Penn State Advances to NIT Final Four
by BSD on Mar 25, 2009 9:34 AM EDT
in Basketball
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This team doesn't know when to quit. They don't understand that they are supposed to be slow and nonathletic. They don't understand they are hurt and tired. They don't understand that Penn State basketball was supposed to end their season two months ago so as not to take attention away from spring practice in football. They don't understand that they aren't supposed to go into Florida and beat the team that won back-to-back national championships a few years ago by nine points. They don't understand that when you choke a ten point lead away into a two point lead in the final minutes in a hostile environment you are supposed to roll over and die.
But this team does understand two things. They understand that nobody believes in them, and they understand that they hate to lose.
I love this team. How many times have we thought the game was lost or the season was over just to see them prove us wrong? How many miracles have we had this season? There were the road wins in East Lansing and Champagne. There was the frantic comeback in the final minutes against Iowa. Battle's last second shot against Illinois. His other last second shot against George Mason. Last night I thought we would play well, but probably come out with a five or ten point loss. And I would have been happy with that because it has still been an amazing season in this renaissance period of Penn State basketball. But once again they proved me wrong and we'll get to watch this team we love at least one more time.
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Nice little write-up. Gave me chills!
Can’t wait to see them in person at MSG! Anyone else going?
I bleed Blue and White.
good chance
There’s a good chance me and some friends might be missing some classes here is happy valley to make the trip.
I've got my tickets sittting under the basket CRT-13 Row K
www.beersinthebleachers.com Check it out!
by AllDeonDoesIsCatchTDs on Mar 25, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I was so proud of our team last night
Our kids played with the kind of quiet confidence we all see in our football program. Even when Florida baited us by tackling Moresy, we didn’t retaliate. There were so many awesome plays last night I can’t even remember them all. Cornley is a friggin monster.
It’s not football, but it was close. Great game.
"We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." -- LJ Sr.
Very proud
They definately could’ve rolled over when UF cut it to 2 and the crowd got back into it, but they showed some resiliency down the stretch with Cornley hitting a couple big shots…
by Screen Name 20 on Mar 25, 2009 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions
I had great time watching game last night on ESPN
NIT Semifinal Information
March 24, 2009
Ticket Information for Penn State’s next NIT semifinal game at Madison Square Garden on March 31 will be posted as soon as details are available on Wednesday.
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/032409aaa.html
I think that...
… there is an NIT consolation game. So they play two more games no matter what.
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
I think so too
We have the NIT 3rd Place banners proudly hanging in the BJC to prove that they at least used to have a consolation game.
Let's Go State!
by Gopher Broke on Mar 25, 2009 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Incorrect.
They haven’t crowned a 3rd place finisher since 2003. Not sure why that stopped, didn’t see much on their website:
by Tailgate Shogun on Mar 25, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
That's a pity.
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
Did we ever figure out
why Lewis Preston left Florida for a lateral move to a less prestigious program? I figured that might be mentioned yesterday (though I only caught part of the telecast).
he got annoyed because people kept calling him Billy
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions
I mean, you can't blame me...
…for wanting this cat on our coaching staff:
"Never. We would never shoot nuclear weapons at Decepticons." -- Gen. Jack Jacobs
by Run Up The Score on Mar 25, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
The rumor at the time
was that Donovan and Preston just didn’t see eye to eye on things. There was also talk that Donovan wasn’t happy with Preston interviewing for a few smaller school head coaching jobs.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Zombie Nation
I aboslutley loved it – at about tte 5:30 mark in the second half, during a time-out, we were up 10 and the PA played Zombie Nation and all you could hear was “WE ARE PENN STATE!”
I saw that a little differently....
or possibly it was just a different part of the game. They definitely played it when Florida had charged back and I sort of felt like we were being mocked a little bit (granted I know we aren’t the only school that uses it). I don’t recall hearing that many PSU fans in the building at all. It was a great road win though, in an incredibly hostile environment. I would love for the BJC to be so loud for a game that no one can hear the whistle for what seemed like an eternity. Can’t wait to watch the semis!
