2024 National Championship Purdue vs. UConn: MASTER DISCUSSION THREAD
- Thread starter Travis Miller
- Start date
Just like every tournament game this year. The time is taking forever to get here.
Right now sitting out in my backyard with my family on a beautiful day in southeastern Michigan watching the eclipse.
Cant wait to see the black out in statefarm arena tonight. Win or lose Purdue has destroyed all doubt about how good they are. Play loose aggressive and have fun! Boiler up!
Cant wait to see the black out in statefarm arena tonight. Win or lose Purdue has destroyed all doubt about how good they are. Play loose aggressive and have fun! Boiler up!
The same clothes I have worn for every Purdue tournament game are cleaned again and ready to go.
Nice. I haven't washed mine and don't want to start now.
Have my lucky, undefeated Purdue Nike pullover ready to rock as well. Let's do this....
Oh and... me...
Oh and... me...
Got my jersey on, had the best weather day in chicago in a while, meeting an old college friend downtown, and watching the game. Playing with house money, this season is already going to be one I always remember.
Let's add 1 more win for shits n giggles
Let's add 1 more win for shits n giggles
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, from State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, it's the 2024 NCAA Tournament Championship Game between the #1-seed, #3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (34-4, 5-0) and the #1-seed, #1-ranked Connecticut Huskies (36-3, 5-0). Tip is scheduled for approximately 9:20 pm (Eastern time) with television coverage on TBS. Connecticut advanced with a win on Saturday against #4-seed Alabama, 86-72, and Purdue defeated #11-seed North Carolina State, 63-50.
Projected Starting Line-ups:
Purdue - Zach Edey, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
Connecticut - Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer, and Tristen Newton
____________________________________________
Connecticut has been dominant again this year in its postseason run, as their closest contest was the 14-point win in the National Semi-Final. All five starters scored 12 or more in that game, as they were led by their freshman Stephon Castle with 21 points, and big man Donovan Clingan contributed another 18 points and five rebounds with four blocks.
Tristen Newton leads the Huskies from the back court. He averages 14.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 6.2 APG and has good size as a 6'5" senior. Newton had 12 points and nine assists in the Alabama win. Cam Spencer is Connecticut's best long-range shooter on the team, as the transfer from Rutgers has 98 made threes, and is not far behind Newton in scoring with 14.4 PPG. Spencer has scored in double figures in every tournament game so far. Donovan Clingan is one of the rare players in the nation that can matchup with Zach Edey one on one and not give up that much size. He is a 7'2", 280-pound sophomore center getting 13.1 PPG and 7.4 RPG. He has been a mainstay in the post on both ends of the floor and has been very disruptive. Alex Karaban is a 6'8" sophomore getting 13.5 PPG - and he can also stretch the floor with his jumper. Stephon Castle is a 6'6" freshman getting 11.0 PPG and is coming off the team high in in the Alabama game.
UConn is the top overall rated team in KenPom. They also have the top rated offense in terms of efficiency and rank 4th in defensive efficiency. Now, they play even slower than Purdue does, ranking only 328th in the nation in adjusted tempo. However, they can push the pace on selective occasions and with long rebounds/turnovers - simply put, they are perhaps the best at making teams pay for mistakes or ill advised shots.
Purdue will need its best game all year if it wants to succeed tonight. A first half like Saturday might put them in a hole too big from which too recover. The Boilers will definitely need to value each possession and make quicker, sound decisions. Expect Connecticut's guards to use their size and length to try and make Braden Smith uncomfortable - Stephon Castle should get some of that assignment. Now....you can also expect Braden Smith to play much better after not one of his better performances on Saturday. In addition, Connecticut does not pressure up quite as much as a team like North Carolina State - that may free up Braden Smith just a touch to get into the offense better.
As with every other game, Purdue will try to establish Zach Edey as the focal point of the offense - he had some difficulties with turnovers last time out....he'll need a little quicker decisions tonight, but he may not be double teamed nearly as much. The Boilers aren't likely to get as many good looks from outside because of that - but they will need to make them count like Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Mason Gillis did against North Carolina State.
On defense, Clingan going up against Zach Edey will be an intriguing match-up, and Purdue's defensive glass will be a critical component to the game, as Connecticut has shown a little inconsistency from long range. The Boilers will have their hands full dealing with the size of Newton and Castle, along with Spencer's ability to snipe from long-range. Purdue really needs to be dialed in on any rotations from the get go - and this would be a good time to have better success with ball screen defense.
What else can be said? Purdue's execution keys - limiting turnovers, maintaining a rebounding edge, forcing as many difficult shots as possible while knocking down enough good opportunities of its own.....these are all magnified under the lens of the toughest, strongest opponent it's faced in the last couple of seasons. This is what the season has boiled down to - against a relentless opponent with the highest stakes possible. Can the Boilers continue a tremendous season and pull off the upset? Seemed almost unimaginable a year ago.......
We shall see, starting in a few hours or so.
