SB Nation - Andrew Ott

North Carolina Defeats Valiant Penn State, 80-69.

Run Up The Score — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:11:29 -0000

Oh, forget it. I don't even have the heart to write the fake "Tarheels Beat Nittany Lions" post. This game was a disaster, practically from the opening tip. UNC-Wilmington (1-2) -- a team that went 7-25 and had a RPI ranking of 273 one year ago -- never lost the lead after breaking a 7-7 tie early in the first half, although Penn State (2-1) whittled the deficit to two points with three minutes remaining. Chris Babb, Andrew Jones, and Tim Frazier combined to shoot 4-28 from the field. Babb was an unconscionably bad 2-10 on his three-point attempts. Despite those awful shooting performances, Cammeron Woodyard couldn't get more than four minutes of playing time -- two more than Andrew Ott received. Talor Battle scored 29 points, but was 8-23 from the field. However, he was uncharacteristically great from the foul line (11-12).

How bad was it? Penn State had nine steals and only five turnovers, and still lost by 11. It was obvious that Ed DeChellis was frantically searching for a winning combination, like an 80 year old man about to bet his Social Security check at the racetrack. Nothing worked. Perhaps Penn State was flat due to playing a game two nights ago and traveling to South Carolina. Maybe it was just one of those games where four guys were ice cold at the same time -- the only two players to hit more than half of their field goals were David Jackson (4-5) and Jeff Brooks (4-6). Except for the unusual amount of made free throws, Penn State looked like the DeChellis teams of 3-5 years ago. Next to no production from the post players, awful perimeter defense, and lots of bricks on the offensive end.

It'll be filed under the "Bad Loss" category come March, if this team turns out to be bubble-worthy again. The Charleston Classic, just like the other in-season tournaments Penn State has particpated in recently, is already an epic failure. This was Penn State's chance to add some quality wins (or hell, some quality competition) to its resume, against teams like Miami, Davidson, or South Carolina. Instead, it's Tulane tomorrow afternoon at 12:30 p.m. No rest for the frigid.

Penn State Basketball Preview - Part II

BSD — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:56:42 -0000

Earlier this week we talked about what Penn State has to replace this year. We'll get into the new faces Ed DeChellis will ask to fill those minutes. But first, let's talk about what Penn State has coming back this year.

22 - Andrew Jones III (6-10, 245)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Andrew Jones III	38	25.8	2.3	4.0	57.9	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.6	2.2	69.4	2.2	3.6	5.8	0.4	1.1	0.5	0.3	2.4	6.2

The evolution of Andrew Jones was a fun thing to watch last year. He started out with a rather insignificant stat line for a starter only managing five or six points and three or four rebounds per game. But by the time the NIT came around he was a dominating force on the hardwood. During the tournament he averaged 10 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Here is what I had to say after the Indiana game.

Andrew Jones has become a really solid player. He had a couple of boneheaded turnovers, but for the most part when he gets the ball in the low post good things happen. He finished the night 4-for-4 from the field, and get this: over his last eight games Jones has shot 21-of-27 (77%) from the field. He has shown a nice mid-range jumper to go along with the baby hook he's developing. And when an outside shooter pops open he's good at getting them the ball. I'm starting to think he may turn into a significant scoring threat next season when he gets some of Cornley's touches.

Penn State will look to Jones and his 6'10" 245 lb frame to provide a big presence in the paint this year.

15 - David "D.J." Jackson (6-7, 210)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - David Jackson	38	20.8	1.5	3.5	42.9	0.2	1.0	20.5	1.3	1.6	79.0	1.3	1.8	3.1	0.6	1.1	0.5	0.2	1.9	4.5

He was expected to be a major contributor last season, but David Jackson suffered through one of the most horrendous sophomore slumps this blogger has ever seen. Here is just one example of a review of one of his performances.

I hate to keep harping on the kid, but David Jackson is a complete liability. He only saw six minutes of play last night to close out the first half. He was completely ineffective against covering his man through the screen and Michigan State went on a 15-2 run during that stretch to close out the half. He had one scoring chance where he was standing all alone under the basket, and he traveled. Like I said, I really hate to talk down on college kids, but he shouldn't see the floor until garbage time for the rest of the season. And he better hit the gym and training table hard this summer. He looks scrawny against his competition and needs to put on 25 or 30 pounds.

That was after the Michigan game. I'm usually not one to rag on kids like that, but there was no other way to describe Jackson's performance. Every time he got the ball it ended in disaster. Passes were going right through his hands. He would get the ball all alone under the basket and travel. He looked completely lost on defense. He was nothing short of a liability to the team, and Ed eventually had no choice but to remove him from the starting lineup.

But, this story has a happy ending. Something clicked and Jackson managed to score in double figures in four of his last seven games of the season. I'm hoping he put on a few pounds in the weight room this summer and he can ride that momentum from the end of the season into this fall.

25 - Jeff Brooks (6-8, 200)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Jeff Brooks	37	16.2	1.3	3.6	36.6	0.3	1.1	25.6	0.4	0.8	50.0	1.1	2.0	3.1	0.8	0.8	0.3	0.3	1.6	3.3

Jeff Brooks has been an enigma his first two years at Penn State. He came from Kentucky full of athleticism and promise, but he has yet to live up to the hype. As a freshman he looked completely lost on the floor. As a sophomore, he didn't look lost, but he didn't play with confidence or control. He would often pull down an impressive rebound on the defensive end only to dribble down the court and bounce it off his foot out of bounds. If he can put it all together and average seven or eight points and six or seven rebounds it will be a tremendous improvement.

