SB Nation - Jeff Brooks

Penn State Beat Man's Best Friend 58-42

BSD — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:20:18 -0000

Nice, uh, wrist action you got there.

Much like the gentlemen in the video, it wasn't a pretty win. Penn State stumbled through an abysmal first half shooting just 34% and actually trailing in the final three minutes before the break. Perhaps they were a bit hung over from the disappointing Temple loss. Or maybe they were looking ahead to Virginia Tech this weekend. Regardless, it was a terribly slow start against a winless opponent.

But a little spurt gave them a slim four point halftime lead. After the break a dunk by Brooks and a three from Frazier sparked the offense to life and Penn State cruised to the final 58-42 score from there.

Jeff Brooks continues to impress scoring in double figures for the fifth time this season. He's easily the most improved player this season.

Andrew Jones is showing signs of breaking out of his funk with a double-double. We'll need him to be a solid presence in the middle going forward.

It was a great team effort with 20 points coming off the bench. Chris Babb is coming around with his three point shooting. But as a team Penn State is still struggling from behind the arch only shooting 4-of-21.

Next up is Virginia Tech on Saturday.

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 Advances to NIT Third Round

BSD — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:00:26 -0000

Final - 3.19.2009	1	2	Total
Rhode Island Rams	29	43	72
Penn St. Nittany Lions	42	41	83

Complete Coverage >

On a night when Penn State was playing without their gutsy senior forward Jamelle Cornley, the Nittany Lions rallied with a total team effort to avenge the earlier season loss to the Rhode Island Rams. I didn't get to see the game, so all observations are just coming from the boxscore and game reviews I've read.

The Good

Andrew Jones stepped up big time with a double-double scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds. I've noticed the trend all season long that when he gets the ball in the post good things tend to happen. He's developed a nice baby hook shot and he's good at kicking the ball out when a shooter pops open. I'm particularly encouraged by the ten rebounds. He's bulked up nicely the past two seasons and if he can learn to throw that weight around he can do some serious damage for us next year. But he has to learn to pick his spots better. Last night he fouled out of the game.

Stanley Pringle had the hot hand scoring 19 points in the game.

Chris Babb has really come on in the past month. Last night he scored 13 points in 20 minutes. I've really been impressed with his tenacity on defense all season long and last night he had another steal. He's going to be a nice compliment to Talor Battle next season.

The Jackson/Brooks platoon netted 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. That is just awesome production from these two guys.

As a team the Nittany Lions shot 87.1% from the free throw line hitting 27-of-31 shots. Where was that all season? The precision shooting was what won the game as Penn State didn't score a field goal in the final 8:53.

Penn State out rebounded Rhode Island 37-26.

The Bad

Talor Battle sat out the final three minutes after reaggravating a hip pointer that has been bothering him all season. Ed seems to think he'll be good to go by Wednesday, but he's not going to practice between now and then.

Though the production from the younger players is encouraging, Penn State still needed 19 points from Stanley Pringle to win the game. That's production they won't have next year. But I'm feeling much better about this with Babb coming on late in the season.

The Ugly

Penn State failed to score a field goal after Stanley Pringle hit a jumper with 8:53 left in the game. Fortunately they got it done from the free throw line scoring their final 17 points from the charity stripe.

Final Thoughts

It's amazing to see this team really can score when they get away from the suffocating defenses and possession offenses of the Big Ten. The contributions of the younger players were particularly encouraging in this game. A few months ago I was really sweating over how we were going to survive next year without Cornley and Pringle. But now I feel Battle, Jackson, Jones, Brooks, and Babb in the starting lineup along with Woodyard, Frazier, Marshall, Ott, Oliver, and Borovnjak coming off the bench will give us a nice nucleus to be competitive.

Penn State will have to await tonight's game against Florida and Miami to determine their next opponent. If Florida wins, the Nittany Lions will travel to Gainesville next Wednesday. If Miami wins, they will host the Hurricanes in the Jordan Center.

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.

Game #19 Preview: Look ma. No big men! Michigan Wolverines Travel to Happy Valley to Take on Penn State

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:28:03 -0000

Matchup: Michigan 13-5, (3-3); Penn State 14-5, (3-3)

TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WWJ-AM (950), WTKA-AM (1050)

Tip-off: 9 p.m., Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pa.

Line: Penn State by 2.

Two straight conference losses will take their toll on a team. After getting pounded inside by Illinois and Ohio State in back to back contests, Michigan takes on another surprising and vastly improved Big Ten team in Penn State.