We are not normal. We are legends.
by NittanyAlum02 on Mar 25, 2009 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions
Didn't hear that
I heard the Blue Band pep band playing Victory with the “We Are Penn State”
I mostly laughed at the Florida fans jumping around to Zombie Nation. They weren’t jumping in unison. When they got to the part where we chant “We Are Penn State” they didn’t know what to do. Some of them tried to work in a Gator chomp. But mostly they just went Woo Woo.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Bubb Rubb was there?
He brought the whistles? Was Lil Sis there, too?
by Tailgate Shogun on Mar 25, 2009 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions
don't think you heard the band
The pep band didn’t go or I would have been there…if you are referring to the Florida game.
Well somebody was playing Victory
And I definitely heard the “We Are Penn State” chant. It was clear as a bell when the rest of the arena was quiet with PSU up by 10.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
There was definitely a Penn State band there...
My guess is that it was one of the Florida alumni groups. A lot of them have former band members who continue to play at functions and pep rallies.
They had to give us tickets
I don’t know who used them, but the visiting team always gets tickets for NIT games. It’s neat that somebody seemed to have used them. They probably had a lot of fun.
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
i didn't hear that either...
i just thought they were being nice and playing our song for us! that’s southern hospitality for ya.
i love how ppl are using that song like crazy now except they have no fillers for it. they all stand around like morons. i can’t listen to that song w/o yelling out “we are penn state” doesn’t matter where i am at (of course now i get a lot of strange looks at Blue Jacket games out here in OH) LOL
"You can't spell Nittany without NIT!"
same here
what is even more amusing is my girlfriend, who has no affiliation with Penn State (except through me), and usually is mad at Penn State because it takes up my time, also instinctively shouts out “We Are Penn State” as filler to Zombie Nation. She even downloaded the song and will play it, and shout it out whenever she hears it.
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions
Off topic
but from the live game thread there was a link to BHGP’s new PWN3D STATE shirt (in response to our “BLAME IOWA” shirt). Anyway, I browsed through their store, and found a shirt I think we can all believe in.
The Leman
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 10:22 AM EDT reply actions
I think my brother bought one of those.
"Never. We would never shoot nuclear weapons at Decepticons." -- Gen. Jack Jacobs
by Run Up The Score on Mar 25, 2009 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
And if not, he's going to get one in the mail soon.
"Never. We would never shoot nuclear weapons at Decepticons." -- Gen. Jack Jacobs
by Run Up The Score on Mar 25, 2009 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
we can all believe in leman
because he believes in all of us.
i really don’t think there was a response needed to the BSD “i blame iowa” shirt. but hey, times are tough in iowa, and i hear they need a few bucks.
World F#$king Champions
Why love this team?
If they hated to lose so much they would be playing in the real tournament.
Maybe its time to expect a little more from the basketball program.
Ok, smart guy...
I love this TEAM because they respond to adversity in ways that most collegiate teams seldom do. They have never given up on a game and continue to play hard on the court and represent PSU well off of it. A bunch of good, solid, intelligent kids who love the university from which I graduated.
They weren’t able to control the OOC schedule that kept them from dancing, but they were able to control their effort and they gave all of it all season.
I love this TEAM and am confident that I am in the vast majority.
Go back into your hole and be miserable while the rest of us enjoy the ride.
Okay, this was two years ago.
