they have 5 guys who avg 12 points a game. I think if we win, we will have to get at least 3 players to have double-digit scoring.
AZ matchup....
- Thread starter typeviic
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Yep. They also averaged 98 points per game so another track meet in incoming. Looks like they sboot the 3 as a team at 40% but one of their guards is shooting almost 53% (!!) on 40 attempts so far. If we can make Love (somehow) shoot more from the outside, that will help as he’s a 30% 3P shooter on the year.
We will def need to hit shots, but it’ll be another great test to see how the backcourt competes and how they try to guard the big maple. Excited for it and hope we are able to learn from it.
They're 2nd in the country in both rebounds and assists but they do turn it over 13x a game. This is a game where we have to win the rebound battle and not give them any extra possessions.
Toughest test of the year so far and I don't think it's close. AZ has everything you want: Athletes, shooters and size. I'm going to the game and I can't wait. We will need to play our best defense to win this one. I think the first 10 minutes will be the key to the game. We have to come out sharp and not get down early. AZ scores "easily" so if you let them get out in front by any significant amount, it will be very hard to come back because it is very hard to get consecutive stops on them.
No doubt! I’m very interested to see how Purdue handles this type of team. We don’t usually shoot well it seems in Indy, so hopefully that’s different on Saturday! Going to be a great test and likely the most athletic team that we will see until we get to March.
I will absolutely blame playing in Indy if we lose because we seemingly never play well there.
They have four guys 7 foot or over....Plenty of fouls to give.....It's gonna come down to TO's and if our guards can guard anyone....This may be the toughest match up Zach has had....AZ will be able to put fresh guys with size on him all game
But are those fresh guys, with size, any good? I know 1 is, but what about the others?
And I looked at their roster and only saw 2 7 footers that have played? Are we sure there are 4?
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Much better than the ones NU had rotating in on Edey. He is going to have his hands full with this group.
If we win this game, I will not only be surprised, I will be very impressed.
I don't know about that, their 2nd center is a true freshman who has a stat line of 10 points, 12 rebounds, 7 fouls, 5 blocks in 34 minutes of play over 3 games against P5 competition.
But still can come in and try to wear Zach down after Ballo is resting/on bench. He is decent, but Zach should show him some vet post moves and hopefully get him into foul trouble.
I have watched 3 of their games this year, including at Duke and the MSU game. Their reserve big men aren't asked to score and it doesn't appear they run much for them. But they are better athletes than you will normally see for reserve big guys in today's game. They are not Ballo, no way am I suggesting that. But I do think they will be much better defenders on Edey than what he normally sees.
All that said, I think it is important to note we will be the best team they have seen so far also. As someone noted in another thread (I think), they have not played as tough a schedule as we have so far. Duke (KP #17) is their best game. We have played (4) teams ranked higher than that.
I may just be emotionally protecting myself and / or sticking my head in the sand but I'm honestly not sure whether a win or a loss here is best for this team. If we can stay healthy I suspect that we'll go something like 15-5 in the Big Ten, which should be good enough for a 1 or 2 seed given our OOC record to date.
A win against Arizona certainly helps our case for a 1 seed but I wonder if that trade off is worth it if the alternative is that a loss reinforces to the team that they're not yet good enough. As good as they've been, I see a lot of areas for improvement (more consistent play by Fletch, Trey and Caleb, improvement and increased usage from Cam and Myles) and while MP will push in either case the natural tendency of players is to take their foot off the gas.
Well said and completely agree. I really want to just see how we measure up and hope it’s a close game.
You going to be there?!?
I get it and I don't think you are alone in those thoughts. I'm not very confident because I think they present the biggest challenge we will face until March. That said, I want the win not only because I'm going to be there! But mostly for the implications come selection Sunday. Assuming AZ continues with a great year, this would be another great win to have on the resume.
Unfortunately not. I'm out of state and my oldest gets back from a semester in South America Saturday morning so I'll be watching on Peacock.
Enjoy, should be a great environment!
I’ll be there and for me this game will show us whether or not this team is ready to get over the hump that is the tourney. I doubt we face a better team all year and that includes March and April.
Win Saturday and this team is ready to face anyone.
Win Saturday and this team is ready to face anyone.
I’ll take the win every time, but a loss isn’t the end of the world by any means.
