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    • The exhibition between Purdue and Grand Valley State offers potential clarity
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    The exhibition between Purdue and Grand Valley State offers potential clarity

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    WEST LAFAYETTE – Last Saturday's exhibition loss was a necessary reminder of how far Purdue basketball still has to go before next week's season opener.

    And that was before the Boilermakers and Bluejays even gave a hint.

    “Some of our guys didn’t know what to do in shootaround,” assistant coach Paul Lusk said. “What’s the process?”

    Now that the little things are in order, Purdue will get its next and final exhibition opportunity to sort things out on Wednesday against Grand Valley State.

    Some good things came from the 93-87 loss at Creighton, but there are still unanswered questions about this Purdue squad.

    Where does Purdue basketball miss Zach Edey the most?

    Sure, Zach Edey is a big loss and that's not a pun.

    You don't lose a top-10 pick in the NBA draft who has proven to be the most dominant college basketball player in decades and expect him to move on with business smoothly.

    But without Edey, Purdue appeared to be able to keep up with one of the best offensive teams in the country in Creighton.

    However, the defense had problems and afterwards no one tried to shy away from it.

    “Obviously we have to focus on guarding the ball screens, just doing basic actions and being more ready to play,” junior guard Fletcher Loyer said. “More of our communication too, all five guys know what’s going on.”

    Last season, defensive mistakes were offset by Edey's ability to protect the rim.

    Purdue is implementing new or experienced players into new roles, but these will take time to fully realize.

    More: Get to know Purdue's basketball roster: Boilers recap ahead of 2024-25 season

    “Zach was the ultimate eraser,” Lusk said. “Mistakes are made, and a lot of mistakes were made, but he's such a top defender, he's always there to protect the rim and he was able to cover up a lot of those mistakes.”

    “Can we reach this point? We certainly hope so. But you have to go through it. You have to realize that four of these freshmen who played had never been in this environment before. Will Berg was never in the environment where he was expected to play.”

    How is Trey Kaufman-Renn used?

    The redshirt junior started all 39 games with the four-man team last season.

    Without Edey, Purdue has a need at five. Whether Trey Kaufman-Renn is a four-rounder or a fifth-rounder might be beside the point.

    Depending on the matches, it can be assumed that he will play both games this season.

    “I spent an equal amount of time in both places,” Kaufman-Renn said. “I think they did a really good job of getting me reps in those situations.”

    With Caleb Furst, Will Berg, Raleigh Burgess and Daniel Jacobsen, Purdue has flexibility among the bigs. How will Matt Painter and his staff use it?

    Game one in books, now what for freshers?

    Four of Purdue's five scholarship players played at Creighton with varying results.

    Given the opponent, the environment and the fact that it was their first college game, any experience gained can now be considered beneficial.

    Gicarri Harris was the starter and Jacobsen was the most productive with 7 points and 5 rebounds in more than 18 minutes. Cox initially appears to be carving out his niche on defense.

    Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.

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    Kathleen William
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