room-the-return-of-the-dunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14892\/","title":{"rendered":"Purdue Basketball Film Room: The Return of the Dunk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expectations are at an all-time high for the Boilermakers heading into the 2025-\u201926 season. Purdue knows what they have in Braden Smith, Trey Kaufmann-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer, but it\u2019s the addition of players like Daniel Jacobsen, Oscar Cluff, and Omer Myer that are supposed to catapult the Boilermakers into the college basketball stratosphere.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got plenty of time before the first tip of the season, and I want to focus on a few specific things the new additions bring to the team. I\u2019ve got plenty to say about Mayer, but I want to wait until after the U-19 World Championships. I\u2019m pretty sure I know what his game is about, but I want to see it live. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve watched a good bit of Cluff\u2019s film, and I have some inclinations about how his traditional post-game will be utilized in the offense, but I\u2019d like to see it in practice first, and Oscar isn\u2019t on campus yet.<\/p>\n

I know what Daniel Jacobson is about, so I\u2019ll start with the returning Boilermaker big man.<\/p>\n

Return of the Dunker<\/strong><\/p>\n

One obvious improvement to Purdue\u2019s 2025-\u201926 roster comes at center. When Jacobsen went down to a broken leg in the opening minutes of Purdue\u2019s second game of the season, Matt Painter had to change the game plan on the fly. That was doubly true when presumed back-up center Will Berg wasn\u2019t ready to step up and fill the 7\u20193\u201d void left by DJ. Instead of starting a true center, like Coach Painter intended, Trey moved to center, and Coach Painter brought in a combination of Caleb Furst and Camden Heide at the power forward spot. No offense to Caleb or Cam, they both had their moments, but neither was the rim finisher Purdue needed for their pick-and-roll offense.<\/p>\n

Exit Berg, Furst, and Heide<\/strong><\/p>\n

Re-enter Daniel Jacobsen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Painter fixed the power forward position by fixing the center position. Trey will slide back to his normal power forward position. Jacobsen and South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff will play center. Purdue went from a woefully undersized team in 2024-\u201925 to one of the biggest teams in college basketball entering this season.<\/p>\n

That means for the first time in Braden Smith\u2019s point guard career at Purdue, he\u2019ll have someone capable of throwing down the lob from the \u201cdunker\u201d position off the high pick-and-roll. That\u2019s weird to think about, because Braden played with Zach Edey, and there may be no better built for the dunker spot in college basketball history than Zach, but most of the time, Purdue\u2019s Canadian Maple was either rolling to the rim or posting up down low. You can\u2019t throw down backside lobs when you have the ball. Cluff can throw down lobs, but Jacobsen could make a career out of throwing down lobs and blocking shots.<\/p>\n

During Braden\u2019s tenure, Purdue has featured a stretch four in their frontcourt, like Mason Gillis or Camden Heide, or an undersized post like TKR. Cam could finish at the rim, but he needed a running start. <\/p>\n

Daniel starts above the rim, and that\u2019s something the Boilermakers were missing last season.<\/p>\n

Right Play, Wrong Pass<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to show this crucial play late in the game against Michigan. Purdue is down seven and must score every time down the court to have a chance.<\/p>\n

They run the offense to perfection, but don\u2019t have the player they need in the dunker spot to finish the job. Instead of getting a dunk, they turn the ball over, essentially ending the game.<\/p>\n

Classic Purdue Offense<\/strong><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/app.thehoopsgeek.com\/<\/p>\n

Purdue<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the Boilermaker\u2019s staple looks. Purdue is playing four around one with Cox and Loyer on the wings and Raleigh Burgess at the dunker spot. Braden and TKR are up top, running one of the most unstoppable pick-and-rolls in college basketball history.<\/p>\n

Michigan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michigan counters by plunking 7\u20190\u201d center Vlad Goldin in the middle of the lane and essentially playing the Smith\/TKR pick-and-roll with three defenders.<\/p>\n

Short Roll<\/strong><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/app.thehoopsgeek.com\/<\/p>\n

Purdue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trey pivots inside after setting the pick, seals his man, and Braden delivers the perfect pass to split Michigan\u2019s perimeter defense with the short roll.<\/p>\n

