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Arizona Vs Purdue 🏀 Game Preview/Discussion Thread 12/16/23 At 230pm Peacock
The No. 1 Arizona Wildcats are set to face off against No. 3 Purdue University at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. in one of the season's most anticipated matchups. The Wildcats (8-0) are coming off of a dominant 98-73 win over No. 23 University of Wisconsin, as Arizona collected its third top-25 victory of the season. The two squads hold two of the longest active non-conference regular season winning streaks, with the Boilers winning 32 straight and Arizona winning 19 straight.
Arizona is the last team in the nation that is undefeated straight up and against the spread. The Wildcats had their fair share of easy games, but also played defeated #2 Duke, #21 Michigan State and #23 Wisconsin. The Wildcats are deep, they have five players averaging double figures, with future pros and 7-footers on the roster. In their last game, all five starters reached double figures, led by guard Pelle Larson with 21 points in the win over Wisconsin.
The Wildcats are led in scoring by UNC-transfer Caleb Love with 14.1 PPG. Love is an athletic 6'4 guard and is the best perimeter defender on the team with 1.6 steals per game. Love also averages 5.0 RPG and 4.5 APG. Kylan Boswell is the best pro prospect on the team, the 6'2 sophomore is projected as the 19th pick in the draft by NBADraft.net and averages 12.4 PPG and 4.8 APG. Boswell is also the top shooter on the team with 21 made threes on the year. Keshad Johnson is an athletic power forward adding 12.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG, while Pelle Larson is a guard with good size on the perimeter at 6'6 and adds 12.3 PPG. The Wildcats are huge inside with 7'0 Oumar Ballo (12.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG) and 7'2 Motiejus Krivas (8.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG).
Arizona is currently 1st in the AP Poll, and rank 2nd according to KenPom, only trailing Houston. The Wildcats rank 6th in offensive efficiency and 2nd in defensive efficiency. The Wildcats play at a break-neck pace offensively, they play at the 6th fastest tempo in the nation.
Zach Edey has been dominating college basketball for the past two years, but may be up for his biggest challenge yet. The 7'4 center is the reigning National College Basketball Player of the Year, and is currently 2nd in the nation in scoring with 24.8 PPG, and 7th in rebounding with 10.8 per game. Edey now must contend with two 7-footers on Arizona in Ballo and Krivas, which will be a true challenge for the big man. Edey is coming off a 35 point, seven rebound performance against Alabama.
Edey is far from the only contributor Purdue has, they also have sophomore Braden Smith who puts up numbers across the board. Smith is a 6'0 guard averaging 13.2 PPG, 7.2 APG, and 5.9 RPG, he had a huge 27 point, eight assist and five rebound game last time out against Alabama. The top shooter on the team has been 6'1 Lance Jones with 18 triples on the season, he is a transfer from Southern Illinois that adds 10.6 PPG. Fletcher Loyer is the third scorer on the perimeter, he is a 6'4 sophomore adding another 6.4 PPG. There is a sharp drop in scoring after the top four, their next highest scorer is forward Trey Kaufman-Renn with 6.5 PPG as a 6'9 forward.
History vs. Purdue
The Purdue Boilermakers and the Arizona Wildcats share a long and storied history on the basketball court. They first faced each other on Jan 1, 1934, in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue emerged victorious with a score of 34-23, setting the stage for their rivalry. Following a 34-year hiatus, the two teams met again in 1968, where Purdue once again emerged victorious, winning by a massive margin of 98-72.
They played six more times over the next 20 years, each team winning three games apiece. This Saturday's game will mark their 13th encounter, with Purdue currently holding an 8-4 lead over Arizona in the series, having won three of their last four matchups since 2000. The Wildcats will be hoping to turn the tables and emerge victorious.
Purdue is favored at -1.5 and the Over/Under is 156.5
Let's talk about the Wildcats Vs Boilermakers!
BEARDOWN!!!
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Not as much of a measuring stick game as some think. Interesting though. I still don't understand who thought it was a great idea to schedule 1 game a week like this. Maybe it is helpful since this stretch is full of ranked games. Not sure. Looked like we handled it well vs Wisconsin. Hard to tell if momentum could slide. Have to play a very diligent game while still remaining loose enough to compete on our terms.
Have to stay away from dumb fouls. Pelle must continue to listen and not try to slide under anyone to draw charges. We need him on the court for this one. Keshad has to keep his composure. Ballo and Krivas will be expected to battle Yao Edey, but not put him on the line as Edey can make FTs. I'd rather see Ballo/Krivas getting bad charge calls on Offense being aggressive than see him give up soft And-1's or cheapies to Edey on the defensive end.
