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Basketball Penn State blows 19-point lead in 59-56 loss to Rutgers, dealt tough blow to dwindling NCAA Tournament chances

More like 60 years of futility and counting. When I was on campus (1966-1970) we looked forward to one basketball game per year. That was when the football team choose a pickup team to play against the basketball varsity. The football pickup team normally won by at least 40 points. I was at the game when Tom Sherman (the football QB) scored at will. He had about 35 points before he decided to back off and just pass the ball around. The varsity basketball team was pathetic then and still is now.
Well, Joe did like to recruit kids who were also all state in basketball as it showed they had great athletic talent.
 
Being a fan doesn't mean you pretend the team is better than it is
Of course, my post was in response to a poster that asked "who cares". Not sure how this related to my post exactly.

And what fans right now are pretending that the team is better than it is? And in what way are they doing that? It's possible to still talk about the team and root for the team while being objective.

To me, we're about the 10th best team in the Big Ten, about the 50th best team in the country, and sitting on the wrong side of the bubble right now...but we're a 2-0 stretch away from being on the right side of it (with about a 15-20% chance of having that 2-0 stretch).
 
Of course, my post was in response to a poster that asked "who cares". Not sure how this related to my post exactly.

And what fans right now are pretending that the team is better than it is? And in what way are they doing that? It's possible to still talk about the team and root for the team while being objective.

To me, we're about the 10th best team in the Big Ten, about the 50th best team in the country, and sitting on the wrong side of the bubble right now...but we're a 2-0 stretch away from being on the right side of it (with about a 15-20% chance of having that 2-0 stretch).
You've consistently claimed they're better than they are. You can provide stats (although they need 3 wins to get in not 2) but your posts don't back up the reality. You continually oversell this team.
 
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You've consistently claimed they're better than they are. You can provide stats (although they need 3 wins to get in not 2) but your posts don't back up the reality. You continually oversell this team.
Care to show me posts where I’ve “claimed we're better than we are”? Shouldn’t be hard if I’ve done it “consistently”. Believe I’ve said many times that we’re a flawed team that is a good shooting night from beating just about anyone, but a bad shooting night from losing to just about anyone.

And now that we have two Q1 games ahead of us, I’ll still say that 2 wins in our last two puts us in a coin flip on the bubble if we avoid Wednesday (and possibly even better than 50% if things break right elsewhere). We’re certainly not a lock to miss if we go 2-0, get the 10 seed, and lose to someone like Iowa on Thursday.

And FYI that “providing stats” is pretty much the best way to identify the reality of a team. Eyeballs often lie or bring confirmation bias into play. Stats don’t. If someone says “we can’t make free throws” or “we play sloppy a d turn it over too much”, it’s easy to provide the stats to back up reality.
 
PSU BB continues to kick fans in the nuts.

Pickett no shot attempts in 2nd half.

Lundy 1-16. At some point you put him on the bench or at least tell him to give it up.

Give the Rutgers staff credit. They made the halftime adjustment to double team Pickett every time he had the ball. Henn was pretty much all we had at that point. Shrews didn't make adjustments and he didn't use his TOs.

But IMO the worst thing was the defense. We looked like 6 year old soccer players where everyone chases the ball. Wide open shooters for most of the 2nd half.

At the end Rutgers had a couple of wide open 3s and an uncontested drive from the top of the key to the basket. We're they tired? Were they hanging their heads?

One of the worst collapses in PSU history.
The young freshman from Rutgers, Simpson, was just too quick for our guards. He can into the game averaging 6.1 points per game, but had 16. Shrew should have put Clary back in to guard him. The ironic part was he would never have been in the game if Mulcahy didn't foul out on what was a bad call.
Rutgers did double team Pickett the entire 2nd half, which was why Henn was so wide open. Problem was as a reward for making 2 three pointers and play solid defense he was given a special seat on the bench and not returned. Was pretty much a poor coaching job by Shrew.
 
We played well enough defensively to win. Thought we got good enough looks to win. Did a solid job on the boards, didn't let them get to the FT line too much (as I feared). But we didn't make enough open shots to win.
Dick Jeradi said it best a number of times, "They looked totally lost on offense" and that was the case for the final 10 minutes of the game. We made 6 free throws and had 7 turnovers. Once Shrew slowed the offense down we lost momentum and couldn't get it back.
 