Wed Jan 3 (112) Northwestern W, 83-57 Home 10-4 1-0
Sat Jan 6 (23) Purdue L, 64-60 Away 10-5 1-1
Sat Jan 13 (16) Indiana L, 84-74 Home 10-6 1-2
Wed Jan 17 (54) Michigan L, 77-57 Away 10-7 1-3
Sat Jan 20 (15) Michigan St. L, 91-64 Home 10-8 1-4
Wed Jan 24 (64) Iowa L, 79-63 Away 10-9 1-5
Sat Jan 27 (140) Minnesota L, 65-60 Away 10-10 1-6
Sat Feb 3 (23) Purdue L, 69-59 Home 10-11 1-7
Wed Feb 7 (8) Wisconsin L, 71-58 Home 10-12 1-8
Sat Feb 10 (112) Northwestern L, 53-51 Away 10-13 1-9
Wed Feb 14 (4) Ohio St. L, 64-62 Home 10-14 1-10
Sat Feb 17 (8) Wisconsin L, 75-49 Away 10-15 1-11
Wed Feb 21 (4) Ohio St. L, 68-60 Away 10-16 1-12
Sat Feb 24 (33) Illinois L, 68-50 Home 10-17 1-13
Wed Feb 28 (64) Iowa W, 74-72 Home 11-17 2-13
Sat Mar 3 (16) Indiana L, 94-63 Away 11-18 2-14
Big Ten Conference Tournament
Thu Mar 8 (33) Illinois L, 66-60 61 Neutral 11-19
"Never. We would never shoot nuclear weapons at Decepticons." -- Gen. Jack Jacobs
by Run Up The Score on Mar 25, 2009 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions
I LOL whenever I read comments like this
People need to realize that when it comes to basketball, Penn State is one of the bottom-feeder Big 10 teams, or another comparison would be to a mid-major team. I always find it funny when those teams taste moderate success for a year or 2, and then feel entitled to something. They then usually go and fire their coaches or ADs, and then fall back into being the crappy team they usually are, instead of enjoying the ride while they are on it.
Things are all relative, and you gotta judge a season compared to both recent seasons, and historic seasons, both of which Penn State FAR exceeded this year.
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions
The thing I found interesting during the game last night was that before Billy Donovan Florida sucked
They were always at the bottom of the SEC, and had not ever won an SEC title. Then they won 2 in a row and a NC or two. It just gave me hope and I think Ed has us heading in such a positive direction now. We saw how great Cornley played last night, and you might think how could we win without him, but against Rhode Island we saw a bright future for this team and the players that are coming up.
This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.
Nice
I guess you won’t be a PSU basketball fan until we go to the final four then. Then you’ll want to fire Ed because he can’t win the whole thing. There’s a name for people like you. “Front runner.”
Go ahead and keep waiting. There’s no room for Debbie Downer on the struggle bus.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Who said I wasnt a fan?
Can any of you really deny that this team had the talent and ability to make the NCAA tournament but couldnt pull it together to make it happen?
Of course they did.
And they did enough to get there! 4 wins vs. top 25 teams, two on the road, plus a winning record in the #2 RPI conference in the country was enough to make the NCAA tournament, but a schedule put together last spring is what kept us out. Even with that OOC debacle, it still took FOUR unexpected upsets in conference tournaments to knock us off the bubble.
It must be a miserable existence to focus on the negative when it’s so much more fun watching one of the best teams – NCAA tourney or not – that PSU has fielded in forever.
Excuses
Those four unexpected upsets don’t matter if we take care of business and beat the teams we were supposed to beat. (ie Temple, Rhode Island, Iowa)
Bottom line is, if this team was all heart and hated to lose so much, it wouldnt be playing in the consolation tournament.
I will more forward and focus on my misery, while the rest of you happily reside in blissful mediocrity where teams dont perform to their full potential.
Cool
Way to say a bunch of college kids don’t have the heart.
Kath?
by psuphiman80 on Mar 25, 2009 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
And this is basketball
Losses happen. There’s 30 games, and there are so many bounces that decide close games. Just because you lose tough games doesn’t mean you don’t have heart. I guess the lack of heart led to Kelly banking in 2 threess.
Sometimes heart isn't enough
Having all the heart in the world is great, but if the other guy is taller and faster and has twice the number of bodies he’s probably going to beat you. Just because you hate to lose doesn’t write you a free pass to win.
If anything, this team achieved OVER their potential this year. Was the loss at Iowa underachieving even though it went into double overtime after playing Illinois just 40 hours earlier? Or was beating Michigan State on their home court over achieving for this team? Most people had them finishing near the bottom fo the conference at the beginning of the season. I don’t think anyone, including me, thought they would have a winning conference record. Did you? Did you really think this was a final four team? Or even an NCAA tournament team before the season? I doubt it, but here you are saying they didn’t “perform to their full potential”. What kind of potential did you think this team had, honestly, before the season started? Or did you expectations just change after they got a few big wins?
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Really you just need some Koolaid
We are winning games, we are fun to watch, and we are in the post season. As a 20+ year PSU Bball fan I will take these facts any time and be happy.
This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.
Pass the Koolaid!
