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Purdue basketball head coach Matt Painter is going to protect his players, just like any good coach would do. That’s why when it comes to star center Zach Edey, he has no desire to bite his tongue.
“He’s like a piñata out there,” Painter tells Kelly Hallinan of WLFI News.
“You guys been to a party with a piñata recently? You hit him really hard and the candy comes out. I don’t think there’s any candy inside Zach.”
Edey, standing at 7-foot-4 and 295 pounds, is facing the problem that many players with a domineering physique do in basketball. Extra, often unnecessary contact as opposing players struggle to contain them.
With the junior averaging 21.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game on 61.6 percent shooting, it's not as if they're doing the best job of it, but it's not for lack of trying.
While Zach Edey is shooting 6.8 free-throw attempts per game and has taken the second-most free-throw attempts of any player in the Big 12, he truly could be at the line more.
Still, it's unlikely to stop anytime soon.
When Edey decides to play at the next level, he won't be the only player that looks like a man amongst boys. Nonetheless, he'll still have to deal with the problems that come with being bigger than almost everyone else on the court; Edey would be the tallest and heaviest player on an NBA roster today.
With more than two months remaining in the season, it'll be interesting to see if refs are more consistent in their foul calls when it comes to Edey. Even more interesting than that will be Edey's reactions to the inconsistencies as the season wears on.