No clue what they were attempting to accomplish on offense the last 8 minutes of the game. Everybody with their feet bolted to the floor watching Pickett dribble. Funk + Lundy + Dread something like 1 for 19 shooting the 3 AT HOME!! Wow. Basketball at PSU is just hopeless. There is not enough money on the planet to convince a proven coach to come here and zero culture. Just accept being the doormat in men's and women's hoops. Cash your checks and put the money to work in football. Enough is enough.
I do understand the frustration, especially after blowing a 19 point lead, and Shrew having one of the worst coaching performances yet, but I wouldn't give up too soon on him. We have a nice core of freshman right now, we have a good group coming in, and room to expand next year, and Shrew will be a very good coach for us before it is all said and done. He has done better than any other 2nd year coach since Dick Harter. Give it a chance.
 
You need to dig a little deeper though. Yes. we missed open shots. The problem is that happened for basically an entire half and literally for the last 10 minutes. Soooo, at some point the HC needs to adjust. No shots from outside are going in and the lead is slipping away. What do you do???? Tell Pickett to go one on one and create a foul or pass only if a teammate has a layup. I mean you can't just sit there and watch them miss every effing shot. Maybe that doesn't work but get a clue, Shrews, the outside shot is NOT GOING IN. Wake Up!! Need to adjust!!
First thing you need to do is to call a time out which he never did until we were behind. The problem was that Pickett was going one on one. Rutgers decided to double team him, prevent him from driving to the basket, and they were successful. It resulted in Pickett getting 0 shots, and we had more turnovers than points in the final 10 minutes. He needed to play Clary down the stretch, he is the only one with enough quickness to get to the rim, and play Henn more who was playing solid defense, and was hitting his 3 pointer.
 
First thing you need to do is to call a time out which he never did until we were behind. The problem was that Pickett was going one on one. Rutgers decided to double team him, prevent him from driving to the basket, and they were successful. It resulted in Pickett getting 0 shots, and we had more turnovers than points in the final 10 minutes. He needed to play Clary down the stretch, he is the only one with enough quickness to get to the rim, and play Henn more who was playing solid defense, and was hitting his 3 pointer.
Yep, needed a TO right before the Pickett turnover and if not at that point then at the 3:11 mark after Rutgers missed the dunk and we were up 3. Needed to regroup and coach like it was the last 10 seconds and we are down 1. Have to get a basket. Draw up your best play like in football you need a two point conversion to win so call your best 2 pt play. We gift wrapped this to Rutgers by doing everything wrong down the stretch.
 
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Interesting story. I'm quite sure today our hoops team could drub any kind of football pick up team they could put together but yeah PSU hoops has not had a rich history.

I remember as a kid my Dad and I went with one of my Dad's friends to a PSU vs Villanova game at the old Nova fieldhouse. A small little gym. This was somewhere around '79 or '80. My Dad's friend was a big supporter of PSU athletics so I knew this was a big deal. The place was packed and all I remember was after about 10 minutes of playing time the score was something like 30-4 in favor of Nova. Nova crowd going crazy.

Mind boggling.

PSU BB continues to kick fans in the nuts.

Pickett no shot attempts in 2nd half.

Lundy 1-16. At some point you put him on the bench or at least tell him to give it up.

Give the Rutgers staff credit. They made the halftime adjustment to double team Pickett every time he had the ball. Henn was pretty much all we had at that point. Shrews didn't make adjustments and he didn't use his TOs.

But IMO the worst thing was the defense. We looked like 6 year old soccer players where everyone chases the ball. Wide open shooters for most of the 2nd half.

At the end Rutgers had a couple of wide open 3s and an uncontested drive from the top of the key to the basket. We're they tired? Were they hanging their heads?

One of the worst collapses in PSU history.
 
Mind boggling.

PSU BB continues to kick fans in the nuts.

Pickett no shot attempts in 2nd half.

Lundy 1-16. At some point you put him on the bench or at least tell him to give it up.

Give the Rutgers staff credit. They made the halftime adjustment to double team Pickett every time he had the ball. Henn was pretty much all we had at that point. Shrews didn't make adjustments and he didn't use his TOs.

But IMO the worst thing was the defense. We looked like 6 year old soccer players where everyone chases the ball. Wide open shooters for most of the 2nd half.

At the end Rutgers had a couple of wide open 3s and an uncontested drive from the top of the key to the basket. We're they tired? Were they hanging their heads?

One of the worst collapses in PSU history.
We are not a bb program.
 