Boiler Up, my friends.....
Projected Starting Line-ups:
Purdue - Zach Edey, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
Connecticut - Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban, Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer, and Tristen Newton
____________________________________________
Connecticut has been dominant again this year in its postseason run, as their closest contest was the 14-point win in the National Semi-Final. All five starters scored 12 or more in that game, as they were led by their freshman Stephon Castle with 21 points, and big man Donovan Clingan contributed another 18 points and five rebounds with four blocks.
Tristen Newton leads the Huskies from the back court. He averages 14.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 6.2 APG and has good size as a 6'5" senior. Newton had 12 points and nine assists in the Alabama win. Cam Spencer is Connecticut's best long-range shooter on the team, as the transfer from Rutgers has 98 made threes, and is not far behind Newton in scoring with 14.4 PPG. Spencer has scored in double figures in every tournament game so far. Donovan Clingan is one of the rare players in the nation that can matchup with Zach Edey one on one and not give up that much size. He is a 7'2", 280-pound sophomore center getting 13.1 PPG and 7.4 RPG. He has been a mainstay in the post on both ends of the floor and has been very disruptive. Alex Karaban is a 6'8" sophomore getting 13.5 PPG - and he can also stretch the floor with his jumper. Stephon Castle is a 6'6" freshman getting 11.0 PPG and is coming off the team high in in the Alabama game.
UConn is the top overall rated team in KenPom. They also have the top rated offense in terms of efficiency and rank 4th in defensive efficiency. Now, they play even slower than Purdue does, ranking only 328th in the nation in adjusted tempo. However, they can push the pace on selective occasions and with long rebounds/turnovers - simply put, they are perhaps the best at making teams pay for mistakes or ill advised shots.
Purdue will need its best game all year if it wants to succeed tonight. A first half like Saturday might put them in a hole too big from which too recover. The Boilers will definitely need to value each possession and make quicker, sound decisions. Expect Connecticut's guards to use their size and length to try and make Braden Smith uncomfortable - Stephon Castle should get some of that assignment. Now....you can also expect Braden Smith to play much better after not one of his better performances on Saturday. In addition, Connecticut does not pressure up quite as much as a team like North Carolina State - that may free up Braden Smith just a touch to get into the offense better.
As with every other game, Purdue will try to establish Zach Edey as the focal point of the offense - he had some difficulties with turnovers last time out....he'll need a little quicker decisions tonight, but he may not be double teamed nearly as much. The Boilers aren't likely to get as many good looks from outside because of that - but they will need to make them count like Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Mason Gillis did against North Carolina State.
On defense, Clingan going up against Zach Edey will be an intriguing match-up, and Purdue's defensive glass will be a critical component to the game, as Connecticut has shown a little inconsistency from long range. The Boilers will have their hands full dealing with the size of Newton and Castle, along with Spencer's ability to snipe from long-range. Purdue really needs to be dialed in on any rotations from the get go - and this would be a good time to have better success with ball screen defense.
What else can be said? Purdue's execution keys - limiting turnovers, maintaining a rebounding edge, forcing as many difficult shots as possible while knocking down enough good opportunities of its own.....these are all magnified under the lens of the toughest, strongest opponent it's faced in the last couple of seasons. This is what the season has boiled down to - against a relentless opponent with the highest stakes possible. Can the Boilers continue a tremendous season and pull off the upset? Seemed almost unimaginable a year ago.......
We shall see, starting in a few hours or so.
Boiler Up, my friends.....
Talked with a family friend that is out there and he said it was craze how many PU fans are there.
Thanks, Tex. Gentlemen, and ladies, thank you for another year of connecting this dedicated, motivated and inspiring Boilermaker group. Special day for me - the eclipse, playing for the Natty and also my birthday. I was at Mackey the nite we opened, and had classes with several of the 68-69 team . So, for the last time this year, we're READY AT THE BEACH!
Ah damn....you can't wash those clothes. You washed the mojo down the drain.
Edey needs to dominate Clanker...and show why he is the two-time Naismith Player of the Year. Braden Smith needs to not get got up in the moment...and play his usual floor game. Hopefully...we are making 3s and UConn is cold from the outside. Use Edey as one-man rim protector...Clanker is not a threat from the outside...and Edey needs to stay out of foul trouble. Purdue 67 UConn 64 in an instant classic.
Hasn’t hurt us to date. The sweet smell of success.
Are others having issues with this forum going in and out?
Yes, I am, but it's gotten better in the last half hour.
Win or lose, put our best games out there and let the cards fall how they fall.
BTFU
BTFU
Wow. Zach has the face of an axe murderer right now. He's locked.
Man this has been a long pre-game it seems. It's like it started about 3:00 here, because it did. Cheers and BTFU!
I was in the top row on opening night, had classes with several players ... we might have known each other!!! What a long, strange trip it's been.
It is about time for College GameDay announcers to make their picks. I am sure it will be 4 picks for Connecticut.
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