I will not be shocked to see something like a Boswell, Love, Lewis, Pelle, Keshad lineup (or Ballo for Keshad) in some stretches to try to out run Purdue. Giving up a 2 for 2 is not bad if we are tiring them out in the process.
We can't fall in love with the 3 ball if it's not dropping, but we have to test their perimeter defense. Wish we had more set plays for catch and shoot from 3, but mostly I have seen Keshad sagged off of so he takes the shot or Pelle takes one off a basic pass. Nothing that drawn up. Especially with Boswell and Love.
Attack the basket. ATTACK THE BASKET. Force the refs to blow that whistle. FORCE IT. Take a charge call if you must. Establish the fact you will not stop attacking the rim and you won't settle for jump shots. It cannot be a charge every time.
Guard the perimeter. Do not let Purdue make their 3's. They are not predicated on the 3, but we can't casually allow them to hit 7 to 10 3's in this game. Don't make them better than they are. Make them Run and play in chaos. When they slow it down, pressure the ball, don't sag off worrying about their version of a moonball lob to Yao Edey.
This will be a March Madness style game. It's a faux road game. Purdue is about an hour to 90min from this arena. The atmosphere should resemble that of a Regional Madness game though. Sure, Purdue will have their fans, but it is also a big event in general in a big *ish* city so a lot of people from all over the Midwest will show up and not all of them are Purdue-Friendly.
I think we will have fans there and/or people rooting for us. And if not, then we are going to hurt a lot of corn fed feelings.
Deny entry passes and push the pace. Edey can't run with us. AZ is #5 in the country in tempo. Let's make them feel it.
Edey will get his, one third of which will be from the line. He shot 20 ft's vs Northwestern - and they still beat him with a guard. We have very good athletic, tough guards this season. Let er rip!
Edey will get his just due to his size and skill, just need Ballo/Krivas to fight and make it tough. If we can lockdown the Purdue guards I think we will win this. We need to pound the glass and limit 2nd chances. I am stoked for this big game. Bear down!
Arizona will be rocking the Blue uniforms against Purdue this Saturday!
https://twitter.com/Zona_Briggs/status/1735352934047858729
Quote from: WILD on December 14, 2023, 05:57:09 PMArizona will be rocking the Blue uniforms against Purdue this Saturday!
https://twitter.com/Zona_Briggs/status/1735352934047858729
Still looking for a 2000-2003 Era pair of the
Blue and White basketball shorts. Have a couple pairs of the Red and White. No one really wore the Blue and White back in my day.
Also back then, the shorts were so long I have no idea how players dribbled between their legs without the ball going awry. Elite handles I guess.
A size Medium was like Mid-Shins length for me and that was like 20 years ago. Once in a while they pop up for sale online. Most of the time they are expensive. They are the best shorts design Arizona basketball ever put out.
I vote someone starts a forum section for a finders club for Arizona memorabilia and merch. Never know what people have laying around or can find.
Quote from: arxpert on December 14, 2023, 10:18:31 PMQuote from: WILD on December 14, 2023, 05:57:09 PMArizona will be rocking the Blue uniforms against Purdue this Saturday!
https://twitter.com/Zona_Briggs/status/1735352934047858729
Still looking for a 2000-2003 Era pair of the Blue and White basketball shorts. Have a couple pairs of the Red and White. No one really wore the Blue and White back in my day.
They are the best shorts design Arizona basketball ever put out.
Agreed. The double CATS shorts and the V-necks are untouchable. Not to mention it also brought about the red colorway, which didn't exist in the original run.
https://twitter.com/Zona_Briggs/status/1736083989083852968
https://twitter.com/jgtrends/status/1736053822500594080
Quote from: arxpert on December 13, 2023, 01:52:53 PMNot as much of a measuring stick game as some think. Interesting though. I still don't understand who thought it was a great idea to schedule 1 game a week like this. Maybe it is helpful since this stretch is full of ranked games. Not sure. Looked like we handled it well vs Wisconsin. Hard to tell if momentum could slide. Have to play a very diligent game while still remaining loose enough to compete on our terms.
Have to stay away from dumb fouls. Pelle must continue to listen and not try to slide under anyone to draw charges. We need him on the court for this one. Keshad has to keep his composure. Ballo and Krivas will be expected to battle Yao Edey, but not put him on the line as Edey can make FTs. I'd rather see Ballo/Krivas getting bad charge calls on Offense being aggressive than see him give up soft And-1's or cheapies to Edey on the defensive end.