I do understand the frustration, especially after blowing a 19 point lead, and Shrew having one of the worst coaching performances yet, but I wouldn't give up too soon on him. We have a nice core of freshman right now, we have a good group coming in, and room to expand next year, and Shrew will be a very good coach for us before it is all said and done. He has done better than any other 2nd year coach since Dick Harter. Give it a chance.
I'm willing to give him time because I have no confidence we can no better. But I expect if he does prove successful that he gets plucked by a higher profile program. I'm not hoping for a Duke or Villanova level program just one that makes the dance more often than not and lands in the NIT on off years... 20-11 with 10-10 in the league. We are actually almost there but need to sustain it not a respectable team once every five years.
 
You've consistently claimed they're better than they are. You can provide stats (although they need 3 wins to get in not 2) but your posts don't back up the reality. You continually oversell this team.
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU

This apologist clown continues to make false statements regarding this failure of a program.
 
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Care to show me posts where I’ve “claimed we're better than we are”? Shouldn’t be hard if I’ve done it “consistently”. Believe I’ve said many times that we’re a flawed team that is a good shooting night from beating just about anyone, but a bad shooting night from losing to just about anyone.

And now that we have two Q1 games ahead of us, I’ll still say that 2 wins in our last two puts us in a coin flip on the bubble if we avoid Wednesday (and possibly even better than 50% if things break right elsewhere). We’re certainly not a lock to miss if we go 2-0, get the 10 seed, and lose to someone like Iowa on Thursday.

And FYI that “providing stats” is pretty much the best way to identify the reality of a team. Eyeballs often lie or bring confirmation bias into play. Stats don’t. If someone says “we can’t make free throws” or “we play sloppy a d turn it over too much”, it’s easy to provide the stats to back up reality.
They aren't going 2-0 apologist. Northwestern is beating the brakes off them this week.
 
I'm willing to give him time because I have no confidence we can no better. But I expect if he does prove successful that he gets plucked by a higher profile program. I'm not hoping for a Duke or Villanova level program just one that makes the dance more often than not and lands in the NIT on off years... 20-11 with 10-10 in the league. We are actually almost there but need to sustain it not a respectable team once every five years.
I look at it this way. If he does achieve the level you just quoted why would he leave. We would become one of those more higher profile programs. Bringing in recruits during a football whiteout game is a great recruiting move, and if they know they can get to the NCAA tournament it would draw higher recruits. I think he stays.
 
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They aren't going 2-0 apologist. Northwestern is beating the brakes off them this week.
Gonna give me 5-1 odds then? Name the price. Obviously you’d need to front it, since you’d pull another Lonnie White and try to hide under a new username if you’re wrong.
 
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU

This apologist clown continues to make false statements regarding this failure of a program.
Let me get this straight:
Constant negativity = true fan
Anything positive= apologist

Got it. Very intelligent of you.
 
Gonna give me 5-1 odds then? Name the price. Obviously you’d need to front it, since you’d pull another Lonnie White and try to hide under a new username if you’re wrong.
You got nothing apologist. Keep trying to deflect 😆 🤣 😂
 
😆 🤣 😂 You got nothing apologist. 8-10.
Win 3 in a row and Miles disappears. Lose one, and Miles come out ridiculing me for supporting the team since it makes me an apologist. (and based on our roster this season, 8-10 seems about right at this point)

We're going to Fire Shrewsberry and Hire Bill Self!!! MARK IT DOWN!!!

Anyways, now that Gunsie is off his meds again, I'll let him have the last word.
 
Win 3 in a row and Miles disappears. Lose one, and Miles come out ridiculing me for supporting the team since it makes me an apologist. (and based on our roster this season, 8-10 seems about right at this point)

We're going to Fire Shrewsberry and Hire Bill Self!!! MARK IT DOWN!!!

Anyways, now that Gunsie is off his meds again, I'll let him have the last word.
You got nothing apologist. 8-10. 😆 🤣 😂
 
Care to show me posts where I’ve “claimed we're better than we are”? Shouldn’t be hard if I’ve done it “consistently”. Believe I’ve said many times that we’re a flawed team that is a good shooting night from beating just about anyone, but a bad shooting night from losing to just about anyone.

And now that we have two Q1 games ahead of us, I’ll still say that 2 wins in our last two puts us in a coin flip on the bubble if we avoid Wednesday (and possibly even better than 50% if things break right elsewhere). We’re certainly not a lock to miss if we go 2-0, get the 10 seed, and lose to someone like Iowa on Thursday.

