Hoosier Daddy?

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 4:45 PM EDT in Basketball Comment 27 comments

Get it? Hoosier Daddy? Cuz it sounds like "Who's your daddy?" That's funny stuff right there.

You know what else is funny? 68-64 in overtime, baby. And that's without Claxton or Cornley. That's with four freshmen logging most of the minutes. That's friggin' funny. You know what else is funny? Visiting other schools' blogs and reading stuff like this.

The Nittany Lions lost all hope for a successful season early in the Big Ten season when Geary Claxton suffered a season-ending knee injury. Penn State lost its first four conference home games, but has now won four in a row at home against Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan. I wish I could tell you that there are some real positives on PSU's Pomeroy page, but not really. They take pretty good care of the ball, a common characteristic of slow-paced teams, and they are decent offensive rebounders, but that's about it. IU should win, and then it's on to the BTT.

Yup. Crappy old Penn State with no Claxton, no Cornley, no offense, no defense. Just another speed bump on our way to the postseason. Congrats, Indiana. You took the Nittany Lions for granted and probably cost yourself three or four seeds in the NCAA tournament. The rest of the Big Ten better stand up and take notice. These young Nittany Lions are pretty good, and they're learning how to win.

Who would have thought seven conference wins was possible with no Claxton and a one legged Cornley? Yet here we are. Five straight home wins to close out the season. We've locked up the #7 seed in the Big Ten Tournament meaning we'll probably play Illinois, a team we've beaten twice already, in the first round. We're back to 0.500. Win our first game and we've guaranteed a 0.500 season. With two wins over ranked opponents coupled with a strong finish to the season I think we have a good case for the NIT. Great great win today. Way to go, Lions!

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Wow.......

glad my guy didn't call me back or PSU would have stuck it to me again :) But seriously, I bagged on them good last week after watching that fiasco against Wisconsin, so today.....I say well done. Impressive.

Eric Watters Atlanta, Ga.

by ech2os on Mar 9, 2008 4:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Man

Just wish we could go back and do that Old Spice Classic over again. And those two games we blew big leads against Minnesota.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 4:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

dirty old spice

It smells bad, flares my asthma, and this year wrecked my basketball team. The only thing I still don't get is how we lost some of those games after a day like today.

by PSU86 on Mar 9, 2008 9:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Old Spice

We had a young team still learning how to play back then. They got thrown into the fire after Claxton went down and really grew up this year. I forgot to mention DJ Jackson had a double-double today with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jeff Brooks scored a season high 12 points with 6 rebounds and looked great. He's going to be scary next year after a summer in the weight room. The future is really looking bright for this team.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 9:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really Though

Many of our losses came in bunches. First, at the Old Spice Classic as a young team, and then the 5 in a row following the Claxton injury. Otherwise, we played .500 ball with a young team. Its inspiring. Lets get Pitt on the schedule next year eh?

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 9, 2008 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BWI Stole your headline

Huge win for PSU, wanted to let you know that Blue White Illustrated obviously reads your blog cause they stole your headline.

I hate to do it, but just think about where this team could have been with a healthy Claxton and Cornley all season...guh, thats just what happens when you are Penn State Basketball. Oh well, Ed has earned himself the right to be around for at least 2 more seasons and I can't wait to see what he is able to do in that time.

Go STATE sweep the damn Illini!

by PSUmike07 on Mar 9, 2008 6:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Headlines

Pretty sure I'm not the first person to think of the headline. Probably won't be the last either.

And I already know for a fact that the guys at BWI read BSD. ;)

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 8:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty sure the Mellon Bank buttons

stole both your headlines. Nice win. I hate Indiana basketball. Ever since the Rec Hall Indiana game. Screw them. Indiana losing to Penn State in basketball is like Penn State losing to Indiana in football. Thank god that's never happened.

For the Glory National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994,

by jesse. on Mar 9, 2008 6:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well...

...I would respect you more if you had called me out beforehand, Mike, and pointed out the flaws in my (admittedly less-than-usual) analysis. Was I mistaken about your RPI, your record, your various tempo free ratings? IU was crappier than your team today. Congrats on the win.

by John M Hoosier Report on Mar 9, 2008 8:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well

Maybe next time you'll show Penn State some respect before the game.

Typical cry of the upsetee. Penn State wasn't any good or anything. You had an off day. Or the officials took it away from you. You still have a better record. Whatever. You lost.

Don't take it personal, dude. It's all in good fun.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What disrespect?

The statistics are biased against your deceptively excellent team, I guess. Really, I'm not much of a flamethrower (except when it comes to Illinois and Purdue). I try to look at things objectively, focusing on stats, and from that perspective it didn't look like Penn State had much of a chance. You guys bucked the odds. Congrats. It doesn't make anything I said inaccurate or disrespectful. If I wanted to be disrespectful of Penn State basketball (and I don't--as I said in my preview of the first game this year, PSU is one of the few Big Ten teams I actually root for), I could do much better than that.

by John M Hoosier Report on Mar 9, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stats

OK, so the statistics aren't that great over the season, but do they cover for 4 freshman who improve every single game? What about the 12-4 home record, which included a downing of Michigan State who just kicked your ass?

I'm sure if you looked those stats up, you may have seen this coming my friend.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 9, 2008 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Listened to the Game...

...as I had an engagement, and made a good deal of money off this game, just by making 5 dollar bets with the people around me.

This is a huge win for Penn State #1 because it should get us in to the NIT, and #2 because it signals post-Claxton Penn State basketball era may actually be better than it was with him. Don't get me wrong, Geary was one of the best Nittany Lions to put on the uniform, but watching these kids get better every single game has given us all hope of something better. We all remember that dispair on that chilly Wednesday night when Claxton went down, and the schlacking that occured in the injury's aftermath. Fortunately though, we're going to remember this season not for that, but for our freshman, much like the fab 4 in football of a few years ago, leading us to prominence with a pair of stunning upsets in Happy Valley.