I will not be shocked to see something like a Boswell, Love, Lewis, Pelle, Keshad lineup (or Ballo for Keshad) in some stretches to try to out run Purdue. Giving up a 2 for 2 is not bad if we are tiring them out in the process.
We can't fall in love with the 3 ball if it's not dropping, but we have to test their perimeter defense. Wish we had more set plays for catch and shoot from 3, but mostly I have seen Keshad sagged off of so he takes the shot or Pelle takes one off a basic pass. Nothing that drawn up. Especially with Boswell and Love.
Attack the basket. ATTACK THE BASKET. Force the refs to blow that whistle. FORCE IT. Take a charge call if you must. Establish the fact you will not stop attacking the rim and you won't settle for jump shots. It cannot be a charge every time.
Guard the perimeter. Do not let Purdue make their 3's. They are not predicated on the 3, but we can't casually allow them to hit 7 to 10 3's in this game. Don't make them better than they are. Make them Run and play in chaos. When they slow it down, pressure the ball, don't sag off worrying about their version of a moonball lob to Yao Edey.
This will be a March Madness style game. It's a faux road game. Purdue is about an hour to 90min from this arena. The atmosphere should resemble that of a Regional Madness game though. Sure, Purdue will have their fans, but it is also a big event in general in a big *ish* city so a lot of people from all over the Midwest will show up and not all of them are Purdue-Friendly.
I think we will have fans there and/or people rooting for us. And if not, then we are going to hurt a lot of corn fed feelings.
I rarely do this Mid-Game, but if Tommy doesn't stop what he is doing, we will lose by 20+. If this is Tommy's plan then he needs to play Ballo with Krivas and seal Edey on the offensive end because our Guards can get into the lane anytime they want. Defensively, let Ballo and Krivas worry about Edey and actually Guard the perimeter. Stop the entry pass with Ballo in front of Edey. If this is going to be Purdue's day to hit 20 3's then so be it, but don't be playing scared. That is unacceptable.
Ballo is incapable of keeping up. I can't trust him to front Edey and still close out on a Jump shot. However this should have been tested already after Edey's first trip to the bench when he came back in. Now I don't know if we can afford to try the adjustment because of our deficit. Tommy cannot do the same thing and expect different results. Purdue can come back down to earth and start bricking 3's, but that is not a strategy. That is not Coaching.
No matter what we need to keep scoring and everything else will sort itself out naturally. If we go cold it is done.
Tommy needs to get the team to stop this sag off coverage and actually Guard the Perimeter as I said this week, no more free 3's.
PS - This was the quickest Half Time I have ever seen. I don't know why, but that doesn't favor us either.
Quote from: arxpert on December 16, 2023, 03:31:23 PMQuote from: arxpert on December 13, 2023, 01:52:53 PMNot as much of a measuring stick game as some think. Interesting though. I still don't understand who thought it was a great idea to schedule 1 game a week like this. Maybe it is helpful since this stretch is full of ranked games. Not sure. Looked like we handled it well vs Wisconsin. Hard to tell if momentum could slide. Have to play a very diligent game while still remaining loose enough to compete on our terms.
Have to stay away from dumb fouls. Pelle must continue to listen and not try to slide under anyone to draw charges. We need him on the court for this one. Keshad has to keep his composure. Ballo and Krivas will be expected to battle Yao Edey, but not put him on the line as Edey can make FTs. I'd rather see Ballo/Krivas getting bad charge calls on Offense being aggressive than see him give up soft And-1's or cheapies to Edey on the defensive end.
I will not be shocked to see something like a Boswell, Love, Lewis, Pelle, Keshad lineup (or Ballo for Keshad) in some stretches to try to out run Purdue. Giving up a 2 for 2 is not bad if we are tiring them out in the process.
We can't fall in love with the 3 ball if it's not dropping, but we have to test their perimeter defense. Wish we had more set plays for catch and shoot from 3, but mostly I have seen Keshad sagged off of so he takes the shot or Pelle takes one off a basic pass. Nothing that drawn up. Especially with Boswell and Love.
Attack the basket. ATTACK THE BASKET. Force the refs to blow that whistle. FORCE IT. Take a charge call if you must. Establish the fact you will not stop attacking the rim and you won't settle for jump shots. It cannot be a charge every time.
Guard the perimeter. Do not let Purdue make their 3's. They are not predicated on the 3, but we can't casually allow them to hit 7 to 10 3's in this game. Don't make them better than they are. Make them Run and play in chaos. When they slow it down, pressure the ball, don't sag off worrying about their version of a moonball lob to Yao Edey.
