Props to Zach Edey

[Phoenixhusky]

I was at the game and they do not call fouls on him, he gets the friendliest whistle I have seen. Good player, very strong but he was exhausted toward the end of the game. His lack of speed and being able to recover position will hurt him in the NBA. Look at the two dunks by Samson as evidence.

 

[Gurleyman]

Definitely tough to handle - he made some really tough shots for a while - other than the up and under, Clingan forced him into contested hooks and he made them. But he wore down for a while when we took control of the game, and then scored 17 points in the last eight minutes when we were kind of in a prevent defense. Loved the game plan. He had no assists and no “almost assists” - ie good passes where his teammate missed. He didn’t make his teammates better and when he went into his dry spell, Purdue was cooked.

And I have to say I was shocked at his utter lack of defensive presence. He had that one sequence when he had two blocks, but other than that, we scored 5 feet and in the whole night. He backed away and let Diarra score on him. Castle got an offensive rebound, missed, got it again, hit a 3 footer and Edey just watched and admired. Spencer toyed with him a few times. Newton maybe got a little lucky on that one finish, but went at him a couple other times with success. If Johnson got more minutes, Edey couldn’t keep up with him at all.

UConn won the points in the paint battle 44-40

 

[nelsonmuntz]

He consistently got the most favorable whistles I've ever seen in college basketball. It was ridiculous all year and last night too.

I had no problem with last night's officiating. The refs did a good job.

 

[homunculus]

Newton maybe got a little lucky on that one finish, but went at him a couple other times with success.

That was also pretty clearly an “and-1” that Edey got away with. He should have had a couple offensive fouls vs Samson and Alex too. I’m glad we never flopped.

 

[Chuck]

I actually wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be. BUT, I don't think that's his fault. I think his team needs him in the game so badly that he has to save energy. He was as advertised on offense. Nice post moves, nice touch, decent hands and just a huge guy.

But I thought his defense was part of the reason we won. He blocked a couple shots early, but other than that, we were able to take him at the rim (either on a shot by a driving guard or a lob to Samson) much easier than we should have been able to. Also, he was tethered in the paint. That allowed our 5's to set screens to free our guards. I do think some of that was conserving energy, and then eventually being exhausted, but at some point you can't worry about fouls and need to play D.
I still like Edey and think he was great for the college game and hope he finds a place in the NBA.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Painter is pretty overrated as a coach, and is definitely no Gene Keady. There is no way Keady would have just tried to grind out the same gameplan the whole way when it was clearly not working. Edey single-handedly kept Purdue in the game in the first half.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

And I have to say I was shocked at his utter lack of defensive presence. He had that one sequence when he had two blocks, but other than that, we scored 5 feet and in the whole night. He backed away and let Diarra score on him. Castle got an offensive rebound, missed, got it again, hit a 3 footer and Edey just watched and admired. Spencer toyed with him a few times. Newton maybe got a little lucky on that one finish, but went at him a couple other times with success. If Johnson got more minutes, Edey couldn’t keep up with him at all.

Yeah, I actually think this game probably lost him some money and really highlighted the area NBA folks are concerned about. He will be able to score in the NBA, that’s not a question, but Hurley and UConn took advantage of the fact that he was essentially not involved in any ball screen defense and when he cheated up, took advantage of his inability to recover defensively.

I’m genuinely very curious how he gets used in the NBA but he’s going to be a big defensive liability there.

 

[Cheddie]

He is a dominant player and had a great year. But his size and ability are helped by the refereeing. He constantly elbows and bumps his defender. Samson can only dream of getting that much leeway from refs.

Too add to what I posted earlier:

Read this a.m. in the NH Register: ""He's a great player," Clingan noted. "... Tonight, he elbowed me in the head about 15 times. I might need some Advil later."

 

[Fishy]

I thought the officiating was fine - there was one or two times that I thought he got away with something obvious, but you can do that in every game.

Offensively, he’s ridiculous. He can do whatever he wants against college opposition. I didn’t think Clingan could stop him, but what worried me was Clingan fouling out. Clingan staying on the floor for 31 minutes might be the most overlooked stat in the game - if Cling was in, the defense worked brilliantly.

Defensively…Edey is not as good. He was constantly unsure of what he needed to do - exact opposite of Clingan. He would cheat up a few feet on the pick and roll which was no man’s land - he didn’t stop the shot and it took him out of defensive rebounding position.

Hurley turned Purdue’s reliance on Edey against them. I generally think Matt Painter is a pretty good coach, but he did not respond well to what UConn was doing and even his comments after the game made me think that he was still not really entirely aware of what happened to him.

