A point of emphasis
Carson announces his presence with quick 12 points
Posted: Wednesday December 16, 1998 06:24 PM
Carson Cunningham enjoyed a great game in our win over Valparaiso last Friday night: 18 points, including 12 in a row in the second half.
Those 12 second-half points in the opener of our Boilermaker Invitational were about the quickest points I've ever had here from the guard position. It was a lot of fun to watch, it was great to see for our fans, and that's what we always try to make our kids understand -- that with the right effort you can really be successful.
Carson was a very good player in high school. He's a point guard, or a small guard. But at the time, we already had a commitment from a young man out of Indianapolis at that position.
We don't like to take two people at the same position in the same class, so since this young man out of Indianapolis had committed to us, we stayed with our commitment and took him. Then, after the young man from Indianapolis decided he didn't want to stay here, we had a call from Carson Cunningham at Oregon State. Carson said he'd like to transfer.
I suggested to Carson that he stay there. I think young men should stay where they start. But he insisted and he was going to transfer someplace, and since we knew he had been runner-up for the Pac-10 freshman of the year award, he was a very good student and he was "our" kind of player, we decided to let him transfer here.
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"Cupcake" is a word that is probably outdated in the '90s. There's a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players and a lot of great teams -- and a lot of people who can shoot 3s.
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Carson is a very persistent young man who loves to practice. Perseverance probably is the key to his success. He brings penetration ability with his ball-handling skills and he's a good scorer on the move -- one of the players I would let shoot it on the fly. I don't have many of those, but he would be one of them. He can shoot the 3, understands the game, and he's fun to be around because of his knowledge on several subjects.
Carson is a lot like Stephen Scheffler was -- a fun guy to have intellectually. He loves the game and I think he's going to be an excellent player before he leaves here. As far as a starter, it's very much a possibility during the season -- depending on what we need -- but next year for sure. But right now, I'm always committed to older kids first, and then let's see what's going to happen with our players and we'll go from there.
Jump, jump
I've always believed that the jump ball should be thrown up. I don't like the rule where they go with the arrow. I never liked it.
I think the aggressive part of the jump ball is good. The strategy you have to use to block people out, go get the ball, go get loose balls is all very much a part of basketball. But when the argument surfaced that referees couldn't throw the ball up straight, they went with the alternating arrow to make it fair. But I don't know if that's worked.
Right now, we have a rule change where if there's a tie-up on a rebound, you go with the arrow. If there's a simultaneous tie-up, you go with the arrow. And if the defense creates the tie-up, then you go with the defense -- and that of course is a judgement thing. Deciding whether the defense knocked the ball loose is a rough judgement for the referees, and I've always been in favor of making things easier on the referees -- not tougher with the judgement things. My suggestion would be to go back to the old jump ball rule.
To the e-mailbag
Would love to see lots more of Carson Cunningham, including in the starting lineup. He's an exciting ball handler who takes it away and takes it to the basket.
Joan Rennaker, Mt. Airy, Georgia
I don't know whether he'll start or not. He's certainly capable, but I'm always a guy who goes with seniority or goes with the person who's the most productive and deserves it. Carson could get that with age, seasoning and getting his elbow well. That's the biggest thing. He's got to get his arm completely healed because it's still at only about 70 percent because of the operation earlier in the fall.
I have noticed lately that Purdue is not scoring much above 75 or 80 points per game against weaker opponents. Is this because you are playing everyone on the roster to try to find the right chemistry or is it because of the experimental 45-second clock?
Bill Butler, Palm Coast, Florida
I think probably because we've stepped up our defensive concentration, we're playing a lot of players and we're young at a lot of positions. With all that, scoring comes harder, and I think when you have a younger team those people trying to find their niche and their roles have a hard time, so offense always comes last. Although we had opportunities to get some more people involved in scoring, we still have to do some work on that -- and a lot of work, by the way.
Coach, are there any "cupcakes" left? There have been a lot of upsets this year by cupcakes over premier teams. We've seen it more and more in the NCAA tournament in recent years. Now it's happening during the regular season. What do you think is the biggest reason for this increase in competitive programs?
Chadd Wheat, Lebanon, Indiana
I think "cupcakes" isn't an accurate word anymore because 13 scholarships created the parity that we have now. Programs aren't able to stockpile good players, and that's a situation where a lot of people have great teams now because it only takes one or two very good players to make you a very competitive team. "Cupcake" is a word that is probably outdated in the '90s. There's a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players and a lot of great teams -- and a lot of people who can shoot 3s.
Coach, I watched the Illinois State game last night. I was happy to see Carson Cunningham get more minutes. Do you believe as he shakes the rust from not playing and from surgery he will take minutes from Alan Eldridge at the point?
Mark Redetzke, Minneapolis
Carson's elbow has to get better, he's got to get a feel for the defense and he's got to feel where our offense is. Of course, the 12 points he scored in a short span vs. Valparaiso showed us that he is a player that's going to be very good for us, and I can tell you that he might be our best point guard before it's over. We'll see.
Purdue is one of the very few schools to have two great basketball teams (men's No. 8, women's No. 3). How do the two teams interact -- if at all -- and do you feel the success of one helps the other?
Anthony McPherron, Toledo, Ohio
We interact great because there's no complicated hard feelings or anything like that. I've always cooperated here and it's one of those things where we support them, they support us and it's always been a great situation. One of the great things about Purdue is that we always practice on our home floor. In 19 years I've never practiced anywhere except on Mackey Arena's floor, and I don't think many coaches can say that. That's a great edge. We don't have to travel to another gym, we don't have to take equipment, so we are very lucky to have a situation here for basketball only.
I go to Lafayette College and I noticed that we played Purdue last week [Purdue won 72-67]. We beat Princeton by 16 the game before. I was wondering what you thought of the team and what they might have to improve on to get better overall.
Steve Gower, Montoursville, Pennsylvania
Lafayette College is a very good basketball team. The fact that they beat Princeton by 16 points got our attention, so that was a great motivation for our players. I think those people are going to win their league or be very competitive in their league, so we have a lot of respect for them. They played hard, they played smart, they played together and I think you'll see Lafayette, if not in the NCAA tournament, do something in the NIT if they're picked.
From the season's first tip-off to its final buzzer, Purdue coach Gene Keady files a weekly column with CNNSI.com. In his 19th year as head coach of the Boilermakers, Keady provides an exclusive peek into the highlights, lowlights and sidelights of a full college basketball season. Follow one of the nation's top coaches within one of the nation's top conferences this season "From Midnight to March."
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