Some thoughts on Purdue's thrilling OT win over Israel, the best team by a mile it has played so far.
• This was the Carsen Edwards we've seen this summer, that weapon of mass destruction that is going to single-handedly win games for Purdue at times with special performances. This was one. That third quarter was simply special.
This is why you let him play through some over-aggressiveness at times, because this is what he's capable of when it all comes together. He will be over-aggressive at times, as he was at the end of regulation on the turnover, but he knows one way and only one way and when that way work, it is a thing of beauty for Purdue.
• I'm not alone, I'm sure, in thinking Purdue was cooked when Vincent Edwards got hurt late in the first half. Without him, they're done. He's too important. But he came back and was good, all things considered, in the second half, making some big buckets but also some big plays otherwise, a hustle play to keep possession with the Americans and a blocked shot when Israel needed a quick two.
He talks about being that guy who does whatever his team needs of him, no matter what it is, and delivered tonight. I think he's really set up for a great year, but right now, he needs to get ice on that ankle, because Purdue needs him as close to 100 percent as it can get him to have a chance.
• Purdue got carved up on defense in the halfcourt often. That might be a process, but with so much experience, you'd expect better. Credit to Israel, but also, I think it's going to be a conversation this season that Purdue could be a better defensive team with Jacquil Taylor at the 5. Israel had so much success pulling Isaac Haas away from the basket, then getting the ball in behind him.
Israel is very good and that's part of this, too.
• If Purdue goes on to win to gold — a huge if, still, to me — then Dakota Mathias' three-pointer to beat the shot clock will go down as one of the biggest shots of his great Purdue career. Scorching take, huh? But it will.
• You have to give Purdue a ton of credit for gutting this one out, obviously. This was an unbelievable basketball game. But you wish from its perspective that the end-of-regulation situation hadn't happened. A turnover, a missed free throw and a defensive rebound that wasn't and OT happened. Doesn't matter anymore, because Purdue showed a hell of a lot of poise and fortitude.
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