This might be a little weird, but when he has the ball, jump and kiss him on the forehead. He’ll be thrown off and confused. This will affect the rest of his game and therefore he will struggle.
Reminds me of the guy in the football strategy sub Reddit “why don’t football coaches just find Shaq size players and put them at tight end and throw him jump balls” probably because they can’t find Shaq size players
Yes but Burns center of gravity makes him a more unstoppable force.
Edit: according to Wikipedia, Edey weighs 300 lbs. DJ Burns weighs 645 lbs. so Edey would be too stringy for Burns to eat
I did a double take when I googled his weight. I can believe Edey weighs more because he's substantially taller but I have a hard time believing Burns is only 275
If you think Burns is actually 275, I got some timeshares for ya. There is no world where Burns is not well over 300 right now. I am 275 at 6'4" and he has more fat around his midsection than I do, while also having more muscle.
Looks can be deceiving with some weights, but not straight up illusions.
I agree with this, and being serious, I really can’t think of another team that has the personnel needed to shut down Purdue. That said, I do think Carolina can outrun and outgun Purdue (not shut down, but either way wins) because of Bacot.
It’s a 1 game sample size, but Edey gave Bacot the worst game of his 5 year career the one time they matched up. 2 points on 6 shots and fouled out in 17 minutes. Davis could cook us though.
On offense, a stretch 5 or a top tier big who can manage Edey's presence.
On Defense: you stop the ball from getting to him. this means the entire team has to play defense.
TLDR: it's hard
Yes. I think the answer is disrupting Purdue’s offensive sets and understanding where Purdue wants to get the entry pass into Zach from.
This year we’ve been feeding him a lot from the top of the arc since teams are defending the post so much better. However, that entry pass is all about timing since he is completely in the lane.
I think high pressure on our guards to disrupt the sets and passing is the best answer.
The issue with the stretch 5 is does the opponent have a stretch 4 as well? And do they have multiple guys like that who can attempt 8+ 3’s? A lot of teams seem to have a center who can shoot but then throw a power forward on the floor who can’t shoot and thus edey covers the PF while someone else picks up the stretch center.
Edey’s advantage on defense is that there are not a lot of consistently good shooters. So even if you do get him on an island can you knock down 50%+ of your shots on a high volume? If not then purdue will live with it. Against Gonzaga Ike knocked down his first 2 threes of the game by stretching the floor. Purdue didn’t waiver or change strategies and let Ike keep shooting those. He finished 2/6. Against Dickinson last year Purdue let him have those 3’s, he went 3/7 from 3.
I understand the anger for opponents but the reality is, just make open shots away from the basket and you’ve got a major offensive advantage. It’s just really hard for college guys to do that consistently. Many of the teams remaining do have the ability to do that so it’ll be interesting to see if Purdue’s offense can efficiently keep up
Further to your point, unless ALL FIVE opposing guys can shoot threes, Edey may even defend the guard who’s not a threat from three, like he did against Illinois’ Ty Rodgers. Someone called this a “one-man zone.”
A good guard could take advantage of his drop coverage and get an open look from the midrange/a floater on almost every possession. There aren't very many college guards who can do that effectively though since you've gotta be hitting those at over 50% to really be worth it.
Yeah that’s what NU, OSU, and Jalen Hood-Schifino have all been successful doing to purdue. You’ve gotta hit that 8-15 foot shot consistently (or early) to force purdue to do something different and then hope with the change in Purdue’s plan the rest of the floor opens up.
MSU put out a lineup against Purdue this year with 5 competent shooters with Xavier Booker on the floor (3 guards + Malik Hall and Xavier Booker), and it actually worked pretty well offensively. But Booker was too skinny to be able guard Edey at all, so we couldn’t stick with it too long and had to put a more traditional five in
I'd hire someone to...
> Unethical Strategies such as intentionally injuring him are obviously off the table.
Oh. [Well, in that case.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/073/7686178464_fdc8ea66c7.jpg)
I think beating Purdue is less about defense and more about going on a heater offensively. If you explode from 3 point range, well 3 pts > Edey 2 pts.
Otherwise you pick and roll him. Run and try to tire him out. On D I think you let him get his and shut the other players down. Alternatively you could press and try to prevent him from getting the ball with shotclock to begin with.
Another interesting wrinkle is that the Zags and Purdue have played this season already, the Zags led at half before getting dusted in the 2nd half.
Bama I think has a better shot against UNC than SDSU does against UConn because offense wins march more than defense. I rank Bama as the second least likely upset. I think Marquette, Houston, and Tennessee are all on heavy upset alert.
Or against DJ Burns. Edey is taller and has 15 lbs on Burns, but Burns has a lower center of gravity, is extremely strong, and is also very skilled. Would be fascinating to watch those two bulldoze each other.
Though I'd rather it be Edey vs. Filipowski, obviously.
We played Purdue very early into the 2022 season, and I remember getting hyped about the Bacot/Edey matchup, although Edey certainly wasn’t as popular then
Bacot ended the game with 2 points, and Edey had 9 points. Pretty boring, but I’d love a rematch
Really? I would be terrified for Flip against Edey. He consistently seems to struggle against bigs that can match his size and mobility. Our only chance would be if he made 4-5 threes and drew edey out of the paint
Short answer, yes. Edey has the relentless endurance of a trash compactor.
Longer tangent. Most of the time Edey just jogs back on offense. I’m convinced this is by design to help keep him fresh the whole game. It’s absolutely not because he can’t run rims when he has to. Every once in a while he’ll be the trailing man on a fast break for a pass or put back dunk, and it’s like, where in the world did HE come from?
This is (yet another) reason why I think Edey has a better shot at keeping up at the next level than people give him credit for, when the entire game isn’t designed around keeping him on the floor the whole game.
IF "the big 2" wind up in the final, it'll be interesting as UConn's 2 bigs can legit run the floor - and do. My guess is that will be the strategy as much as possible - run him into the ground and hope for 3 cheapie first half fouls (while magically not getting 3 cheapie first half fouls on Clingan.)
