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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 27, Digital 2

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VOLUME 27, ISSUE 2 17 better three-point percentage on few- er, or more prudent, attempts — and significantly cut his team-high aver- age of 2.7 turnovers per game. Haas showed flashes of dominance in capped minutes the last two seasons behind Hammons. Now, he figures to get more of an opportunity, which could super-size his productivity. Last season, his per-40-minutes numbers were astonishing: 27.4 points and 10.3 rebounds. Those numbers obviously aren't reasonable expectations — he's nev- er going to play 40 minutes, for one thing — but they do reflect well the impact he did have on games in his mostly backup role; Haas averaged 14.3 minutes per game for the entire season, just 12.7 in Big Ten games. Now, the limiting factors on Haas' opportunities are in his court. He will only play as much as his conditioning allows. It stands to reason to suggest that at his size, 25 good minutes per game — and good is an important qual- ifier — might be his ceiling. He only played 20 or more minutes three times last season, all before Dec. 5. Haas will play more minutes this season, and in those minutes, Purdue will be especially sensitive to foul is- sues, fatigue and frustration. To be as effective as he can offensively, it will be im- portant for Haas to continue his upward trajectory as a foul shooter — he jumped roughly 12 percent from his freshman to sophomore seasons — considering he'll draw more fouls than just about anyone in college bas- ketball. Decision-making will come to the forefront in the frontcourt, as it always does for post-oriented teams. Pur- due needs each of its front-liners to keep turnovers to a minimum and to get the ball out of the post as needed. They'll be surrounded by shooters, more so than any team Painter's had, the 2011-12 team included. That team had outstanding shooters, but not entirely across the board. This season, Purdue does not have a shooting-defi- cient player in its projected backcourt rotation. Thompson shot 44 percent from three-point range last Tom Campbell P.J. Thompson understands that the need for Purdue to solve its issues against pressure lies with his point guard position. Experience helps, Purdue thinks. PURDUE MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER No. Name Class Position Height Weight Hometown/Last School 2 Jon McKeeman Sr. (5) Guard 6-1 190 Fort Wayne/Carroll 3 Carsen Edwards Fr. Guard 6-0 190 Atascocita, Texas/Atascocita 5 Basil Smotherman Jr. Forward 6-6 235 Indianapolis/Lawrence North 11 P.J. Thompson Jr. Guard 5-10 185 Indianapolis/Brebeuf 12 Vincent Edwards Jr. Forward 6-8 225 Middletown, Ohio/Middletown 14 Ryan Cline So. Guard 6-6 195 Carmel, Ind./Carmel 15 Tommy Luce Fr. Guard 5-10 150 Jeffersonville, Ind./Jeffersonville 23 Jacquil Taylor So. Forward/Center 6-10 240 Cambridge, Mass./Beaver Country Day 24 Grady Eifert So. Forward 6-6 220 Fort Wayne/Don Bosco Prep 31 Dakota Mathias Jr. Guard 6-4 200 Elida, Ohio/Elida 44 Isaac Haas Jr. Center 7-2 290 Hokes Bluff, Ala./Hokes Bluff 50 Caleb Swanigan So. Forward/Center 6-9 250 Fort Wayne/Homestead 55 Spike Albrecht Sr. (5) Guard 6-0 180 Crown Point, Ind./Michigan

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