Michigan<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a defensive breakdown by the Wolverines. They need to try to stretch Braden to the sideline, but instead, they give up the short roll and have to contend with TKR in the middle of the lane. TKR\u2019s ability to hit the floater necessitates Goldin stepping up the lane. An open 8-footer in the middle of the lane should almost be considered a layup for Trey.<\/p>\n

Two on One<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Purdue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matt Painter will take Trey Kaufmann-Renn in this spot on every possession. His uncanny ability to hit mid-range floaters makes him impossible to guard. Usually, Trey takes this shot, but Goldin is a solid shot blocker, and Burgess is wide open under the basket. Instead of taking his floater, he delivers a bounce pass to unopposed Burgess at the dunker spot. This should be a basket 10\/10 times.<\/p>\n

The problem is, Burgess isn\u2019t a player who can finish flat-footed at the rim. Instead of floating a lob over Goldin for an easy dunk, Trey throws a bounce pass instead. This gives Goldin a chance to recover and force a turnover. When the center steps up to contest the short roll, Purdue didn\u2019t have a player capable of punishing the back line of a defense. Furthermore, after the center gets a few lobs tossed over his head, he will be less interested in stepping up and contesting Trey in the mid-range. Not only should this open up more assist opportunities for Trey at the rim, but having a rim finisher should open up more scoring opportunities for Trey (or Braden) in the mid-range.<\/p>\n

The Return of Daniel Jacobson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jacobson only played one game last season, but I found the perfect clip to show how he immediately fixes Purdue\u2019s problem at the \u201cdunker\u201d spot. <\/p>\n

(I\u2019ll keep it quick)<\/p>\n

Side Pick-and-Roll<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Loyer has the ball on the left wing with 12 seconds to go on the shot clock. He turns down the TKR screen, keeps the ball in his left hand, and drives baseline.<\/p>\n

Death to the Help Defender<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Once Fletch turns the corner, the A&M-CC center has to step out and cut him off. In this clip, it looks like Fletch is about to pull the trigger on a contested mid-range floater. It\u2019s a shot he can hit, but not at a high rate. Instead, as soon as he notices the center stepping up to contest, he throws the lob to DJ. The cool thing about this play is you can DJ subtly calling for the lob. <\/p>\n

He wants Fletch to put it up where only he can go get it, and he delivers a perfect pass to the 7\u20193\u201d freshman for an easy dunk.<\/p>\n

Making the Game Easy<\/strong><\/p>\n

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DJ wants Fletch to put it up where only he can get it, and Loyer delivers a perfect pass to the 7\u20193\u201d freshman for an easy dunk. Instead of an off-balanced floater from the wing, Purdue ends up with a dunk. Passing up a decent shot for a dunk will always be encouraged in the Boilermaker offense, and now they have someone capable of finishing the backside lob off the pick-and-roll.<\/p>\n

Think back to the play from the Michigan game. If DJ is in the game instead of Burgess, TKR floats it over Goldin when he steps up, and Purdue collects two easy points on the lob dunk. Instead, Trey has to force the bounce pass to Raleigh, who gets swarmed and turns it over. If Jacobson is in the game, the ball gets delivered above the rim, and the defense doesn\u2019t have time to react. <\/p>\n

Purdue thought they had the solution to the dunker position last season, but Jacobsen blew a tire early. If he\u2019s physically right in 2025-\u201926, and there is no reason to think he won\u2019t be, expect the big man to punish the rim early and often, and expect Purdue\u2019s offense to be even more efficient.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, I\u2019m a little bit excited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Expectations are at an all-time high for the Boilermakers heading into the 2025-\u201926 season. Purdue knows what they…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[931,1339,15190,1020,204,15191,15193,1317,1337,1338,1539,15189,15192,4158,9099,62,448,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-14892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-and","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-dunk","11":"tag-film","12":"tag-front-page","13":"tag-hammer","14":"tag-mens-basketball","15":"tag-ncaa","16":"tag-ncaa-basketball","17":"tag-ncaabasketball","18":"tag-of","19":"tag-purdue","20":"tag-rails","21":"tag-return","22":"tag-room","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-the","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114746866037617627","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}