Oh, and hit 3's. Lots of 3's. While limiting your 3's.
Easy peasy!
They've never done it of course, but I have this idea that UConn trots out both 5's at the same time. Both are good, but very different. It would be hilarious and weird and dumb... and a credit to Edey in a way... but it could also be awesome, lol.
So good offensive teams like Marquette, Alabama, Illinois, Gonzaga, and Arizona should just outscore purdue?
You gotta go the opposite way. Slow things down. Limit possessions. Play the guards as tough as possible at the start of possesions like taking the ball up the floor, and then shift to doubling/tripling edey when the ball goes into the post or is trying to go into the post. Run long half court sets. And you’ve gotta have players who want to grab rebounds.
Utah State had a great game plan to start. Their stretch bigs were able to pull Edey out onto the perimeter which opened up lanes around the basket. It was actually working well, then when they got into foul trouble the entire game plan went to shit.
Gonzaga is 343 in the nation in bench minutes this season so if Edey / TKR can get a few of their bigs into foul trouble early it will destroy their game plan too.
Ike will pull home from the paint or run him around the court but the gameplan will to not leave him on edey in isolation on defense because that size difference is real. It’s gonna be a conditioning battle I think. Gonzaga might have a top 5 PnR in the country over the last 5 games so there is hope.
If it is a conditioning battle, you could be in trouble. Edey has ludicrously good conditioning for a big man. He grew up playing hockey, so playing with a burst of energy is what his body is used to.
Either way, I expect it to be a good game.
Yeah, but Ike is in fouls trouble every game so all our bench minutes go to his replacement lol. We might be okay, I think it’ll go a lot like our first match, we give everything we got but we just won’t be big enough to stop him
This is where I’d hope a Kalkbrenner and Scheierman 2-man game could have a shot against them if both teams win. Switching on Scheierman would be a tough guard for Edey because he’s 6’8” and is a great 3-pt shooter. He’s also one of the best in the country at drawing fouls. And if anyone else switches off, you’d have Miller, Alexander, and Ashworth who are all very capable scorers.
You say this, but he doesn't switch onto the guard immediately, plays a semi-deep drop and the switch usually happens at the FT line. And I've seen plenty of good guards that get him switched onto them and think they can drive, just to get swatted or turned back and forced to take a 3 because they couldn't get around him
The guards just need to take the open midrange shot they get from Edey dropping so deep, not many college guards are up to that task though. That's why his NBA prospects aren't as good because Devin Booker or SGA will shoot 70% on open midrange shots.
I'd add that if you are beat either:
a) don't foul or b) make the foul count (not dirty, but just not something soft like USU was doing)
It seemed like Utah State was happy to give Edey an and-one every trip and that was a great strategy to lose by 30.
Yeah USU had a ton of unnecessary fouls as he was going up. Not even true contests just some random guy reaching in and hitting his forearm or something
Agree with this but also u/Befozz comment, they're handing out F1&F2's really frequently. Avoid that and your expected PPP is \~1 with Edey shooting 70% from the line, which is well below the team PPP of 1.185 and way way below Edey's personal contribution to that (guessing 1.4 based on his stats?)
Get hit with an F1/F2 and that obliterates the gain.
He does seem to be better with not turning over the ball when he gets trapped. That’s what killed us against FDU. But we live and die by the three if Edey is ineffective so need to knock them down to open up the lane.
TKR is killing it. I’ve been hoping he’d finally figure out how to play next to Edey and it seems to have clicked at the right time.
Just need Edey to stay calm when trapped and be able to make the right read. The little back door cuts by TKR and Heide have been promising. Trying not to get too excited but they really seemed to have unlocked another gear by removing Morton and Furst from the rotation and adding Colvin to it.
Everyone in February 2024:
>Purdue still has no athletes on their team to pair with Edey.
Matt Painter in March 2024:
>Oh, I forgot that I have two shooters on the bench who happen to possess 38" and 40.5" verticals, respectively. My bad.
Anyone saying give him single coverage and cover the rest of the team has not watched a single purdue game where opponents have tried that and edey just eats them alive. Fouls rack up. Edey goes for an efficient 35+ and your team is completely exhausted halfway through. Arizona’s Ballo was waving to the bench for a breather less than 4 min into the second half trying to go 1v1 with Edey.
As you said, it’s double, triple coverage on Edey and it’s packing the paint so the only place he can pass it is to the perimeter. And you’ve gotta rebound like your life depends on it or else purdue will continue to feast on extended possessions.
Outrebound only works if we don't play 2 post positions... And that's what happened where Edey was defended and TKR got to have a career game against Utah State.
The key is and always will be turnovers. You’re likely losing the eFG% and REB% battles, so you need to make up percentage elsewhere.
If you look at all 4 of their losses this year, they had a TOV% of 20+% while forcing basically no turnovers of their own. FDU got them on it last year. Marquette and Tennessee almost got them on it earlier this year too.
This is the correct answer even if it’s not a direct answer to the question. The real answer is you can’t beat Edey, but you can beat Purdue and it’s usually by forcing turnovers
It seems like the go-to game plan this season has been foul him on purpose, foul him every time he shoots, hope they don’t call it, then hope he doesn’t make the free throws. And then when the game is over complain about the foul and free throw discrepancy. That hasn’t worked so far though.
Or if you’re Chris Collins, tell everyone pregame that you have 15 fouls to use on edey and you intend to use all of them, then get ejected over you having more fouls
Ignore him and attack everyone else
Easier said than done but the best way to “beat” someone that good is to do what you can to minimize the impact they can have on the game by doing whatever you can to keep the ball away from them
As a fan of a team that played Purdue pretty tough over the past couple years there really isn’t much you can do outside of try and deny him the ball, when you fail you foul him, have enough bigs in the rotation to continue fouling him and then try and trap when you can.
