Purdue Basketball Film Room: The Return of the Dunk

Daniel Jacobsen is back after missing his freshman season due to a leg injury. Rims around the country should be nervous.

Expectations are at an all-time high for the Boilermakers heading into the 2025-’26 season. Purdue knows what they have in Braden Smith, Trey Kaufmann-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer, but it’s the addition of players like Daniel Jacobsen, Oscar Cluff, and Omer Myer that are supposed to catapult the Boilermakers into the college basketball stratosphere.

We’ve got plenty of time before the first tip of the season, and I want to focus on a few specific things the new additions bring to the team. I’ve got plenty to say about Mayer, but I want to wait until after the U-19 World Championships. I’m pretty sure I know what his game is about, but I want to see it live.

I’ve watched a good bit of Cluff’s film, and I have some inclinations about how his traditional post-game will be utilized in the offense, but I’d like to see it in practice first, and Oscar isn’t on campus yet.

I know what Daniel Jacobson is about, so I’ll start with the returning Boilermaker big man.

Return of the Dunker

One obvious improvement to Purdue’s 2025-’26 roster comes at center. When Jacobsen went down to a broken leg in the opening minutes of Purdue’s second game of the season, Matt Painter had to change the game plan on the fly. That was doubly true when presumed back-up center Will Berg wasn’t ready to step up and fill the 7’3” void left by DJ. Instead of starting a true center, like Coach Painter intended, Trey moved to center, and Coach Painter brought in a combination of Caleb Furst and Camden Heide at the power forward spot. No offense to Caleb or Cam, they both had their moments, but neither was the rim finisher Purdue needed for their pick-and-roll offense.

Exit Berg, Furst, and Heide

Re-enter Daniel Jacobsen

Matt Painter fixed the power forward position by fixing the center position. Trey will slide back to his normal power forward position. Jacobsen and South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff will play center. Purdue went from a woefully undersized team in 2024-’25 to one of the biggest teams in college basketball entering this season.

That means for the first time in Braden Smith’s point guard career at Purdue, he’ll have someone capable of throwing down the lob from the “dunker” position off the high pick-and-roll. That’s weird to think about, because Braden played with Zach Edey, and there may be no better built for the dunker spot in college basketball history than Zach, but most of the time, Purdue’s Canadian Maple was either rolling to the rim or posting up down low. You can’t throw down backside lobs when you have the ball. Cluff can throw down lobs, but Jacobsen could make a career out of throwing down lobs and blocking shots.

During Braden’s tenure, Purdue has featured a stretch four in their frontcourt, like Mason Gillis or Camden Heide, or an undersized post like TKR. Cam could finish at the rim, but he needed a running start.

Daniel starts above the rim, and that’s something the Boilermakers were missing last season.

Right Play, Wrong Pass

I want to show this crucial play late in the game against Michigan. Purdue is down seven and must score every time down the court to have a chance.

They run the offense to perfection, but don’t have the player they need in the dunker spot to finish the job. Instead of getting a dunk, they turn the ball over, essentially ending the game.

Classic Purdue Offense

Purdue

This is one of the Boilermaker’s staple looks. Purdue is playing four around one with Cox and Loyer on the wings and Raleigh Burgess at the dunker spot. Braden and TKR are up top, running one of the most unstoppable pick-and-rolls in college basketball history.

Michigan

Michigan counters by plunking 7’0” center Vlad Goldin in the middle of the lane and essentially playing the Smith/TKR pick-and-roll with three defenders.

Short Roll

Purdue

Trey pivots inside after setting the pick, seals his man, and Braden delivers the perfect pass to split Michigan’s perimeter defense with the short roll.

Michigan

This is a defensive breakdown by the Wolverines. They need to try to stretch Braden to the sideline, but instead, they give up the short roll and have to contend with TKR in the middle of the lane. TKR’s ability to hit the floater necessitates Goldin stepping up the lane. An open 8-footer in the middle of the lane should almost be considered a layup for Trey.

Two on One

Purdue

Matt Painter will take Trey Kaufmann-Renn in this spot on every possession. His uncanny ability to hit mid-range floaters makes him impossible to guard. Usually, Trey takes this shot, but Goldin is a solid shot blocker, and Burgess is wide open under the basket. Instead of taking his floater, he delivers a bounce pass to unopposed Burgess at the dunker spot. This should be a basket 10/10 times.

The problem is, Burgess isn’t a player who can finish flat-footed at the rim. Instead of floating a lob over Goldin for an easy dunk, Trey throws a bounce pass instead. This gives Goldin a chance to recover and force a turnover. When the center steps up to contest the short roll, Purdue didn’t have a player capable of punishing the back line of a defense. Furthermore, after the center gets a few lobs tossed over his head, he will be less interested in stepping up and contesting Trey in the mid-range. Not only should this open up more assist opportunities for Trey at the rim, but having a rim finisher should open up more scoring opportunities for Trey (or Braden) in the mid-range.

The Return of Daniel Jacobson

Jacobson only played one game last season, but I found the perfect clip to show how he immediately fixes Purdue’s problem at the “dunker” spot.

(I’ll keep it quick)

Side Pick-and-Roll

Loyer has the ball on the left wing with 12 seconds to go on the shot clock. He turns down the TKR screen, keeps the ball in his left hand, and drives baseline.

Death to the Help Defender

Once Fletch turns the corner, the A&M-CC center has to step out and cut him off. In this clip, it looks like Fletch is about to pull the trigger on a contested mid-range floater. It’s a shot he can hit, but not at a high rate. Instead, as soon as he notices the center stepping up to contest, he throws the lob to DJ. The cool thing about this play is you can DJ subtly calling for the lob.

He wants Fletch to put it up where only he can go get it, and he delivers a perfect pass to the 7’3” freshman for an easy dunk.

Making the Game Easy

DJ wants Fletch to put it up where only he can get it, and Loyer delivers a perfect pass to the 7’3” freshman for an easy dunk. Instead of an off-balanced floater from the wing, Purdue ends up with a dunk. Passing up a decent shot for a dunk will always be encouraged in the Boilermaker offense, and now they have someone capable of finishing the backside lob off the pick-and-roll.

Think back to the play from the Michigan game. If DJ is in the game instead of Burgess, TKR floats it over Goldin when he steps up, and Purdue collects two easy points on the lob dunk. Instead, Trey has to force the bounce pass to Raleigh, who gets swarmed and turns it over. If Jacobson is in the game, the ball gets delivered above the rim, and the defense doesn’t have time to react.

Purdue thought they had the solution to the dunker position last season, but Jacobsen blew a tire early. If he’s physically right in 2025-’26, and there is no reason to think he won’t be, expect the big man to punish the rim early and often, and expect Purdue’s offense to be even more efficient.

Needless to say, I’m a little bit excited.