5/4/2016 basketball Edit

Purdue will have Mathias and Cline playing together more next season

Ryan Cline and Dakota Mathias will inevitably play significant minutes alongside one another next season.

Brian Neubert • BoilerUpload

GoldandBlack.com staff

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Purdue hopes that with the changing complexion of its roster, it can improve offensively, though perhaps at the risk of taking a step backward defensively.

Though very little about the Boilermakers can be viewed as a certainty leading into next season as Caleb Swanigan and Vince Edwards explore their next-level options for the next few weeks, the backcourt is more of a known commodity.

Part of it: Dakota Mathias and Ryan Cline - two "shooters" who've proven themselves to be more than just that - are both going to play more, and much more often together.

That was a mix Purdue used sparingly last season in part due to the big minutes senior Rapheal Davis logged due to his experience and defensive capabilities.

With Purdue likely having to change on defense anyway this season post-Davis and post-A.J. Hammons, it might make more Mathias-and-Cline lineups more palatable.

And such lineups might come with a considerable offensive bump, or so Matt Painter and Co. will hope.

"We were definitely better offensively when those two guys were in together," Painter said. "The ball doesn’t stick in their hands. They pass the ball, they move the ball. They’re a threat, so they have to be guarded. They get the ball inside to our size. They definitely gave us a punch and gave us a look that was really beneficial when they played well together."

And being fairly similar players, Mathias and Cline each say they co-existed well in their overlap minutes in 2015-16.

"Honestly I think Dakota and I have a connection," Cline said. "… that we can find each other when we're open, create a shot for the other person. We're smart, making the right passes, trying to play solid defense. Toward the end of the year, we kind of glued together a little bit."

After Mathias, Cline and Kendall Stephens spent the first half or so of the season wrestling each other for minutes - too many players, too few minutes behind Davis - things changed.

For one, Stephens left the team for a period of time for personal reasons, then fell out of the rotation altogether. He's since opted to transfer.

That, coupled with a bout with illness for Mathias, afforded Cline a larger role, which certainly helped him improve considerably through the course of the season.

And, once he was healthy and empowered by more secure minutes, Mathias took off, finishing the season as not only Purdue's best offensive player in the backcourt, but one of its best offensive players, period, one of the catalysts in the Boilermakers playing their best offensive basketball to end the season.

"I think we play great together," Mathias said of pairing more with Cline. "We both see the floor well, we both know how to play. We can both shoot, pass and dribble. There aren't a lot of guys out there who can do all those things. I think we feed off each other very well. We know where we're going to be, we hit each other at the right time. When you have chemistry like that, it's tough to guard.

"We're looking forward to it. The few stretches we had together last year, I think things flowed pretty well."

What's the potential net gain for Purdue in its personnel overhaul in the backcourt? Decision-making and shooting.

It may come at the expense of quickness, incoming freshman Carsen Edwards aside, and it may come at the expense of some athleticism without Davis and Stephens.

But again, it could come with an offensive bump.

Last season, Mathias and Cline totaled just 32 turnovers all season, in 1,140 minutes, combining for a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Consider this, too: Point guard P.J. Thompson obliterated the program's single-season assist-to-turnover ratio with his 4.04 mark. But so did Mathias at 3.9, so they're now 1-2 on that single-season list.

Cline didn't notch the requisite 75 assists for inclusion on that list. Had he, he'd be No. 1, after registering a 4.18 ratio. He has to settle, then, for the Purdue freshman record in that category after almost doubling Troy Lewis' previous freshman standard of 2.09.

And, there's the shooting.

Mathias shot 38.6 percent from three-point range last season, but 41.5 percent in Big Ten play.

Cline shot 38.5 percent from three-point range last season, but just under 40 percent in Big Ten play, as just a freshman. With experience, Cline figures to improve there, also.

"He's going to light it up before he leaves Purdue," Vince Edwards said. "He's going to light this arena on fire. I'm excited for him and his future and for Dakota and those two being able to play together and feed off each other and be shooters. They're two different types of shooters. One can play off the dribble; one's more catch-and-shoot.

"To be able to have two shooters who are different like that, it's good for the team."

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