This will be a March Madness style game. It's a faux road game. Purdue is about an hour to 90min from this arena. The atmosphere should resemble that of a Regional Madness game though. Sure, Purdue will have their fans, but it is also a big event in general in a big *ish* city so a lot of people from all over the Midwest will show up and not all of them are Purdue-Friendly.
I think we will have fans there and/or people rooting for us. And if not, then we are going to hurt a lot of corn fed feelings.
I rarely do this Mid-Game, but if Tommy doesn't stop what he is doing, we will lose by 20+. If this is Tommy's plan then he needs to play Ballo with Krivas and seal Edey on the offensive end because our Guards can get into the lane anytime they want. Defensively, let Ballo and Krivas worry about Edey and actually Guard the perimeter. Stop the entry pass with Ballo in front of Edey. If this is going to be Purdue's day to hit 20 3's then so be it, but don't be playing scared. That is unacceptable.
Ballo is incapable of keeping up. I can't trust him to front Edey and still close out on a Jump shot. However this should have been tested already after Edey's first trip to the bench when he came back in. Now I don't know if we can afford to try the adjustment because of our deficit. Tommy cannot do the same thing and expect different results. Purdue can come back down to earth and start bricking 3's, but that is not a strategy. That is not Coaching.
No matter what we need to keep scoring and everything else will sort itself out naturally. If we go cold it is done.
Tommy needs to get the team to stop this sag off coverage and actually Guard the Perimeter as I said this week, no more free 3's.
PS - This was the quickest Half Time I have ever seen. I don't know why, but that doesn't favor us either.
Mid-Mid Game post - I think this is the 3rd worst game Tommy has ever coached. #1 being vs Houston in Madness, #2 being vs Princeton.
He is doing everything wrong. Going to a Zone vs a team that is loose and up big having no issues shooting is the antithesis of what needs to be done. Caleb Love will need 40 today and Purdue will need to stop hitting shots.
Stop messing around with this team Tommy. They own you. 4 players on the perimeter. Make Edey work for his 2's. Get out in transition and draw some contact. Stop sagging off of the shooters.
I'm only going to say this once then I am done with this matchup and onto the next.
Tommy didn't do what I said all week all game. He refused to call for guarding the 3pt line. I said do not let Purdue casually get their 7 to 10 3's by worrying about their entry passes to Edey.
The piddly 2-3 zone only looked good due to Purdue going cold playing with their food. It wasn't a viable strategy because Tommy went away from it down the stretch and Purdue came roaring right back as Tommy went back to the initial strategy that failed. So that was just Luck that got us back into it. Not coaching.
Tommy is not ready for this level yet. He has no set plays for jump shots. He doesn't train our Bigs to pass out of the paint for any Inside-Out game. If he can't bully the paint he is lost. He played this entire matchup scared. Our offense became telegraphed.
Every time we got within 4-6pts, we settled for a dumb 3 and didn't work the offense that was getting us to that point.
It is a massive learning lesson that we are Not good enough.
I won't even bother breaking down how stupid this team played or how Night and Day the Refs were calling fouls in the 2nd half that they didn't in the 1st half.
I also won't go into Boswell being a non-factor in the biggest game of the season. Basically Zero bench scoring. No grit nor fortitude to even try to control this game.
I will not give any respect nor moral credibility to the comeback. This was a masterclass in how to obliterate Arizona. If only 1 team can do this in this way then so be it. We will probably lose more games this season, but when you have 1 week at a time to plan for games you can't only have 1 or 2 ideas. You should have never been dominated like this. It just proves that we are not at the level nor caliber of teams that have the chemistry I talked about in my original comment.
I will still place this as the 3rd worst loss in Tommy's career. These are the types of games where his inexperience in the heat of the battle really shows up the most.
Quote from: arxpert on December 13, 2023, 01:52:53 PMNot as much of a measuring stick game as some think. Interesting though. I still don't understand who thought it was a great idea to schedule 1 game a week like this. Maybe it is helpful since this stretch is full of ranked games. Not sure. Looked like we handled it well vs Wisconsin. Hard to tell if momentum could slide. Have to play a very diligent game while still remaining loose enough to compete on our terms.
Have to stay away from dumb fouls. Pelle must continue to listen and not try to slide under anyone to draw charges. We need him on the court for this one. Keshad has to keep his composure. Ballo and Krivas will be expected to battle Yao Edey, but not put him on the line as Edey can make FTs. I'd rather see Ballo/Krivas getting bad charge calls on Offense being aggressive than see him give up soft And-1's or cheapies to Edey on the defensive end.
