Any team that runs through its point guard is a good matchup for Michigan. Xavier held Carsen to a 92 and 77 ORating in the last two matchups. If Xavier can hold him to 100 or less, itāll be a comfortable win.
Iām guessing Charles will start out on Cline? Heās done a great job this season taking 3 point specialists out of the game.
Iām conflicted on the defensive matchups. Basically what you need to be worried about with each player:
Cline: Elite 3 point shooter, runs off screens
Eastern: Slasher, ball handler, athlete, offensive rebounder, canāt shoot
Eifert: Kind of a shooter, not knockdown or a scary threat, offensive rebounder
So, Iggy on Eifert. I would say have Matthews on Eastern, Poole on Cline, but switch any off ball screens.
I thought this was one of the best preview write-ups to date. The use of statistics with video, highlighting Purdueās primary offensive strengths (Carsenās shooting off-the-dribble, Boudreauxās offensive rebounding, and Cline from three), was extremely constructive. Pretty crazy, given his lack of athleticism or height, how elite Boudreux has been the offensive glass. I wonder how sustainable it is because his ORR in the Ivy League was 8.2 and 7.4% ā above average, but not āgreat.ā
You hit on all of the big points in the piece, but I would expect Charles to see some time on Edwards if he gets hot. X will obviously do a good job, but some of the off-the-dribble threes Edwards hits are totally unguardable, especially if the defender is shorter than he is. Charlesā length could provide a slightly bigger deterrent.
For my money, these are the two best big coaches in the Big Ten. Holtmann could get up there, but he isnāt as proven quite yet. Painterās adaptability is admirable ā it is rare to find a coach who grasps his teamās strengths and weaknesses and is willing to adjust accordingly. Luckily, our coach has this quality, too! Should be a fun game tomorrow.
IMO probably behoove them to put Matthews on Edwards when Zavier is getting rest and Eli is in. Stagger it that way.
Yeah Matthews on Eastern May make more sense. Allows him to roam for off ball help around the rim a bit more and keep Eastern off the glass.
Agreed on Painter as 2nd best coach. He is very good
Too lazy to look it up, how highly was Edwards ranked while in high school? Lots of offers?
I remember him being under MY personal radar, and the first time I saw him play us, I posted on this site saying in 2 years heād be a nightmare. That might not have been a āhot takeā, but here we are and Iām just in awe of how good he is.
He was a fringe top-100 four-star type of guy.
Thanks Dylan - Iād assume the write up at that time was that he was too short to be a ā2ā, but wasnāt a great ā1ā. Heās a great, great college hoops playerā¦and if my eyes told me (his Freshman year) how good he looked, Iād assume that some recruiters out there are shaking their heads that they overlooked him.
Edwards looks like a guy who would have been a fantastic running back. I mean fantastic.
He actually did play some football in high school, but I think I remember reading that he was a receiver.
Same thing that the NBA says about his game.
He played a couple great games against Michigan as a freshman so probably a lot of Michigan fans swearing heād be good 
Heās so explosive. Of course his hand-eye coordination makes me wonder if he wouldnāt make for a great quarterback, too. Heck of an athlete.
This game has me nervous. I feel like Purdue is going to come in and probably shoot the lights out and make contested 3 after contested 3.
Sharp money seems to be heavy on the Boilers. 66% of bets placed for Michigan, yet the line has dropped from -7.5 to -6. Can even get 5.5 at some books.
7.5 was a lot of points
I donāt think heās very good at recruiting coverage but Balas said a few years back Michigan was where Carsen Edwards wanted to go.