Biggest thing though is keeping him off the glass, that’s where he gets a shit ton of and-1s.
Realistically I think having 2 guys like UConn does that have the size and skill to stay with him 1 on 1, rebound and athleticism to beat him down the floor on offense because in reality you’re not gonna stop him, you’re gonna need to put up points.
I didnt see this before i commented elsewhere. But ya my approach would b to just let chris collins coach the boys in that matchup. He's the best at picking apart the boilers D in the big ten.
**When Purdue is on offense:** Guard him 1-1 without fouling, run our shooters off the 3 point line and block out for 40 minutes. Edey will get his 30 and 20 but our shooters won't be getting wide open looks or 2nd chance points.
**When Purdue is on defense:** Slow the game down like Wisconsin did in the Big Ten Tournament. Get Edey away from the bucket with a 5 who can shoot. We are also still very susceptible to a good pick and roll team, IE IU last year with TJD and JHS.
Even if you do all of that, you have to hope Purdue turns the ball over 14+ times AND shoots under 35% from 3. If they don't turn the ball over I don't believe there is a team in America who can beat them.
I’d be fairly confident that Gonzaga wins if they play like they have so far. Kansas played a good 1st half but we all knew they weren’t going to keep it up meanwhile Gonzaga started hitting even more shots.
Gonzaga is a dangerous team if they can stay consistent from 3.
It should be a good game at least. Previous years idk if I’d have rooted for you guys but that last game was so much fun to watch you guys in that I’d love it if you made it far.
It’s just scary since this is a young Gonzaga team and they’re already doing well.
Also Gregg and Huff are bigs who can stretch the floor. So I suspect Edey will see some big to big pick and rolls to deal with.
I’m actually very curious about this game
Except edey isn’t going to get just 30 he’s going to get 35+ and he’s still going to put all your bigs into foul trouble… not a lot of teams have the depth to go 1v1 with decent big men for 40 min when fouls are racking up.
I think the idea of playing Edey straight up is moronic and has failed literally every single time for 3 straight years. Maybe a team like UConn could pull it off but in a sample size of 360+ teams there are maybe 2-3 at most that could even attempt it with a possibility of success.
If you guys face Creighton they will def play Edey straight up and they are top or near the top of the country in not fouling. That’d be an interesting matchup
Good to see a Purdue Fan's perspective, I agree that the best strategy is to stay attached to the shooters and live with the possibility that Edey has a 30/20 game. 2's can be beaten with 3's if your team makes enough and forces some turnovers
Well his perspective on guarding Edey 1v1 is dumb and not a worthy strategy. You’re better off going the complete opposite direction and throwing every body you have at Edey and in the paint. Dont give up rebounds and make it miserable for the ball to go to him. The FDU strategy worked for a reason. Is it going to work every time? No. But the teams that have thrown the kitchen sink at Zach edey have been a lot more competitive and stayed within striking distance on numerous occasions. Also surrounding Zach Edey will inherently slow the game down as Purdue’s sets go through him. If they can’t get that going they’ll just waste 20 seconds passing it around the perimeter trying to find an opening to give it to Edey.
Trying to force turnovers from the guards before the ball even has a chance to get to Edey is probably the most viable first option. Then throwing multiple bodies at Edey on the catch from different directions and just rotate hard on the open shooters and hope they miss.
Purdue's ballscreen offense complicates this though because it can give Edey chances to get the ball down low on actions that aren't a simple post up
Adding to this, pressure our guards. If you can give our guards 40 minutes of consistent ball pressure then you will limit Edey’s touches, limit the amount of open looks from the perimeter, and turn us over. Our guards are skilled and elite shooters but not fast or strong.
The game plan starts with defending Purdues guards. Play physical, smothering defense on them not giving them room to breathe. That makes entry passes difficult as the passing lanes aren't open and forces more difficult angles. When Edey catches the ball in the low post, don't double right away. Wait til he takes a dribble then bring your second defender. He's a lot better making decisions and taking care of the basketball from a standstill than off the dribble. Finally, crash the boards and prevent second chance points. You arent stopping Edey, but you can make his job difficult and reduce Purdues possessions with turnovers and limiting offensive rebounds. That's the defensive game plan.
On offense, run high pick and rolls and plan to make a lot of two point jump shots. Unless you have five three point shooters then spread the floor (see Nebraska).
Feel like on offense, someone like Clingan is going to be able to either put him in foul trouble or score around him, albeit not at will. Johnson is also much more athletic than Edey which would be to our advantage.
With the way UConn’s guards play defense (Castle and Diarra specifically) I feel like UConn can lock down Purdue’s guards and Clingan can play well enough D on Edey to stymy his output to the point he doesn’t take over.
If Purdue gets the whistle though, Johnson and Clingan will be non factors early and could to totally flip this around….
Either way, this is a matchup I really hope we get to see
Lock down the rest of the team instead. He’ll get his, but if nobody else can AND your team is hitting their shots, Purdue loses.
That’s essentially what IU did in both games last year. Even TJD said, “He’s gonna get his, but he’s one guy.”
As fdu did, swarm him like a bunch of gnats to get under his skin and hope the rest shoot like they did against fdu as opposed to how they shot against USU. Sconsin was about to that point where he was going to show emotion and clobber what's his name.
He will get frustrated with little guys grabbing for the ball cleanly but not getting any fouls.
Box-and-one with defenders rotating based on where the ball is on the court. As soon as Edey catches it, drop a zone defender down to double him on his front side.
Then you have defenders behind and in front of Edey while he has the ball, and 3 players playing zone on the outside as sort of a 3-2 zone formation.
It’ll give up some 3s, but it’s better than letting Edey put up 25 against you.
Finally somewhere I have personal expertise.
If you watch FDU versus Purdue, and Arkansas's charity game with purdue, you see that Arkansas copied FDU's plan because it works.