I will not be shocked to see something like a Boswell, Love, Lewis, Pelle, Keshad lineup (or Ballo for Keshad) in some stretches to try to out run Purdue. Giving up a 2 for 2 is not bad if we are tiring them out in the process.
We can't fall in love with the 3 ball if it's not dropping, but we have to test their perimeter defense. Wish we had more set plays for catch and shoot from 3, but mostly I have seen Keshad sagged off of so he takes the shot or Pelle takes one off a basic pass. Nothing that drawn up. Especially with Boswell and Love.
Attack the basket. ATTACK THE BASKET. Force the refs to blow that whistle. FORCE IT. Take a charge call if you must. Establish the fact you will not stop attacking the rim and you won't settle for jump shots. It cannot be a charge every time.
Guard the perimeter. Do not let Purdue make their 3's. They are not predicated on the 3, but we can't casually allow them to hit 7 to 10 3's in this game. Don't make them better than they are. Make them Run and play in chaos. When they slow it down, pressure the ball, don't sag off worrying about their version of a moonball lob to Yao Edey.
This will be a March Madness style game. It's a faux road game. Purdue is about an hour to 90min from this arena. The atmosphere should resemble that of a Regional Madness game though. Sure, Purdue will have their fans, but it is also a big event in general in a big *ish* city so a lot of people from all over the Midwest will show up and not all of them are Purdue-Friendly.
I think we will have fans there and/or people rooting for us. And if not, then we are going to hurt a lot of corn fed feelings.
If this entire Preview write up wasn't the truth then I don't know what is real anymore. Tommy failed at all the key points noted here. Wow. It's like I pay close attention.
worst fan ever
Quote from: Keithjacksontucson on December 16, 2023, 05:13:08 PMworst fan ever
Truth hurts. I get it. Come up with your own sports intelligence based previews if you want to make a point that matters.
I think we just tried to beat Purdue instead of simply playing our game. Way too reactionary game plan. Hopefully we learn from this to stay more true to who we are and what got us to this spot in the season. Arizona Wildcats are an elite basketball team and we need to stay on brand until an opponent forces us to adjust.
Loved the zone call. It really took Purdue out of what they like to do. Not sure we need to ever see it again, but being that dynamic is a testament to who we are as a team.
Boswell needs to take this loss for what it is and commit to improve - which he obviously will. He's our leader sand his work ethic is elite. Not worried about it at all.
Love was exactly what we needed him to be. Took some insane shots, but that's who he is and you need to live with the absurdity if you love the rest of it.
Ballo was the most impressive player for us today. His growth has been incredible and I think he comes out of tonight with extreme confidence.
Keshad is our rock. Love his game. He puts us on his shoulders effortlessly.
Pelle needs to be better. Simply too inconsistent still. There's no rhyme or reason to his game. Seems always off cadence. Love the guy, but he's gotta be incredibly frustrating to coach.
KJ had some good run, but he's still young and has a long way to go. Bradley is still incredibly uncomfortable in our offense but is strong defensively. Luckily, it looks like we get a couple years with those boys.
Krivas did exactly what he was supposed to. I wish we stopped bringing the ball down in the low post, but - meh, small criticism in the scheme of it all.
I'll put this loss squarely on Tommy. He got out coached today, but I still commend him for his ability to adjust and keep our boys in it when it could have easily gotten out of control. He needed to take a timeout earlier in the game and likely abandon his game plan earlier too. Small things in a likely hall of fame career.
Disappointed. Not devastated. Still think we're the best team in the country overall.
On a neutral court or at home, we are the best team . Only injuries would keep us from FF
Let's fire LLoyd and get Pastner. Ha ha ha
Who is better than Coach Lloyd, all you smart guys
Bill Self coached Kansas back @Indiana today from a disaster. Right when we hit the inflection point where we were enroute to pull ahead, Tommy went back to the exact plan that got us in the hole in the first place and it all fell apart. He had too much time to plan for this to be the brutal domination that it was.
#1 Kansas
#2 Purdue
#3 Houston
#4 UCONN
#5 Arizona
Quote from: arxpert on December 16, 2023, 06:12:19 PMBill Self coached Kansas back @Indiana today from a disaster. Right when we hit the inflection point where we were enroute to pull ahead, Tommy went back to the exact plan that got us in the hole in the first place and it all fell apart. He had too much time to plan for this to be the brutal domination that it was.
#1 Kansas
#2 Purdue
#3 Houston
#4 UCONN
#5 Arizona
Purdue might be in Indiana, but Indiana is NOT Purdue.