And FYI that “providing stats” is pretty much the best way to identify the reality of a team. Eyeballs often lie or bring confirmation bias into play. Stats don’t. If someone says “we can’t make free throws” or “we play sloppy a d turn it over too much”, it’s easy to provide the stats to back up reality.
Are we the tenth best or are we the 11th best? Or are we 12th? WIsconsin swept us and we split with Nebraska. We also split with Michigan as you may think we're better than them. Not sure we're you're getting 10th.

You had been saying "2 wins we're in" not "a coin flip on the bubble". You act as though you're an expert in this when you aren't and you display that with your posts. If we go 2-0 with a first round loss we both know other teams will make conference tournament runs to likely jump us and a couple spots will disappear when we get upsets.

Stats can also be misleading--you have to analyze them not take them at face value.
 
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Are we the tenth best or are we the 11th best? Or are we 12th? WIsconsin swept us and we split with Nebraska. We also split with Michigan as you may think we're better than them. Not sure we're you're getting 10th.

You had been saying "2 wins we're in" not "a coin flip on the bubble". You act as though you're an expert in this when you aren't and you display that with your posts. If we go 2-0 with a first round loss we both know other teams will make conference tournament runs to likely jump us and a couple spots will disappear when we get upsets.

Stats can also be misleading--you have to analyze them not take them at face value.
The bubble is a fluid situation...one day, it may look like one win is enough, and another, you might need more as things happen around you (and to your prior and future opponents). Teams like North Carolina and West Virginia had some really nice weeks, but right now, if we went 2-0 this week and landed in the 10 seed, I think we'd have a pretty good shot unless there was chaos elsewhere. There are much fewer realistic bid-stealing possibilities than we see most seasons. But it will be razor thin and a finish like FAU losing in the CUSA, Charleston losing in the CAA, and one of the bottom 9 in the P12 stealing it will change things. Figure one of those will happen, but need to avoid several of those dominoes falling.

Also, I don't recall saying that 2-0 and a loss ON THURSDAY in Chicago means we'd be a lock. I recall saying that there would be a "pretty realistic chance" in response to your post saying there would be "no chance" (and telling another that it "might do it"). Can you link me towards any posts where I said otherwise (as I can link you to several where I said exactly what I just stated)? Are you sticking to the fact that 2-0 and a loss on Thursday to an Illinois/Iowa/MSU means the chance is absolutely zero, regardless of what happens elsewhere?

As for where we fall in the pecking order...we'd be underdogs against 9 of the others in the Big Ten on a neutral tonight and favorites over 4 of them, so I'd say that 10th is about right (though closer to 11th than 9th).
 
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The bubble is a fluid situation...one day, it may look like one win is enough, and another, you might need more as things happen around you (and to your prior and future opponents). Teams like North Carolina and West Virginia had some really nice weeks, but right now, if we went 2-0 this week and landed in the 10 seed, I think we'd have a pretty good shot unless there was chaos elsewhere. There are much fewer realistic bid-stealing possibilities than we see most seasons. But it will be razor thin and a finish like FAU losing in the CUSA, Charleston losing in the CAA, and one of the bottom 9 in the P12 stealing it will change things. Figure one of those will happen, but need to avoid several of those dominoes falling.

Also, I don't recall saying that 2-0 and a loss ON THURSDAY in Chicago means we'd be a lock. I recall saying that there would be a "pretty realistic chance" in response to your post saying there would be "no chance" (and telling another that it "might do it"). Can you link me towards any posts where I said otherwise (as I can link you to several where I said exactly what I just stated)? Are you sticking to the fact that 2-0 and a loss on Thursday to an Illinois/Iowa/MSU means the chance is absolutely zero, regardless of what happens elsewhere?

As for where we fall in the pecking order...we'd be underdogs against 9 of the others in the Big Ten on a neutral tonight and favorites over 4 of them, so I'd say that 10th is about right (though closer to 11th than 9th).
Charleston isn’t getting in unless they win the CAA conference tournament imo. They play cake teams all year.
 
Charleston isn’t getting in unless they win the CAA conference tournament imo. They play cake teams all year.
They will be right on the edge if it's a loss to Hofstra in the title game...Pretty interesting resume at 30-4 with no great wins (Virginia Tech and Kent State would be the best), but no really bad losses, and a NET around 50. Did most of their work against Q3 and Q4 teams. They'd do well to win it all, and a loss against anyone other than Hofstra would likely do them in. But it could be pretty interesting...so tough to judge them against a team like West Virginia that could be 18-14 (7-11) with a loss in their first game at the B12 tourney.
 
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