Zach Edey Flashes Improved Defense for Purdue Basketball Despite Poor Shooting Night

Purdue center Zach Edey struggles to find consistency in his shot attempts in the team's 84-53 win over Milwaukee to open the season. But the junior logged 17 rebounds and six blocked shots during the victory. Both were career-highs.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Better scoring nights are going to come for Purdue junior center Zach Edey. Despite scoring 12 points on just 4-of-13 shooting in the team's 84-53 win over Milwaukee to open the season, he knows finishing at the rim isn't going to be much of an issue moving forward. 

Instead of letting an underwhelming offensive performance affect his play, the 7-foot-4 center flashed the skills he's been working on all offseason. Edey snatched 17 rebounds and swatted away six shot attempts, both being career-highs.

He became the first Big Ten men's basketball player to record at least 12 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks in a game since former Boilermaker star JaJuan Johnson on Feb. 27, 2011. 

Edey, now the star of the show for Purdue, has conditioned himself to take on the biggest role to this point in his college career. He's proven to be a dominant force inside the paint but is now showing he can just as easily take over games on the defensive end of the floor. 

"The ball wasn't really going in for me, so I felt like I could impact the game in other ways," Edey said of his performance. "So really what I focused on was rebounding and defense." 

Edey started the matchup 0-for-4 from the floor and didn't see a shot attempt go through the rim until he threw down a thunderous alley-oop dunk from freshman guard Braden Smith. The two-handed slam gave the Boilermakers a 12-point lead with under eight minutes to play in the first half against the Panthers. 

Of the shot attempts that were off the mark, the vast majority were missed jumpers over one or two defenders. At full extension, every try from the field looks like a routine layup for Edey. They're shots that he's put through the net countless times during his career with the program, both in practice and in-game. 

"It's tough, but I practice those shots hundreds of times a day, so I'm not really worried about those," Edey said. "Sometimes I felt like I might've been too rushed or I could've used a pump fake every once in a while." 

But Edey isn't a player that vanishes when he isn't mounting points on the scoreboard. Entering his third year with the Boilermakers, he worked to maximize his athleticism so as not to be exploited by quicker opponents during the 2022-23 season. 

The ability to defend ball screens has been an emphasis, and Edey is now able to fall back to the basket with relative swiftness after being pulled away from the baseline. 

"I really have been working on my body, which kind of ties into the defensive part," Edey said. "I felt like I really needed to work on having foot speed, my lateral movement and stuff like that." 

Even when Edey's shot isn't falling, he commands attention in the paint due to his sheer size alone. He managed to reach double figures against Milwaukee by drawing five fouls and sinking all four of his free-throw attempts. 

Last season, Edey shot 64.9% from the line and admitted that he lost confidence in his ability to convert foul shots with consistency. But now, he's showing an effective shooting stroke and isn't hesitant to draw fouls. 

"I think that's a big difference. People have to really guard you straight up when you can knock down free throws," Edey said. "Whereas when you can't, they can just try to foul you. Sometimes they can get away with it, sometimes they won't, but you can't just live with putting someone on the line when they're knocking down free throws."

Edey's growth as a passer has also been evident in every year he's been with the Purdue basketball program. Game experience has been key in improving court vision and finding open teammates while taking on constant double teams in the paint. 

During the 2021-22 campaign, Edey averaged 1.2 assists per game. Against the Panthers, he recorded a pair of assists that resulted in 3-pointers by juniors Brandon Newman and Ethan Morton. 

"You have to get those game reps," Edey said. "I felt like I was basically double-teamed almost every time last year. That really helped to work through that double, finding the open man, not rushing when you're in the double and waiting for someone to open up. Then getting the ball out of your hands quickly when you see that man."

Edey is poised to have a big season leading Purdue basketball, and more often than not he'll be the leading scorer for the team. It just so happened that wasn't the case on opening night, but a poor shooting performance doesn't point to any glaring issues for the star big man. 

The offense for the Boilermakers will continue to run through Edey. In games when he couples high-efficiency shooting with strong defense, he will be near unstoppable no matter who the team tips off against. 

"I thought he played really well outside of his inability to finish," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "He rebounded well, I thought his ball screen defense was really good. He blocked six shots and changed a couple of others. 

"All in all, it's good. He'll get that worked out. He hurries sometimes like he did a couple of times in the first half. He just has to collect himself, use his shot fakes, use his freeze fakes at the rim, keep his angles, and then be aggressive." 

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