Anyway, we won.

 

[Fishy]

I thought the officiating was fine

Painter is pretty overrated as a coach, and is definitely no Gene Keady. There is no way Keady would have just tried to grind out the same gameplan the whole way when it was clearly not working. Edey single-handedly kept Purdue in the game in the first half.

Yep.

Expecting a 7’4”, 300 pound player to carry you for 40 minutes is not a plan, it’s a prayer.

Once he started to get tired, Purdue fell in a hole

 

[Tenspro2002]

Definitely tough to handle - he made some really tough shots for a while - other than the up and under, Clingan forced him into contested hooks and he made them. But he wore down for a while when we took control of the game, and then scored 17 points in the last eight minutes when we were kind of in a prevent defense. Loved the game plan. He had no assists and no “almost assists” - ie good passes where his teammate missed. He didn’t make his teammates better and when he went into his dry spell, Purdue was cooked.

And I have to say I was shocked at his utter lack of defensive presence. He had that one sequence when he had two blocks, but other than that, we scored 5 feet and in the whole night. He backed away and let Diarra score on him. Castle got an offensive rebound, missed, got it again, hit a 3 footer and Edey just watched and admired. Spencer toyed with him a few times. Newton maybe got a little lucky on that one finish, but went at him a couple other times with success. If Johnson got more minutes, Edey couldn’t keep up with him at all.

UConn won the points in the paint battle 44-40

This is exactly right -- Edey dominated, but only at one end. And I wonder if this was part of the gameplan design too. Make him work on the offensive end and limit his effectiveness on D.

 

[Tommyboy]

Defensively…Edey is not as good. He was constantly unsure of what he needed to do - exact opposite of Clingan. He would cheat up a few feet on the pick and roll which was no man’s land - he didn’t stop the shot and it took him out of defensive rebounding position.

This 100%. Edey really looks confused at time on what he should do on defense. The Samson dunks are a sneak peak into his NBA future on the defensive end.

 

[OceanDoggie]

He showed up and delivered. I was surprised. Great performance. Kinda criminal not having a legit backup for him. Oh well. #6

Especially with the portal.

 

[husky429]

Painter did him a disservice yesterday. The game plan was "give Zach the ball and pray" for 39 minutes.

 

[UC0NN]

I'm not sure what else Painter could have done. Uconn overplayed the 3 point line. Painter said that sure you can force bad 3s but they Uconn will kill you in transition off the misses.

So what is left? Penetrate and drive? They tried that too, but they are not quite built like Alabama to do it as effectively. They can't full court press, as they have no bench, nor is that their style. I think Painter did the best he could.

 

[noeynox]

Guy is allowed to use his shoulders and elbows ti clear out space like no one else.

 

[noeynox]

I thought the officiating was fine - there was one or two times that I thought he got away with something obvious, but you can do that in every game.

Offensively, he’s ridiculous. He can do whatever he wants against college opposition. I didn’t think Clingan could stop him, but what worried me was Clingan fouling out. Clingan staying on the floor for 31 minutes might be the most overlooked stat in the game - if Cling was in, the defense worked brilliantly.

Defensively…Edey is not as good. He was constantly unsure of what he needed to do - exact opposite of Clingan. He would cheat up a few feet on the pick and roll which was no man’s land - he didn’t stop the shot and it took him out of defensive rebounding position.

Hurley turned Purdue’s reliance on Edey against them. I generally think Matt Painter is a pretty good coach, but he did not respond well to what UConn was doing and even his comments after the game made me think that he was still not really entirely aware of what happened to him.

Anyway, we won.

Samson exposed a bit of what problems he will have in the NBA. Guys will roll on him for easy lobs all day. Just too slow footed on defense for that wide open above the rim game.

 

[UC0NN]

There were a couple hard bumps into Karaban that were borderline offensive fouls by Edey.

 

[DogMania]

I didn't realize that he was relatively new to the game until I heard some reports about him. He's improved incrementally each year and he's pretty athletic for a body his size. I imagine that whichever team drafts him will have him work a lot on agility skills. I realized that it's not the ideal era to for a big man to enter the NBA, where the stretch 4s and 5s are what most teams look for, and the rules do not allow a player to pitch a tent in the defensive paint. But I think he'll carve out a nice career if he can stay healthy and continue to work hard at his game.

Like most analysts believe, Clingan will probably be much better Pro, especially once he develops a 3 pt shot, which I believe will happen down the road for him.

 

[nomar]

The guy scored 37 in the championship game. POY. He's great.