10 - Chris Babb (6-5, 215)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Chris Babb	32	10.1	0.9	2.6	33.7	0.7	2.0	34.9	0.4	0.7	61.9	0.4	0.7	1.1	0.5	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.3	2.8

Babb was one of two true freshmen to see the court in 2008-2009. He's a tenacious defender with a pretty jump shot. Ed played him sparingly in the early part of the season and it was readily apparent he was only a freshman. His minutes diminished significantly during the thick of the Big Ten season, but toward the end an ankle injury to Stanley Pringle and the fatigue of the Big Ten season wearing on Talor Battle forced Ed to put him on the court. By the end of the year he was providing solid minutes and scored double digits against George Mason and Rhode Island in the NIT. This year Babb will most likely be starting in the backcourt along with Talor Battle.

24 - Cammeron Woodyard (6-5, 210)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Cammeron Woodyard	24	6.7	0.8	1.7	43.9	0.5	1.1	44.4	0.2	0.3	66.7	0.2	0.7	0.9	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.0	0.3	2.2

One thing Cammeron Woodyard did not lack when he stepped foot on the floor as a true freshman was confidence. He proved early on he was not timid about putting up a shot from anywhere on the court. Unfortunately, this can often come across as being a player who "doesn't play in the system". As the season wore on, Woodyard's minutes dwindled and dwindled to the point he didn't even see the court during the NIT.

This year I think Ed will experiment with Woodyard by plugging his big body in the two, three, and maybe even the four position. The hope will be to create a mismatch somewhere with his size against smaller guards and swingmen. The hope will be for him to be a solid player off the bench averaging maybe eight minutes, four points, and two or three rebounds per game.

54 - Andrew Ott (6-10, 240)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Andrew Ott	25	7.0	0.5	1.0	48.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.4	0.9	50.0	0.6	1.0	1.6	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.4	1.0	1.4

When Ott joined the floor after sitting out the first month of the season due to transfer rules, the hope was that he could just provide five or ten solid minutes per night to give Andrew Jones a break in the middle. I don't think Ed really expected him to do a lot of scoring. If he could just play good defense and pull down some rebounds everyone would have been thrilled with that.

But Ott was somewhat of a disappointment. As expected, he wasn't really a scoring threat. But his defense wasn't much to speak of either. He was a big man who didn't pull down rebounds, and wasn't blocking many shots. And so his minutes dwindled as the season progressed.

This year Penn State will hope he has improved over the summer. Ott will be counted on to provide a solid five or ten minutes per game to give Andrew Jones and occasional rest.

#12 - Talor Battle (6-0, 170)

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2008 - Talor Battle	38	37.4	5.2	13.0	40.2	2.4	7.1	33.9	3.9	5.5	70.0	0.9	4.4	5.3	5.0	2.4	1.2	0.1	2.1	16.7

You may remember Talor Battle from such movies as...

Talor Battle Scores the Game Winning Basket PSU Bests Illinois (via pickletoon)

I don't have to tell you how good Talor Battle is. You already know that. And you probably already know that he is the unquestioned leader of this team. He will be asked to mentor the younger players while running the offense to get the ball in the hands of guys that can score.

The question for Talor Battle will be how well he can hold up. Last year he started off on a tear and he peaked during the amazing upset of Michigan State in East Lansing when he scored 29 points. After that it was obvious the wear and tear of playing 40 minutes per game through the tough Big Ten schedule was starting to get to him. He lost some of his zip. The jump shots stopped falling, and he struggled to score. This year, Penn State will need some of the new faces to reduce his minutes. If Ed doesn't feel comfortable in any of his freshman guards by the time conference play starts, it's going to be a long season for Talor Battle.

Looking Ahead To 2009-2010

BSD — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

Penn State will need Jeff Brooks to step up if they hope to continue their success. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Browse more photos »

It was mid-February when Penn State had dropped their third straight game with a 47-61 defeat against Purdue. Talor Battle was held scoreless for the third time in his career. Jamelle Cornley had 16 points, but nobody else stepped up. Through much of the season Penn State was depending on Stanley Pringle, Talor Battle, and Jamelle Cornley to do the bulk of the scoring. If one or two of those three guys failed to score in double digits, it pretty much meant Penn State lost. Even during the thrill of the hunt for the NCAA tournament, I couldn't help thinking next year would be a major drop off when Cornley and Pringle are gone. But as the season wore on, some of the role players began to come around. Late season injuries to Battle and Cornley forced many role players to step up their games, and by the time the NIT came to an end, Andrew Jones, David Jackson, Jeff Brooks, and Chris Babb were playing their best basketball of the season, giving us hope that maybe next year won't be so bad after all. Let's look at each member of the team returning next year. We'll discuss what they need to focus on during the summer and take an overall look at what the team will look like.

Talor Battle

The 2009-2010 Nittany Lions will undoubtedly be Talor Battle's team. Without the emotional Jamelle Cornley, the team will take their cues from the fiesty point guard.

It's hard to think of any way Battle could improve his game, but he's certainly not perfect. He was called on to share the load of carrying the team with Pringle and Cornley, but next year he's going to put even more weight on his shoulders. By the midway point in the season, he was visibly gassed and his scoring average dropped considerably. His jump shot also suffered as his legs went soft.

Summer Homework: Battle has to improve his strength and conditioning to better endure the rigors of the Big Ten season. He also needs to work on perfecting his jump shot and foul shooting.

David Jackson

After playing well in the first few games, Jackson went into a major sophomore slump. It got so bad that disaster struck nearly every time he touched the ball. He had simple passes go through his hands out of bounds. Or he would get the ball all alone under the basket and travel. At one point he scored only five points over a ten-game stretch, and against Ohio State he only logged three insignificant minutes of play. It was obvious he confidence was in complete shambles.

