It's two #1 seeds contesting the national championship. In both men's and women's. Do you think that these will be well contested or one-sided? After watching the semis I give the edge to SC and UConn; and both win by double digits
After all the dust settles ...
- Thread starter Chairman Moe
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I think Purdue can give Uconn problems because I think Zach Edey by himself can get that mighty powerful Uconn frontcourt in foul trouble. Clingan has been a force in this tournament because of his defense, his rebounding, blocks, steals, etc.. and he still scores at a high rate. He is going to face a completely different animal in the national title game at center, a challenge he has not faced anywhere near this magnitude in his career.
If Purdue is smart, they pound that ball into the interior early and often, go right at him, and see if you can get a quick 2 or even 3 fouls on him in the first half. If he gets into foul trouble or fouls out, Purdue can take them down and win.
Purdue's entire offense is inside-out because no one has size to 1 on 1 Edey. Clingan can. It's as simple as that and I'll be dumping a lot on UCONN and may also take up to -9.5.
Your strategy sounds good; I think UConn is too deep and have too many weapons. 20 assists to 4 turnovers. 30-16 run the last 11 minutes.
I'm hoping for a good game. I still think UConn wins by 12
The last time Uconn got challenged was by St. Johns March 15th. Uconn barely won the game, they won by 5 points. Uconn lost the rebound battle by 4 boards. Clingan only played 19 minutes.
Like I said, if Clingan gets into foul trouble, Edey is going to destroy Johnson on the glass and completely take over the interior. Clingan better stay out of foul trouble.
Can't argue that the Clingan/Edey matchup will be key. Still, there are 4 other players besides those two. Purdue can't turn the ball over as they did vs NC State and win vs UConn. My eye test between the two is that UConn has the edge, overall. Edey played a full 40 minutes tonight. Clingan appears to be the more mobile and versatile player. We will all find out on Monday
Uconn is clearly the favorite, no question about it.
Clingan in foul trouble? The whole game changes if that happens because like I said, Edey will smoke Uconn with him on the bench.
UCONN will smother Purdue’s shooters on the perimeter. Hell NCSU was able to do that until they wore out, and UCONN is a far better, far deeper and far more talented team than NCSU. I don’t think Edey will be enough by himself.
That said, I root for the underdog. I rooted for NCSU tonight but the game basically weren’t exactly as I thought it would. I’ll be rooting for Purdue and Painter. They’re the underdog, and I don’t need to see UCONN hang another banner. They have plenty already.
Ball control will be at a premium for Purdue.
The only way to beat Purdue so far this season is to win the turnover margin. All 4 of their losses they lost the turnover margin bad.
Easiest way to fix this? Dominate the glass, slow the game down to a turtle pace and limit possessions. Purdue will slow this game down and muck it up and go right after Clingan. Get that Uconn air craft carrier in foul trouble and out of there, and then its going to get real interesting real quick.
Purdue guards are not athletic enough. They play so well because teams collapse on Edey. That's not going to happen with Clingan. Smith was scared to death today vs NC st. He couldn't handle the pressure. Uconn guards will eat him alive.
The Purdue point guard had his worst game of the tournament and maybe the entire season. He has to reverse that tomorrow. Make better passes, eliminate some dribble mistakes and drain a couple of 3’s in the first half.
It's not close, and the team takes on his attitude.
There was a play, can't remember exactly when, but Pringle drove into the lane and went for a dunk. He got clubbed and beaten to the ground by Clingan. It was a beautiful foul that sent a message. They play hard and very physical.
I'd expect Painter's behind to pucker, and his team to play the same way.
Totally agree with this. Smith & Loyer will have trouble getting good looks tomorrow night. UConn in a blowout.
The flip side is if Edey can't handle Clingan and he gets into foul trouble. In which case, UConn could win by 30.
Sure, it works both ways.
But I value and put a huge premium on rebounding, something this board doesn't like to value. And Im fully aware that Purdue is the best rebounding power 6 team in the country and its not remotely close. Uconn is also a very good rebounding team, top 5 in the country.
But I fully expect for Purdue to slow this game down and try to control the glass. Should Clingan get in foul trouble, Purdue will pound them on the glass.
Im not suggesting Purdue will win. I am suggesting Uconn is in trouble and will have a major fight on its hands if Clingan gets in foul trouble.
I know this is going to be hard to believe, but the best rebounding teams are the best defensive teams.