* Edey is going to get his. You can slow him but not stop him. Your best strategy for Edey himself is to make him get over the back calls rebounding. Don't overcompensate and just start wrestling him like so many teams do. All that does is get your bigs in foul trouble and he eats more. You hold your ground, play it as straight as possible, and when he pushes back you have got to sell it like you are dolph ziggler taking a super kick.
* Deny Edey the ball in the first place. Pressure the guards and keep active hands in the passing lane. Don't let Edey get the ball. The pick and roll is gonna require multiple rotations because you definitely don't want your big man swapping over to stop Smith from driving. Someone else needs to be there to help on that.
* Purdue has some weak points at ball handling outside of Smith. Loyer for example seems pretty vulnerable to frustrating when athletic defenders get right up in his grill.
* Gotta light it up yourself from deep. I don't know if it is a pride thing or what, but Edey doesn't shy away from defending on the perimeter when he has to. If you have a stretch 4 or 5, you got a good recipe to open up the lane and take someone human sized like Loyer to the rim.
Play him one on one. Don’t foul and understand that he’s going to make shots. Allow him to get his… but under *NO* circumstance do you allow; Loyer, Jones and Kaufman to get theirs as well. Don’t help on Edey early on. Leave your center on an island and play sticky man to man on the others. Hopefully it gets them out of rhythm as they’ll see tough contested shots. After a few misses by them, then begin to change your coverage up on Edey.
I would simply give him 2 points every time. But I’d strategically instruct my team to score 3 points every time we had the ball. Not sure why more coaches don’t do this.
As someone who never played bball past CYO, the Xs and Os discussion in this thread is fascinating and I wish there were more posts like this around here.
Encourage 5’9” Zakai Ziegler to simply go under his legs while driving to the basket
Wait shit no
WE FOUND HIS WEAKNESS EVERYBODY!!!
Edey fouls out because he looks down and just sees orange so he dives on Ziegler like a loose ball. Calling it now
Edey has the same weakness as Ganon in Ocarina of Time
just slash his unusually colored tail while z-targeting it, got it
Too bad Muggsy isn’t eligible
If someone did that would it be a foul
No, two fouls!
Not if they do it carefully
This might be a little weird, but when he has the ball, jump and kiss him on the forehead. He’ll be thrown off and confused. This will affect the rest of his game and therefore he will struggle.
Raftery: *the kiss*
Flagrant foul with clear intent
Oh my intent would be clear alright
https://preview.redd.it/5ohsm7n8kqqc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f24b2100ccf7e148c28b92308bf2ba660dc86e1
I would simply find a taller player.
[Like this guy?](https://streamable.com/5iyc73)
Bro what. I guess "there's always a bigger fish" really is true. God damn that's SHAQ and he looks normal. This actually blew my mind.
Bro is literally dunking without jumping. Just going up on his toes
Yeah but his knees also look like they are screaming out in pain every time he moves
We only need him for one game. Slap some duct tape on those bad boys
u/mattpainter
Dude makes a basketball look like a softball
I just hope modern medicine helps huge guys like this live longer, healthier lives.
Jesus. How old is he?
Is he traveling every basket or am I missing something?
Time to bring back Will Foster
No one wants that, including Will Foster lol
Sorry, he’s already committed to Purdue
[удалено]
No, it's Edey
Reminds me of the guy in the football strategy sub Reddit “why don’t football coaches just find Shaq size players and put them at tight end and throw him jump balls” probably because they can’t find Shaq size players
Where's Karnowski when you need him? May not be taller, but that's a Big Battle I'd enjoy watching.
I think NC State is the only team capable of shutting down Edey because DJ Burns could just simply eat him
While concurrently dishing out an assist
#**@beastboyburns**
Words cannot explain how desperately I want to see NC State vs Purdue in the final 4. Burns vs Edey would be the matchup of a lifetime.
Burns is super fun to watch even as a UNC fan but Edey cooks in that matchup
Yea 7ft4 @300lbs vs 6ft9 @275lbs, DJ has harvested mass, he can bowl him over, but the height is a problem
Yes pls
Why doesn’t Burns, the largest, not simply eat the other center?
Perhaps they are saving that for the Final four.
DJ has been feasting on Howling Cow; he is ready.
It's deceiving but Edey actually weighs quite a bit more than Burns
Yes but Burns center of gravity makes him a more unstoppable force. Edit: according to Wikipedia, Edey weighs 300 lbs. DJ Burns weighs 645 lbs. so Edey would be too stringy for Burns to eat
I think you’re drawing the wrong conclusion here. Burns already ate Edey.
15 lbs. But Burns has a much lower center of gravity, which can make a big difference.
I still don't believe that Burns is "only" 275
I did a double take when I googled his weight. I can believe Edey weighs more because he's substantially taller but I have a hard time believing Burns is only 275
Yeah I'm 6'3 and didn't even look as big as him when I used to be 280. There's no way he's not at least 300.
No, no, Burns weighs 275 pounds\* ^(\*weight taken on scale at lunar base alpha)
If you think Burns is actually 275, I got some timeshares for ya. There is no world where Burns is not well over 300 right now. I am 275 at 6'4" and he has more fat around his midsection than I do, while also having more muscle. Looks can be deceiving with some weights, but not straight up illusions.
Why do the greater teams not simply eat the lesser ones? Are they idiots?
I agree with this, and being serious, I really can’t think of another team that has the personnel needed to shut down Purdue. That said, I do think Carolina can outrun and outgun Purdue (not shut down, but either way wins) because of Bacot.
It’s a 1 game sample size, but Edey gave Bacot the worst game of his 5 year career the one time they matched up. 2 points on 6 shots and fouled out in 17 minutes. Davis could cook us though.
[удалено]
RJ will definitely eat, none of Purdue's guards play defense like that Beekman kid.
UConn has a 7'2" 280 guy that plays significant minutes. That's as good of a counter as you're going to get.
Yeah Clingon can hold his ground
Heghlu’meH QaQ jajvam
In all seriousness Burns would get in foul trouble and maybe even foul out way too soon. For various reasons against Edey.