But once the Big Ten tournament started, Jackson became a new player. Showing improved confidence and aggressiveness, Jackson scored in double digits four times in seven games and became a lot more aggressive in his rebounding.

Summer Homework: Hit the gym and eat a lot of cheeseburgers. Jackson routinely gives up 30-40 lbs to the guys he's battling inside.

Jeff Brooks

There probably isn't a player on the team as physically gifted as Jeff Brooks, but in two seasons he hasn't been able to put it all together. He shows flashes here and there, but so far he hasn't been able to put two consistent games together back-to-back. At times, he has looked downright horrible in turning the ball over and playing out of control.

Most disheartening with Jeff is his obvious lack of confidence. He beats himself up after every little mistake. At one point in the season the camera zoomed in on his face as he was about to attempt a foul shot. He had a look on his face like a gambler who had lost everything he owned and was betting his last chip on one last desperation spin at the roulette wheel. He knew he was going to miss it, and he did.

Brooks scored his first double digit game against George Mason with 13 points in 29 minutes. After hitting a few shots you could tell his confidence was sky high and his play reflected it. Penn State will need him to be a factor next year.

Summer Homework: Work on the ball handling and cut down on the turnovers. And, I dunno, see a psychologist?

Andrew Jones III

No player showed more improvement this season than Andrew Jones. Something happened midway through the year where his confidence went up and he became a lot more aggressive. At the same time he began playing with control allowing him to stay on the court instead of sitting on the bench in foul trouble. By the time the NIT came around Jones was playing his best basketball of the season. In seven games he scored in double digits four times and registered two double-doubles.

Jones has shown to be deadly with his mid range jumper, and he has developed a nice baby hook shot from the low post. If he can develop a little drop step move or a turnaround fade away shot with his back to the basket...lookout.

Summer Homework: Keep hitting the gym and putting on the muscle. Try to develop a second post up move to compliment the baby hook. Also work on his defense, playing under control to avoid silly fouls and work on becoming a shot blocker.

Chris Babb

Babb played well for a kid in his true freshman year. He was obviously lost early in the year and didn't know what he was supposed to be doing on offense. But even then I could tell he was a good defender. He often got out of position as he adjusted to the speed of the game, but when he was asked to guard someone one-on-one, I liked his footwork and hands.

As the season wore on his play and numbers improved. He scored 11 points against George Mason and 13 points against Rhode Island in the NIT. With Stanley Pringle leaving, Babb will competing to be the guy starting with Battle in the backcourt.

Summer Homework: Babb already has a quick release and pretty jump shot. He has to work on his ball handling and defense if he hopes to claim Pringle's spot.

Cammeron Woodyard

Woodyard showed confidence and aggressiveness from the moment he stepped on the court. Maybe too much so, as he often launched some ill-advised shots. Evidently, Ed became tired of his inability to play within the system, because his minutes diminished as the season wore on, and he didn't log a single minute during the NIT.

Summer Homework: Learn the system, and learn to play within that system. Maybe slim down a bit to pick up some quickness.

Andrew Ott

Ott had one good game where he scored eight points against Michigan. Other than that he was a disappointment. But Penn State didn't really need Ott to be a scorer. They just needed a big body that could pull down rebounds and provide a big defensive presence in the middle. At times he would show flashes with a key block ro rebound, but then he would give it back by losing his man or giving up position for an easy basket.

Summer Homework: Show up in Lewis Preston's office every day with a roll of tape. Then go out and battle Andrew Jones one-on-one for two hours. Bulk up, play some tough defense, and rebound.

The Other Guys

So let's look at what the team is losing this year. We lose a good inside presence in Cornley. We lose a terrific guard in Pringle who can play defense, shoot the long ball, and drive the hoop and finish. And we lose Morrissey, a non-athletic three-point shooter with poor ball handling skills.

What are we picking up? Tim Frazier supposedly possesses tremendous ball handling skills, so maybe he can replace Pringle's driving ability while Babb replaces his three-point shooting.

By all accounts, Sasa Borovanjak is an excellent low post scorer, so maybe he can eventually replace Cornley in that area. If he can rebound, that would be great.

Billy Oliver is somewhat of a mystery to me. From what I've read and heard about his high school career he likes to work the perimeter on offense which is not ideal in my mind for a guy who is 6'8" tall. But then he also blocked 144 shots his junior year, so maybe he can provide another interior defensive presence.

Jermaine Marshall, I know nothing about. Maybe he's good, or maybe he's not. But I expect he's at least as good as Danny Morrissey.

So overall we lose three bodies, but we pick up four. Sasa and Marshall may redshirt, but I would expect Frazier to play right away. Oliver will take off his redshirt. Babb and Woodyard should be better. Jones has been steadily improving. Jackson seems to be out of his slump. So we lose a lot, but it's not like the crappy years where we're holding tryouts for a walk-on to start at shooting guard in September. There will undoubtedly be a drop-off. You don't replace guys like Pringle and Cornley with freshmen without some decline, but I don't think we'll see a slip back into the basement of the conference.

Penn State Defeats Indiana...Barely

BSD — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:28:39 -0000

Final - 2.28.2009	1	2	Total
Indiana Hoosiers	28	30	58
Penn St. Nittany Lions	29	32	61

Complete Coverage >

This one had trap game written all over it. Penn State was coming off a brutal February schedule. After this game they get Illinois later in the week. It would have been easy to look past the 6-21 Hoosiers and think this was an easy win. But Penn State isn't yet at the point where they can win by just showing up. And the Hoosiers gave them everything they could handle.

