no let me be clearer... Gonzaga started showing interest just before he committed to Purdue. I don't know that he went after Braden once he committed...I don't think he did
How much do you care about this Gonzaga game outcome?
- Thread starter northside100
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Other folks are saying Few tried to luring him away in the off-season.
I only know I'm not aware of such. I've never specifically asked that question because I never heard the rumor. Pretty far distance to go for a player that is now well appreciated at Purdue with family and friends close at least Dustin's family. FWIW ( I don't believe there is a problem sharing this), Fletcher's father was pushing Braden to go to Purdue before he committed. Said it was a great fit.
This was a statement game that Purdue needed to win to earn their ranking! And they proved they were worthy and won. This is an awesome tournament and a true early test! Boiler Up!
There's some noise that he not only stayed after Braden after he committed but also came back after him after last season.
We may literally get punched in the mouth by UT. I thought Gonzaga looked pretty physical and disruptive on D yesterday, UT is going to try to be 3x that. Will be interesting to see how this team responds. If they're casual with the ball or allow themselves to be pushed around they're going to have some real problems.
Totally agree. This is the kind of game that you have to match their physical play. Especially if the refs let them play it will be very physical. Can't be pushed or knocked around. They will test the refs and challenge them to call everything. Win or lose, it probably won't be pretty, TN games rarely are.
Could be...I don't know that, but I suspect that "noise" was not accurate. I admit I could be wrong though. FWIW...there is noise on almost everything and a lot of that noise is started with a hunch. THAT said, it is interesting that Gonzaga was mentioned because few...very few knew (perhaps only me on this forum?) that Gonzaga had shown interest prior to me posting such. The only reason I mentioned it after he committed was because there were people questioning this unknown without bright stars and the appearance that no major teams were interested. I tried to present a more accurate portrayal. Gonzaga had shown interest just prior to Braden committing to Purdue. Very...very few knew anything about Braden until they saw him at Purdue.. THAT noise concerning Gonzaga does make it interesting...
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I’d sure like to see CMP continue to go 10 players deep. The Zags did appears to get worn down a bit halfway through the 2nd half. Purdue emphasizing pushing the ball up after halftime definitely helped with that. It just seems, like last season, this group plays best when we play more players. When CMP shortens the bench, not so much.
The "ability" to play different ways is important. I just wish Purdue had more 4's with a faceup game that could drive in addition to the other things of importance. FWIW, I did see Trey go to double the five that Zach had ONCE. That was the first time this year I think???
For sure. Eager to see how we respond to a physical, quick team like Tenn.
Thought the team did a great job responding last night when Gonzaga went on that early 12-0 run after we scored 6 straight. Also loved how we came out in the second half very aggressive and ready to go.
Hope painter continues to experiment with lineups and continues to get Heide and Colvin some good quality mins.
Almost hope that the refs do let them play really physical (i.e. foul on every play and hope they don't call it). That will likely be bad for Purdue from an outcome standpoint but I'd rather get that treatment now and get practice playing through it.
Certainly Big Ten will be physical but I'm not sure that we'll see the combination of physicality and athleticism in conference that UT brings. But yes, certainly good prep for teams like Rutgers, NW, etc.
They will wait for him to catch, put his head down, and swarm him while he takes dribble after dribble with his back to the basket.
Haha I knew what ya meant. Arkansas, Tennessee, Gonzaga, whoever we play after Tennessee and Arizona will give us athleticism that we won’t see at all in the B1G haha
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