Breakdown: New Purdue guard Lance Jones

Saturday, Purdue’s search for backcourt help off the transfer wire came to a quick resolution, as Southern Illinois’ Lance Jones committed to the Boilermakers to play out his last season of college ball, his COVID year. Here, GoldandBlack.com takes a detailed look at the All-MVC guard through video and analytics.

PURDUE NEEDED EXPLOSIVENESS AND FOUND IT

Purdue didn’t have a whole lot this season in terms of the ability to blow past set defenders or attack in the open floor. It was pretty much just Braden Smith in that regard. So Matt Painter really focused with this search on quickness and burst, as much a defensive concern as offensive. Jones fits that will bill.

Jones isn’t a big guard but he is stronger than his dimensions based on what he shows on film at both ends of the floor. But he’s also extremely quick moving straight ahead or laterally. He’s not quite Jaden Ivey, but he’ll be Purdue’s most physically gifted true guard next season. (Myles Colvin is a wing.)

Some of Jones’ first steps …

Here’s Jones attacking a closeout, a very important element for Purdue when it plays inside-out and gets defenses scrambling.

Purdue’s big on dribble handoffs, which can set up guards to get downhill systematically. Jones should be well suited.

Jones is functionally quick as well, as he can create space for himself and blow past people with his dribble, looking well under control doing so.

Jones will be part of a bit of an athletic makeover for Purdue, joined by incoming wings Colvin and Camden Heide.

A POTENTIAL IMPACT DEFENDER

A Missouri Valley All-Defense team pick the past two seasons, Jones seems straight out of central casting for what Purdue would have wanted defensively with this addition. But his junior season film doesn’t show a ton of relevant context. Jones didn’t primary guard on the ball. Xavier Johnson — not that Xavier Johnson — did. So Jones mostly guarded wings and often defended much bigger players, including many cases where opponents worked him into switches against forwards, which accounted for a good deal of the scoring done against him.

This, though, is where Jones showed his strength. He didn’t give ground easily.

Jones looks like a player willing to battle through screens and able to do so and able to stay attached to opponents, and adept at staying in front of people in space.

His short-area quickness and recovery ability are very good. Watch this.

Jones has been a prolific thief in his college basketball career. His 176 steals at SIU are a lot of steals, attributable in part to some quick hands.

A PENETRATION DIMENSION

As noted above, Purdue wanted a penetrator, or at least someone with burst enough to attack the lane and rim off the dribble when opportunities present themselves, whether it be schematically — ball screens, hand-offs, etc. — or simply in improv mode.

Jones showed at SIU he can break defenses down, navigate traffic and handle contact at the rim.

A CAPABLE, BUT PREVIOUSLY STREAKY, SHOOTER

After shooting 42.6 percent from three as a sophomore, Jones shot 28 percent as a senior. But he did so on more than twice as many attempts. Jones took 250 threes this past season — for context, that was almost 70 more than Fletcher Loyer took for Purdue this season, in only slightly fewer minutes. Jones attempted four or more threes in every game he played this season. That’s very unlikely to be the sort of volume he’d carry at Purdue next season. His volume at SIU jumped every season at a rate disproportionate to his increase in minutes.

Here are the per-40 numbers on three-point attempts.

Freshman (29.7 percent): 3.6

Sophomore (42.6 percent): 6.4

Junior (33.9 percent): 8.2

Senior (28 percent): 9.8

It’s common for scorers’ volume to increase as they get older and the personnel around them turns over, and drops in efficiency are generally part of it. SIU has been quite top heavy when it comes to offensive usage, Jones (31.4 percent) and Marcus Domask (27.8) accounted for most of the Salukis’ shots last season. Jones ranked 34th nationally by percentage last season, per KenPom. SIU lost four 20-plus-percent-usage players from the year prior.

Jones does have real range. A lot of his threes this past season came from well beyond the arc. His delivery is methodical, but he has shown comfort shooting the ball from long range off the catch, an applicable skill to his future at Purdue. Arc will never be a problem.

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