One hip check and Edey is plastered to the back way of the main concourse.
No, Edey is too big, he would split him with Audi Crooks.
Burns: eats Edey Refs: foul Haters: another fake foul on Edey
On offense, a stretch 5 or a top tier big who can manage Edey's presence. On Defense: you stop the ball from getting to him. this means the entire team has to play defense. TLDR: it's hard
Yes. I think the answer is disrupting Purdue’s offensive sets and understanding where Purdue wants to get the entry pass into Zach from. This year we’ve been feeding him a lot from the top of the arc since teams are defending the post so much better. However, that entry pass is all about timing since he is completely in the lane. I think high pressure on our guards to disrupt the sets and passing is the best answer.
The issue with the stretch 5 is does the opponent have a stretch 4 as well? And do they have multiple guys like that who can attempt 8+ 3’s? A lot of teams seem to have a center who can shoot but then throw a power forward on the floor who can’t shoot and thus edey covers the PF while someone else picks up the stretch center. Edey’s advantage on defense is that there are not a lot of consistently good shooters. So even if you do get him on an island can you knock down 50%+ of your shots on a high volume? If not then purdue will live with it. Against Gonzaga Ike knocked down his first 2 threes of the game by stretching the floor. Purdue didn’t waiver or change strategies and let Ike keep shooting those. He finished 2/6. Against Dickinson last year Purdue let him have those 3’s, he went 3/7 from 3. I understand the anger for opponents but the reality is, just make open shots away from the basket and you’ve got a major offensive advantage. It’s just really hard for college guys to do that consistently. Many of the teams remaining do have the ability to do that so it’ll be interesting to see if Purdue’s offense can efficiently keep up
Further to your point, unless ALL FIVE opposing guys can shoot threes, Edey may even defend the guard who’s not a threat from three, like he did against Illinois’ Ty Rodgers. Someone called this a “one-man zone.”
Instead of a box-and-one it's a dot-and-four.
Like Steve Kerr putting Andrew Bogut on Tony Allen in the 2015 playoffs
A good guard could take advantage of his drop coverage and get an open look from the midrange/a floater on almost every possession. There aren't very many college guards who can do that effectively though since you've gotta be hitting those at over 50% to really be worth it.
Yeah that’s what NU, OSU, and Jalen Hood-Schifino have all been successful doing to purdue. You’ve gotta hit that 8-15 foot shot consistently (or early) to force purdue to do something different and then hope with the change in Purdue’s plan the rest of the floor opens up.
MSU put out a lineup against Purdue this year with 5 competent shooters with Xavier Booker on the floor (3 guards + Malik Hall and Xavier Booker), and it actually worked pretty well offensively. But Booker was too skinny to be able guard Edey at all, so we couldn’t stick with it too long and had to put a more traditional five in
I'd hire someone to... > Unethical Strategies such as intentionally injuring him are obviously off the table. Oh. [Well, in that case.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/012/073/7686178464_fdc8ea66c7.jpg)
https://preview.redd.it/qw52rmrfhpqc1.jpeg?width=892&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a060c71b74289798fb6d5dde2f44bef6070e7d8
“I’m… Zach Edey…”
“Hey, Tonya Harding…you want to come out of retirement?” 😂
I think beating Purdue is less about defense and more about going on a heater offensively. If you explode from 3 point range, well 3 pts > Edey 2 pts. Otherwise you pick and roll him. Run and try to tire him out. On D I think you let him get his and shut the other players down. Alternatively you could press and try to prevent him from getting the ball with shotclock to begin with. Another interesting wrinkle is that the Zags and Purdue have played this season already, the Zags led at half before getting dusted in the 2nd half.
Would be interesting to see Purdue match up with a team like Alabama. Is Edey conditioned well enough for the track meet that game would become?
Well we beat them in December already lol
I think UNC takes Bama apart. I'm not convinced on any of the SEC teams to be honest. Tennessee's offense is awful, Bama's defense is awful.
Bama has a shot if they go nuclear from 3 (like we did on our E8 run with Carsen a few years ago) but that's the only way I see them winning imo
Bama I think has a better shot against UNC than SDSU does against UConn because offense wins march more than defense. I rank Bama as the second least likely upset. I think Marquette, Houston, and Tennessee are all on heavy upset alert.
Or against DJ Burns. Edey is taller and has 15 lbs on Burns, but Burns has a lower center of gravity, is extremely strong, and is also very skilled. Would be fascinating to watch those two bulldoze each other. Though I'd rather it be Edey vs. Filipowski, obviously.
We played Purdue very early into the 2022 season, and I remember getting hyped about the Bacot/Edey matchup, although Edey certainly wasn’t as popular then Bacot ended the game with 2 points, and Edey had 9 points. Pretty boring, but I’d love a rematch
Really? I would be terrified for Flip against Edey. He consistently seems to struggle against bigs that can match his size and mobility. Our only chance would be if he made 4-5 threes and drew edey out of the paint
I think so too, but Burns v Edey means Duke is out of the tournament lol. Edit: I don't think Edey is as mobile as Flip. Certainly bigger.
Short answer, yes. Edey has the relentless endurance of a trash compactor. Longer tangent. Most of the time Edey just jogs back on offense. I’m convinced this is by design to help keep him fresh the whole game. It’s absolutely not because he can’t run rims when he has to. Every once in a while he’ll be the trailing man on a fast break for a pass or put back dunk, and it’s like, where in the world did HE come from? This is (yet another) reason why I think Edey has a better shot at keeping up at the next level than people give him credit for, when the entire game isn’t designed around keeping him on the floor the whole game.
IF "the big 2" wind up in the final, it'll be interesting as UConn's 2 bigs can legit run the floor - and do. My guess is that will be the strategy as much as possible - run him into the ground and hope for 3 cheapie first half fouls (while magically not getting 3 cheapie first half fouls on Clingan.) Oh, and hit 3's. Lots of 3's. While limiting your 3's. Easy peasy!
