ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 13
f
Clisby continues to anyone in the vicinity, the one about
that time in 1982 during Gene Keady's coaches show when
the host called him "Gene Keedy."
"Watch those jump passes," Owens cautions his guards
during their press-work drills.
Speaking of the press …
"We used to play a team here called the Iowa Hawkeyes
with a coach named Tom Davis," Clisby says, "and they
used to press you all game long."
That's what Purdue's anticipating from Samford, a
small, relatively anonymous Southern Conference team
from Birmingham that'll look to overcome significant tal-
ent and size deficits with a chaotic defensive approach.
Around 2:50 p.m., 20 minutes or so into practice, Purdue
begins its defensive breakdown portion, again with Ow-
ens coaching on one end, Gary and Brantley the other and
Painter serving as the eye in the sky, watching them all.
Owens is focusing on defending UCLA cuts, a standard
tactic in college basketball in which the point guard passes
off to a big man at the elbow, cuts toward the rim off the
big man's screen, then continues through the lane while
multiple teammates dive to the basket.
Gary and Brantley are focusing on "secondary" action
off screens, or what Purdue terms "gaggle."
The sides will rotate so that every player works each les-
son.
Painter's again standing in neutrality, chatting with ran-
dom people courtside occasionally, but watching.
"Keep the ball high," he barks to Haas after he misses
from in close. "Score it."
Then come some other one-liners …
"Where are your hands, Kendall?!"
"Don't turn the ball over, P.J."
Owens, not exactly the most boisterous person you'll
meet, yells, "And-one!" as Vince Edwards gets bumped for
a foul, then throws up a jump shot that rims out.
Edwards, a freshman, wanders over to Painter on his
own volition for a tutorial and the two rip off a quick con-
Tom Campbell
The definining sound of a Purdue basketball practice:
Squeaking shoes. Particularly during the Boilermakers' stan-
dard defensive-closeout drills.