Perhaps the most satisfing thing I sa today was at the end of overtime. I wateched the game on replay as I had tivoed it, and Talor was on the line, and DJ White started giving him hell. Battle, the freshman, stared in the face of White, the senior and vaunted Big man in the country, and chuckled at him. Priceless. Then he backed it up by ramming two daggers down his throat to seal it for Penn State. It was a thing of beauty.

Fight on State. Get ready to be swept, o Bruce and your Illini.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 9, 2008 9:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Battle

He is awesome. I'm surprised he never hit that wall freshmen tend to hit the end of the season. He took a lot of hits this year. He's tough and he gets better in the clutch. Next year I want to see him averaging 8 assists a game. He has the ability to drive the lane and draw the defense in. Then he can kick it out to the open shooter on the wing. He should go back and watch tapes of Michael Jordan and Scott Paxson all summer long.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 9:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So does this mean there's a spark of hope?

For next year, that is. Obviously Claxton gone (but he was gone for this year for all intents and purposes), but do we lose anyone else crucial?

(NOTE: I don't pay much attention to PSU basketball, thus the reason for my questions. Plus, I'm way too lazy to check the roster.)

by ignition719 on Mar 9, 2008 9:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Next Year

Everyone returns except for Claxton, Mike Walker, and Brandon Hassell. Hassell and Walker gave good minutes, but honestly, they are very replaceable. Walker shot a good three ball but he was too slow to get open and play defense. Hassell got pushed around inside too much. He played terrible defense and couldn't rebound which is pretty amazing for a guy that is nearly seven feet tall. So picture the team you saw today plus Jamelle Cornley and that's pretty much our team next year.

We're getting a few additions in Billy Oliver and Andrew Ott. They're a couple of big men that we desperately need. If they can just play defense and rebound they will be a huge help to this team. With Battle, Pringle, Jackson, and Brooks we should have plenty of guys that can score. And we still have one or two more scholarships to hand out for next year, so there's hope we may find more help. Maybe a junior college player or two that can step in and play right away.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 9:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's where the Hoosier Report and I differ

When I make my prediction, I actually short my team 20 points in the margin of victory ;-)

http://badgersportsfan.blogspot.com

by badgertracker on Mar 9, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Predictions

If you're going to predict an easy win you better be prepared to take the heat if you're wrong. I can understand he's a bit upset right now. Hoosiers love their basketball like we love our football. If we lost to Indiana in football we'd all jump off a cliff.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 9, 2008 9:58 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

For Christ's sake.

I didn't predict an easy win. I pointed out Penn State's less than impressive profile and said "Indiana should win." Would you have disagreed with that statement at 1:59 pm? I'm not all that worked up over the game. Our season was going off a cliff either way. My response here is entirely based on your odd overreaction to a post that wasn't, in intent or reality, "smack," a guarantee of victory, or anything of the sort. We had a pretty good dialogue during football season and I've been respectful of PSU during my prior posts, even indicating in my preview of the first game that I generally root for PSU. Given that, I was pretty surprised to read this post, as if I was going off on Penn State like some message board dipshit. Again, it's pretty easy to say "ha! I knew you were wrong!" after the fact.

by John M Hoosier Report on Mar 9, 2008 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Um...

At 1:59 PM, I would have, and did, say yes. 12-4 at home including a win over MSU, who again, killed you, would indicate things might have been tougher than you thought.

If you look, Mike rarely predicts wins in his open threads, unless its a really sucky team, and PSU hardly falls in that catagory.

God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by fugimaster24 on Mar 9, 2008 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you....

thank God my bookie didn't call me back or I would have pissed quite a bit of money down the drain on a Penn State BB game again.

The real question isn't whether you can pick PSU after a bunch of 5 dollar bets with your buddies about the game......the real question is "Those nearest and dearest to you will suffer great physical harm if you fail to pick the outright winner of this game.....who do you pick". Obviously, anyone sane doesn't pick Penn State.

I'll be watching with the BIG 10 tourney with excitement.

Eric Watters Atlanta, Ga.

by ech2os on Mar 10, 2008 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I dont have a problem

with Indiana "should have won". Because they probably should have. And I still have no idea how we won without Cornley. IU's a clearly better team but I thoughtd it'd be a battle since we were home and our team plays non-mentally challenged at home (beating MSU, IU, VTech, Seton Hall at home).

I was most impressed after Gordon went on the 12 point run and IU had 14-0 and we were down 8. I figured it was over and the other shoe had dropped and then the kids just hit them with a run right back and battled the whole way getting the victory.

by runngunn29 on Mar 10, 2008 12:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Next coach: Pat Riley?

Considering all the hoo-haa about Bill Cowher the other week, will we now see 3 days worth of speculation that Pat Riley will be our next men's basketball coach?

Class of 00

by menno on Mar 10, 2008 8:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

right

and Michael Flatly is coming to coach the dance team.

JoePa is my hero.

by psuphiman80 on Mar 10, 2008 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You

don't want him anyway....he bails on tough situations...and PSU bball isn't exactly like watching North Carolina play lol.

WE ARE, PENN STATE!

by LinebackerU on Mar 10, 2008 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I may be dumb

But what was he doing at the game?

by PSU86 on Mar 10, 2008 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Riley

It's suspected he was scouting DJ White and Eric Gordon for the NBA draft. It's pretty easier to get a ticket, sit in the front row, and still keep a low profile at Penn State. Pretty sad, isn't it?

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Mar 10, 2008 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs