Penn State Vs. USC: Preview, how to watch and more
The Penn State Nittany Lions take on USC on Tuesday at 9 PM ET
Basketball GAMEDAY THREAD: Penn State Basketball vs. USC
- Thread starter Richie O
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Embarrassing.
Konan's back but has as many fouls as minutes played.
Defense is limited to going for steals. USC reverses the ball and gets easy unguarded 3s.
Forced shots lead to turnovers and layups going the other way.
This is a team that had everybody back from last year but has found a way to get much much worse. They were 12-2 with a decisive win over Purdue. Now they've lost 10 of 11 and the games aren't even close anymore.
Konan's back but has as many fouls as minutes played.
Defense is limited to going for steals. USC reverses the ball and gets easy unguarded 3s.
Forced shots lead to turnovers and layups going the other way.
This is a team that had everybody back from last year but has found a way to get much much worse. They were 12-2 with a decisive win over Purdue. Now they've lost 10 of 11 and the games aren't even close anymore.
I definitely am not a proponent of firing coaches at the drop of the hat, especially with ones who were hired to rebuild a program like Rhoades was. However, the product, regardless of the injuries, has been so bad and embarrassing that I have to believe that if it weren't for the fact that he allegedly is bringing in a good recruiting class, and I emphasize "allegedly," there would be a good chance that Kraft would replace him after this season.
Unfortunately, the rest of this season is garbage time because this team effectively quit after the Michigan loss, so any evaluation with this current group of players could be misleading. However, I have to believe that Rhoades will be gone after next season if we see a similar product on the court, and I'm not talking about wins and losses because next season will have a lot of losses too. I'm talking about a fudamentally sound team that plays with passion and heart, executes a good offense, especially late in the game, and plays tenacious defense, which this team has not done at all since the Michigan game.
FYI, last night, I watched a SMU team that is having a great season crush Pitt. SMU hired a coach before this season who had coached several seasons at USC and did a decent job there. I know that SMU has a lot of wealthy boosters, but that's an example of a coach leaving a Big 10 school for what probably was a slight step down. If a school like SMU can do that, then PSU certainly should be able to do it just based on the fact that it's a Big 10 school.
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It is just really bad basketball. It is 100% trying to just get athletes and force the pressure by being athletic. I get it....in some instances that works....but a team like Penn State has to be fundamentally sound and actually play the game it was meant to be played. The fundamentals of the team are so bad I usually have to turn it off.
Last night my breaking point was in the first half, I forget who had a really good look from the top of the key and hit the backboard on the shot, literally about 3-4 feet off target.
This team can run an offense, can't shoot, and play with no discipline.
Last night my breaking point was in the first half, I forget who had a really good look from the top of the key and hit the backboard on the shot, literally about 3-4 feet off target.
This team can run an offense, can't shoot, and play with no discipline.
Agree. there is a fundamental cultural problem with this team. The coach has lost them. Is it the players or coach? I have no idea but nobody is playing defense, nobody. They really need some leadership. A respected player who jumps their asses when they start lollygagging.
They actually make NYC street ball players look more like the old Pete Carill Princeton teams; that's how bad it is.
I believe that chuck shot was made by the freshman Stewart.
Another "highlight" before I turned it off was during a run by USC, a run of just good basketball and good shooting vs a team that was looking disorganized on offense, was after USC hit a couple of shots to start a run Kerns just tries to force his way to the hoop and turns it over leading to another basket by USC. Like he had to respond to the USC run himself. I love how Kerns can play but he gets out of control and is mentally undisciplined too often, and that wasn't the time for trying to force his way to the hoop.
With basically no inside game opponents just don't let the couple of PSU 3 point shooters get open looks. PSU has to develop inside scoring or every game will look the same going forward.
The horrible shot was actually by number zero, Carter. I started off the year, thinking that he would be able to give Ace some minutes and even maybe play both of them at the same time because he looked like a solid shooter and scorer from the point guard position. He’s turned out to be a bust, I thought I read that he scored 3000 points in high school or something ridiculous like that, but he must’ve played against terrible competition.
Agree with Nick, he doesn’t have much of an offensive game though. He has shot better from the outside this year. He’s an energy guy who makes stuff happen from the defensive end and getting loose balls. He’s having to play too many minutes and have too much of the ball on offense because the other guys can’t do anything.
I know Coach talks up. Hicks is being a fantastic shooter, but I just don’t see it. Guys like Andrew Funk would knock down the open three-pointer eight out of 10 times on a ball rehearsal when they have their feet set, he does it about three out of 10. And then because the team gets down, he forces a lot off the dribble from the step back or something. Plus, he’s an absolutely horrible defender.
As bad as that was, the team should still beat Washington at home and potentially one or even two more games, but playing as the 15 or 16 seed in the conference tournament is the best they can hope for.
I didn't know Enfield was at SMU. He was probably going to get canned at USC if they didn't make the Dance this year so he jumped to greener pastures. He is a good coach. I thought and still think Rhoades is equal to Enfield but this season is a disaster. My confidence in Rhoades has eroded but I still think he can be successful at Penn State.