The Good

The 15,000 in attendance at the Bryce Jordan Center was the biggest crowd in eight years. But they were pretty quiet the whole game until the final minutes.

Andrew Jones has become a really solid player. He had a couple of boneheaded turnovers, but for the most part when he gets the ball in the low post good things happen. He finished the night 4-for-4 from the field, and get this: over his last eight games Jones has shot 21-of-27 (77%) from the field. He has shown a nice mid-range jumper to go along with the baby hook he's developing. And when an outside shooter pops open he's good at getting them the ball. I'm starting to think he may turn into a significant scoring threat next season when he gets some of Cornley's touches.

It was great to see Will Leiner get the start on senior day and play well. He played seven minutes and pulled down a rebound, dished two assists, and had a nice cut to the lane with a pretty up and under finish.

Chris Babb is coming along nicely in his development. He's looking very confident out there. He got a few open looks, but only one of his four attempts went in. I'm particularly impressed with his defense. He's really good at deflecting passes and poking the ball away if his man leaves it out there.

I'm really impressed with how this team has learned to close out games. They were trailing by four points with 5:26 to go in the game. in years past we would have panicked and thrown up some bad shots or turned the ball over. But this team closed out on an 8-1 run scoring on each of their final five possessions. They also got two steals without turning the ball over themselves. It's play like this that has allowed them to get away with their horrible free throw shooting all season.

It was nice to see a game where the officials were not the big story. For the most part I thought they called a really good game keeping things clean while also just letting them play.

The Bad

It's never a good feeling when you let a poor team hang around when you should have run them out of your own building. Indiana is not a good team, and I would have preferred to make a statement by beating them badly. But they say there is no such thing as a bad win. I'll chalk this up to being emotionally drained from running the February gauntlet and make a little looking ahead to Illinois.

Jeff Brooks only played eight minutes. His lone basket came on an offensive rebound tip in. The ball was bouncing around a lot and I think he got three of his four rebounds just on that play. I hope this kid can put all that athletic talent together some day.

Andrew Ott was a complete non-factor. He played just three minutes. He pulled down a rebound and turned the ball over and then he went back to the bench. Next week he'll probably come out and get eight rebounds and ten points. I can't figure him out and I don't think Ed can either.

The Ugly

After a string of a few pretty good games, free throw shooting rears its ugly head again. The Lions shot an atrocious 7-of-17 (41%) from the stripe. Talor Battle is back to fading away from the shot. He hit just 2-of-6 attempts. Danny Morrissey is just consistently crappy at the line. Last night he shot 2-for-5. For the season he is now 13-for-23 (56.5%). Only Cornley (51.8%) and Ott (52.9%) are shooting worse.

Nitt Picks Throws a Lot At You

BSD — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:20:54 -0000

After a dominating win over a Michigan team that is struggling of late despite wins over Duke and UCLA earlier in the season, many people are starting to talk about Penn State's chances of making the NCAA tournament. Some guy from the Bleacher Report likes our chances.

While there is certainly a long way to go, I have to say I like their chances. At the beginning of the season, I think everyone involved with the PSU program would take their results up to this point in a heartbeat.

While yes, I'm pleased with the 15-5 record at this point, I'm not convinced our chances are yet "good." The much more knowledgeable Penn State basketball blog, Crispin and Cream, isn't shopping for dresses yet either.

Frankly, I don’t know too much about this PSU team yet. I know we have 2 first team all-conference candidates, but as far as team success? I know we can’t shoot foul shots. I know PSU barely beat a 9-9 Georgia Tech team on the road by 2 (they’re now 0-5 in the ACC). I know PSU beat a UM team that has looked a lot more like the team that barely beat Savannah State than the team that beat UCLA and Duke. I know PSU barely beat a Purdue squad who not only was struggling at the time, but was also without their two best players. Like David Jones says, sometimes the game outcomes result from when you played and not who you played.

Saturday we play Iowa which is a huge game for us. So you can imagine I was happy to see an article headline that read Iowa's Tate Likely Out Against Penn State. It's always nice to know your opponent is short handed when you play them. But then I read the article and saw this part.

David Palmer has stepped up in Tate's absence. The reserve forward is averaging 20 points and 7.5 since being inserted into starting lineup two games ago.

Ugh. That's better than the 7.3 points and 6.4 rebounds Cyrus Tate was doing. So maybe we're not so much catching a break here.

But one thing I've noticed as the season has progressed is the Andrews, Jones and Ott, have been getting steadily better in each game. Maybe assistant coach Lewis Preston is starting to have an impact.

Preston, who played at Virginia Military Institute in the early 1990s and still holds the Keydets’ career blocked shots record (202), has brought a physical and hands-on approach to his sessions with Penn State’s big men.

“It’s been fun,” said Jones, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound redshirt sophomore from Philadelphia. “He’s been working with me on a multitude of things — rebounding position, posting up, post moves, always trying to have my hands ready for passes or rebounds.”

Catching Battle’s no-look passes and staying out of foul trouble remain adventures for Jones, but his high-energy presence at both ends of the floor is beginning to yield results.

Through 20 games, he needs just seven rebounds to reach his 31-game total of last season (116). He leads the team and is third in the Big Ten with 44 offensive rebounds (eighth in offensive boards per game) and is 13th in the Big Ten in overall rebounding.

The play of Jones and Ott to counter the guard attack of Battle and Pringle are going to be huge down the stretch of this season.

Are You Kidding Me?

I saw this quote in an article about Purdue and it made me chuckle.

"We know we have to go inside early," Jackson said. "If we let the crowd get into it, it would be a battle just like it was at Northwestern and Penn State."

If you recall, classes were out of session and there was a terrible ice storm the night Purdue visited the Jordan Center. I guess those 500 senior citizens in attendance were pretty rowdy.

