How would this team do in last year's ncaa tournament
- Thread starter Summy1
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Well for one thing I’m not sure there’s a team out there this year like them. Would stand a chance vs Kansas this year , would have to have a great shooting night. Along with a great game by the Edwards
Had no rim protection last year, fatal flaw
First we have more effective rim protections from Haas and Haarms, more experience in Carson, more athleticism in Nojel, more drive from Vince, and a bit more aggressive Dakota.
And no Caleb, and his contribution in paint for points and rebounding.
Having no heavy dependency on a single player would help, and rim protection would definitely help stop attacking rim by Kansas. If Purdue were successful in stopping their guards taking the ball to the hoop reasonably. the outcome would be different.
And no Caleb, and his contribution in paint for points and rebounding.
Having no heavy dependency on a single player would help, and rim protection would definitely help stop attacking rim by Kansas. If Purdue were successful in stopping their guards taking the ball to the hoop reasonably. the outcome would be different.
I'll have to watch Kansas now that they have their big freshman in the middle. It'll take him about a month to get in to game shape and in to the flow of playing with his teammates in a game setting....but I imagine he'll shore up one of their glaring weaknesses.
Nobody could have beaten kansas that night with how they played.
The question is too restrictive. THIS Purdue team in last years tournament would not be a 4 seed. If it were a 2 or 1 instead it would still meet a Kansas or equivalent but not 60 minutes from their campus creating a home game for them.
Add in the balanced offense, much improved defense, and I think we could win against that level of competition.
Purdue won't have a "home court" advantage anywhere they go this year. The closest first round site is Detroit and closest regional is Omaha (hell I'd prefer playing in Boston).
I've seen some projections where Kansas is in the midwest regional as a 3 or 4 seed. IMO because of their fan base's proximity to Omaha, Kansas should not be put in the midwest bracket unless they are a 1 seed (or possibly as a 2 seed). Ditto for any other potential "host" teams.
Echo sentiments above about this year's team not being a 4 seed in last year's tournament, wouldn't have faced Kansas until the Elite 8 or would have been in a different part of the bracket. But that Kansas team on that night in that building likely would beat this Purdue team, but in a closer game.
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Hopefully it’s at least neutral. That would be a step up and should be achievable if we can obtain a top two seed.
I think if you're a #1-4 seed, you're guaranteed not to have a home-court disadvantage in the first round....that's it, IIRC. Wichita State or Kansas in the Midwest (Omaha) bracket could be a tough deal for any team.....long, long way to go to Selection Sunday. They generally try to keep the higher-seeded teams in their natural region or next closest, but there is latitude in order to balance the bracket.
Go West, young Boiler?
As a 1 or 2 seed we'd likely be in Detroit the first weekend regardless of region thanks to the pod system.
West might be best.
Regions are Atlanta, Omaha, Boston, and LA. I don't see us having home court advantage at any of those arenas, so region preference, personal interests aside, comes down to 2 things: matchups (which are impossible to predict) and opponent home court advantage. The obvious ones are Kansas and Wichita St in Omaha, maybe Arizona and Arizona St in LA, North Carolina/Clemson/Kentucky/Tennessee in Atlanta. Boston will probably be a fairly neutral site, although Villanova will probably lock that one down as #1 overall. Omaha and Atlanta appear to have the most potential for partisan crowds. This is probably the time to throw in that there is a lot of basketball left to be played.
For some stupid reason, last year we thought we had no athleticism, so we went with a small lineup. Kansas ate us alive with the match ups.
The same stupid logic says we had no rim protection. Haas does not block a lot of shots, but when the opp sees him, few challenge him. There is probably a minimum of one shot a game where the opp misses a point blank shot, because they catch Haas out of the corner of their eye.
The turnaround this year was when we played Arizona and their two 7 footers and we were able to play well with our twin towers. The highlight was how well they blended when we play Rutgers. We don't have to play this line up every game, but against the better teams it certainly is effective in spurts.
The same stupid logic says we had no rim protection. Haas does not block a lot of shots, but when the opp sees him, few challenge him. There is probably a minimum of one shot a game where the opp misses a point blank shot, because they catch Haas out of the corner of their eye.
The turnaround this year was when we played Arizona and their two 7 footers and we were able to play well with our twin towers. The highlight was how well they blended when we play Rutgers. We don't have to play this line up every game, but against the better teams it certainly is effective in spurts.
The first/second round sites don't correspond to regions. Last year, games in Tulsa were a part of the East regional, Sacramento was part of the South regional, Orlando was part of the West regional, etc.
Looking back and using today's players, sure. But Haas was a step slower than he is this year, and Swanigan was also relatively slow. Yes, we ended up getting beat bad, but we staved off what we could as long as we could - if they would have had transition on us all game, we would have been screwed from the get go. We at least kept it interesting for the first half.
Purdue changed when we went to the twin towers against Arizona. The team seemed to realize the obvious that we had to play a different style of play depending on who was on the floor. The twin towers were not that unique until we played Rutgers. Finally Haas and Haarms realized the fun in going beyond their limitations. They veered out knowing the other was protecting the rim. I had never seen Haas play like this before. Even though the twin towers weren't appropriate against Michigan it materialized in us holding Wagner to 11, especially after Wagner burned MSU for 27.
Tonight, I want to see the twin towers and see the continued progression. One thing that will be controversial is I would like to see the twin towers start against MSU. We would match up very well against them. I would hope that Carson would not take it as a demotion (as it isn't) and I think he would be much more effective watching the game and then coming in as instant offense playing at warp speed. There will be some big teams in the tournament and the ability to do this would be a great advantage.
Tonight, I want to see the twin towers and see the continued progression. One thing that will be controversial is I would like to see the twin towers start against MSU. We would match up very well against them. I would hope that Carson would not take it as a demotion (as it isn't) and I think he would be much more effective watching the game and then coming in as instant offense playing at warp speed. There will be some big teams in the tournament and the ability to do this would be a great advantage.
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