At 14-5 the Lions are light years ahead of where anyone in their right mind thought they'd be this season. During the Big Ten/ACC tournament the Lions knocked off heavily favored Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and they've topped Purdue in Happy Valley. Not too shabby. But the Lions schedule is one of the weakest in the Big Ten, posted a woeful Ken Pomeroy schedule ranking of 222 and a non-conf schedule ranking of 322! By the way, their RPI is 86. Penn State has feasted on the lower end of the D-1 platter, making their most impressive win after Purdue, their victory over Northwestern. So, yeah, there's an opportunity here.

The Matchups

If there's a team in the Big Ten that Michigan actually matches up against, it's Penn State. For the first time in a week, Michigan won't face a 9 foot corn stalk in the middle of the floor. The tallest guy on PSU's team that sees any minutes is Andrew Jones III, a 6-9 forward who is second on the team in rebounding at 5.2 a game, but doesn't have a lot of offensive capability. What Jones does is fill time for Penn State's more dominant post player, 6-5 Jamelle Cornley. Cornley's failed to score in double figures just twice this season, and went for 26 against Michigan State when the Lions almost upset the Spartans a week ago. Despite his height, Cornley's a load under the basket and isn't afraid to take the ball up strong. As a result, he's taken 79 Free Throws this season, but made only 58% of them.

While Cornley is the inside, the outside belongs to Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle. Battle is definitely the more intriguing of the pair, though they're both damn good ball players. Battle is generously listed at 5-10, but it's the same as saying Kelivn Grady is 6-0. It's a lie. What Battle is, however, is aggressive. In the PSU games I've watched Battle has no reservations about putting the ball up from anywhere on the court. He's averaging 13 shots a game with around 7 of those shots being three point attempts. And he's not just content on the perimeter. Battle takes the ball to the rim with some consistency, as witnessed by his 122 FT attempts this season. (For comparison's sake, Manny Harris has taken only 116 FT). Battle's done a fairly good job of filling the bucket, shooting 43% FG and 40% from three. He's scored 19 or more points eleven times this year and has four 20+ point games in his last seven contests. He's short, but he's fast. To be honest, I'm not sure who's matching up with him. (probably LLP).

Pringle's another smallish guard who loves to shoot from the outside. Pringle doesn't attack the basket the same way that Battle does, but he really doesn't have to. Pringle's shooting 50% from three on 78 attempts. Again, for compairson Manny Harris has 82 three-point attempts and shooting 34%. Do the math and you'll figure out where Pringle's points are coming from. Pringle likes his jump shots, and oddly, he's a little better outside the arc than inside it, averaging around 46% when shooting for two. Those aren't number to sneeze at. Honestly, if he took a few more shots, he'd easily be leading the team in scoring, but seems content to play third fiddle for some reason. I've seen him go in and out of games. Pouring in points one moment and disappearing for long stretches before erupting again. It's worth noting that Pringle really is the Lion's barmometer. When he's scoring, PSU usually wins. When he's cold, as he was against MSU and Minnesota, PSU loses. Somehow I see Harris on him like glue the whole game.

With the aforementioned threesome averaging over 14 a piece, there's not a lot of ancillary scoring. Guard Danny Morrissey, Forward David Jackson, and 6-8 forward Jeff Brooks fill out the majority of the minutes with Jones III. Morrissey fancies himself a three point specialist, with 75 of his 98 FTAs being three pointers. But Morrissey's aim hasn't been the best, he's shooting just 32% from behind the arc. Still, he's a three point threat, so we've gotta watch him. Jackson and Brooks are inside 15 feet players, and put in between 18 and 20 minutes a game, a couple of rebounds and 4 points or so a piece. I don't expect them to hurt us, but if they do, throw things at the TV because we're in trouble.

Game Plan

Michigan's going through a horrendous drought from the floor right now that really shows no sign of abating. I'm willing to guess that 90% of that is playing teams that are a foot taller than they are and having to defend them down low. Fortunately, Penn State isn't that type of team so Michigan shouldbe able to play "their" game rather than expend extra energy trying to keep Tisdale/Mullens out of the lane.

But for Michigan to pull out a win, they're going to have to pick better shots. Michigan is the Big Ten's second-worst shooting team, at 43%, and the second-worst from three-point range, hitting just 33.8%.That's not good. Honestly, it sucks. But the key to fixing this is fairly evident: move your ass. Over the last three games Michigan has gone from out working their opponents to getting worked over. No one is moving without the ball and everyone is standing around outside the arc looking for an open three pointer to drop into their lap. Unfortunately when it doesn't appear, they're taking contested three pointers instead of doing the work to get down low and actually set up an open shot.