Let's Talk Some Football

It was really odd how silent Maurice Evans was all through the process of making the decision to enter the NFL draft. The supposed deadline passed last week and there was still confusion about his decision. This week the Sentinel caught up with him and helped shed some light on his thought process. In it he specifically discusses the marijuana incident.

Evans said that if he receives an invite to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this spring he will attend and knows he must be honest with those who will interview him at the combine about his off-field situation.

“If I’m not invited it’s not a big deal. We still have pro day at Penn State (March 18). It gives me more time to improve, get bigger and faster. It would be a plus to get accepted to the combine,” Evans said.

“There was no sour relationship between me and coach Paterno. I was never mad at him for the decision he made. The decision for me leaving early was just something I was comfortable with. Like I said before I think I’m ready to compete.”

Derrick Williams seems to be putting things together after a shaky start to practice at the Senior Bowl. I love this quote.

"I'm driven by greatness."

That pretty much sums up his career at Penn State. I don't think I ever witnessed a player give more effort and devote every minute of every day to being great as much as Derrick Williams did. I hope he does well in the NFL.

In Scores of Other Games

Tomahawk Nation shares some interesting rumors about Bobby Bowden's tenuous situation at Florida State...Dr. Saturday plots a google map of the Rivals Top 100 for this year which kind of ties into our discussion on star rankings...Several Penn State football players are training for the NFL draft locally...Members of the football team will be at the basketball game Saturday to sign autographs...The Lady Lions came back from 17 points down to beat Wisconsin in overtime...And Penn State won the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy which used to be a big deal. It's the 27th time Penn State has been crowned Beast of the East. If we were Pitt this would be worthy of hanging a banner in the stadium.

Penn State Dominates Michigan

BSD — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:00:09 -0000

Final - 1.20.2009	1	2	Total
Michigan Wolverines	22	36	58
Penn St. Nittany Lions	29	44	73

Complete Coverage >

Okay, I'll admit it. When Michigan knocked off Duke and UCLA and managed to make a bried appearance in the national rankings, I was scared. I thought, "There's two games I thought we would win that we probably won't." At the time I recall Penn State was coming off their embarrassing loss to Minnesota and it looked like this team was in for another disasterous Ed DeChellis midseason collapse.

But last night Penn State put it all together in front of an energized crowd at the Jordan Center and embarrassed the MIchigan Wolverines.

The Good

Anything and everything. It was probably the most complete game we've seen the Nittany Lions play all year. Cornley, Ott, and Jones were dominating inside. When Michigan started bringing the inside double teams in the second half Battle, Morrissey, and Pringle killed them from the outside. Everyone was unselfish in making just the right number of passes and finding the open man. Truly an offensive exhibition in the Jordan Center.

On the defensive end they shut down Big Ten leading scorer Manny Harris and held him to just four points on 1-of-9 shooting.

As I mentioned, Andrew Ott looked fantastic. In only ten minutes of play he scored eight points to go with one rebound and two assists. I was particulary impressed with his defense and footwork when he got the ball down low. He has been a bright spot on the team as he has clearly improved in each game this season.

The team is now at 15 wins which ties the most ever for an Ed DeChellis Penn State team. It is also the earliest in the calendar year that Penn State has ever had 15 wins.

The Bad

The game started pretty ominously as Michigan jumped out, ok maybe crawled out to a five point lead. Penn State had three turnovers in the first three minutes as the Michigan stretch zone was giving the guards trouble. On the other end Michigan was getting open looks and threw up six three point shots in the first two-and-a-half minutes. They missed them all, but if they make half of those Penn State would have been in a double digit hole really quick. Ed countered with a three guard lineup for better ball movement and Penn State went on a run to take an 11-7 lead. They never looked back from there.

We got a glimpse at next year's team around the eight minute mark of the first half when Ed went with Battle, Jackson, Babb, and Woodyard on the floor. with Cornley Man, they looked terrible. There was no continuity on offense highlighted by Babb tossing an errant pass right out of bounds. The defense looked completely confused and allowed Michigan to go on a quick little run to cut the lead down to four. Ed thankfully ended that experiment quickly and sent Pringle and Morrissey in for Babb and Woodyard. I'm all for plugging in the freshmen to get them experience, but let's do it one at a time.

Penn State didn't have much of an answer for DeShawn Sims who scored 21 points to go with 11 boards. But it seemed like they were content to contain Harris, let Sims get his points and challenge someone else in Maize to beat them.

The Ugly

You guessed it. Free throws. Penn State shot a horrible 6-of-16 from the stripe. Jones and Battle get a pass going a combined 5-for-6, but Cornley, Morrissey, and Ott combined to go 1-for-10. YIKES!

Here is what I suggest. Danny Morrissey should step back from the line so he's standing just a foot inside the three point arc. When the ref tosses him the ball he should just jump and shoot like he's taking a pass from Talor Battle. Danny was 3-for-4 from the three point line last night, so why not go with that?

Cornley should turn his back to the basket when the ref gives him the ball. Then do a turnaround fade shot. He seems to hit those at a 60% clip or so.

Good Lord I've never seen a team suck at foul shots so bad. If I were an opposing coach and the game was coming down to the wire I would send in the freshman walk on at the end of the bench and tell him every time Cornley touches the ball just go tackle him. At worst you will give up one point and get the ball back. Absolutely unbelievable.

Next Up

Penn State can't feel too good about this win. The Iowa Hawkeyes come to town on Saturday at 6 PM. This is a winable game that Penn State needs in order to keep their post season hopes alive, but they have to be focused because any team in the Big Ten is capable of beating you if you don't show up.

