Purdue suffocating compared to Saint Peter’s fish it’s all Matt Painter’s fault

The Purdue team simmered in frustration by Saint Peter’s Peacocks in a crazy March and head coach Matt Painter deserves a substantial portion of the blame.

The story of the 2022 NCAA Tournament from the very first day of the first round was that of Saint Peter, much to the dismay of Kentucky and Murray State by becoming the third seed out of 15 seeds to ever make it to the round of 16. days to prepare for the Peacocks, 3-seed Purdue lost to Saint Peter’s 67-64 as Shaheen Holloway’s team became the first 15 seed to ever advance to the Elite Eight.

The successful team was backed with 12.5 points at the start of the game, largely due to the substantial size advantage they had inside over the Peacocks with Trevion Williams and Zach Edey. Purdue’s game plan never took full advantage of that, a key reason the team’s team squandered its path to the Finals.

Matt Painter’s game plan leaves a lot to be desired

Over the course of the past year, Matt Painter has refused to play Edey and Williams together, alternating his big boys playing a more explosive offensive style, centered around picking Jaden Ivey in the future NBA lottery. The Peacocks exploited that plan by pairing Ivey early and often, disappointing the star guard and throwing the entirety of Purdue’s offensive behavior out.

Painter started attacking more through Williams in the second half and he was at full effect, scoring 14 of his 16 points after halftime. Logic would dictate that Williams should be on the floor as often as possible as Saint Peter’s had no answer for him but Painter stuck with his frequent substitution patterns, dragging Williams for Edey instead of deploying. declared his two big men together.

It’s no secret that the Peacocks are not a big team and their best defender, KC Ndefo, was soon in trouble. Performing offensive behavior over the hand, with Williams acting as a four with Edey at five, would overwhelm Saint Peter’s and potentially lead to a double-digit win for Purdue.

Instead of being flexible, Painter stuck with the game plan that got him to Sweet 16 even though Saint Peter’s was prepared to stop it. The poaching team didn’t bring the ball down low enough, allowing Williams or Edey to send the ball too far out of the basket in an attempt to set up circumferential shots that wouldn’t drop.

This is a bitter end for a Purdue team that started the season with Final Four expectations. Losses could have been easily avoided had Painter not stubbornly stuck to a grand philosophy that had cost his team dearly.

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