DeShawn Sims looks whipped right now. Just out of steam. 4 games in 10 days does that to a kid, but so does defending guys six inches taller than him. Michigan's got to take some of the pressure off Sims on the defensive end against opposing bigs, and PSU's lack of height might just do that. I expect Sims to return to his usual self and pot 7 buckets tonight, or at least shot a better percentage than his current 7-for-27 slump.

Manny will be Manny, but his supporting cast needs to step up. Novak continues to search for his shot, as do Grady and LLP. If Douglas can continue to knock back critical three's, keep him in the lineup, but I have to admit I prefer Novak's defense to Stu's.

If Michigan actually moves without the ball and creates their own opportunities, they can walk out of Penn State with a win. Stand around and pick their nose like they have the last two games and Michigan's looking at a 3-4 record and a nasty hill to climb for an NCAA invite.

See you tonight at the Open Thread.

Penn State Wins a Catfight 70-50

BSD — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:03:56 -0000

Final - 11.23.2008	1	2	Total
New Hampshire Wildcats	29	21	50
Penn St. Nittany Lions	36	34	70

Complete Coverage >

It started off rocky, but the Penn State men's basketball team rallied to beat the Wildcats of New Hampshire in comfortable fashion on Sunday afternoon. Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

On a day when the outside shooters were having trouble getting open and making shots, Penn State was able to pound the ball inside to Cornley and get points. This had been lacking in the first three games and was starting to become a concern for me. But the team showed versatility to adapt to what the defense is doing and attack them from another angle.

The added benefit to getting the ball inside to Cornley was the opportunities it opened up for other players. New Hampshire was collapsing on Cornley with double and even triple teams to try to stop him. This opened up opportunities for Jackson and Jones to get some easy buckets but cutting to the basket and grabbing some offensive rebounds.

I'm worried about boring my audience by gushing about Talor Battle every week, but there is no denying the guy is a stud. It's no surprise that Penn State was struggling during the first ten minutes of the game when he hadn't even attempted a shot. But he got things going with a free throw and followed it up with a nice running jump shot that kissed off the glass with the shot clock winding down and it was on from there. He finished with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting. He also pulled in eight rebounds, two steals, and three assists with no turnovers.

It was good to see Jeff Brooks play 11 minutes on his tender ankle. He managed to score four points, but also committed two fouls.

The Bad

The slow start had me a little concerned. It was obvious they were trying to pound the ball inside to Cornley, and in the early going it wasn't working too great. There were a lot of silly turnovers from some careless passes inside the paint. The outside shooters weren't passing very well to get open. And the defense was pretty poor allowing New Hampshire to get some open looks from behind the arc.

Andrew Jones is 6'10" tall. He needs to play like it. Listen up, big fella. When you get that ball with a clear shot at the basket, dunk that thing. Collect your feet and pound it home. Don't go for those week layups that the little guys can poke away. Especially when they know they can wrap you up and foul you and you'll probably miss at least one of the free throws. He missed at least two shots that should have been easy dunks.

The Ugly

Danny Morrissey had an awful night. 0-for-4 from the field, 0-for-2 from the arc, and 0-for-1 from the free throw line. On top of that he turned the ball over, played some horrible defense, and committed stupid fouls. He'll have his days where he comes off the bench and nails six three pointers in a row, but then he'll have days like yesterday where he can't do anything right.

Chris Babb still looks clueless out there.

Good Lord the announcers were terrible. The play-by-play man wasn't bad, but Spencer Tollackson was just awful as a color analyst. Beside the fact he has a face that belongs nowhere near a camera, his commentary was filled with cliches and master of the obvious statements. I was waiting for him to let loose with a "Boom goes the dynamite." They let him try his hand at the teleprompter a little bit and it was a complete disaster. He took so long to illustrate a play they had to mercifully cut him short to go back to live action. The best part was the story he relayed about being completely surprised about all the celebrations going on in State College the night before when he was trying to drive down College Avenue to get to his hotel. Apparently Penn State was pretty excited about winning the Big Ten championship in football. Who knew?

Somebody back in the truck should have arranged some "technical difficulties" and muted his microphone. It was that painful to listen to.

Up Next

Penn State leaves the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center to take their act on the road for the first time this season. The next four games will all be on the road against much better competition than we've seen so far. Then we come home for a matchup against the always tough Temple in a game in which I always call "The Owls' Revenge" for the beating we always give them in football.

