In Matt Painter’s eyes – and with his philosophy – he’ll treat Saturday night’s game with Arizona just as another game. All the while, knowing it isn’t. Absolutely, isn’t.
A Final Four is on the line as is legacy (maybe).
He’ll break it down like most good coaches will: to simplicity even though it’s compex.
“You have to be able to take care of the basketball. You have to be able to rebound,” he told reporters in San Jose, California on Friday. “It’s just harder against teams like Arizona, with their athleticism, their experience, their quickness, their length, their strength. It’s just harder. They’ve only lost two games for a reason.”
That was five things he said about Arizona he has to deal with Then again, the Wildcats (35-2) are here for a reason.
“They’re a really, really good team,” Painter said. “They’re well-coached. You’ve got to play to your strengths, just like what they’re doing. They’re like, let’s dominate the glass. Let’s take care of the basketball. Let’s do what we do. Let’s stick together. There’s a lot of runs in the game. Let’s diminish their runs and let’s lengthen ours.”
All to lengthen their seasons. Purdue was last in the Final Four a couple of years ago behind big man Zach Edey. The cast of characters have changed – not all of them, however – as they have for Arizona. After all, it’s been 25 years since Arizona has been to the promised land of basketball.
Yet, it’s never promised, especially since Arizona has whiffed three times at this point in the season of being right there. Now, comes the fifth-year coach Tommy Lloyd, who has led UA’s young guns and older ones, too, to the brink of another big weekend.
“It’s not going to change my life,” Lloyd said, of the moment. “I’m pretty fortunate, regardless of the outcome … But I just think it’s going to be a great moment of collective joy for our entire community. I think that’s really powerful. If you get millions of people that can smile at the same time and cheer together, that’s powerful stuff. That’s the compound effect.
“And that’s what I would be most excited for. Winning the game would be great. But the collective joy it would give our community; it would be more special than just the win by itself.”
Still, a win is a BIG WIN and would eliminate a lot of ghosts of tournament’s past. And perhaps spark memories for future Wildcats who have watched the Cats of today. Koa Peat was one of them, kinda, although he admitted to not watching much basketball growing up.
“I saw a lot of the past legends that played for Arizona, and Mike Bibby, he was a big mentor to me,” Peat said of his Phoenix-area mentor. “He went to the Final Four, won the championship. When you put on the Arizona jersey, you know you’re playing for people that played before you. So, it’s bigger than yourself; it’s the program.”
Now, the program is 40 minutes from the Final Four. But so is Purdue.
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