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m e n ' s b a s k e t b a l l f e a t u r e : p o i n t g u a r d s GETTING THE POINT Boilermaker guards may complement one another well BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com as Purdue prepared for Wednesday, opener against Northern its season Kentucky, the Boilermakers were going through a simple non-competitive walkthrough when Bryson Scott poked the ball out of Ronnie Johnson's hand as the two stood around, maybe playfully, maybe not, and just smiled. Earlier, Johnson was asked whether the brash freshman's relentless and sometimes abrasive style created some tense moments. And Johnson smiled. "Yeah," Johnson said. "It was really chippy last week." Scott will have that effect, always has in his basketball career. Purdue's had players like him before — Chris Kramer was no picnic for certain guards to practice against — but the rookie is something different entirely. The Fort Wayne native is already the Boilermakers' most competitive player, and that's more a nod to his wiring than an indictment of those around him. There is no off switch. He's like that all the time, as Johnson well knows now, some moments more so than others. "I try to bully him a little bit," Scott says with a certain pride, "and be more physical with him and that might help him when he has to play against bigger, stronger guards. I think that'll help him in the Big Ten even more, because he'll be used to guarding those types of guards. "Some days he doesn't like it, some days he does like it. But he's the type of guy who'll grind it out and I feel like he appreciates me going hard and I appreciate him going hard at me." That's the compelling dynamic between Purdue's two primary point guards this season, a couple of underclassmen who may not be best friends every moment of every practice this season, but must co-exist, respect one another and, ideally, work to make the other one better. In a perfect world for Purdue, the point guard position goes from a deficiency of sorts last season, when the Boilermakers had to rely almost exclusively on the under-experienced Johnson through thick and thin, to a strength, with Johnson and Scott giving Purdue a pair of talented options who should complement each other well. They should offer a stark contrast, from the sophomore's blinding quickness and speed in the open floor to the freshman's runaway-train penetration and in- domitable will. The duo, along with fellow guard Sterling Carter, will be asked to attack opposing guards full court on defense, with the depth to alternate evenly, it can be presumed. Both can score, as Johnson showed in bursts last season and Scott has put on display in the scrimmages and exhibitions he's appeared in thus far in his young college career. And both have the benefit of each other. Johnson's come a long way physically, not nearly as underdeveloped as he was as a rookie last season, but Tom Campbell with that said, facing Freshman Bryson Scott has brought a fiery demeanor to the court, one that should the 6-foot-1, 200-plus- help push fellow point guard Ronnie Johnson. pound Scott's size and "It definitely helps me out, him being strength — each attribute amplified by his rougher and me having to hold my ground, mean streak — each day should be pro- like when I'll be up against bigger, stronger ductive. GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 9 • 33