Then Penn State will get a week to rest up before they start a brutal seven game stretch of games against some of the conference heavyweights. The Nittany Lions will have to travel to Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue and Ohio State while hosting Wisconsin and Minnesota. Beating Iowa will be crucial because it will mean going into this stretch with the momentum of a three game winning streak.

By my estimation this team still needs another six or seven wins to make the NCAA tournament. The crucial games will be at Michigan, the two games against Iowa, the two games against Illinois, and the home games against Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Indiana. That's eight potential wins. I'm writing off the road games at Michigan State, Purdue, and Ohio State as losses, so a win on the road in one of those would be a bonus.

Nittany Lions Basketball Schedule

Next 5 Games

Iowa	Sat 01/24	6:00 PM EST
@ Michigan St.	Sun 02/01	12:00 PM EST
@ Michigan	Thu 02/05	7:00 PM EST
Wisconsin	Sun 02/08	3:00 PM EST
@ Purdue	Wed 02/11	6:30 PM EST

Last 5 Games

Michigan	Tue 01/20	W 73 - 58
@ Indiana	Sat 01/17	W 65 - 55
Michigan St.	Wed 01/14	L 73 - 78
@ Minnesota	Sun 01/11	L 59 - 79
Purdue	Tue 01/06	W 67 - 64

The Other Shoe: Michigan Pasted By Penn State 58-73

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:08:49 -0000

I hate garbage time during a blow out. It seems to drag on forever and you really never get anything out of it. Sure the bench players get some time, a couple of guys who've seen all of ten minutes all year will drain a trey or two, and the opposition will take a nap letting the score get closer and closer, but the outcome is sealed. And no manner of bench points will make a rats ass bit of difference in what just happened. You, and your starters, got blown out. Now you're counting on your subs to make it respectable.

It'd be fun and hopeful to say that Michigan let one get away last night, but that wouldn't be the truth. Michigan trailed by 30 with 8 minutes left in the game and only made it close because of Penn State taking a nap at the end of regulation. Michigan got pounded by a team their size, their skill level and in the same conference position they were in. The only reason Michigan managed to trail by just seven points at the end of the First Half was defense. Michigan harassed Penn State into a litany of turnovers and offensive miscues that kept the Wolverines in the game. It has to be that, because it sure as hell wasn't the Wolverines shooting.

**Michigan First Half Stats**
FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	REB	AST	BLK	PF	PTS
9-30	2-16	2-6	5	14	4	0	6	22
30%	12.5%	33.3%

That's not going to win you a lot of games. Michigan couldn't hit anything. When players would find themselves in prime shooting positions off a well executed play, they've airmail the ball from three. Regretfully, the guiltiest of this was Kelvin Grady, whose shot seems to have completely disappeared over the last two weeks. Similarly, Laval Lucas-Perry's shot has dried up, making him 2 for his last 17 three point attempts according to UMHoops.com. Making matters worse, when the shots didn't fall, Michigan retreated further from the basket to lob up more ill advised three point attempts. This marks the second straight game three point attempts have outnumbered two point attempts, and even in the Illinois game Michigan chucked up 26 threes compared to 33 two point attempts.

The only player who warrants a pat on the back for his effort last night is DeShawn Sims who posted 21 points and 11 boards. The rest of the starting lineup was 5-26 (Harris, LLP, Novak and Grady), including 1-19 from three. Do the math and you'll see the problem, they took only 7 shots inside the arc. The worst thing is, they hit 4 of them but never seemed to return to the basket.

I'd like to say this is a game where you throw out the tape, but it's not. The team is clearly stagnant and failing to execute even the most basic pick and rolls. During yesterday's open thread we noted dozens of times where the Wolverines would stand around waiting for something to happen or the ball to drop into their hands. Two players making the same cut to the top of the key. Over the last three games, offensive execution has gone out the window in favor of the three point shot, and that's a recipe for a losing streak when it's obvious to everyone your shots aren't falling.

Defensively, Michigan is in trouble. Penn State doesn't have a whole lot of size on their squad, save little used Andrew Ott, who at 6-10 is Penn State's biggest player. But he and Jamelle Cornley had a field day inside against Michigan, combining to go 12-14. And all but two of those attempts were within 6 feet of the basket. Right now Michigan has no one that seems to be able to deal with a presence inside, and our alternatives are somewhat limited. UM Hoops addresses the obvious question, "What about playing Gibson and Sims at the same time?"

Michigan is also dealing with more quality big men at the same time that they are trying to move an undersized guy to the power forward position. The issue here is that Beilein just doesn’t have the pieces to fix this problem. There are two guys that can play center on this roster: DeShawn Sims and Zack Gibson. There are three others who can play power forward: Jevohn Shepherd, Zack Novak, and Anthony Wright. Playing Gibson and Sims together sounds nice but if you do that too much there is no one to back up Sims at the center position.

It isn’t like Beilein is leaving Greg Monroe on the bench:

Jevohn Shepherd is a 6-foot-5 wing who isn’t much of an offensive threat and isn’t going to stop a guy like Jamelle Cornley or Marcus Landry.

Zack Gibson is a shooting guard trapped in a 6-foot-10 body; he is a finesse player and he’s not going to turn into a banger over night.

Anthony Wright is a 6-foot-6 forward who made a great backdoor pass against UCLA but has very little athleticism or hustle and is a career 27.4% three point shooter.

Zack Novak is 6-foot-4 but he gets to more loose balls than anyone on the team and despite struggling a bit of late is shooting 39.5% from long range.

Pick your poison.

