Say what you will about Zach Edey’s grating play style, but there’s no denying the Purdue Boilermakers’ reigning National Player of the Year has been a force of nature during the NCAA Tournament.
Edey’s best all-around performance happened to come when his team needed it the most against Tennessee on Sunday. With a line of 40 points and 16 rebounds, Edey drove Purdue’s charge to a 72-66 win and a trip to the Final Four.
Questions lingered about this Edey-led Boilermakers squad. Could they hold up to the pressure of being a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance? Or were they going to be soft and underachieve like they did last year, when they lost to 16th seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the Round of 64? Well, Edey had let his play do the talking until Sunday’s postgame interview, when he cut loose with a little cathartic profanity.
Edey had a little extra something for Vols coach Rick Barnes at the podium, too!
No matter what happens from here on out, Edey and Purdue can put last season’s epic disappointment behind them. All bets are off when you reach the Final Four, especially when a juggernaut like defending national champion UConn seemingly can’t be stopped by anyone.
So that’s one elephant in the room taken care of, that aforementioned defeat to FDU. However, criticism will continue to fly Edey’s way when it comes to how he plays. Lots of folks are either quick to say how little his game will translate to the NBA, or that he’s only good because he’s 7-foot-4.
I think Edey can live with all that. He’s probably heard some version of such skepticism all his life. What ought to bother Edey is the notion that his 40-16 line against the Volunteers was heavily influenced by a favorable officiating crew who wanted to gas up his legend.
As somebody who supports, or at least doesn’t vehemently oppose, Edey’s throwback brand of ball, I can admit that his shooting 22 free throws — whereas Tennessee’s entire team attempted exactly half that number — is a tad sketchy.
I’m not in hashtag RIGGED territory, or suggesting that the NCAA Tournament is scripted to ensure Edey goes as deep as possible. I think it might be more of a situation where the refs struggle to process what’s happening to a man of his size in real-time split seconds.
Come on, though. How do you watch the clips below and 100% hate on this young man? Y’all jealous ’cause you ain’t him! Or so I theorize is the cast for the vast majority of Haterade chuggers.
