Penn State Demoralized by Minnesota

by BSD on Jan 12, 2009 9:00 AM EST in Basketball Comment 12 comments

Final - 1.11.2009	1	2	Total
Penn St. Nittany Lions	30	29	59
Minnesota Golden Gophers	40	39	79

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There's no way to shine up this turd. Penn State flew out to Minnesota and got their butts handed to them plain and simple. It was one of those games where you go down by three early. Then three turns into five. Five turns into ten. Ten turns into fifteen. And then before you know it you're down by 25 points midway through the second half and you're wondering how the Steelers are doing over on CBS.

The Good

Chris Babb got a lot of playing time? I don't know. I'm reaching here. It's hard to find anything good in this craptastic game. Talor Battle had 19 points and 9 assists. So there's that. But most of his points came when the game was already out of hand.

The Bad

The Penn State offense rode the struggle bus all day. They had a tough time dealing with the press and all the different looks Tubby Smith was throwing at them. It seemed like every pass and every shot was contested.

Jamelle Cornley only had 10 points. Stanley Pringle only had seven. The announcers said it best. For Penn State to win, they need Battle and Pringle to score nearly 20, Cornley to score 15, and one or two other guys to step up and score in double digits. That didn't happen today and it resulted in a blowout loss.

The defense was terrible. Minnesota was slashing to the basket for easy buckets and nailing shots from outside. For the game the Gophers were an unheard of 9-for-9 from three point range. I've never heard of such a thing.

The Ugly

This is just another night in a season David Jackson probably wants to forget. DJ finished with zero points, two rebounds, three personal fouls and three turnovers in just 13 minutes. I think he even had two or three of his shots blocked. Ed mercifully yanked him when it was evident that giving him the ball only resulted in disaster. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how one of our most consistent players from last year can suck so bad this year.

From beginning to end Penn State was just getting outhustled. Minnesota was attacking and getting every loose ball and rebound. They just wanted it more, and that's the disturbing part about this performance today.

Looking Ahead

Penn State has a few days to lick their wounds and do some soul searching before they welcome the Michigan State Spartans to the Jordan Center Wednesday night at 6:30 PM on the BTN. Penn State upset the Spartans in Happy Valley last year with this exact same lineup, but don't expect to take Michigan State by surprise this year. And don't expect to get 51 free throw attempts like we did last year either.

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It was painful

But at one point Minnesota had hit 7/7 3 pointers, the way that they were playing I think any team would have had trouble playing with them. And what is up with the no calls on the hack fest that was going on, it seemed more like a wrestling match than a Bball game. We will look better against MSU, I hope.

We just needed a couple players, a couple people to buy in to the fact and we were able to do it. --A.Q. Shipley

by psu on Jan 12, 2009 9:05 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Very Pepper Brooks of you

For the game the Gophers were an unheard of 9-for-9 from three point range. I’ve never heard of such a thing.

Dodgeball
Cotton McKnight: And the Average Joe’s beat the Germans in a shocking upset.
Pepper Brooks: I feel shocked.

by HookMania on Jan 12, 2009 9:36 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

75%FROM THE LINE! THERE SHOULD BE DANCING IN THE STREETS!!11!!

(nevermind the sample size)

Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries

by Kevin HD on Jan 12, 2009 9:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think having the opponents best two

players sit the game out helps this PSU team look pretty good (I’m talking to you Purdue).

I will watch them and cheer for them as much as I can, but I still don’t really believe in this team. Way too many holes.

pinkertonpark.com - you owe yerself a laugh.

by rahpsu92 on Jan 12, 2009 10:33 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

9 for 9 from 3 point range was an NCAA All Time Record!

According to the BTN last night…

by PSURob on Jan 12, 2009 10:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Nice

I would say if they had shot a more human 4-for-9 then that’s 15 points off the board and we only lose by five, but the way they were rebounding I’m not sure it would have helped.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 12, 2009 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Wahoo!

We’re a footnote to History!

There is a tractor in the parking lot, West Virginia license EIEIO. Your lights are on.

by leeharvey418 on Jan 12, 2009 2:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This Game

What I got out of this game is that Minnesota is very good, very deep, and very well coached. Tough match-up for PSU and anyone in the Big 10.

by STU Boy on Jan 12, 2009 11:57 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, these days will happen.

Call it a measuring stick game. We don’t have the depth or skill to compete against a team on fire like that.

--
Mr. Bob Dobalina

by Run Up The Score on Jan 12, 2009 4:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Everyone has lousy games

The difference is teams like Duke and UNC win their stinkers by five points. We lose ours by 20, which is still better than a few years ago when we lost ours by 40.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 12, 2009 5:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Now that I'm off work

My thoughts:
First of all, Minnesota hit the jackpot with Tubby. Kentucky is like the Auburn of basketball, it made no sense to fire Tubby. Sure his teams appeared to underachieve come tournament time, but everyone does. Here’s a list:

Kansas- Before this past year, Bill Self never even got to a Final Four.
Duke- Have been struggling to get out of the Sweet 16
Pitt- Ditto
UCLA- Can’t win it all
Mich St- Haven’t been able to go back to the finals since the early 2000s.

I could go on forever, my point is that it is so hard to make a Final Four, and it makes no sense for Tubby to be let go. Look at Kentucky now, Gillespie can’t coach. He uses shady tactics to get recruits, and they have not been anything remotely close to Kentucky basketball. I guarantee Tubby would have Kentucky in the top 10 if he was the coach of Patterson and Meekes.

After watching this game, Tubby has such great feel as a coach. He knew when to crank up the press, but when the game would get too fast, he would simply show it then back off and play almost a prevent zone that would eat some clock. This also allowed him to methodically pick apart our defense with his semi-flex offense and get good lucks. I am on record of being an Ed fan, but sadly he is no match for Tubby. Then again, probably only Izzo and Bo Ryan are.

Mike mentioned that we got killed on the boards and hustle plays, and it was for one simple reason: lack of depth, especially when compared to the Gophers. Rebounding is essentially a hustle play, and since Penn State has no big-man depth, the Gophers could dominate the glass. Little men can play lots of minutes, but big men will get killed on the glass if they have to play too many minutes. Unfortanetly, we are short a big man or two since Ott is a stiff who does more harm than good. Minnesota runs 11 deep, we run 7, maybe tops.

Penn State will set up much better against teams like Wisconsin, Michigan, and even Purdue because they are not as deep as the Gophers. All in all this is a tough match-up for lions.

by STU Boy on Jan 12, 2009 6:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Don't get so down

We can’t get so down on our program. We are way better then we were a few years ago. We are missing a BIG piece of the puzzle and that is a true big man to play center. As a result we have our bigger guys playing out of position. Even with that, we still have a chance to get to the NCAA tournament this year. It is slim but it is still a chance. We need 8 more Big Ten wins to fall in the middle of the pack. The Big Ten is very tough. And Playing on the road is very difficult. This will no be the last tme we loose by a big margin. With Michigan State coming into town we will most lilkely loose another one on Wednesday. Our formula to win ….. Look at the post above. We need 70 to 75 points per game. We need Pringle, Battle, and Cornley to play good games and score points. They can not get in foul trouble. Most likely one of the three will be shut down each night. Every game we need at least two or three others to step up. Morrisey, Jones, Brooks, Jackson, and Babbs. We have not been getting this for the most part this season. 8 more wins is not unrealistic though.

Peter

by psuboy on Jan 13, 2009 8:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs