Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

I don't think we'll be seeing Villanova or Michigan State in the Final Four for a while.

 

Kansas, Michigan State, and Duke being the face of college basketball just got soooo monotonous. This tournament has been a breath of fresh air.

 

Well, there's a school from North Carolina in it. But it's wearing ... red?

OK by me.

 

The window is now open for Purdue to be bounced by another double digit seed in the tournament.

 

For all the crap Purdue coaching has gotten over the last few years, they turned this kid into a stud.

He plays a great back-to-the-basket post with a solid base and good fundamental moves. He moves his arms to draw contact and fouls. He rebounds great and tips what he cannot grab.

I don’t know what IMG was doing, but Purdue turned him into a stud.

 

Choosing between Purdue and Baylor out of high school doesn’t quite feel like an “all the haters doubted me” origin story.

 

Per his bio, he didn't start playing basketball until his sophomore year of high school, and he transferred to IMG around his junior year, I think. He turns 22 in May as well, so he's developed pretty well in a short period of time. I'm kind of pessimistic of his prospects in the NBA, but I'm really looking forward to 5 years of comparisons like "why can't he be Jokic?!?!" from old dudes on the Internet.

 

Excuse me, you weren't, uh, using that neck of yours, right?

 

He has a place in the NBA, and it can be as an All Star, if the team that drafts him understands what he does very well - play traditional center.

If he’s 15-20 feet from the basket, he will bust.

But planted on the low-block? He would thrive. You just need teammates who compliment a player cemented on the low block.

 

He's not getting 22 free throws a game in the NBA like is does in the B1G.

 

One thing about the NBA Draft is how often a pick in the 20s does virtually nothing in the league. If Edey is drafted in that zone and ultimately a rotational player for a few years, then that's a great development out of that slot in the draft.

 

I think there is almost zero chance that he can hang defensively with the good NBA 5s, or switch well on the pick and roll. That kind of player can still get paid and be useful in certain match-ups, but typically gets played off the floor in the playoffs.