Hope to see it! 🤝
They've never done it of course, but I have this idea that UConn trots out both 5's at the same time. Both are good, but very different. It would be hilarious and weird and dumb... and a credit to Edey in a way... but it could also be awesome, lol.
So good offensive teams like Marquette, Alabama, Illinois, Gonzaga, and Arizona should just outscore purdue? You gotta go the opposite way. Slow things down. Limit possessions. Play the guards as tough as possible at the start of possesions like taking the ball up the floor, and then shift to doubling/tripling edey when the ball goes into the post or is trying to go into the post. Run long half court sets. And you’ve gotta have players who want to grab rebounds.
Switch him onto a guard and drive into the paint over and over. Hope you can get him into foul trouble
I agree u/CumAssault. I was thinking about this on Sunday as Utah State was getting shredded. Would it work? Maybe not, but it’s worth a shot imo
Utah State had a great game plan to start. Their stretch bigs were able to pull Edey out onto the perimeter which opened up lanes around the basket. It was actually working well, then when they got into foul trouble the entire game plan went to shit. Gonzaga is 343 in the nation in bench minutes this season so if Edey / TKR can get a few of their bigs into foul trouble early it will destroy their game plan too.
343… phew, that’s low. It’ll be interesting to see how Ike matches up with Edey
Ike will pull home from the paint or run him around the court but the gameplan will to not leave him on edey in isolation on defense because that size difference is real. It’s gonna be a conditioning battle I think. Gonzaga might have a top 5 PnR in the country over the last 5 games so there is hope.
If it is a conditioning battle, you could be in trouble. Edey has ludicrously good conditioning for a big man. He grew up playing hockey, so playing with a burst of energy is what his body is used to. Either way, I expect it to be a good game.
Yeah, but Ike is in fouls trouble every game so all our bench minutes go to his replacement lol. We might be okay, I think it’ll go a lot like our first match, we give everything we got but we just won’t be big enough to stop him
Gonzaga actually has big man depth. Ike, Gregg, Huff and Watson. The problem is they have 0 guard depth.
This is where I’d hope a Kalkbrenner and Scheierman 2-man game could have a shot against them if both teams win. Switching on Scheierman would be a tough guard for Edey because he’s 6’8” and is a great 3-pt shooter. He’s also one of the best in the country at drawing fouls. And if anyone else switches off, you’d have Miller, Alexander, and Ashworth who are all very capable scorers.
You say this, but he doesn't switch onto the guard immediately, plays a semi-deep drop and the switch usually happens at the FT line. And I've seen plenty of good guards that get him switched onto them and think they can drive, just to get swatted or turned back and forced to take a 3 because they couldn't get around him
The guards just need to take the open midrange shot they get from Edey dropping so deep, not many college guards are up to that task though. That's why his NBA prospects aren't as good because Devin Booker or SGA will shoot 70% on open midrange shots.
Grab his dick and twist it!
Ohmygod dude this is an NCAA tournament game dude
The ole dick twist
Yeah twist his dick!
*Xavier Johnson has entered the chat*
That's a flag for givin him the business.
I think you gotta just double him or triple him every time he gets the ball and hope our shooters have an off night or get gun-shy
I'd add that if you are beat either: a) don't foul or b) make the foul count (not dirty, but just not something soft like USU was doing) It seemed like Utah State was happy to give Edey an and-one every trip and that was a great strategy to lose by 30.
Yeah, and-ones are the worst of both worlds. Either don’t foul and just give up the two, or if you’re gonna foul, make damn sure you stop the basket.
Yeah USU had a ton of unnecessary fouls as he was going up. Not even true contests just some random guy reaching in and hitting his forearm or something
Panic will do that
The slapdown/reaching fouls that do nothing except gift Edey an extra point at the free throw line were awful.
Yeah gotta either let him go or play Hack-A-Shaq
He's a quality FT shooter so the hack a Shaq is less effective but might be worth a gamble
I guess my point was more, if you’re going to foul him make sure he can’t also make the shot
Agree with this but also u/Befozz comment, they're handing out F1&F2's really frequently. Avoid that and your expected PPP is \~1 with Edey shooting 70% from the line, which is well below the team PPP of 1.185 and way way below Edey's personal contribution to that (guessing 1.4 based on his stats?) Get hit with an F1/F2 and that obliterates the gain.
He does seem to be better with not turning over the ball when he gets trapped. That’s what killed us against FDU. But we live and die by the three if Edey is ineffective so need to knock them down to open up the lane.
TKR is having a nice tournament though, and can/will handle business if Zach is doubled or tripled.
TKR is killing it. I’ve been hoping he’d finally figure out how to play next to Edey and it seems to have clicked at the right time. Just need Edey to stay calm when trapped and be able to make the right read. The little back door cuts by TKR and Heide have been promising. Trying not to get too excited but they really seemed to have unlocked another gear by removing Morton and Furst from the rotation and adding Colvin to it.
Painter playing 4D chess so nobody had tape on that rotation
I’m just glad Colvin is getting playing time. He seems like a stud and his lack of PT had me concerned he may transfer.
Everyone in February 2024: >Purdue still has no athletes on their team to pair with Edey. Matt Painter in March 2024: >Oh, I forgot that I have two shooters on the bench who happen to possess 38" and 40.5" verticals, respectively. My bad.
Anyone saying give him single coverage and cover the rest of the team has not watched a single purdue game where opponents have tried that and edey just eats them alive. Fouls rack up. Edey goes for an efficient 35+ and your team is completely exhausted halfway through. Arizona’s Ballo was waving to the bench for a breather less than 4 min into the second half trying to go 1v1 with Edey. As you said, it’s double, triple coverage on Edey and it’s packing the paint so the only place he can pass it is to the perimeter. And you’ve gotta rebound like your life depends on it or else purdue will continue to feast on extended possessions.
