After giving a brief overview of what happened with the 2019-20 Purdue Basketball Season, let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into the different position groups and the individual players’ performance for the year. This isn’t going to be a game by game breakdown but more of a holistic view of each player and if applicable, what they need to work on moving into next year.

We will start with the Guards as they initiate the offense and are the point of the defense for any given night. In 19-20 Purdue had some issues with consistency from game to game. After a season watching Carsen Edwards run the team and score 15 points plus every night, it became more apparent that this team didn’t have a Carsen Edwards. This team needed someone to step up and make a play when the team needed it most. Guys showed flashes of this in different games, but no one seemed to take the reigns in every game and provide that steady performance the team could build off of. Moving forward to 2020-21, Purdue needs more consistent guard high-level guard play to take pressure away from the interior to always make the plays.

Isaiah Thompson

Isaiah Thompson was not most people’s first thought when the topic of 2019 recruits playing as true freshman came up. Many thought that Mason Gillis or Brandon Newman would see the floor and Thompson would redshirt to gain experience and adjust to the game at this level. But alas, Thompson comes out of the preseason as the only incoming freshman not redshirting. I was fairly okay with this decision in the end. Looking at the big picture, Thompson wouldn’t have benefited as much from a redshirt year because of the future 2020 recruits which would have made playing time even more valuable. By playing in 2019-20 Thompson was able to get on court experience which could prove valuable in the future.

Preseason

Going into the season, Isaiah found himself in a very nice position on the team. He was an incoming freshman guard on a team that already had some solid Guard options with Nojel Eastern, Eric Hunter Jr, Sasha Stefanovic, and the grad transfer Jahaad Proctor. Isaiah was tasked with providing solid minutes off and to choose his spots wisely on offense. He also had the added benefit of his older brother, and former Purdue guard, PJ Thompson on the coaching staff as a grad assistant. This meant that he was in the best learning position by playing, he wasn’t going to be asked to do too much, and he had his brother on the sideline helping him through it all. I didn’t have too high of expectations for Isaiah but was excited to see how he would make that role his own.

In-Season Results

I believe we saw Isaiah perform almost exactly as he was expected to this season. Many people were comparing him to his older brother PJ and I don’t believe that was fair as they are two different players with different play styles. PJ was more of a pass-first point guard that developed a deadly 3 pointer by the end of his career, and Isaiah was more of a scorer coming out of high school. We saw the scoring capabilities at points this year but we also saw him struggle with turnovers as well.

Looking at his offense, Isaiah showed that his comfort zone is behind the arc as we saw him take 100 of his 164 total shots from 3. This shouldn’t be too surprising as we routinely saw his defender helping off of him, leaving Thompson open for a clean look. He was a good shooter that sometimes struggled with consistency like many freshman do. This is something that he will improve on naturally now that he has a year under his belt. I was happy to see how opportunistic he was at times showing a knack for getting to the right spot at the right time to make a play as you’ll see below.

On defense, I don’t believe that anyone thought that he would come in and be a lockdown defender as a freshman. He was a bit undersized and was finding himself being pushed around by bigger players and sometimes found himself out of position in defensive rotations. All of these should be taken with a grain of salt though, as he is a true freshman and some of these issues can be resolved with more experience playing at the Big Ten level as well as more time in the strength and conditioning program. I don’t think that Isaiah will be asked to be an All-B1G level defender but I’m sure that we will see him use his quickness to cause problems for opposing offenses in the coming years.

IT: Shooting [@Michigan]

At the start of the 2nd half, we see Isaiah go to work on offense with a lot of confidence.

• The first basket of the second half for the Boilers is Thompson coming off a screen for a mid-range pull-up.

• Followed up by another pull-up where he is fouled (makes both).

• A runner off an offensive rebound.

• Coming off a down screen to bury a three

• And lastly, a back-screen re-scream, that Purdue likes to run a lot, to knock down another tough three.

In about 6 minutes of game time, Isaiah showed a little bit of that confidence he had in high school with regards to scoring. It reminded me of moments we would see from PJ while he was still at Purdue. There were moments where he would take over when you least expect it. I think Isaiah can bring the same energy.

IT: Right Place Right Time [@Indiana]

Here we see Isaiah sticking with the play after the initial shot doesn’t fall. He comes off a screen from Trevion Williams and curls into the lane for an off-balance runner that doesn’t fall. When the ball isn’t rebounded immediately you can watch him stay in a little pocket in the lane watching and finding himself in the perfect position when the ball falls to him. He is then able to put the ball back up and in.

I’m torn on this play because one train of thought is that he should have started to get back in case IU pulled down the rebound and pushed it up the floor, but at the same time, I like that he didn’t give up on the play and put himself in position to get the rebound and then put it in on the second attempt. I’ll choose to look at it in the positive because having the ability to find the perfect spot on the floor is an important skill and I hope we see more of this out of Thompson in the future.

I think Isaiah Thompson had a very good freshman season when all things were said and done. He wasn’t a breakout star, but few people thought he would be. He was a very good role player that did his job to the best of his ability. There were moments during the season he struggled with the physicality and level of play required in the Big Ten. This is where I think he benefited in the role he was given. With all of the other scoring and ball-handling options that Purdue has, he was able to play and gain experience without the pressure of being a primary ball-handler, or primary scorer.

