The Purdue Boilermakers did everything they could to beat the UConn Huskies in the national championship, but they failed to stop Dan Hurley’s team from manifesting destiny and becoming back-to-back champs.
While the Huskies are proclaiming that they’re the kingpins of collegiate hoops, some fans are sympathizing with the Boilermakers. Some are especially feeling bad for Zach Edey after the huge performance he showed out against the Huskies while the rest of his team struggled to contribute against UConn’s stifling defense.
While many would be satisfied with the quality of work Edey has shown, there’s one NBA player who feels like the 7’4″ giant could have done a lot more to help his team win. However, his take might not be taken seriously by many college fans.
Draymond Green blasts Zach Edey for switching off during the Purdue Boilermakers’ loss to the UConn Huskies
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green believes that Edey could have pushed himself more to force a closer result against the Huskies.
The Spun’s Chris Rosvoglou reported that Green gave the credit to Samson Johnson for committing the play that made Edey quit the game:
“Job Well Done 35! You did your job tonight. It was him that made Edey quit with about 19 mins to go in the 2nd half,” Green wrote on X. “There was a turnover and I saw Edey body language walking back. He was done. Now rewatch the game from that point on.”
It was clear during the game that the Huskies were doing everything to stop the Purdue Boilermakers from getting into the game, even if it meant Edey was free to do whatever he wanted on the floor.
Hurley had this to say about his team’s game plan on letting Edey go rampant:
“We didn’t care if Zach took 25, 28 shots to get 30, 35 points,” Hurley said. “This whole gameplan was: no Smith, no Loyer, no Gillis, no Jones. Keep that collective group under 18, 20 points as a group, they had no chance to win no matter how well Zach played.”
It was clear to fans who watched that the rest of the team failed to assist Zach Edey and make the game much closer. Aside from Edey, Braden Smith was the only player to have scored in double digits with his 12 points.
If Edey even managed to get help from any of his teammates, we would have seen an entirely different ending to the championship game.
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