In reply to: I tend to blame Painter for a bad game plan on that point. posted by tdiddy07
And I also think that UConn is a more complete team. I do not fault Painter for losing the game.
But Purdue attempts 20 3s a game and has the second best three-point percentage in the entire county (shooting an astounding .404 as a team), and they were playing a team that allows 18.7 attempts per game and yet they only managed to attempt 5 total in the first 38 minutes. That doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't happen simply because they played a team that was 40th in the country in defensive 3-point percentage. You would have to be trying to avoid threes and/or hyperfocusing on interior baskets.
And that looked like exactly what I saw. I often saw players free up at the top of key on ball screens who had space to shoot. Without fail they sought to drive. Frequently they were stopped or were heavily contested in the middle of the lane, even late in the game. And virtually every set that I saw was designed to feed Edey in the post, including after they were down double digits.
Braden Smith is a .430 shooter with 3.3 attempts per game that had 2 attempts. Loyer is a .444 shooter on 3.6 attempts per game that had 1 attempt. Gills is a .468 shooter on 3.2 attempts per game that had one attempt. Colvin is a .414 shooter on 1.9 attempts per game that had two attempts. Jones is a .357 shooter on 5.7 attempts per game that had one attempts.
UConn is a very good team and a deserving champion. But Painter did not put his team into the best position for success in the second half.
coaches (and even the hometown press) all noted the stifling defense. They said it was the best they’d seen all year and noted the intensity of the perimeter defense. And Hurley said after the game that they were happy to give Edey the points so long as they limited the perimeter guys. Purdue hadn’t played a defensive team like that this year - not in the Big 10. They didn’t have the athletes on the perimeter to hang with them.
The kickout passes from Edey for the open three shots just weren't there. It feels like Purdue expected UConn to double a lot more than they did. Once the ball was down low, UConn just kind of let Edey do his thing. Even with the big guys out of the game they were basically just daring Purdue to trade baskets. Not sure if it was coaching or UConn just being that much better on the perimeter.
It really seemed like the length of UConn messed with the Purdue guards. The Purdue guards were marginally faster, but UConn made up for it by having a few inches and a much bigger wingspan.