Sure my expectations changed after some big wins. But when you see the big wins, doesn’t that just make you question the bad losses even more?
I don’t think I’m delusional. I never expected to make the final four, the sweet sixteen, or even win a tournament game. But when you look back and see how talented this team is, I really can’t see how you could be satisfied with not making the tournament.
Oh my freaking god,
Nobody is “satisfied” that we’re in the NIT and not the NCAA tournament, but there is nothing that we (the fans) can do about the situation. So we’re left with two options: W
1. Enjoy watching this team play with heart and continue to win games on national television against solid competition, all the while getting the young nucleus used to playing in a one-and-done situation.
OR
2. Complain and dwell on something that happened in the past and cannot be changed, thereby limiting the ability to enjoy watching YOUR TEAM WIN GAMES.
If there were no hope for the next season, a la 2001, this would probably be a different story, but as any long time follower of PSU basketball (since 1985 right here) can tell you, any season with more than 20 wins is enjoyable to experience.
Fair enough
I have a different perspective I guess which I think is shared with most people. We see where this team was two years ago, what it did last year, and what it did this year and we see progress. It’s not fast progress, but if I had to choose between going to the NIT Final Four and losing 13 straight games over the months of January and February I’ll take this any day. I think you would too.
It’s disappointing they didn’t make the tournament, but I blame that on the people who put NJIT on the schedule and the selection committee who didn’t appreciate a 10-8 Big Ten record. The kids are playing their hearts out, and I can’t possibly talk down on them for not making the tournament.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Good Times
I love you guys.
Lets hug it out, bring it in.
That's how the men do it Iowa
It doesn’t bother them because they have no balls.
This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope.
like last year
when we were crawling around and big old Sparty came running by and tripped over us ;-)
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow, Mike
You’re really on top of your game today with these posts/replies. Having a nice hump day?
"...You know, Reemer, someday I'm gonna own a big sports bar."
I dunno
I guess that win last night coupled with spring practice kicking off has me all giddy.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
I love watching this team
They may not be the most talented team in the country, but I haven’t seen a team with more heart and determination. There were so many times this year they could’ve give up but wouldn’t. The ‘01 team was great, but I will remember this team more because of all they have overcome. They could have packed it in once they didn’t make the NCAAs but stuck together and I’m happy for the seniors who look like they want to prove everyone wrong.
That being said, I think 100% of the blame is being placed on the OOC schedule as why we “didn’t have a chance” to get in. I think that is totally false. If we had won one more of these close Big 10 games (Mich St at home, Wisc twice, Iowa on the road) OR when we were leading at the half at UM OR if we would have beaten Rhode Island (which would have led to a game against Villanova) they would have been a LOCK for the tourney, and there would have been ZERO criticism of the schedule. I think this team has done a ton of amazing things this year, but they absolutely had a chance to get in even with the schedule they had…they just didn’t have as much margin for error, and they came up just a little bit short.
I think from where this team has come from, it was only a few years ago where they were getting blown out repeatedly in mostly every Big 10 game, to where they are now, you can really get a sense that they are building a PROGRAM and I look forward to some great years in the future.
by mundyscorner99 on Mar 25, 2009 11:28 AM EDT reply actions
hey
As long as we get to see them spray the bubbly in NYC, I’ll be OK with champagne.
In a away, it’s frustrating to know that a team that won at Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Illinois, and Florida didn’t schedule tougher non-cons. This team had the ability to beat good teams on the road and at home, but rarely had the opportunity to showcase it in November and December.
Is it too early
to nominate Cornley for “Nittany Lion of the Week”? Dude definitely deserves it with what he must have had to play through last night.
As for the earlier comment regarding “the dance”. A buddy of mine did some head-to-head comparisons between PSU vs. some of the at-large teams that WERE selected. Some of these were what you might call “off the radar” comparisons, but others seemed to be in line with the criteria that was claimed to have been used in determining the invites. His numbers showed that if the committee was truly using the criteria that they claimed to be using, our OOC should NOT have kept us from being selected.
But enough about that . . . f*** the committee. This team hasn’t given me a reason to moan before, I’m CERTAINLY not going to start after a performance like last night’s.
