Post by el_duderino on Jan 7, 2009 23:24:03 GMT -5
Yup. And we have a men's team too!
While it's gone under the radar pretty easily, the men's bball program has actually been improving over the past couple of years. Even if the progress is seemingly unnoticeable... But progress nonetheless!
The 13-3 (2-1) mark looks pretty good at this point. Admittedly, it's a damn lot better than it's looked in previous years. The three losses are decently[\i] respectable - Rhode Island, Temple, and Wisconsin. And all three games were close games - another rarity for a Penn State team at this point in the season.
As for the wins, a road win over Georgia Tech is always nice. So is upsetting the #14 team at home - a 67-64 win over Purdue last night.
What's good? Soph. guard Taylor Battle leads the Big Ten in scoring, and seniors Stanley "This is how I chill, ma'am" Pringle and Jamelle Cornley both in the top 10 as well. While not the biggest team, they are scrappy and will fight for every loose ball and rebound they can find. Soph. forward/center Andrew Jones is picking up his play, which might give us a bit more of a "big" presence on the court.
What's bad? We suck from the free throw line. Rather, the "toll" throw line, because lord knows those shots aren't free for this team. We were 8th in the Big Ten heading into last night's game at a 66.7% clip, and then we shot 56.5% from the line. Woo. The other big issues is our lack of depth (or at least, Ed's refusal to use the bench). Outside of our top 3 scorers, nobody tops 6 ppg. Jeff Brooks has had an up-and-down year with limited playing time; David Jackson lost whatever form he had at the end of last season; Danny Morrissey is extremely streaky. And that's about all we use right now - that's a total of 7 players, for those playing the home game.
Andrew Ott just transferred from 'Nova, and we're all trying to figure out why 'Nova even took him at all (easy to see why they had little issue in "parting" with him, however). Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard are two promising freshman, but they barely saw the floor during the diabetic coma-inducing OOC schedule. So at this point, here's to hoping our starters don't get injured. Or get too tired to finish the season...
Season expectations? Well, 13-3 run to start the season, and a decent opening to the Big Ten schedule, this team should easily return to the NIT. With a little luck and continued good play, they might find themselves as a bubble team. The next run of games will really set the table - @ Minnesota, home vs. Michigan St., @ Indiana, home vs. Michigan. Base minimum is 2-2, with anything up to winning all 4 not out of the realm of possibility.
At the very least, Penn State might finally have a basketball program that isn't the laughing stock of the sports on campus.
While it's gone under the radar pretty easily, the men's bball program has actually been improving over the past couple of years. Even if the progress is seemingly unnoticeable... But progress nonetheless!
The 13-3 (2-1) mark looks pretty good at this point. Admittedly, it's a damn lot better than it's looked in previous years. The three losses are decently[\i] respectable - Rhode Island, Temple, and Wisconsin. And all three games were close games - another rarity for a Penn State team at this point in the season.
As for the wins, a road win over Georgia Tech is always nice. So is upsetting the #14 team at home - a 67-64 win over Purdue last night.
What's good? Soph. guard Taylor Battle leads the Big Ten in scoring, and seniors Stanley "This is how I chill, ma'am" Pringle and Jamelle Cornley both in the top 10 as well. While not the biggest team, they are scrappy and will fight for every loose ball and rebound they can find. Soph. forward/center Andrew Jones is picking up his play, which might give us a bit more of a "big" presence on the court.
What's bad? We suck from the free throw line. Rather, the "toll" throw line, because lord knows those shots aren't free for this team. We were 8th in the Big Ten heading into last night's game at a 66.7% clip, and then we shot 56.5% from the line. Woo. The other big issues is our lack of depth (or at least, Ed's refusal to use the bench). Outside of our top 3 scorers, nobody tops 6 ppg. Jeff Brooks has had an up-and-down year with limited playing time; David Jackson lost whatever form he had at the end of last season; Danny Morrissey is extremely streaky. And that's about all we use right now - that's a total of 7 players, for those playing the home game.
Andrew Ott just transferred from 'Nova, and we're all trying to figure out why 'Nova even took him at all (easy to see why they had little issue in "parting" with him, however). Chris Babb and Cammeron Woodyard are two promising freshman, but they barely saw the floor during the diabetic coma-inducing OOC schedule. So at this point, here's to hoping our starters don't get injured. Or get too tired to finish the season...
Season expectations? Well, 13-3 run to start the season, and a decent opening to the Big Ten schedule, this team should easily return to the NIT. With a little luck and continued good play, they might find themselves as a bubble team. The next run of games will really set the table - @ Minnesota, home vs. Michigan St., @ Indiana, home vs. Michigan. Base minimum is 2-2, with anything up to winning all 4 not out of the realm of possibility.
At the very least, Penn State might finally have a basketball program that isn't the laughing stock of the sports on campus.