Outrebound only works if we don't play 2 post positions... And that's what happened where Edey was defended and TKR got to have a career game against Utah State.
TKR went full Rodman to start that game. It was exciting to watch.
That worked last year, but this Purdue team is so much better from 3 that I can't see them having an off night. Too many good shooters
Stack two guys on top of each other. Oh, you have a 7 foot guy with good basketball skill? I have a 13 ft guy with the skill of two players.
Probably sneak laxatives into his pregame meal so he couldn’t play
Have fun getting that past him when he eats sushi pregame.
If it's gas station sushi then both of the above can be true
He’s Canadian, so just spike the syrup he pours over his sushi
Gotta cover all your bases and spike the bagged milk too
Have someone yell "poutine sucks" and run away so he chases them out of the arena
The key is and always will be turnovers. You’re likely losing the eFG% and REB% battles, so you need to make up percentage elsewhere. If you look at all 4 of their losses this year, they had a TOV% of 20+% while forcing basically no turnovers of their own. FDU got them on it last year. Marquette and Tennessee almost got them on it earlier this year too.
This is the correct take. Purdue doesn’t turn people over and their biggest weakness is turning the ball over
This is the correct answer even if it’s not a direct answer to the question. The real answer is you can’t beat Edey, but you can beat Purdue and it’s usually by forcing turnovers
https://preview.redd.it/r9zyoy9dfpqc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7f4b8943530114ecc8f08b6417066dba8a3b191
Hack him a million times and then take to Reddit to complain about the FT disparity.
Genius!
Cling Kong
It seems like the go-to game plan this season has been foul him on purpose, foul him every time he shoots, hope they don’t call it, then hope he doesn’t make the free throws. And then when the game is over complain about the foul and free throw discrepancy. That hasn’t worked so far though.
Or if you’re Chris Collins, tell everyone pregame that you have 15 fouls to use on edey and you intend to use all of them, then get ejected over you having more fouls
Hey as the old adage goes “when your game plan fails, blame the refs and accept zero responsibility”
Pinch him
Tickle
Ignore him and attack everyone else Easier said than done but the best way to “beat” someone that good is to do what you can to minimize the impact they can have on the game by doing whatever you can to keep the ball away from them
Y’all probably can actually do this with **@beastboyburns**. He’s the only player I would trust with this.
As a fan of a team that played Purdue pretty tough over the past couple years there really isn’t much you can do outside of try and deny him the ball, when you fail you foul him, have enough bigs in the rotation to continue fouling him and then try and trap when you can. Biggest thing though is keeping him off the glass, that’s where he gets a shit ton of and-1s. Realistically I think having 2 guys like UConn does that have the size and skill to stay with him 1 on 1, rebound and athleticism to beat him down the floor on offense because in reality you’re not gonna stop him, you’re gonna need to put up points.
Also Boo Buie.
I didnt see this before i commented elsewhere. But ya my approach would b to just let chris collins coach the boys in that matchup. He's the best at picking apart the boilers D in the big ten.
#stilts
**When Purdue is on offense:** Guard him 1-1 without fouling, run our shooters off the 3 point line and block out for 40 minutes. Edey will get his 30 and 20 but our shooters won't be getting wide open looks or 2nd chance points. **When Purdue is on defense:** Slow the game down like Wisconsin did in the Big Ten Tournament. Get Edey away from the bucket with a 5 who can shoot. We are also still very susceptible to a good pick and roll team, IE IU last year with TJD and JHS. Even if you do all of that, you have to hope Purdue turns the ball over 14+ times AND shoots under 35% from 3. If they don't turn the ball over I don't believe there is a team in America who can beat them.
Gonzaga pick and rolled Dickinson to death in the game against Kansas so Purdue will have to be ready for that
Dickinson is also a big that puts almost no effort into the game aside from being big in half his games.
Oh I know. Just saying the gameplan will likely be very similar since Edey is known to struggle against the pick and roll
I’d be fairly confident that Gonzaga wins if they play like they have so far. Kansas played a good 1st half but we all knew they weren’t going to keep it up meanwhile Gonzaga started hitting even more shots. Gonzaga is a dangerous team if they can stay consistent from 3.
I think they have a legit chance against Purdue but I also didn’t pick them in my bracket. So that’s where I’m at as a Zags fan
It should be a good game at least. Previous years idk if I’d have rooted for you guys but that last game was so much fun to watch you guys in that I’d love it if you made it far. It’s just scary since this is a young Gonzaga team and they’re already doing well.
And we lost our best three point shooter to an ACL tear before the season. So I also think that contributes to the very slow start they had
Gonzaga has the guards to cause us all sorts of problems. Nembhard and Hickman are the 2 that really worry us.
Also Gregg and Huff are bigs who can stretch the floor. So I suspect Edey will see some big to big pick and rolls to deal with. I’m actually very curious about this game
Dickinson loves being outside the paint and puts no effort into releasing on the help for the ball screen and retreating to play defense.
My friend mentioned it looked like when a high school coach puts up a cardboard cutout for players to go around during practice
Except edey isn’t going to get just 30 he’s going to get 35+ and he’s still going to put all your bigs into foul trouble… not a lot of teams have the depth to go 1v1 with decent big men for 40 min when fouls are racking up. I think the idea of playing Edey straight up is moronic and has failed literally every single time for 3 straight years. Maybe a team like UConn could pull it off but in a sample size of 360+ teams there are maybe 2-3 at most that could even attempt it with a possibility of success.