"the secret to loving your job is having a hobby that you really despise"
NLOTW
I’m pushing that back to tomorrow. He’ll at least get an honorable mention, but we had a couple kids win national championships in other sports this week, so it’s kinda hard to not recognize that.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Excellent point.
Too easy to forget about the accomplishments of our other Nttany Lion athletes. Good on ya, mate!
"the secret to loving your job is having a hobby that you really despise"
If I may recommend, sir
Nick Chinman, men’s fencer, who came back from a 12-7 deficit in his final match against a dude who was in the Olympics last year, and from Notre Dame.
by DevonEdwards on Mar 25, 2009 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
that dude is my desktop image
anytime you can find a pic of a PSU guy victoriously stabbing a guy from ND (provided it’s not Chris Bell), it’s worth a week on the computer.
if he stabbed a guy from ND
do you really think he woulda gotten kicked off the team? Those Irish are sneaky bastards, and need a good stabbin’ every once in a while.
by The JuggerNitt on Mar 25, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions
i need to find this pic
and send it to my boss, who is a ND fan! hahaha
"You can't spell Nittany without NIT!"
You have to remember
that the four teams in the NIT finals next week are probably better than 20-30 teams that made the field of 64. Does anyone think Penn State would have lost to Cleveland State by 15 points cough Wake Forest cough.
What's not to love about these guys?
Our team this year is gritty, scrappy, underestimated, and just plain fun to watch. If the world hasn’t figured out that Cornley is a warrior, Battle is very talented, and you’d better not leave Pringle alone behind the arc, by now, they never will. I also love the progress we’re seeing with A. Jones and D. Jackson. We’re going to miss Jamelle and Stanley, but I think we’re seeing progress. ED has done a great job this year!
How on earth did you compete with all that SEC speed?
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boliermaker Blog
See also: Outback Bowl, Tennessee vs. Penn St.
John Madden told me 90% of the game was half-mental...
by TheK-GunNeedsReloaded on Mar 25, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Exactly
And also FSU in the 2005 Orange Bowl, though admittedly that wasn’t OMG ESS EEE SEE SPEED. That was just Souvern Speed.
Mike
Black Shoe Diaries
Souvern speed. Let's run with it...
In the last ten years we’ve seen victories against:
Georgia Tech in basketball (2008)
UCF and Virginia in football (2002)
Kentucky and North Carolina in basketball (2001)
Kentucky in football (1999)
Few things did more to promote the idea that the Big Ten is slower than the SEC than the Auburn-PSU Capital One Bowl game . The result should stand, but every other record of that game should be scrapped and lost forever.
Now if we could only handle that Iowa speed…
Irony
Auburn was totally getting handled until they decided that they weren’t any faster than our guys and started going between the tackles with Ronnie Brown & Cadillac Williams. That game didn’t have a damn thing to do with speed.
"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008
are you sure it's not meth
although if it was Meth, IU would be a powerhouse…
A futile crusade to prevent mass ignorance
HammerAndRails, SBNation's Boliermaker Blog
So according to Curley and the Trustees (Yeah, I'll bring this topic up again. WHAT OF IT???!!!!!!)
there’s no difference playing Florida and NJIT.
Good games like last night, even if we had lost, would raise our profile, therefore more money. When will they learn that lazy/easy money dwindles over time.
Make it happen ladies!!
You're kidding, right?
PSU & the BoT have long been incredibly innovative in finding new ways to make mountains of money. I think the US Mint operates a press in the sub sub-basement of Old Main so that $panier can roll around in freshly pressed $1,000 bills.
Having a very competitive basketball team, however, is a much more recent phenomenon. We’ll get better games on the schedule next year & beyond. Whether we win them or not….. that’s the question.
by Tailgate Shogun on Mar 25, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions
In case you are interested...
…Sagarin has Penn State rated 47th through games of last night. (Yes, statistical analysis does not end once the tournament starts.) This is the highest that we have been to my knowledge…three wins over teams in the 40-80 range in the NIT has boosted our rating and our strength of schedule, which is now #65 (and will continue to go up since ND is 38 and KY is 51).
We’ve won 25 games…most of which I got to see thanks to the BTN…and we’re headed to the final 4 of the NIT to play Kentucky or Notre Dame. I’ll take it and be happy.
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