Offensive Player Profile: Zach Edey

The Canadian product came to Purdue out of IMG academy as a low profile recruit alongside future lottery pick Jaden Ivey. In his first two seasons, Edey shared the frontcourt with All Big Ten center Trevion Williams. The two battled for minutes as both were productive players. But after Williams graduated, Edey's impact has blossomed beyond imagine because of his unique strengths that make him on of the most dominate players in the history of college basketball.

A discussion about Edey's offensive game has to start with his physical stature. Standing at 7'3" without shoes and weighing 300 pounds, Edey is the most physical opposing college player since Zion Williamson. The way that Edey leverages his size to bend entire defenses toward him is a rare blend of hand eye coordination and movements rarely seen with a man of his size. This is best demonstrated with his post up game that puts defenders into a lose-lose situation. Opposing bigs have to push him away from the basket so Edey cannot catch, turn, and finish with his right hook in close. Yet, Edey's size and constant movement can capitalize on angles that overaggressive defenders allow that ends with Edey hanging on rims. Possibly Edey's must impressive aspect of his game is his flexibility as a pick and roll partner. He can be an unstoppable force coming down the lane that creates gravity that bends defenders towards him while the players are given space to operate. His post game and screening game is further utilized with his ability to draw fouls and punish teams for putting him on the free throw line. Finally, even if teams force a miss against Purdue, Zach Edey has an offensive rebounding rate of 19.6 for his career and has led Purdue to be one of the best rebounding teams in the country. The complete offensive impact for Edey turns to be generational with his ability to play more than thirty minutes a game without his impact reducing in any manner.

Despite Edey's sheer dominance in college, he has only been playing basketball for seven years. This at times has made him struggle as a passer throughout his college career. With his dominance as a scorer, teams have been forced to throw every coverage possible at him to try to diminish his impact and force him to be a passer. His passing can be improved by adding variety and deception to his post passing. This starts with his ability to throw strong passes, using his body to shield the ball before varying his release position from high too low to avoid deflections. Then, with stronger passes, Edey can begin to use his eyes and ball fakes to move defenders that open up easier passes.

There are very few player comparisons that can fit with Zach Edey. The obvious connection is Yao Ming because of his physical stature and scoring prowess. How he was used to leverage his abilities to increase the teams offensive ability. This starts with refining his scoring ability to put him into high danger chances and allowing him easy decisions so he can be quick to score or to move the defense. The more the defense is moved, the more opportunity Edey will have to deliver a knock out blow to defenses with his ability to finish around the rim.

Edey is a dominant offensive player that draws an unprecedented defensive bandwidth. He forces the opposition to choose between him scoring or to compromise their defense to bend towards Edey. In the primary role, Edey needs 10-15 scoring post ups a game, the focus is getting ideal position to allow for quick scoring opportunities. In addition to his scoring, using Edey as a screening both on and off ball would allow for Edey to apply his pressure from a variety of angles against the defense. This forces the defense to make decisions between leaving Edey or allowing other players to have opportunities. The key is moving Edey and his defender, drawing attention away for his teammates and allowing Edey to gain angles for better positioning in the post or for rebounding.