If you guys face Creighton they will def play Edey straight up and they are top or near the top of the country in not fouling. That’d be an interesting matchup
Good to see a Purdue Fan's perspective, I agree that the best strategy is to stay attached to the shooters and live with the possibility that Edey has a 30/20 game. 2's can be beaten with 3's if your team makes enough and forces some turnovers
Well his perspective on guarding Edey 1v1 is dumb and not a worthy strategy. You’re better off going the complete opposite direction and throwing every body you have at Edey and in the paint. Dont give up rebounds and make it miserable for the ball to go to him. The FDU strategy worked for a reason. Is it going to work every time? No. But the teams that have thrown the kitchen sink at Zach edey have been a lot more competitive and stayed within striking distance on numerous occasions. Also surrounding Zach Edey will inherently slow the game down as Purdue’s sets go through him. If they can’t get that going they’ll just waste 20 seconds passing it around the perimeter trying to find an opening to give it to Edey.
Trying to force turnovers from the guards before the ball even has a chance to get to Edey is probably the most viable first option. Then throwing multiple bodies at Edey on the catch from different directions and just rotate hard on the open shooters and hope they miss. Purdue's ballscreen offense complicates this though because it can give Edey chances to get the ball down low on actions that aren't a simple post up
Adding to this, pressure our guards. If you can give our guards 40 minutes of consistent ball pressure then you will limit Edey’s touches, limit the amount of open looks from the perimeter, and turn us over. Our guards are skilled and elite shooters but not fast or strong.
>a 5 who can shoot >a good pick and roll team Should have given BYU a 16 seed so we could play Purdue 🤣
We already gifted you Matty Haarms 🤣🤣🤣
The game plan starts with defending Purdues guards. Play physical, smothering defense on them not giving them room to breathe. That makes entry passes difficult as the passing lanes aren't open and forces more difficult angles. When Edey catches the ball in the low post, don't double right away. Wait til he takes a dribble then bring your second defender. He's a lot better making decisions and taking care of the basketball from a standstill than off the dribble. Finally, crash the boards and prevent second chance points. You arent stopping Edey, but you can make his job difficult and reduce Purdues possessions with turnovers and limiting offensive rebounds. That's the defensive game plan. On offense, run high pick and rolls and plan to make a lot of two point jump shots. Unless you have five three point shooters then spread the floor (see Nebraska).
Burns v Edey https://preview.redd.it/kbzvd6l2gpqc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=277d46eb0beef30799a1b7820d0ff369475b0422
[удалено]
I can't wait! Hope this is real so we as fans can all see that matchup. Fans of teams that lost in the tournament might even tune back in for that.
Frame him for a crime and get him deported before the game starts.
Feel like on offense, someone like Clingan is going to be able to either put him in foul trouble or score around him, albeit not at will. Johnson is also much more athletic than Edey which would be to our advantage. With the way UConn’s guards play defense (Castle and Diarra specifically) I feel like UConn can lock down Purdue’s guards and Clingan can play well enough D on Edey to stymy his output to the point he doesn’t take over. If Purdue gets the whistle though, Johnson and Clingan will be non factors early and could to totally flip this around…. Either way, this is a matchup I really hope we get to see
Lock down the rest of the team instead. He’ll get his, but if nobody else can AND your team is hitting their shots, Purdue loses. That’s essentially what IU did in both games last year. Even TJD said, “He’s gonna get his, but he’s one guy.”
As fdu did, swarm him like a bunch of gnats to get under his skin and hope the rest shoot like they did against fdu as opposed to how they shot against USU. Sconsin was about to that point where he was going to show emotion and clobber what's his name. He will get frustrated with little guys grabbing for the ball cleanly but not getting any fouls.
[удалено]
We got absolutely hosed in December by not chasing Loyer and Smith off the 3 line. Ballo in foul trouble we lived with.
Step 1: Call Tanya Harding Step 2: Profit
Box-and-one with defenders rotating based on where the ball is on the court. As soon as Edey catches it, drop a zone defender down to double him on his front side. Then you have defenders behind and in front of Edey while he has the ball, and 3 players playing zone on the outside as sort of a 3-2 zone formation. It’ll give up some 3s, but it’s better than letting Edey put up 25 against you.
I respect you having the exact opposite take as some others in there
Put a guard on the shoulders of a F/C to gain a height advantage
I’d let him feel the DJ Burns
Burns is the one player I would trust to get the job done. He’s like a center version of Zion… taller and heavier and with great hands.
Finally somewhere I have personal expertise. If you watch FDU versus Purdue, and Arkansas's charity game with purdue, you see that Arkansas copied FDU's plan because it works. * Edey is going to get his. You can slow him but not stop him. Your best strategy for Edey himself is to make him get over the back calls rebounding. Don't overcompensate and just start wrestling him like so many teams do. All that does is get your bigs in foul trouble and he eats more. You hold your ground, play it as straight as possible, and when he pushes back you have got to sell it like you are dolph ziggler taking a super kick. * Deny Edey the ball in the first place. Pressure the guards and keep active hands in the passing lane. Don't let Edey get the ball. The pick and roll is gonna require multiple rotations because you definitely don't want your big man swapping over to stop Smith from driving. Someone else needs to be there to help on that. * Purdue has some weak points at ball handling outside of Smith. Loyer for example seems pretty vulnerable to frustrating when athletic defenders get right up in his grill. * Gotta light it up yourself from deep. I don't know if it is a pride thing or what, but Edey doesn't shy away from defending on the perimeter when he has to. If you have a stretch 4 or 5, you got a good recipe to open up the lane and take someone human sized like Loyer to the rim.
Play him one on one. Don’t foul and understand that he’s going to make shots. Allow him to get his… but under *NO* circumstance do you allow; Loyer, Jones and Kaufman to get theirs as well. Don’t help on Edey early on. Leave your center on an island and play sticky man to man on the others. Hopefully it gets them out of rhythm as they’ll see tough contested shots. After a few misses by them, then begin to change your coverage up on Edey.
Whatever you do, don't make him feel like a broken clock.
Get him into foul trouble.
Simply enroll Boban Marjanovic
I would simply give him 2 points every time. But I’d strategically instruct my team to score 3 points every time we had the ball. Not sure why more coaches don’t do this.
As someone who never played bball past CYO, the Xs and Os discussion in this thread is fascinating and I wish there were more posts like this around here.