The team has quit, injuries, coaching, whatever the reasons are for this miserable performance. We shouldn't fire Rhoades but this season has put him squarely on the hot seat for next season. The good news is it can't get worse next season but it also has to get a lot better. We're now routinely losing games by 20 points or more and are not competitive. We never even have a lead. We are clearly the worst team in the league and can cement that honor with a home loss to Washington.
Just have to wipe the slate clean after this season mercifully ends in about 3 weeks then build for next season. Rhoades has now made Kraft's job harder because of the yellow/red flags around this season's performance. It's one thing to finish say 8-12 in conference and be pretty competitive. Maybe win a game in the B10 tourney. Possibly make the NIT. Another thing to be a total dumpster fire of a team that is lacking heart, toughness and effort. There are injuries but it goes beyond that and Kraft has to consider all of it in his assessment. I am sure he will have the difficult "get it together or you are out" conversation with Rhoades at the end of the season.
Me neither but the school does seem to be willing to throw some money around for coaches. If they would just do that for Basketball, I would be happy to see who they could get. If at anytime they are will to make a change then it has to be a big upgrade. No more bargain basement hires. Shoot for the stars or stay as is.
Two weeks ago I would have said we will definetly beat Washington at home and Nebraska. Now?? Maybe we beat Washington but that is about it and I don't think we do because we are not playing hard. There is pride to play for and Kraft is watching to see if Rhoades can generate any life from this team. I hope he can jump start something but not looking good.
Not wanting Rhoades out unless it's a big hire. Giving those other guys 8 years was a function of no money combined with stupidity because stupidity wouldn't let them spend the money.
Also, the parameters have changed since coaches like Dunn and DeChellis were given more seasons than they probably deserved. With the portal, a team can be rebuilt and made competitive in one off season.
Also, I agree with you about only making a coaching change if they are willing to go after a major player, which means a current coach in a major conference who can serve as a magnet for players, even if they would be one and dones. Obviously, this would require a significant amount of money to lure such a coach. However, like I've said before, the lure of coaching in the Big 10, which now spans from coast to coast, should be enough if the money is there.
Well, they are throwing big money around for coaches in football albeit they are the bread winner for sure, but still, it's time to put PS Basketball on the map.
When you have most of your players back from a team that went 9-11 last year you expect better than 3-11 this year.
Rhoades really has his work cut out for him this off season. I believe Mingo of the 2025 class players is a highly rated, athletic guard who is likely expected to take over the point for Ace. But Stewart and Carter need to step into roles as more consistent outside shooters, and the returning post players need to get stronger and refine some inside scoring moves, Konan, Nzeh and Goodman. Goodman especially needs to spend the time it takes to put on 20+ lbs of muscle as he has shown some skills that can make him the best inside player PSU has has in some time.
Then Rhoades also needs a player or two from the portal to replace some of the maturity that the team will lose to graduation. But as we've seen with this year's team which seemed to have the experience and talent to have a good season and finish at least in the middle of the B10, experience alone doesn't always lead to wins. It gets harder to be optimistic as the Rhoades era has gone along....
Why does it always seem that any post players that ever play for PSU all look like they never had a good meal in their life? It just always seems like they're so overmatched physically against almost every other Big 10 team that they play. Really, when you compare this PSU team to almost every other Big 10 team and most of the teams that will make the Tournament, it's like watching a team of high school kids versus a team of men in comparison. Therefore, if I were Rhoades, I definitely would make it a priority to bring in at least two post players who are grown men and have experienced some success, and if he can't do it, then he no longer should be the coach.
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I’ll disagree with you about the post guys because Wahab last year was a big dude and then we had John Harrar before him. We haven’t had a whole lot of depths in those spots, but we’ve definitely had big physical guys.Goodman was injured and that set him back quite a bit. Giving him the next eight months to develop and get bigger plus if Konan does the same, we’ll make post play a potential strength of this team.
The key will be finding two wings in the portal who can shoot. If they can get that then they can easily get to the same level that they were expected to be at this year which is around 10: through 12 in the conference.
Traditionally our "big guys" prior to Mike Watkins have been scrawny.
The Portal is such a strategic paradigm shift. Watching Rutgers vs Iowa- and RU has 2 of the top freshman not just in program history- but in the country.
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are rated higher than our guys. Their Coach is solid. What's their record? 12-12....
Coach Cal ran Kentucky with multiple versions of Fab 5 "one and dones." They always started slow but typically hit their stride by tourney time (until recently- hence the firing).
Maturity in hoops trumps skill except in the most extreme cases. I like Rhodes for us- but turned off at halftime last night. Terrible effort and result. Missed lay ups by Ace and Dunn during that 16-1 USC really hurt too.
After Konan had the offensive goal tending, followed quickly by foul #3- he went to the bench and had his head in his hands. When he picked up his head I thought I may have seen tears in his eyes.
I'm not sure if that was frustration due to wanting to compete so badly, or exhaustion with the pathetic roll We Are on.....
Sad.
So sad. I've been a lion 61 years. Now we have to pay kids to play poor basketball. Don't give up on coach.
Penn State Vs. USC: Preview, how to watch and more
The Penn State Nittany Lions take on USC on Tuesday at 9 PM ETpennstate.rivals.com
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