Anyone who thinks UConn is going to lose this game should have their head examined.
No, that is not always the case.
Texas A&M was the 4th best rebounding team in the country. And they finished 68th in defensive efficiency, worse than Pitt.
There isn't a person on this board that doesn't value rebounding. What people don't care about is where it comes from.
Oh, and Clingan hasn't fouled out of a single game this year. So it's not like it's a problem for Uconn that Purdue is going to attack.
The best center Clingan went up against all year was Amando Bacot from North Carolina. Not only did he have 4 fouls and played less than half the game, he severely lost the head to head matchup to Bacot. Newsflash: Edey is way better than Bacot.
Yes, Uconn is the better team. They arent the better team without Clingan, no way.
Also, Uconn lost to Kansas and Clingan got outplayed by 7 footer Hunter Dickinson.
That was then; now is now. Many of the teams/players that lost early games to other tournament teams have learned/adjusted. Witness Alabama v Clemson. If Edey thoroughly outplays Clingan and Purdue wins as a result, I'll be the first to give you the credit for predicting this.
Regardless, I have no dog in the hunt and will not care which team wins. Watching for entertainment
Which of course is the metric that would be correlated to what I said. Oh wait, no, no it wouldn’t.
Counting stats and advanced stats are different. The best rebounding teams are great defensive teams. It’s not rocket science. Good try to spin it though.
A game that happened December 1. Which of course you have railed against these games counting for much the last 3 weeks while whining about Pitt. But now it is an important outlier because it fits your narrative
I think Uconn can absolutely beat Purdue
The biggest thing that Killed NCstate was the inability to take advantage of the turnovers and stops they made on defense because they went ice cold for stretches in the 2nd half. It was disappointing because the final score really didn’t reflect that other than the fact it was low scoring overall
The biggest thing that Killed NCstate was the inability to take advantage of the turnovers and stops they made on defense because they went ice cold for stretches in the 2nd half. It was disappointing because the final score really didn’t reflect that other than the fact it was low scoring overall
I hear Vader is up for a Job at Pepperdine. Analytics and 2 year Look ahead Analyst.
Are they hiring NET consultants? I could "Mountain West" Pepperdine to the tournament.
The other thing, which he failed to mention, is that A&M is a superior offensive rebounding team, ranking first overall in the country in offensive rebounding percentage. And by a pretty good margin. And which has nothing at all to do with defense.
On the other hand, A&M's defensive rebounding percentage ranks 128th in the country. They are not a particularly good defensive rebounding team. Which is what matters if you are saying that the best rebounding teams are great defensive teams.
Look at the top teams in defensive rebounding percentage in the P6 and compare that to their overall defensive efficiency numbers. Arizona is 7th overall in defensive rebounding and 10th in defensive efficiency. North Carolina is 10th and 8th. We are 11th and 48th. Purdue is 13th and 12th. Villanova is 16th and 13th. Wisconsin is 18th and 46th. Colorado is 25th and 49th. Creighton is 28th and 24th. Washington State is 29th and 26th. Cincinnati is 35th and 16th.
So there's your top ten in defensive rebounding percentage in the P6, and every one of them is in the top 50 of defensive efficiency. Seven of them are in the top 26.
Saw a good impromptu interview with Hurley earlier today. He is a really smart, funny and impressive guy. One statement he made stood out-he said he’s worked hard over the past few years to improve himself as an offensive coach. He said the defensive side he had down but knew he could do better with structuring and adapting his offense. Credited a number of mentors for things he has tried to incorporate into his own coaching—his dad, Calhoun, Geno A, Izzo, B Donovan, Coach K. He then said he thinks one of UCONN’s major strengths is that they run a modern, versatile offense that adapts to the strengths of the personnel that UCONN has, as well as to the opponents’ personnel.
How many times has he played a 7’4, 340 pound 2 time national POY?
As I’ve said several times, I expect UCONN to win because they are the best team in the country and they have superior personnel. They have a great coach. They don’t have a weakness that I can see.
But all this talk that Clingan is Edey’s equal or better is horse$hit, as is the idea that Edey won’t be a major problem for any opponent, including UCONN. What’s going to kill Purdue is that Edey is the only problem they have to deal with. UCONN is superior at all other positions. They aren’t the consensus best team in the country by accident.
Edey is a real problem. He changes everything around the rim. But quite frankly I think the rest of his team sucks. UConn’s overall team play pulls this one out in my book.