Basketball Schedule

Next 6 Games

@ Penn	Tue 11/25	7:30 PM EST
Rhode Island ( @ Philly Classic)	Fri 11/28	6:30 PM EST
@ Philly Classic (Team TBA)	Sat 11/29	TBA
@ Georgia Tech	Wed 12/03	7:30 PM EST
Temple	Sat 12/06	6:00 PM EST
Army	Wed 12/10	7:00 PM EST

Last 5 Games

New Hampshire	Sun 11/23	W 70 - 50
Hartford	Thu 11/20	W 89 - 64
NJIT	Mon 11/17	W 74 - 47
William & Mary	Fri 11/14	W 65 - 51

These next five games will be huge for this season. If we can come away with three or four wins it will boost our confidence tremendously and springboard us into the Big Ten schedule. Lose four or five of them and the dream of making the NCAA tournament this year is on life support. We'll find ourselves frantically trying to regroup before the conference schedule starts.

There Can Be Only One

BSD — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:00:08 -0000

And it isn't the Highlanders of New Jersey Tech. Penn State overcame a sloppy first half to pull away and dominate the game 74-47. Let's look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Talor Battle continues to be our best player scoring 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in only 32 minutes. I mentioned after the last game I wanted to see him averaging six or seven assists per game, so this was a great improvement. The offense really lacked direction when he was on the bench. I also liked that he only had one turnover.

David Jackson was really aggressive and played well. He was attacking the lane and went to the charity stripe five times hitting all five shots to finish with 13 points.

Ed DeChellis may have found a diamond in the rough in Cammeron Woodyard. He doesn't seem at all intimidated by the speed of the game and played with a lot of aggression. He logged 16 minutes and finished with six points and two rebounds. I especially liked the way he attacked the boards and went after rebounds. We'll need more of that this year to help Cornley inside.

Jeff Brooks saw his first action of the year and looks a lot improved over last year. He was attacking the lane drawing the defense in and did a nice job of kicking the ball out to the shooters. I also liked the way he crashed the boards and pulled in six rebounds.

The Bad

Jeff Brooks is out of control. He turned the ball over five times and committed several stupid fouls eventually fouling out of the game. I'm hoping he was just trying to do too much to show everybody how much he has improved. But if he learns how to control that athletic ability we could have another Geary Claxton in a few years.

Stanley Pringle does a good job of pushing the fast break. Unfortunately, he just outruns his teammates and when he realizes he's leading a one-on-three fast break he decides to pull up and try a three point shot. We need better shot selection than that. It's ok to pull up and go into the half court set if the fast break isn't there.

27 of our 53 field goal attemts were three point shots. That's over half. NJIT is a small team that we should have been able to dominate in the paint. But there were too many times where everyone was just kind of standing around on offense passing it around the perimeter until somebody decided to take a shot. Luckily our shooters were on last night hitting 13 of the 27 attempts, but if we have an off shooting night we are going to find ourselves in a dogfight.

Jamelle Cornley should have scored 30 points on this team they were so weak inside. But he only had six points and four rebounds. Admittedly, they really tried to take him out of the game and Ed only played him 23 minutes to keep him healthy.

Chris Babb got into the game late, but he still doesn't look ready. He ran around looking lost on offense and turned the ball over twice, but there are signs of hope. Like most good players do when they can't get it going on offense they focus on defense and rebounding. He pulled down a couple boards and in the final minutes of the game he looked like he was starting to just play and have fun on the offensive end. Hopefully he's over the first game jitters now.

The first half defense was terrible. The perimeter defense was overpursuing and letting the Highlanders get some wide open jump shots. They did a better job in the second half.

The Ugly

What was up with the officiating? 46 fouls? Really? You couldn't breathe on your opponent without drawing a whistle. I was afraid to reach over my sleeping dog for my soda can for fear I would get called for an over the back violation. It made it really hard to enjoy the game, let alone watch it on DVR in under two hours while fast forwarding through commercials.

Andrew Jones is an awful free throw shooter. He went to the stipe ten times and only hit four shots. It's obvious to see he rushes through his shooting motion and never really comes set before he takes the shot. Does Ed coach these guys on how to shoot foul shots or does he just tell them to shoot a hundred free throws after practice and turn out the lights when they are done? Last year I noted Geary Claxton never even looked at the rim until he was half way through his shooting motion. Jamelle Cornley uses too much wrist in his shot. Who is coaching these guys? It's supposed to be the easiest shot in basketball. That's why they call it the Charity Stripe.

Jeff Brooks gets an honorable mention on the free throw Hall of Shame. He had one attempt and clanked the front end of a one-and-one horribly off the front of the rim. An inch or two shorter and it would have been an air ball.

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.