I thought both teams played well. It would be interesting to see them play again with good consistent officiating. It was bad both ways and likely evened out in the end, but the a lot of the stuff that went against us, changed the flow and was largely (not completely)responsible for Purdue taking a big lead. The goal tend should never have been called. I'm glad they looked at it and got it right, but in the moment it changed the momentum and direction of the game. There were ticky tack fouls called both ways and there were multiple hammer fouls, mostly committed by Purdue, that weren't called. At one point, I found myself thinking, "No wonder Edey has never fouled out, you can't foul out if they don't call fouls on you." There were 5 FT's shot in the first half and 30 in the second half. Did the teams play that much differently?
Maybe, as others have said, Tommy got out coached, but I was excited to see him change defensive schemes until he found one that worked. His predecessor couldn't/wouldn't do that, he only had one arrow in his quiver, man to man.
I enjoyed seeing Edey get slowed down. Ballo, Krivas and whoever doubled teamed him at the moment did a great job.
I can't believe Purdue only made 10 3's. It seemed like they made 6-7 in a row at one point.
We weren't going to win every game this year. In fact, I wouldn't want to enter the championship game undefeated, I don't know how anybody could handle that pressure. So at least that monkey is off our back. Losing to a team of Purdue's caliber in what was really a home game for them still sucks, but isn't as bad as some losses.
Quote from: CatInFL on December 16, 2023, 07:03:48 PMQuote from: arxpert on December 16, 2023, 06:12:19 PMBill Self coached Kansas back @Indiana today from a disaster. Right when we hit the inflection point where we were enroute to pull ahead, Tommy went back to the exact plan that got us in the hole in the first place and it all fell apart. He had too much time to plan for this to be the brutal domination that it was.
#1 Kansas
#2 Purdue
#3 Houston
#4 UCONN
#5 Arizona
Purdue might be in Indiana, but Indiana is NOT Purdue.
And Tommy made Purdue look like the historical Hoosiers that couldn't be beat. The only success he had was with Boswell out of the game. Then he killed that.
Meh, I thought we played poorly. Might be the best half of basketball Purdue plays all year. We had so many defensive breakdowns and switch communication errors that it gave them open looks and they hit their shots. So many shots had long bounce right into Purdue arms but some were just lack of AZ boxing out. I thought we played a C+ or B- game while Purdue played a solid A. I'll take it. Rather lose now than when it really matters. Learns, grow, and move forward!
Purdid.
They had two guards who went off. We had two guards who were off.
I doubt many AZ fans had us escaping our non-con sched w/o a loss. Most prob thought it'd be to Duke tho. We have two more big games to get a W before we head to conf play. BearDown Cats!
I think the biggest thing that set me off is not that I already called the game plan early in the week and Tommy didn't execute it, but throughout the game itself there were clips being shown of Tommy talking about Edey and fouls or how Purdue hasn't "seen Arizona yet" --- blah blah.
I think that cocky tone is GOOD (didn't see that coming did you?)
But I also think it is exactly why I say Tommy is very set in his ways. He doesn't always believe his coaching approach is Mortal when it is very, VERY, mortal. When he makes a plan he sticks to it. Just because we see him call for a Press here and there or switch to a 2-3 Zone doesn't mean that is an adjustment. "It is in his bag" as the kids say these days. It isn't like the prior 2 notable coaches in Arizona History. Miller had his way of playing. So did Lute.
I just think overall Tommy should have mixed up his principles when he saw that Purdue had normalized and adjusted to what we came out with. That was around the 13 minute mark of the 1st half. He could have tried what he did in the middle of the 2nd half and continued to keep Purdue thinking.
Just some notes that I think get Tommy into trouble when the chips are down. Every marquee loss he has (which are NOT many) have this same theme.
Again, the final score was not indicative of our thorough ass whoopin, but we did get within 4 and Tommy chose to go back to Boswell and the original plan thinking that it would persevere through to the finish line. It was an extreme miscalculation on his end.
I don't think anyone should have thought we would go undefeated, but I did say if we won this set of 4 ranked games that we would be able to lose a game or 2 in the Pac12 and still be the Overall #1. A loss like yesterday's is what will likely keep us out of that unless we plow through the Pac12.
We now must defeat Alabama and FAU.
Then I think we can maybe afford 1 more loss total on the season and still garner the reputation we all want to hold. 3 Losses is the vertical limit. The Pac12 is not going to get any respect this season so just like last year, we may end up playing for a 2 seed if we stumble again before Conference Play.
Tommy better recognize this and hammer Bama and FAU hard so we can put that to bed. No one Selecting will blame us for the Purdue loss if we can win these next 2.
