There’s a difference between duke freshman and Purdue freshman. Purdue freshman are team players, people looking to grow, contribute and win games. Because of this they will be better on with less experience because they are finding their place within the team and doing what it takes to win.

No hate to duke here, but the reason they can use freshman as an excuse is because they always get a bunch of NBA one and dones. These guys want to grow and win games, but frankly priority number 1 is that sweet draft stock. On top of that since Duke gets so many highly rated picks all of the guys duke gets are gonna be elite NBA level scorers. Typically when you have 5 elite scores on the roster it may take 15 games to actually get any form of chemistry because everyone is so used to doing it themselves.

TLDR; “Normal” freshman work within a system quicker because they want to grow as a Purdue basketball player. “Elite” Duke level freshman take longer to work in a system because they are all looking to grow as an NBA Prospect.