I know NOTHING about them, but if they are an offensive juggernaut with several people scoring in double figures, Matt may try to take the easiest one out and try to hold the others. Does this offensive team want to defend? Perhaps Matt pushes it to steal baskets every time he can as usual, but puts them on D longer than they usually play? Not a whole lot of seconds to use with the clock though, but if they average 98 pts that is a pretty fast pace. A slower game maximizes Zach's effect if it doesn't hinder him or the team, but again not a lot of seconds to play with and you still want to take the good shot. Maybe it comes down the depth of Purdue...can Purdue play harder with more good bodies? Not knowing anything about them...I have no idea what Matt might do. Purdue has played a pretty tough schedule and so they are used to good opponents...is Arizona?
The team just has to work together! Oh I remember the short skirt and hot pants well.
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Yeah it will be interesting to see how we scheme against them. While zona hasn’t played a schedule like us, they went into Cameron and won vs Duke, beat Sparty on a neutral site, beat a decent Colgate team and clobbered Wisconsin at home. It’ll be a good test for both teams.
You headed to the game on Saturday?
No, I'll watch it from home. Kim is just now getting over covid and I was way late to look for tickets. Should be a good one!
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I’m not sure I’ve ever seen dancing with less rhythm but they sure do look cute . 😊I know NOTHING about them, but if they are an offensive juggernaut with several people scoring in double figures, Matt may try to take the easiest one out and try to hold the others. Does this offensive team want to defend? Perhaps Matt pushes it to steal baskets every time he can as usual, but puts them on D longer than they usually play? Not a whole lot of seconds to use with the clock though, but if they average 98 pts that is a pretty fast pace. A slower game maximizes Zach's effect if it doesn't hinder him or the team, but again not a lot of seconds to play with and you still want to take the good shot. Maybe it comes down the depth of Purdue...can Purdue play harder with more good bodies? Not knowing anything about them...I have no idea what Matt might do. Purdue has played a pretty tough schedule and so they are used to good opponents...is Arizona?
The team just has to work together! Oh I remember the short skirt and hot pants well.
I like it when teams just forget the inside game when there’s no easy buckets and got to keep shooting from outside i will always take my chances
like I said...I remember the short skirts and hot pants well...real well! Useful attire...
The good news is that after a few clunkers, Fletch is due to drop 20 again when everyone is writing him off. At least he's predictable 😉
If Braden can get to the point where he's reliably good every game (I think he's close), that would be a very good formula for Purdue. Consistent output from Zach and Braden, one or two other guys step up each game on offense and everyone else just does their job.
5 guys averaging double digits and the 6th guy is averaging 9. They have 9 guys that average 15+ minutes per game. Very balanced unit which makes it hard to defend. Now some of these stats are inflated because they haven't played a really tough schedule, but their schedule isn't all cupcakes either (looking at you Houston). To their credit, their next 3 opponents are PU, Alabama and FAU. They will be our toughest opponent so far and we will be theirs. Makes for a great matchup in December. This is a FF type matchup.I know NOTHING about them, but if they are an offensive juggernaut with several people scoring in double figures, Matt may try to take the easiest one out and try to hold the others. Does this offensive team want to defend? Perhaps Matt pushes it to steal baskets every time he can as usual, but puts them on D longer than they usually play? Not a whole lot of seconds to use with the clock though, but if they average 98 pts that is a pretty fast pace. A slower game maximizes Zach's effect if it doesn't hinder him or the team, but again not a lot of seconds to play with and you still want to take the good shot. Maybe it comes down the depth of Purdue...can Purdue play harder with more good bodies? Not knowing anything about them...I have no idea what Matt might do. Purdue has played a pretty tough schedule and so they are used to good opponents...is Arizona?
The team just has to work together! Oh I remember the short skirt and hot pants well.
Getting off to a good start I think is critical. We do not want to fall behind these guys. They smell blood in the water and it could be over early. Keep it close, get in a groove and see where the chips fall in the final 10 minutes. We aren't blowing these guys out so it will be a fight for 40 minutes. IMO
I can't imagine they'd be any tougher than that 1st half Alabama team on Saturday.
Agree that Alabama couldn't seem to miss. I think the difference people will see Saturday is AZ likes to defend also. Alabama, not so much.
I think bama was like 4th in offense but 250 something on defense 😂 trying out the Phoenix suns philosophy from back in the day….or that Grinnell College (spelling may be wrong) strategy of shoot 100 3s a game and play no defense.
Zona is physical, big and athletic from all positions and all can score. Can’t wait for our backcourt to matchup vs them (let’s see where we are at vs a well oiled machine in December) and to see how they guard edey.
They only played 8 guys in the 2 games that were close. But their scoring has been very balance in those games with nearly all starters hitting double figures.