I think this less a knock on him and more a critique of Painter, but shouldn't they have used Edey to set up more 3-pointers? I know our goal was to guard him straight up in order to minimize his ability to find open guys, but why didn't he ever try to draw a second defender and then kick? Where were the screens?

Why didn't Painter follow Wright's halftime advice and try to get his guys to create more 3s? I understand that's easier said than done given our huge size advantage, but where were the screens? Where were the shot fakes? They were content to trade 2s all night long even as our lead continued to grow. Painter's a great coach and UConn was the clearly better team but only 7 three-point attempts?

 

[Hamms30]

Ton of respect for Edey. Tough player, can tell he's been practicing and honing his game doing exactly what he did last night. I get the feeling when they were doing the scout, what we got last night was their "worst case" scenario and would be enough to win. He was on fire at the beginning of the game. I think he got a little worn out and the legs got more tired than usual having to try and push DC around.

 

[OceanDoggie]

Samson exposed a bit of what problems he will have in the NBA. Guys will roll on him for easy lobs all day. Just too slow footed on defense for that wide open above the rim game.

All of these natural big men get jammed on by these lengthy wings down hill and off of long rebounds.

If look back at the Stanford highlights of both Lopez twins you will find that they were just as slow and plodding. He's not built to be great in the modern NBA game, but he will be around for a while. He will just need to evolve his shooting range and his ability to score with both hands.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

The guy scored 37 in the championship game. POY. He's great.

I think this less a knock on him and more a critique of Painter, but shouldn't they have used Edey to set up more 3-pointers? I know our goal was to guard him straight up in order to minimize his ability to find open guys, but why didn't he ever try to draw a second defender and then kick? Where were the screens?

Why didn't Painter follow Wright's halftime advice and try to get his guys to create more 3s? I understand that's easier said than done given our huge size advantage, but where were the screens? Where were the shot fakes? They were content to trade 2s all night long even as our lead continued to grow. Painter's a great coach and UConn was the clearly better team but only 7 three-point attempts?

I think we've become really spoiled with the UConn teams of the last 2 years. We are head & shoulders above the rest of CBB and they're all trying to play catch-up.

Our offensive players are talented, and our playbook is creative, deep, and executed to perfection. That is NOT the norm for most CBB teams (even good "Top 10" teams)...they have a limited playbook and limited abilities to go to "Plan B, C, D" as a counter to effective D strategies.

On defense, the same story. Our coaches develop some brilliant overall defensive strategies. For Purdue, our guards/forwards were vastly superior in athleticism and defensive skills across the board. Their guards were absolutely smothered at the arc, but we allowed them to get into the mid-range/lane as a smart compromise. Their only hope for the wide open 3's they've been used to all year was for us to double/triple team Edey. But we rarely did that, and when we did, we were still skilled/smart enough to switch/recover so there still weren't wide-open 3s.

It was an absolute masterclass and beautiful to watch.

 

[nomar]

I think we've become really spoiled with the UConn teams of the last 2 years. We are head & shoulders above the rest of CBB and they're all trying to play catch-up.

Our offensive players are talented, and our playbook is creative, deep, and executed to perfection. That is NOT the norm for most CBB teams (even good "Top 10" teams)...they have a limited playbook and limited abilities to go to "Plan B, C, D" as a counter to effective D strategies.

On defense, the same story. Our coaches develop some brilliant overall defensive strategies. For Purdue, our guards/forwards were vastly superior in athleticism and defensive skills across the board. Their guards were absolutely smothered at the arc, but we allowed them to get into the mid-range/lane as a smart compromise. Their only hope for the wide open 3's they've been used to all year was for us to double/triple team Edey. But we rarely did that, and when we did, we were still skilled/smart enough to switch/recover so there still weren't wide-open 3s.

It was an absolute masterclass and beautiful to watch.

Absolutely.

I hope people understand (but I fear they don't) that a brilliant game plan only works if you have the players to execute it. These guys were well coached, no doubt about it, but these guys all had innate abilities that not every player has.

I'm confident this plan will work going forward but this level of dominance is impossible to sustain. I mean this was arguably the greatest team in modern CBB. We had a bigger score differential than 1996 Kentucky. That team had Tony Delk, Nazr Mohammed, Derek Anderson, Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer, Walter McCarty and Mark Pope. And I left a bunch of guys off that list. And we were more dominant!

It was, as you say, a master class. A plan executed to perfection.

 

[DawgEnjoyer]

He’s cooked in the NBA…will be a different whistle and his movement on defense is BAD. Sure he can swat when standing in the paint and guys go right at him.

Every NBA team has guy who can do what Sampson did to him on the pick and roll but better.

Derek Lively on the Mavs would beat him 15 times in a game on that same play.