[IUFR] Purdue Film Deep Dive: What IU Must Do to Beat the Boilers Again

Coach Adragna dives into Purdue's film to highlight the Boilers' strengths, how they are different this season, and some areas of opportunity for Indiana.

[Editor’s note: Tony’s IU Film Room posts are usually for our premium subscribers. We’re making this one freely available to all.]

Indiana welcomes the 2nd-ranked Purdue Boilermakers to Bloomington tonight with a big opportunity to enhance their NCAA Tournament resume.

This isn’t new territory for the Mike Woodson-led Hoosiers. While Woodson’s Indiana squads have never been the higher-ranked team in this matchup, he’s 2-0 against the Boilers in Bloomington (and 1-1 in West Lafayette).

While this Purdue team is similar to the previous couple of years, there are some notable differences.

Let’s dive into the film.

Purdue Offense

Purdue has the second-best adjusted offensive efficiency in the country. They shoot the ball well (9th in the country in three-point shooting), share the ball well (5th in the country in assist rate), and rebound their misses at a good clip (19th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage).

Ball Screens

The Boilers use of ball screens on offense is one of the largest differences from this year to last year.

Last season, Purdue was in the 13th percentile in the country in terms of ball screen usage.

This year, the Boilers are in the 52nd percentile.

This is, in part, due to Matt Painter turning over the offensive reigns to Braden Smith, who has flourished.

Reading the Tagger

Braden Smith has gotten very good at reading the “tagger.” When teams guard ball screens and the big man hedges, there is typically somebody on the weak side of the defense who is defined as a ‘tagger.’

In the screenshot below, the tagger is circled. Unsurprisingly, Smith finds Loyer for an open look.

In Purdue’s ball screen actions, they’re almost always ‘replacing’ the screener with a shooter and Smith does an excellent job finding them.

Hitting the Roller

Reading the tagger also allows Smith to find the roller in the ball screen actions. If the tagger shades more toward the shooter, the roller is open and Smith hits them.

Scoring

Where Smith has really excelled is coming off of the ball screens and putting the ball in the bucket.

Smith has really gotten good at coming off the screen and knocking down a midrange jumper.

With Indiana’s ball screen ‘drop’ coverage they employ, they are susceptible to giving up this shot.

Ball screens are where I’m most concerned for the Hoosier defense. On the year, Indiana’s ball screen defense is in the 35th percentile in the country.

How do they stop the Purdue ball screen attack?

It starts with the head of the snake. Relentless pressure on Braden Smith will be vital. The defender should also stay wide and long to prevent Smith’s pass-backs to the “replacer.” I’d be interested to see both Trey Galloway and CJ Gunn on Smith for those reasons.

Purdue Sets

While Purdue isn’t as set-focused as they’ve been in the past, Matt Painter is still one of the best at drawing up plays that get his best players the ball in spots they’re comfortable scoring.

It should come as no surprise that almost every set Purdue runs is for Edey to get a touch in the post. They will often run actions that look like they are for guards as a decoy and the end game is to find Edey in the post.

When Purdue gets into their sets, the best thing Indiana can do on defense is to put relentless pressure on the ball. Make feeding the post as difficult as possible. Force lob passes and bad passing angles and push Edey off his spot.

It’s also key to not let one possession dictate the game’s energy. Purdue has one of the best offenses in the game. They are going to score. The key is to prevent long stretches of no stops.

Purdue Defense

While Indiana has a very mediocre offense statistically, I think Purdue’s defense will give Indiana ample opportunity to succeed.

Where are those opportunities?

Handoffs

Indiana runs a lot of Zoom actions, which result in a big-to-little handoff to the middle of the floor. Trey Galloway and Jalen Hood-Schifino feasted off of these actions last year in both Purdue matchups.

When it comes to guarding handoffs, Purdue is in the 29th percentile in the country. Teams like Nebraska and Northwestern both utilized handoffs in their wins over the Boilers.

Keep an eye on Indiana’s use of handoffs. The best case scenario is to execute a handoff that has Edey guarding the big and Loyer guarding the ballhandler. Look for the Hoosiers to try and exploit that 2-man game.

Ball Screens

Handoffs are essentially just another way for teams to execute a ball screen and I think Indiana is going to try to put Edey in ball screens all night.

Not only do ball screens pull Edey away from the basket, they also force him to contain the dribble long enough for the offensive player to fight back.

As you can see in the video below, Purdue has holes in its ball screen coverage.

Just as we showcased in the Braden Smith clips, it’s often going to come down to Indiana’s guards reading the tagger and making decisions from there.

Personally, I love the idea of Indiana pick-and-popping then throwing the ball back to the big at the top of the key. This will force a long closeout from the Purdue bigs and the Hoosiers have versatile enough bigs that can attack that long closeout and get to the rim.

Post Defense

Somewhat surprisingly, Purdue’s post defense this season has been subpar. While it’s been on a relatively low volume (not shocking teams don’t typically look to attack the 7’4” guy), their post defense is just in the 21st percentile in the country.

Conversely, Indiana’s post offense is in the 87th percentile in the country.

Post offense and defense doesn’t necessarily mean throw the ball in and it never comes out. It just means the action is initiated with the ball being thrown in the post.

Last season, as TJD was being doubled, he did a nice job of finding shooters like Miller Kopp and Trey Galloway to knock down shots.

The Hoosiers need Mackenzie Mgbako to step up tonight and hit shots. He’ll have opportunities.

Purdue is a very good team, but they aren’t unbeatable. For the third straight year, I think Indiana is a bad matchup for them. Where Purdue struggles, Indiana is strong.

Last year, Indiana’s length with JHS and Galloway gave Purdue’s guards issues. Galloway is obviously still in the fold, but it will be interesting to see what Woodson does with Xavier Johnson and Gabe Cupps.

XJ has the length and speed that could cause issues. But if last game is any indication, it may be Cupps getting the majority of the minutes.

Defensively, it will be a big test for Mackenzie Mgbako. As showcased, Purdue is going to move shooters around in their actions. In their 3-guard lineups of Jones, Smith, and Loyer, he’s going to have his hands full. He must stay disciplined to not give up open looks to shooters and let Purdue get their confidence going.

Indiana’s bigs also need to stay out of foul trouble. If they’re guarding Edey in the post, there is no reason to try to block his shot as the on-ball defender. I don’t mind trying to come over from the help side and block, but you aren’t going to block his shot being the man guarding him. Go straight up on his attempts and live with the result.

Now, over to you:

• How are you feeling about tonight’s matchup?

• Where do you think IU has a distinct advantage?

Until next time,

Coach Adragna

Founder, IU Film Room