Part two will be posted tomorrow.
January 1st. The New Year. A clean slate. The day when we look around and say that this year, things will be different. This year, we are going to get back into shape, we are going to eat healthier, stop drinking so much, be a better friend, stay more active with our friends and family. Sometimes it lasts but more often than not it crashes and burns with us still the same person. Over the next two days we will share New Year’s Resolutions for the men’s basketball players.
Kyle – Will Berg & Raleigh Burgess
For Will Berg, I think it comes down to finding his identity on this team. What can you do to help Purdue win? Purdue doesn’t need you to be a scorer, what they need is 5 to 10 minutes of solid defense, rim protection and rebounding.
Find who you are, and be great at it. You’ve had two years to learn behind arguably the greatest Purdue player ever. What did you learn from Zach?
For Burgess, continued growth. Purdue will need him to play. It’s hard for true freshmen. They are learning everything on the fly, sometimes you have to be the man, in Burgess’ case he is the 5th option on offense when he is out there.
Grow in aspects of learning sets, learning the game and what the veteran guards need from you.
On the defensive side of the ball, continue to grow with rotations and getting yourself in the correct spot and adding some rim protection with Jacobsen out would be great as well.
Jed – TKR and Myles Colvin
TKR: In the New Year, TKR needs to just continue doing what he is doing. He is playing like the best big man in the B1G and has flashed an expanded versatility on the offensive end. What he may need to improve on the most, however, is getting to his left hand a bit more so opponents can’t overplay and take away his right hand. A few more open 3’s getting knocked down wouldn’t hurt to open up the lane either.
Colvin: In the New Year, Myles seems to have a couple resolutions he needs to work on. Number one, he needs to continue to build his confidence with his ability off the dribble. He has shown an ability to be a knock down shooter but those opportunities seem to have dried up recently as teams see he isn’t putting the ball on the deck to attack the rim. He has the ability but likely needs to see some of those opportunities be successful to gain the confidence to continue to do so. That threat would open up opportunities for everyone around him, especially TKR.
Secondly, Myles needs to just continue to be a defender the Boilers can rely on to limit some of the really good wings they are going to see heading into the B1G. It seems most every B1G team not named Minnesota has a wing that is capable of putting up a big number most nights and Myles is going to get first crack at those guys.
Ryan – Camden Heide and Gicarri Harris
Heide:
For everyone on this list not named Smith, Kaufman-Renn, or Loyer, the obvious resolution is to get more of a share of the scoring. Camden Heide is a bit different though because he is so heavily involved in the offense. He and Myles are known threats and even if they are not scoring, they are at least opening space up for others.
The main resolution I would have for Camden is to develop an attack on offense. We know he can knock down an open 3 or cut for a lob but it would be great to see him ball handle a little bit and drive in the lane. Yes, I’m cherry picking but a Cam Heide that can drive the lane can unlock a lot of different looks.
Harris:
I think Gicarri Harris needs to find his shot on offense and try to replicate Myles on defense. Finding your shot on offense may not be as simple due to his role but sometimes, it’s as simple as getting yourself going with some easier shots. As one of 3 guys who should be taking the ball up, Gicarri has struggled the most on the offensive end. We all know Braden’s ability and CJ Cox has shown that he can rise and create his own shot. Harris seems like he needs to be craftier to get his shot and not just take the open 3’s that come with the territory in this offense.
As for the other end of the floor, Gicarri is learning the ropes of playing on a D1 team. He definitely can get caught up in the screen game and can be slow on switches. That skill comes with time. But I think the resolution should be to replicate Myles Colvin on defense and use his athletic ability to be a glove defender. Do I expect this to happen overnight? Absolutely not, but working on these skills could go a long way going into conference play this year and upcoming seasons.
More players will be coming tomorrow including Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.