A Basketball Season in Review - Centers: Trevion Williams
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 move on to the biggest position group on the team, both literally and figuratively. The center position at Purdue has always been very important and this hasn’t changed in the modern game. This also means we move on to our final 3 players on the roster as we wrap up our look back at the odd 2019-20 season. We will cover Matt Haarms, Trevion Williams, and Emmanuel Dowuona over the next couple of weeks. The center position was one of strength this year, as it is always, as these players set the foundation on offense and defense. We saw growth in some players and regression in others as well as potential. As of the writing of this article, this position is more up in the air and we will touch on that as well.
Trevion Williams
We now move on to the Sophomore big man from Chicago! After a successful freshman campaign, eyes turned to the big man to take the next step to be the anchor inside for this Purdue team. Not only was he Purdue’s most consistent big man, but he also stepped up his game to help fill the void left over from Carsen Edwards/Ryan Cline.
Preseason
After bursting onto the scene in 2018-19, fans were excited to see how Tre would follow up with a more prominent role on the team. Tre showed a willingness to play back-to-the-basket, play to the basket from beyond the arc, and even showed the ability to slash to the basket. In terms of expanding his game, fans were looking for Trevion to improve his free-throw percentage, thrive in a more prominent offensive role, and expand his defense as to become an improved defensive anchor down low. I felt that Tre would be less of a straight-up defender in the post and was more valuable when Purdue would use their athleticism on defense rather than straight-up size similarly to how they played in 2018-19.
In-Season Results
The in-season results for Trevion Williams were far and away better than I thought they would be for 2019-20. While the team may have struggled with consistency as a whole, Trevion was a reliable player that had more good games or elite games than bad games. What made the season so much more impressive was that Tre was performing this well while also splitting time with Matt Haarms. Now with Haarms gone, the only question surrounding Tre is whether or not he has the conditioning or ability to stay out of foul trouble to improve his minutes-per-game with the void left by Haarms.
Breaking down the offensive side of the ball for Trevion, he showed an ability to score in a multitude of ways; whether it be straight up in the post, a short fade away, a quick dribble move, slashing through the lane, or some kind of circus shot where it looks like he just throws it up and in. He can contort his body and find a window to put the ball up and in that, we have not seen, as fans, for a long time from a center. His long arms certainly help with this, but it’s impressive either way. Continuing to look on offense, Trevion continued to utilize his vision with the ball in the post to find open teammates cutting through the lane and on the other side of the floor. This passing ability is severely under-appreciated because what it does is force the defense to stay alert at all points and time. Staying 100% locked in on defense, especially if you’re the backside wing defender who may not be as focused with the ball in the post on the other side of the floor. This can create more than a few wide-open shots that can prove invaluable in close games.
Moving on to defense, Purdue rarely utilized a one-on-one in the post this year. Meaning that whenever the opposing big men would catch the ball in the post, either on the catch or on the dribble, the Boilers would bring a hard double-team to force the ball out of their hands. This helps cover some weaker post defense because it turns the possession into more of a scramble. After all, now the offense is out of what they want to do, and Purdue is trying to rotate and recover back onto their assignments. This defense suits this roster because of the athleticism that is available, and Purdue found success in forcing the opposing offenses out of rhythm and into a more motion style set. Trevion also displays his potential in defending the high ball screen. This action is being used more and more and it becomes vital to have a center that can make the right play and not get out-of-position putting the rest of the team in trouble. Trevion did this very well and occasionally was able to take advantage of an unsuspecting guard. His long arms also carried him to the second most blocks on the team with 13 behind Matt Haarms.
TW: Hedging High Ball Screen
The game today relies heavily on the top of the key high ball screen more and more every year it seems. Which makes it even more important to have a center who can find success in slowing this action down long enough for the defense to recover. Trevion showed flashes at why teams may think twice before underestimating the 6’9 center.
TW: Dynamic Scoring
Just watch this video and tell me that Trevion Williams isn’t one of the most dynamic scoring centers Purdue has had in a while. The most recent example I could think of, and it still isn’t the best example, was Caleb Swanigan. Even then, Caleb was a great scorer, but it wasn’t like the way that Williams can score. Caleb would use his very high basketball-IQ to use the defender’s position against him, while Trevion would rather just do something unexpected (see: his quick spin baseline on post-ups) to get the defender off balance.