My response is fairly simple, we're dying anyway right now, what's the worst that can happen. Maybe we can be exposed even worse down low in the future with Gibby and Sims out of the lineup, but the end result is the same if we don't change things up. We need size out there, even if it means playing 6-10 stick figure Eric Puls on a regular basis. I'm not kidding. He can go 1-5 just like Grady, but at least we've got the threat of a shot block in the middle and less of a turnover risk.

Another player worth another look and little more playing time is Air Canada, Jevohn Shepherd. Shepherd was the only guy on Michigan's team that showed any aggression toward the basket, and went 2-2 inside, while bricking a three. He's got the quickness to take the ball off the dribble and the length to make things happen down low. To be fair, he's a lousy defender, but at least he's got the quickness and the balls to go to the basket, and that's what this team needs right now.

Finally, I've gotta give some props to Gibson. Gisbon had a decent game, and if Michigan's going to be able to compete in the Big Ten they're going to need a lot more out of their big man. Keep it coming Gibby.

As for the rest of the group, pray that 4 games in 10 days with limited practice time is truly the cause of Michigan's swoon. Otherwise that clunk you just heard was the other shoe dropping on what was once a promising season.

Stats after the jump...

Final - 1.20.2009	1	2	Total
Michigan Wolverines	22	36	58
Penn St. Nittany Lions	29	44	73

Complete Coverage >

MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
DeShawn Sims, F	29	10-14	0-0	1-2	4	11	0	0	0	2	0	21
Zack Novak, G	28	1-4	0-3	4-4	2	2	1	0	0	1	3	6
Manny Harris, G	26	1-9	0-5	2-2	1	3	1	0	0	1	2	4
Laval Lucas-Perry, G	25	2-8	0-6	2-2	0	1	0	0	0	2	3	6
Kelvin Grady, G	23	1-5	1-5	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	2	1	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Stu Douglass, G	26	3-8	3-8	0-0	0	2	3	2	0	1	0	9
C.J. Lee, G	12	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	0
Anthony Wright, F	3	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Merritt, G	7	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Jevohn Shepherd, F	9	2-3	0-0	0-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4
Eric Puls, C	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Zack Gibson, F	11	2-3	1-1	0-2	0	3	0	0	1	0	4	5
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		22-56	5-30	9-13	7	24	9	3	1	9	17	58
		39.3%	16.7%	69.2%

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Jamelle Cornley, F	30	8-10	0-1	1-5	1	11	1	0	0	0	0	17
Jeff Brooks, F	19	1-3	0-2	0-0	1	4	1	0	0	1	2	2
Andrew Jones III, F	22	2-3	0-0	2-2	4	5	2	0	0	1	2	6
Stanley Pringle, G	31	5-12	2-2	0-0	1	6	1	4	0	2	3	12
Talor Battle, G	34	4-10	4-7	3-4	0	2	6	0	0	4	2	15
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Chris Babb, G	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Will Leiner, G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Jackson, F	19	1-3	0-1	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	2
Cammeron Woodyard, G	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Danny Morrissey, G	28	4-5	3-4	0-2	2	6	4	0	0	2	1	11
Andrew Ott, F	10	4-4	0-0	0-3	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	8
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		29-50	9-17	6-16	10	35	18	4	0	13	12	73
		58.0%	52.9%	37.5%

Penn State Men's Basketball Preview

BSD — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:00:07 -0000

2007-2008 Recap

The 2007-2008 season was a tale of two seasons. There was the season with Claxton and the season without Claxton. The season with Claxton started out rocky but got things together and won two Big Ten road games to start the conference schedule. At 10-5 it looked like Penn State was going to qualify for their first post season appearance since 2005. Then Geary went down against Wisconsin and the season looked lost.

It certainly wasn't pretty the way Penn State closed out their final sixteen games, but upsets over ranked opponents Michigan State and Indiana combined with three wins in the last four games give reason for hope this season. The injury to Claxton along with a late season injury to Jamelle Cornley forced Penn State to give heavy minutes to their talented freshmen. They are hoping that valuable experience pays off this year.

The Back Court

Talor Battle figures to be a huge factor for Penn State after a sensational freshman season. He will be joined by seniors Stanley Pringle and Danny Morrissey. Sharp shooter Mike Walker has moved on after graduation, but Penn State is counting on freshman Chris Babb to fill in the outside shooter role. Freshman Cammeron Woodyard will also hope to crack the lineup.

The key word for this group is consistency. The duo of Battle and Pringle was fun to watch push the action, but they often turned the ball over too much. Pringle in particular has a tendency to get out of control and dribble the ball off his foot when he gets in the lane. Morrissey is as streaky a shooter as they come. He can be cold through 30 minutes and then hit five in a row and end the game with 20 ponts. Pringle took a lot of him minutes last season, and if Chris Babb is as good as advertised it's going to be even tougher for him to get playing time. He'll have to make the most of his opportunities this year.

Speaking of Chris Babb, he should eventually be a major upgrade over Mike Walker. Babb will lack the experience in the early going, but his athletic ability should allow Penn State to put a true shooting guard on the floor and not have to sacrifice any athletic ability on the defensive end. He should allow Penn State to play a lot more man-to-man defense than in the past when teams were allowed to shoot at will over the Penn State zone defenses. Babb was a scoring machine at the Oakridge School in Arlington, Texas averaging 31 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists per game as a senior. Penn State is also hoping to get a contribution from freshman Cammeron Woodyard who averaged 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists as a senior at Winters Mills High School where he led his team to the Maryland 2A State Championship.

This should be the best back court Penn State has seen since Danny Earl and Pete Lisicky were running the show.

