Purdue Basketball – 5 Questions for Europe

This morning Purdue headed up to Chicago and took off for Germany. They’ll travel from Germany to Austria to Slovakia and finally Italy over an 11 day stretch where they will play against four professional teams.

It will be the public’s first extended look at a Purdue team that returned almost everyone and will head into the season as a most likely top-five program. Matt Painter has Purdue at its highest peak in program history despite last March’s early exit.

A big caveat, the Big Maple, Zach Edey, will be playing in his own international basketball during this time for Team Canada so he will not be with the team. That leaves a Purdue team to find itself and identity without college basketball’s best player.

Here’s five questions that Europe should start to answer going into the 2023-24 season.

It’s all that Matt Painter and Trey Kaufman-Renn have talked about when it comes to basketball from the moment of last season ending and now.

Purdue needed more offensive fire power last season and part of that was something Matt Painter said he didn’t do a good enough job of – getting Kaufman-Renn ready to play the four. So this summer, that’s where Kaufman-Renn is playing. He needed to get his body better, his shot better, and go out there and play basketball.

He says he’s confident at the four and it’s transitioned better than he expected. There’s still room for improvement, but Kaufman-Renn has already shown his ability to adjust. After struggling to start last season, Kaufman-Renn really found his groove on offense. He’s comfortable with the ball in his hands at all levels on the floor, but it was in the post last season where he really got into a groove. Acting as Edey’s primary back up, he played the role of post player when Edey was on the bench.

He has an unorthodox post game, but it’s brutally effective, with great foot work and good touch around the rim. But he can be stubborn and mechanical down low, and his go to moves can be a little obvious. Three times at the intra-squad scrimmage Kaufman-Renn got caught by a help defender reading his spin move and occupying that space.

Adjusting to that, working off the ball, and from the perimeter will be big points of emphasis for Kaufman-Renn in Europe. Existing next to Edey can be a difficult challenge for someone who does his best work with his back to the basket. Kaufman-Renn’s potential was always tied to his ability to do more than just that, and he’ll get the chance to expand upon it in Europe.