When former Purdue football coach Joe Tiller arrived in West Lafayette, he ran an offensive system that was affectionately known as “basketball on grass.” How appropriate that, more than 20 years later, Boilermakers basketball coach Matt Painter has adopted a football approach when it comes to his staff.
In the last decade, Painter has assigned offensive and defensive coordinator roles to specific assistants on his staff. In recent years, it’s been P.J. Thompson who is responsible for the offense and Paul Lusk and Terry Johnson serve as the defensive gurus.
It’s one of the most unique approaches in college basketball, but it’s something that’s proven to be extremely effective for the Boilers.
“That’s something we started doing eight or nine years ago when we split it like football — offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators. We split a lot of assignments,” Painter told reporters following Purdue’s first official practice on Monday. “I started it because I was tired of being in huddles and hearing three or four different things and being more confused by talking to them than actually getting some clarity. I like the breakup of that.”
Painter’s decision to delegate certain responsibilities to different members of his staff has paid off in a big way for Purdue’s program over the last eight years. Since the 2016-17 campaign, the Boilermakers have won four Big Ten regular season titles, one Big Ten Tournament championship and played in the National Championship Game.
Purdue’s record in that stretch? 209-69, which equates to a .752 winning percentage. The Boilers have won 25 games six times and reached the 30-win mark twice in that span.
More than anything, though, Painter says the divvying of responsibilities is beneficial for the players.
“I like it because of our players. I think it makes sense for them,” Painter said. “Now they know when they have an offensive question or a defensive question or a personnel question, who they go to. That’s really helped us.”
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