The Front Court

Though it clearly sucked at the time, losing Geary Claxton and Jamelle Cornley last season was the best thing that could have happened to the 2008-2009 Nittany Lions. The injuries forced Ed DeChellis to play the three talented freshmen; Andrew Jones, D.J. Jackson, and Jeff Brooks. They struggled to find their groove early on, but by the end of the season you could see these guys gaining confidence and being more aggressive. Now they are all seasoned veterans and Jamelle Cornley says he is 100% healthy giving Penn State a formidable foursome to play down low. But the others will have to show progress if Penn State is going to be successful.

Andrew Jones will have to become a dominating force in the paint. But he's only 6'9" tall so he's not exactly a natural fit for the center position. He's put on a lot of weight and a lot of muscle and he's going to need it to compete with the other big men in the league. He plays with a lot of fire and emotion, but he tended to disappear at times last year. He averaged 4.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in only 17 mintues per game last year. Penn State will need him to at least double all of those numbers with the key number being rebounds in my opinion.

D.J. Jackson was a solid player last year and I would expect nothing less this year. He was one of our most consistent and best all around players. But he'll need to work on creating shots and being more aggressive in his play. Though he redshirted his first year, it was due to a fractured leg that caused him to miss the entire season. Last year was really his first year in the program, so I expect we'll see more improvement from him.

Everyone was expected big things from Jeff Brooks last year, and we were all majorly disappointed. It was obvious he wasn't ready for the speed and physical play of college basketball. He really could have used a redshirt season, but injuries and depth issues forced DeChellis to play him. This year he coaches and teammates say he's greatly improved in his confidence and conditioning. We'll see if they are correct or if they are just trying to further his confidence. I seem to recall two years of hearing coaches and teammates talking up a certain quarterback on the football team that never lived up to the billing.

The only losses from a year ago are Brandon Hassell and Joonas Suotamo. Neither guy could score or rebound or even play defense, so nobody should consider these to be huge losses. You can expect freshman Billy Oliver (6'8" 210 lbs.) and sophomore Andrew Ott (6'10" 230 lbs) to also see some playing time. Ott is a transfer from Villanova and will have to sit out the fall semester due to NCAA transfer rules.

A major addition that doesn't necessarily show up on the roster or the stat book is new assistant coach Lewis Preston who has a history of developing low post players at Notre Dame and Florida. He wasn't a good fit for Florida, but a guy like him may be able to work wonders at a school like Penn State. If the low post players show major improvement he will undoubtedly deserve a lot of the credit.

BSD's Season Outlook

The team is talking big this year. Late season wins over Michigan State and Indiana along with all the talent coming back have them thinking a berth in the NCAA tournament is within reach. But I'm pretty skeptical.

The non-conference schedule is a joke with teams like Mount St. Marys and New Jersey Tech. But there is a potentially tough stretch where they play at Penn before playing in the Philly Classic against Rhode Island and potentially Villanova. Then they travel to Georgia Tech before playing Temple at home. This could be a disasterous season killing string of games if the Lions play poorly. But if they can come away from that run with two or three wins I think they can feel pretty good about themselves going into the conference slate.

The Lions managed seven wins in the conference last year, so you have to consider anything less than that to be a failure. But it's not going to be easy. Last year was a down year for the conference as a whole and Penn State was able to sneak a few wins over teams like Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois. Those teams should all be improved this year along with Minnesota and Ohio State. Purdue and Wisconsin are completely out of our league, but Indiana is rebuilding and should give us an opportunity for some wins. Once again the scheduling Gods are cruel and only give us one game against perennial conference doormat Northwestern to start the Big Ten schedule. This used to be the game both teams counted on to avoid a last place finish in the conference. I'll be disappointed if this is anything less than a 20 point blowout in our favor this year.

Is the NCAA tournament out of the question? No, but it's going to take a lot of work. The weak non-conference schedule is going to hurt them. Even if they can get ten or eleven wins, there just aren't enough scalps on that list to boost the RPI. A slip up against one of them will be a major coffee stain on the resume. They will have to beat all the teams they are expected to beat and somehow manage an upset or two over the Villanova-Georgia Tech-Temple run. Then they have to look impressive in the conference. That will take at least eight or nine wins with an upset or two over a major player like Michigan State, Purdue, or Wisconsin. And even then, they may have to win a few games and advance far into the Big Ten tournament at the end of the year. This would show a major improvement over a team that went 15-16 last season. I think they will be better, probably in the 18-19 win range, but I don't think they'll look impressive enough to qualify for the NCAA tournament. But mark this team down for a sixth place finish in the conference and an NIT bid.

SB Nation - Andrew Ott

North Carolina Defeats Valiant Penn State, 80-69.

Penn State Basketball Preview - Part II

22 - Andrew Jones III (6-10, 245)

15 - David "D.J." Jackson (6-7, 210)

25 - Jeff Brooks (6-8, 200)

10 - Chris Babb (6-5, 215)

24 - Cammeron Woodyard (6-5, 210)

54 - Andrew Ott (6-10, 240)

#12 - Talor Battle (6-0, 170)

Looking Ahead To 2009-2010

Talor Battle

David Jackson

Jeff Brooks

Andrew Jones III

Chris Babb

Cammeron Woodyard

Andrew Ott

The Other Guys

Penn State Defeats Indiana...Barely

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

Nitt Picks Throws a Lot At You

Are You Kidding Me?

Let's Talk Some Football

In Scores of Other Games

Penn State Dominates Michigan

The Good

The Bad

The Ugly

Next Up

Nittany Lions Basketball Schedule

Next 5 Games

Last 5 Games

See Also

The Other Shoe: Michigan Pasted By Penn State 58-73

Penn State Men's Basketball Preview

2007-2008 Recap

The Back Court

The Front Court

BSD's Season Outlook