Numbers can be deceiving, especially without proper context. Looking at a college basketball freshman who averaged 7.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, one would probably assume they were solid, but not spectacular.
Solid, but not likely to become one of the top NBA prospects in the country.
Hence, context, especially when dealing with big men like Purdue’s Isaac Haas. Because the 7’2” sophomore flashed moments of brilliance, hard to come by too often with freshmen bigs, and he’s kept it going this season.
So far, he’s doubled his scoring to 15 points per game, and increased his rebounding up to 6.5 per game despite sharing the frontcourt with two other NBA prospects. Perhaps the most impressive thing, is that Haas is doing this all at just 19 minutes per game.
Yes, he’s playing under 20 minutes and putting up 15 and 6.5 type of numbers. Yes, that’s insane. From what we have seen so far, it’s not going to stop.
That’s why there may not be a better fantasy play in the country, night in and night out, when it comes to big men. He’s going to be consistent, putting up numbers and blocking shots–he’s averaged 2.7 blocks per game thus far.
With the long-term status and health of A.J. Hammons still very much uncertain, Haas is going to continue to shoulder a bulk of the work for Purdue this season, especially when McDonald’s All-American Caleb Swanigan hits his freshman lulls, which is sure to happen at some point.
