SB Nation - Chris Babb

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.

Back on the Bubble

BSD — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 17:38:07 -0000

Final - 2.14.2009	1	2	Total
Minnesota Golden Gophers	23	40	63
Penn St. Nittany Lions	24	44	68

Complete Coverage >

Talor Battle got his swagger back. And so did the Nittany Lions.

It was a game that both teams need to win. Minnesota hoped to solidify their tournament hopes. Penn State was just hoping to remember what it was like to have tournament hopes. At the end of the day Penn State got the win thanks to the return of Talor Battle, some key contributions from a few role players, and some decent free throw shooting.

The Good

Talor Battle overcame a poor shooting first half to score 21 points. The spark that got him going came just before the half when Chris Babb stole a long pass from Minnesota at half court and fired it up to Battle standing at the three point line. Battle sank the buzzer beating shot to give Penn State a one point halftime lead. From that point on he was the old Talor Battle again. He was hitting threes, making passes, and finishing his drives.

Battle had the other key play of the game with a minute to go. Penn State was just up by two when he picked Devoe Joseph's pocket and raced to the basket. He used his body to shield the ball as he went up for the layup. He made the shot and drew the foul. Though he missed the foul shot, Jones pulled down the offensive rebound and kicked it back out to Battle at the key. With time winding down Minnesota was forced to foul Talor again, and that time he made both shots to give Penn State a six point lead with a half minute to go.

Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard made significant contributions scoring eight and seven points respectively. Babb also had the key steal mentioned earlier. Hopefully the freshmen are starting to get it and we can count on production like that from them every night. This would make me feel better about the 2009-2010 team without Stanley Pringle.

David Jackson seems to be getting his confidence back. He was attacking the basket more and managed to get a layup and a few free throws to finish with six points. But there were one or two times he went to the hoop and got completely rejected. I'm talking ball shoved back in your face and driving you to the ground rejected. Oh well. Good to see him at least being aggressive again.

Stanley Pringle ignited a nice run early in the second half by draining three pointers in three straight possessions. Unfortunately, poor defense on the other end only allowed the lead to be extended from seven to nine.

Penn State shot 75% from the free throw line for the day. I'll take that every game and never complain again if they can do it. They were especially good down the stretch hitting 10-of-13 in the final two minutes. Games are so much less stressful when they do this.

The Bad

Danny Morrissey didn't play due to a problem with his knee. Though given the contribution we got from Babb and Woodyard, one might say this is a good thing.

Cornley had a slow day only scoring six points and five rebounds. He also had five turnovers.

Andrew Ott only played two minutes. He didn't get a point or a rebound, but he managed to tally two quick personal fouls.

For the second straight game Penn State let a guard come off the bench and torch them. This time it was Devoe Joseph who looked like his shots were being guided by satellite. Joseph shot 8-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the arc to score all 23 of his points in the second half.

The Ugly

The first half was pretty painful to watch. Both teams turned the ball over 11 times with a ton of traveling calls. Penn State was able to fix their problems and only gave the ball up 4 times in the second half. Minnesota gave the ball back another 8 times.

On top of the turnovers in the first half, neither team was shooting well making for a whistle infested low scoring game. Minnesota shot 29% from the field while Penn State shot 36%.

Next Up

Five games to go until the Big Ten Tournament (@Illinois, @Ohio State, Indiana, Illinois, @Iowa). I still think we need to get to 22 wins to make the tournament. So that makes winning the two home games imperative. The game at Iowa is a winnable game, but not an easy one. Win that and the two home games and we're at 21 wins. Maybe with a win or two in the Big Ten tournament we can sneak in.

But what I don't like about this scenario is that it involves losing our next two games at Illinois and Ohio State. Penn State has momentum now and I hate to see them give that up. To lose another two games could carry over and translate into an upset loss to Indiana. So we can't afford to write off these games against Illinois and Ohio State to keep this momentum going. Luckily, Penn State historically plays well in Champaign. We've won our last two games there and pulled that major upset back in 2006.

Penn State "Trips Up" Against Michigan State

BSD — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:00:12 -0000

Final - 1.14.2009	1	2	Total
Michigan St. Spartans	42	36	78
Penn St. Nittany Lions	29	44	73

Complete Coverage >

It seemed like it was meant to be. Penn State had come charging back from a 17 point second half deficit. Jamelle Cornley was killing the Spartans inside. Talor Battle was killing them from the outside when he wasn't dishing the ball to his teammates. The 10,270 people in the stands were screaming like their hair was on fire. With 27 seconds to go the Nittany Lions found themselves just down by two with the ball and the #7 team in the country leaning on the ropes. Talor Battle surveyed the defense and thought he saw an opening. He tried to split between two defenders. Goran Suton stuck his foot out and tripped him. Battle went down. The ref choked on his whistle. The Spartans picked up the loose ball and the game was essentially over.

The Good

It was a valiant effort by the Nittany Lions against a team that was much deeper and more athletic. Talor Battle and Jamelle Cornley were sensational in the second half. Cornley poured in 15 of his career high 26 points while Battle put away 12.