That was a True Ending style 1 seed vs 1 seed matchup in the Final 4 or Final Game. UNLESS we make ourselves into a 2 seed where we would play that game in the Elite 8 (like we did vs Wisconsin) and then we have no one else to blame but ourselves.
ONWARD AND UP
Beardown.
If you predicted the game plan, you would have guessed the winner.
Ballo was in the right position on defense but couldn't stop Edey because nobody in college basketball can stop him. He consistently hit shots with a 7-footer in his face because his fundamentals are unreal.
Krivas actually did a good job of defending him in the paint but Krivas' lack of experience unfortunately led to being out of position on multiple occasions, which led to easy buckets for Purdue guards (or free throws).
Loyer isn't "that" open if we play them again. Edey likely won't hit every shot (including FT's) and I think a rematch would never include a double digit Boulermaker lead.
It's one loss on the road against the team that will likely be #1 tomorrow. No big deal. Learning experience. Next.
Quote from: KansasCityCats on December 17, 2023, 07:59:13 PMIf you predicted the game plan, you would have guessed the winner.
Ballo was in the right position on defense but couldn't stop Edey because nobody in college basketball can stop him. He consistently hit shots with a 7-footer in his face because his fundamentals are unreal.
Krivas actually did a good job of defending him in the paint but Krivas' lack of experience unfortunately led to being out of position on multiple occasions, which led to easy buckets for Purdue guards (or free throws).
Loyer isn't "that" open if we play them again. Edey likely won't hit every shot (including FT's) and I think a rematch would never include a double digit Boulermaker lead.
It's one loss on the road against the team that will likely be #1 tomorrow. No big deal. Learning experience. Next.
A few notes.
1) I don't pick Arizona to lose. My score prediction was correct in the sense that we were due for a clunker and we did clunk. Either way, Purdue shouldn't have scored over 90.
2) Ballo was one of the worst players on that court. I know you see it differently, but the absolute worst shot of the entire season was the Free Throw line 1 handed Push Shot. That has to be a 2% chance shot per analytics. He is not even a 40% FT shooter so a running 1 handed push shot? No shot bucko. That should have earned him a seat on the bench the rest of the way.
3) If you believe Ballo's Alley-Ooping was "amazing" then you basically are condemning this team to being 1 dimensional in the sense that Ballo was only capable of 1 thing and then the rest was Love chucking. Again, Ballo did nothing to even try to bull into Edey. It did not matter if Ballo got a charge call (for me at least). I wanted him to get 3 charge calls and maybe 1 defensive foul, but otherwise making Edey work 1 on 1 with NO Hedging from Guards/Forwards to double Edey. Worst gameplan of all time is to worry about double teaming Edey whether it was with Ballo of Krivas. The only success we had was when we made Edey have to take his shots 1 on 1 and outside of 3ft from the rim. Even close to 3ft away he missed I think 3 or 4 in a row on our 11-0 run.
4) Tommy abandoned Krivas. Ballo is 6'9". Proven by fact in being dwarfed by Edey. Krivas was not dwarfed. They were almost the same size in many ways. It didn't matter that Krivas couldn't stop his layups. It was a much better plan to play straight up 1 on 1 Krivas on Edey. Krivas didn't put Edey on the line. The other mistake was Tommy forcing the guards/F's to feed the ball into Krivas on offense and try to get Edey to move so as to get some fouls on him. That was foolish. The way to draw fouls is to have Pelle, KJ, Keshad, Love barrell into Edey with momentum. I omitted Boswell because similar to Kerr Krissa sadly he is paralyzed when entering the Arc. He just doesn't understand how to get to the rim and finish strong.
5) Tommy refused to respect what I said. Doesn't matter if I said it or if Jason Gardner said it. He refused to guard the perimeter even when Purdue was hot. Forget about "Loyer" who is actually their achilleas heel for the most part. He had a game. It was just a collective lazy approach and a bad gameplan to ever leave the perimeter. The way to beat Purdue is to force their guards to enter the paint and put them into chaos trying to feed Edey in a short/small area. Guess who did that? We did. We entered the arc and tried to bounce pass to Frying Pan Hand Ballo. Bounced off him every time and was a turnover.
Looks to me like Purdue read my gameplan or had other smart individuals who know basketball create the mock up of the game plan and made sure to counter it. That is my takeaway. Perhaps I shouldn't post the way to win. Har har har. Deal with it. Sometimes you have to acknowledge someone else was correct and had their finger on the pulse the whole way even if you don't like it.