TW: Passing Ability
The first pass you see in this video is just one of many examples that showcase both Williams’ vision as well as his passing ability. When Sasha cuts through the lane, not many fans will truly understand how difficult that pass really is. Tre has shown this vision since he stepped on campus and it provides value every game.
TW: Special Considerations
I just needed to include this play just because of the absurdity of this large of a human being doing this and making it look so easy.
Trevion Williams provides tremendous upside when he is on the floor with his scoring, passing ability, and defense. With the departure of Matt Haarms, the question moving forward regarding Tre is whether or not he has the ability to stay on the floor to play more minutes. He would often find himself in foul trouble which limited his minutes. He needs to improve his conditioning as well as the fouls to stay on the floor longer each night.
Season Stats/Averages: [PurdueSports.com]
GP/GS/Avg Mins/FGM/FGA/FG%/3PT/3PtA/3Pt%/FTM/FTA/FT%/PPG/AvgReb/TotalAST/TotalTO/TotalSTL/TotalBlks
31/22/21.5 /154/299/51.5% /3/9/33.3% /45/94/47.9% /11.5 /7.6 /45 /51 /20/13
Takeaways
If Trevion Williams can find a way to stay on the floor for more minutes every game, he has the skill to put up some insane numbers. In 2019-20, playing on average, 21 minutes a game was averaging over 11 points, 7.6 rebounds while shooting over 50% from the field. Tre would often dominate on offense, using his size and quickness to his advantage. You may not think of the 6’9 270-pound center as overly athletic, but we fans would routinely see him quickly spin-off of a post defender to get them on his hip so that he can get to the baseline. Tre is almost elite at that move, once he gets the defender off balance on his hip, he has the size to knock people back and then use his position to either go straight up or his length to get the shot up on the opposite side of the basket.
Looking at the stats more directly, 21 mpg, 51% from the floor, 11.5 ppg, 7.6 rebounds per game. All of these are great numbers to be at this point in his career. Of any single stat listed above, the one I would want to see him improve on is his free throw shooting. 47.9% is just too low for someone who is going to take as much contact night in and night out. That’s also going to be something that will contribute to his ability to stay on the floor longer at the end of games. Take away an opponent’s ability to focus fouls on him, and that’s one more advantage Purdue has.
To pick another area of focus for Tre, I would choose either fouls or turnovers. While 51 turnovers aren’t the end of the world, by limiting turnovers you remove possessions from your opponent, and when Purdue struggled to score this year, not giving extra possessions is key. As for the fouls, Trevion racked up the second most fouls called on the team only behind Eric Hunter Jr. This is harking back again to the goal of having Trevion play more minutes per game next year. This becomes especially important now with the transfer of Matt Haarms. Trevion will be tasked with holding down the post for longer and we need him to stay on the floor without being forced off with foul trouble.
Best Game
It’s @Michigan, it just is. You can’t drop 36&20, even in a loss, and it not be your best game. Trevion displayed every move in his arsenal and the Wolverines had no answer for the big man. Everything that Trevion put up just seemed to find the bottom of the net. I’m a firm believer that these are the types of performance you can see if Trevion can play more minutes per night. Tre is credited with 44 minutes in this game, granted in double overtime, but it’s no coincidence that he puts up 36 and 20 in the game he plays the most minutes all season. This was just a night where everything was going in. Even a shot-clock beating prayer from beyond the arc fell through the basket as the perfect metaphor for this game. If you missed this game, go back and watch this game for his performance alone.
Final Thoughts
Purdue’s depth at center took a hit when Matt Haarms decides to transfer to BYU. With it comes a tremendous opportunity for Trevion Williams. The only real question that surrounds the junior to be is this, can he stay on the floor long enough every night? The drop off from Williams to the second string is an unknown as we don’t have enough experience behind him. Having Tre stay on the floor may be the catalyst for either a great rebound season or another season marred by question marks. I, for one, am very excited to see what Trevion brings back to this team next year and going forward!
As Always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!