Those of you who claim Ed DeChellis can't coach should go back and watch last nights game again. In the second half Ed was switching up the defense on every other possession. They went to the 2-3 zone. Then the 1-3-1 zone. Then the 1-1-3 zone. Then back to the 2-3. Michigan State really struggled to figure out the different zone looks. It slowed them down and allowed Penn State to claw their way back into the game. I really believe Ed is a good coach. He just needs more athletes.

As I mentioned, the crowd of 10,270 was amazing to see after the poor attendance in the Purdue game last week. Kudos to all the fans who braved the cold and the snow to go out and support the team.

Chris Babb looks like he's starting to get it. He only played six minutes, but in that short time he scored two crucial three pointers. He also grabbed a rebound, blocked two shots and got a steal. Hopefully he'll be able to step up and give Pringle and Battle a rest once in a while.

Andrew Ott looked the best he's been since putting on the Blue and White. In ten minutes of play he scored four points, three rebounds (two offensive), an assist and a steal. But he also racked up a quick three fouls.

The Bad

Penn State was outrebounded 41-24. Michigan State grabbed a dominating 17 offensive rebounds. Our lack of depth in the front court is really starting to show now that we're in the heart of the Big Ten season.

Stanley Pringle had his second straight off game. He only scored 8 points on 2-of-11 shooting. If he could have scored his usual 15 points, who knows? He's got to get out of his funk.

Stanley Pringle, Jamelle Cornley, and Talor Battle were all seen limping off the court at some point last night. The physicality of Big Ten basketball is starting to take its toll on this team, and the lack of depth is only going to become more apparent from here on.

The Ugly

I hate to keep harping on the kid, but David Jackson is a complete liability. He only saw six mintues 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.

What was up with the refs not calling the trip on Suton at the end of the game? It seemed like Battle couldn't look at a guy funny without drawing a foul all night and he eventually fouled out of the game. How you don't call a foul on that play is beyond me.

Up Next

The Nittany Lions get a chance to regroup with a winable road game against Indiana on Saturday night (6 PM ET). Then they return home for two winable games against Michigan and Iowa. Sitting at 13-5 you hate to say it's desperation time, but these are three must-win games if Penn State hopes to make the post season.

Penn State Demoralized by Minnesota

BSD — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:00:09 -0000

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

Complete Coverage >

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

The Good

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

The Bad

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

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

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

The Ugly

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

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

Looking Ahead

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

One Step Forward. Two Steps Back

BSD — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:00:07 -0000

Final - 12.6.2008	1	2	Total
Temple Owls	28	37	65
Penn St. Nittany Lions	24	35	59

Complete Coverage >

It figures that Penn State would follow up their greatest road win since 2005 by laying an egg against Temple at home. The Nittany Lions came out flat and never got it going. Though Penn State managed to close to finish within six points, it wasn't really that close. Penn State jumped out to a 10-4 lead, but then Temple went on a run to take a 15-14 lead halfway through the first half and they never looked back from there. They led by 6-10 points through much of the second half.

This team is just not good enough to the point they can just show up and win. They have to play hard every night, and on Sunday they didn't do that. They didn't play defense and they didn't play sharp on offense. The key part of the offense, the transition game, never got started.

The big blow was Stanley Pringle spraining his ankle in the first half. He didn't return, and the offense suffered for it. Hopefully they can squeak by these last four non-conference games without him, but the bench is pretty thin as Happy Hour Valley points out.

There’s barely a semblance of an inside game, particularly on the defensive end, and the backcourt becomes a hell of a lot weaker without Stanley Pringle in there. Danny Morrissey is a streaky shooter whose performance depends on how many wide open looks he get, and tonight he got zero because Temple’s strategy involved locking down on him and rendering him useless.

This brings me to my next question, why is ED so reluctant to go to his bench when the situation is dire? Could Woodyard and Babb done any worse out there? If he’s actually relying on a 7-man rotation to carry him through the season then we’re in deeper (BSD - bleep) than initially thought.

I have to agree that Danny Morrissey is more liability than benefit. He's good at getting open when Penn State is in transition. But in the half court offense he's too slow to get open off the screens. And his defense is terrible. So terrible that Penn State is forced to play zone when he's on the court. It would seem that he's all we got, but I have to agree with HHV. Could Woodyard and Babb be that much worse? I hope these kids see a lot of playing time over the next four games in case Pringle is slow to come back. And if Battle has to keep playing all 40 minutes he'll be dead by the end of the year.

So we ended our toughest stretch of the non-conference schedule 3-2. We gave up one we could have won, and we blew our chance to get the valuable RPI boost of playing Villanova. We should enter the Big Ten schedule with a 12-2 record barring a monumental collapse somewhere. That would mean we would probably need ten conference wins to make the NCAA tournament. I think that goal is on life support at this point. However, if we can pull off seven or eight wins I think we can still make the NIT. There's a lot of work to do yet, but first they have to focus on beating Army tonight.