Take it on the chin. Acknowledge Tommy is not Him and accept that he cannot lose again before Conference play. 2-0 from here on vs Bama and FAU then I would say we can lose only 1 game in Pac12 play and it has to be a road game. The Pac12 is by far the worst basketball conference in the land. We have to get our credibility in this OOC. After the thrashing, we have no true credibility at the moment. If you think "Jay Bilas" means something when he compliments us you are just living in the twilight zone.
Our body of work is erased. Duke is trash. Michigan St is trash too I don't care if they beat Baylor. Baylor isn't good.
Do better Tommy. You are not putting fear into any of the experienced, chemistry laden teams that can't be overpowered with 101 level bully ball down low.
Never did I mention Ballo on offense. I just referenced that he was in the right position defensively but there's no way to stop Edey because his fundamentals are outstanding (in addition to his height). Krivas was limited because he was continually out of position and gave up easy buckets.
Both teams like to run and both teams shot well. I believe that around halftime, we hit 57.7% from the field and 75% from deep while Purdue shot 0.1% better. The difference in the score was Purdue's 8 additional rebounds, which led to transition 3's. That's uncharacteristic of Arizona because rebounding has been our strength all year.
There's no reason to panic. Alabama will be a good test because they also run and shoot an absurd amount of 3's. If our perimeter defense adjusts, then our staff did their job.
and BTW, our frontcourt was surprisingly pretty efficient on offense:
All Arizona players 6'7"+ combined to shoot 20 for 31 (65%) from the field, including both 3-point attempts.
The remaining Arizona players shot 12 for 31 (38%) from the field and 4 for 14 from 3 (29%).
Purdue only had THREE players that hurt the Cats:
Smith, Loyer & Edey combined for 75 of the 92 points.
The other 8 Boilermakers only made up for 8 fouls, 4 turnovers, 2 blocks, 12 assists, 17 rebounds, 2 for 6 shooting from the FT line and 1 for 8 shooting from 3.
Stat lines don't appear to lean towards a big Purdue win. The only stat that stands out is the difference in fouls called...and Purdue's SIX additional offensive rebounds:
FG%: Arizona (51.6%) / Purdue (53.8%)
3pt%: UA (37.5%) / PU (41.7%)
FT: UA 14/16 (87.5%) / PU 12/19 (63.2%)
Rebounds: UA (26) / PU (32) - Arizona outrebounded their opponent by 2 in the 2nd half.
Assists: UA (24) / PU (22)
Steals: UA (8) / PU (10)
Blocks: UA (1) / PU (3)
Turnovers: UA (13) / PU (13)
Fouls: UA (19) / PU (14)
I'm assuming the #8 with () somehow turns into 8) ...
Quote from: KansasCityCats on December 18, 2023, 12:32:08 PMI'm assuming the #8 with () somehow turns into 8) ...
It was a poorly coached game by Tommy. The numbers in the box score don't tell the tale of the game. The refs balanced things out appropriately. It was a 4 point game at one point. Tommy went away from what got us back into the game and that stubbornness is what caused the loss. The initial game plan was a losing plan. Just more of Tommy going down with the ship. I don't see how you can't acknowledge that. He's done it in every important game we've ever lost. Clunkers aside, I am talking about important games. Same script with him.
This is why I am confident Tommy will continue to have Arizona in a position to achieve the goals I value, but I am not confident he will get Arizona to a Final Four or beyond.
PS - This is not to say Tommy will automatically get the team straightened out enough to win the Pac12, but this is the worst Pac12 I have ever seen so he really has no excuse. These next 2 games are mandatory to win. Any stumbles in Conference Play will keep us out of a 1 seed if we don't close out the OOC with Dominance. The Committee can overlook Tommy's horrible coaching vs Purdue by the time March comes around and just look at the Box Score and think it was a close game when it wasn't, but that is only if we don't show that we are trash like that again.
The next two games are not mandatory wins. Arizona plays its toughest OOC schedule in 20 years and 2-3 losses wouldn't be detrimental. If anything, they're motivating a team that "should" win another conference title.
Lloyd stuck with the same plan when we were down by 4 but Purdue finally started to get back into a rhythm. The fact that we were back in the game is amazing because a 17 point deficit with 14 minutes remaining against a top-3 team says a lot about our character.
Every year, the Cats are projected to be a bubble team and every year under Lloyd, they've overachieved. Hopefully, they can advance beyond the Sweet 16 this season..
BTW, giving Self and KU props for the IU comeback seems hopeless. Indiana needed a block as time expired to beat the powerhouse Morehead State. Purdue was a real opponent.
https://twitter.com/BearDownU/status/1737658961200091632