He did a good job of finding his spots and taking advantage when opposing teams forgot about him. I know that a lot of people wanted to compare him to his older brother PJ, and I still don’t think that is fair because they are/will be different players at Purdue. That being said, I saw a lot of similarities in PJ’s play style and that of Isaiah this year. While PJ was better at taking care of the ball, he was patient, and played within himself and didn’t try and do too much to the point of hurting the Boilers.

Season Stats/Averages: [PurdueSports.com]

GP/GS/Avg Mins/FGM/FGA/FG%/3PT/3PtA/3Pt%/FTM/FTA/FT%/PPG/AvgReb/TotalAST/TotalTO/TotalSTL

31/0/18.7 /58/164/35.4% /36/100/36% /21/31/67.7% /5.6 /1.1 /21 /24 /13

Takeaways

I think seeing Isaiah play just under 19 minutes a game was perfect. I have mentioned it a lot so far, but this was a great way to learn while still being able to play behind 4 guys. If he was going to play this season and not redshirt, it was going to have to be this way. It allowed him to play but not be the guy.

Looking elsewhere, this was truly an adjustment season for the younger Thompson. I don’t want to make any drastic declarations about him because he is still adjusting to the college game, but we saw some promising things this year that I think we will only see improvements now that he has a year under his belt.

For an undersized guard we actually saw some pretty normal shooting percentages going approximately 35.5% from the field, and 36% exactly from 3. Even though neither are over the top impressive, if you look at field goal attempt numbers, (100 3PTA and 164 FGA), I’m impressed to see that the freshman guard didn’t root himself behind the 3-point line and was willing to get beneath the arc and work his way towards the basket. Having a dynamic playmaker is an important piece to keep the defenses guessing.

He was a reliable free throw shooter when he got to the line, the beginning of the season dragged his percentage down, but he ended the season with games of 4-4 @Michigan, 8-12 against Penn State, and 5-6 @Iowa. Those three games made up 20 of his 31 season free throws, but that’s why I choose to look here at his true free-throw potential.

On defense, we saw flashes of solid play but he still made some mistakes that all freshmen would make. He sometimes found himself lost in transition or on heavy-set defensive rotations. He also struggled with defending players that were just bigger than him, which is to be expected honestly. But, we did see some good on defense as well as he accumulated 13 steals and actually was credited with 1 block! In the grand scheme of things, we never saw the amazing defensive play but it was good enough for Coach Matt Painter to trust the younger Thompson to be on the floor.

Best Game
I could take the easy way out and say that the game against Chicago State was his best game. In 23 minutes played he scored 17 points going 6-11 from the field and 5-10 from 3. He also contributed with 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. It was exciting to see the freshman show off his potential in just the 4th game of his young Purdue career. But…. it was Chicago State, and Chicago State is very, very, very bad. I would expect Tommy Luce to score in double figures against Chicago State. (For those curious, Tommy Luce stat line: 2 points in 6 minutes with 1 rebound and 4 assists.)

I will instead choose a different game that I think will better reflect Isaiah and his potential in the Old Gold and Black. January 24th, 2020. Wisconsin is coming to the not so friendly confines of Mackey Arena. This was a game where Purdue lead the whole way and it never really felt in doubt. I think this helped Isaiah feel comfortable and confident. He logged 21 minutes in this game and made the most of it. He scored a game-high 14 points shooting 6-8 from the field and 2-3 from 3. Along with the scoring he tallied 2 assists and 2 steals. Throughout he played solid defense, using his quickness to stay in front of the Badgers. He also scored in a variety of ways, in transition, a spot-up catch and shoot three, a transition three, an off-balance floater, a physical drive to the rim finishing through contact, and a long step-back jumper. It was a great all-around game that showed what Isaiah can bring to the team in the future.

Looking Forward

Looking ahead to next year Isaiah should be tasked to work on a couple of things. They are fairly straightforward and they are, get in the gym to help mitigate the chances of getting pushed around when on defense in the future. He’s listed on Purdue’s website at 6’1 ft tall and 165 pounds. I know that perimeter defense doesn’t always need to be as physical as someone like Nojel Eastern plays, but he is still a bit on the smaller size. Think back to Eric Hunter Jr and the difference between the 2018-19 season and this past season. Just putting on a bit of playing weight will go a long way towards holding your own in the Big Ten.

Next on the list is to become more of a facilitator while simultaneously taking care of the ball. Isaiah ended the season with an assist-to-turnover ratio of .875:1. I know he was a freshman and adjusting to Power-5 basketball takes time, that’s why I’m not worried about this one too much. He has a great support system in the coaches as well as his older brother to help him learn and grow. But if he is going to be a contributing guard on this roster he will need to work on facilitating more on offense getting his teammates in positions to score, as well as not turning the ball over. I think this one will come naturally with both experience and confidence.

Lastly, and this is an easier said than done, is to generate more steals on defense. Isaiah is smaller and quicker than most guards he’ll line up against. I think with more experience and study, he can utilize this to his advantage to get into more passing lines or, even better, just taking it off the dribble. I am less worried about this one becoming reality because it’s harder to learn and develop the instincts necessary to generate steals.

I am excited to see Isaiah going forward, with the inconsistencies we saw this year from everyone, but more so from the guards, there is an opportunity for more competition to help provide some stability. I think IT having his brother on staff, who I miss with his steady hand, will have every advantage to grow into a larger role going forward!

As always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!