Good For Nebraska. The middle of the B1G needs a coaching talent boost badly. Painter, Izzo, Beilein are elite. Holtmann is really good I think. Everyone else is āmehā to me, with Underwood and Miller being the most likely to breakout into a higher level.
Underwood is a tough one - I think heās a good game coach, but the rash of transfers and immediate stink of discontent that started the moment he showed up suggests he may not play nice with others.
What are the chances Carsen Edwards returns to school?
Very very low.
I canāt imagine him returning. Heās got nothing else to prove and Iād say his stock could only go down.
He really helped his brand last night on the big stage! I heard a comparison to Derrick Rose last nightā¦so did some GMās. Good luck to the young man!
Heās gotta hope he becomes Celtics Isaiah Thomas
Iāve not always been a Carsen Edwards fan, but he certainly has made me a believer in this tournament. Heās the leading scorer all time through four games. Last night he had an absolutely amazing game, a truly magical game, really a game Purdue should have won and he literally put them on his back.
Now, hereās the question I would pose, and itās directed to everyone, not just Chazer whose comment about Carsen Edwards I was acknowledging. I said Purdue āshouldā have won. Understanding that I almost never question coaches, publicly, how about Painterās decision to foul up three with 5.7 seconds remaining in regulation? I know hindsight is 20/20 but when it occurred I said to my wife ā5.7 seconds is too much time on the clock for that strategy.ā
As it turned out, after a offensive rebound tapout on the miss, a great hustle play by the Virginia point guard who chased the ball down some 70 feet from the basket, a good pass ahead, and a soft touch at the EXACT right time from about ten or twelve feet, that foul with 5.7 seconds remaining turned out to be about a half second too early.
Now, if that almost miracle sequence had not happened for Virginia, folks would be talking about the brilliant strategy Matt Painter employed by fouling up three with less than six seconds in the game. I think thatās why I ātryā not to question coaching decisions, or at least not to do it publicly. If not for that amazing sequence Purdue would have won with that strategy, but it did occur and they lost, despite the amazing performance by Carsen Edwards.
Finally, and this isnāt directed at you, chazer, at all, please donāt call me out, guys, for doing something I āalmostā never do, as I have acknowledged Iām going against my nature here in questioning a coaching decision made in the heat of the battle.
Iām all for what Coach Painter did. Virginia sent the game to OT on damn near miraculous luck. Getting offensive rebounds are pretty hard to come by at any point in the game, let alone when Purdue knew it was coming. Then Diakite hit the ball like 10 feet past half court. By the time the PG grabbed the ball and passed it to Diakite there was less than 2 seconds left on the clock. If the PG didnt throw a absolute LASER to Diakite he wouldnāt have even got the shot off. Diakite threw up a rainbow 2 hand touch shot that barely got off. Painter absolutely made the right call there. The way Virginia as a whole was shooting leading into that final sequence makes me support Painterās decision even more. Seemed like nobody from either team could miss for much of the 2nd half. Let alone Jerome or Guy or even Hunter, who scored several baskets late despite not scoring much beforehand.
I donāt necessarily agree that Pinter made the ārightā call, but I DO agree with everything else you said. Check that, Matt Painter is the coach and heās a really good one. He made the call. Thatās all I really need to know. As I said, and you reiterated, it took an almost miraculous sequence for Virginia for Purdue to lose that game, but that happened and they did.
Was it Guy who was fouled with 5.7? Or Jerome? Just playing devilās advocate, and knowing hindsight is 20/20, even if a three pointer would have been shot (it would have) and made, Purdue would have had four or five seconds to get off a shot to win, not the 1.8 or whatever they ended up with.
Again, the debate folks like to have is, should you foul up three and with how much time left?
I really DO believe Coach Paint wanted a foul with three or four seconds left. I really do. After the foul he an his assistant were in a fairly serious discussion. I couldnāt read their lips but I wonder if they werenāt questioning if the foul had occurred too early.
But again, thatās the thing, I donāt think there is a definitively ārightā answer. And I certainly donāt question Coach Painter, or the young man who committed the foul. I really donāt. But it does seem to be the kind of thing folks like to discuss on sports message boards or among ātalking headsā on sports television or ātalking voicesā on sports radio. 
Purdueās biggest regret has to be Cline missing the FT that would have put them up four and basically iced the game.
The foul was probably a good percentage move, considering that UVa has some excellent 3pt shooters. Incidentally, the UVa player said that he did not intentionally miss the free throw, so it may have been bad luck for Purdue that he did. If he makes it they have the ball with 5.7 seconds up one.
No, I donāt think they intentionally missed the free throw, either.
I guess, one of my thoughts is that basketball is not a science. Coaches make decisions and kids make plays in the heat of the battle. Theyāre doing the very best they can, but itās sure not science.
Hereās another thought, defense travels but shooting can be very fleeting, fickle, even.
One of the problems with the fouling strategy is the timing issue that is needed to make it work. That is just one of the things that can go wrong. I donāt really have a strong preference, but I probably lean toward not fouling. But, as you pointed out, it is 20/20 hindsight on our part at this point.
Now, do you guard the person inbounding the ball or not? I say, in most cases, yes.
So true. If you heavily depend on shooting, it can desert you when you need it most. But, a hot shooting team can take down anybody on a given day.
I mean, UVA had the ball in the backcourt, 50 feet from the hoop, down 2, with like 2.5 seconds left.
I have a hard time saying Purdue did anything strategically wrong - the fickleness of fate was just an asskicker.
I also wouldnāt say Purdue ādependsā on shooting (obviously last night they did on Carsenās) - theyāre 54th in the nation. Their offense is good because they donāt turn it over, they get offensive boards, and they shoot ok.
Their loss really was just a result of allowing UVA to get 42% of their misses. UVA took 10 more shots in the game - thatās why they won.
I think underwood is legit. I get great coaches adjust to who they have ect but when your going for a change of style/ culture shift sometimes a situation like that is best for everyone.
With under 5 seconds, I think itās a no-brainer. 8 or more and itās a bad idea. 5.7 seconds is in that gray area where itās debatable. In any event it takes some tough luck to lose and unfortunately they got it.
I think itās by far the best strategy but I also hate it and find it corny so I love it when It backfires on a team and they lose.
Speaking of corny, One thing Iād like to see flagrants called on for is a play where you get a steal or have numbers and they just grab a player or foul the passer who is hitting a wide open guy for a layup. If your not making an honest play on the ball and a team has a layup you need to punish the defense.
When Michigan was struggling and we got a steal in the first half down like 6 or 8 and they grabbed z I was furious. I think itās grimy even when we do it but I canāt stand that play.