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Purdue basketball is defined by two things: their ability to dominate the post with Zach Edey and kicking out to shooters. Coach Matt Painter ensured that everyone around his National Player of the Year can shoot the lights out. This is why Fletcher Loyer, Lance Jones, Braden Smith, Myles Colvin, and even Cam Heide have serviceable strokes from the outside. However, it will take more than that to beat UConn. Coach Dan Hurley and Donovan Clingan have a lot of advantages in this NCAA Tournament title game. It even looks like there is one edge that the boys from West Lafayette don't have an answer to.
UConn's defensive personnel
Zach Edey has been thriving off the post because the usual strategy is for someone to guard him one-on-one while the strong side perimeter player anticipates his dribble pick-up or entry passes from Fletcher Loyer or Braden Smith. Purdue's National Player of the Year has seen different variations of this scheme run against him which has just made him more effective in sealing off the post quickly.
However, Dan Hurley and UConn are different. They have Donovan Clingan who is just a few inches shorter and roughly has the same strength as Zach Edey. The difference is that he is more agile and has better lateral quickness than the Boilermakers' superstar. DJ Burns and NC State got the best of Matt Painter's offense at times because they chose to stick with the roll man as soon as a horns set was called. They just ran out of gas and failed to protect the perimeter. With UConn's insane stamina drills, they might just outwork Purdue.
The talent in Dan Hurley's squad can also contain passes off the post. A lot of the time Purdue hunts for favorable angles for Zach Edey to post up. Whenever the big man is not comfortable, he passes it out to the perimeter and finds a better position. The defensive awareness of players like Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, and Alex Karaban just won't allow this. While Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith, and Lance Jones are great at executing inside passes, it will only be a matter of time before UConn catches on.
What options does Purdue have?
This NCAA Tournament title game will be decided in the post. Edey and Donovan Clingan will have at least one look per possession because the team's offense runs through them. UConn will trample Purdue because of how willing they are to absorb contact and how high their verticals are.
This means that the margin for error is very slim. Karaban, Spencer, and Newton are all going to pick up Braden Smith from halfcourt. After the Purdue guard's bad ball-handling game against NC State, he needs to step up. Else, UConn will force him to commit double-digit turnovers or even keep him from scoring in the game. The Huskies have limited their opponents to 63.5 points on a nightly basis and that number went down to 58.7 in their last three games. They also force 6.2 steals per contest which Purdue has to deal with.
A diverse offense where Purdue gets to see more dynamic actions from their guards and wings is the key to getting their offense going. If they knock down shots from outside and force double-teams away from Edey, it opens up the game quite a lot. But, that is a big if. Will they be able to do it?
