PSU MBB at Northwestern on ESPNU at 8:30
- Thread starter CattyGuy51
- Start date
I hope it is not the case tonight.....but this is the type of game PSU - for years - pisses away.
Northwestern is HORRIBLE tonight - H.O.R.R.I.B.L.E (0-12 from the arc, 28% shooting overall). .....and PSU has not taken nearly as much of an advantage as they should (1 made bucket in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the half....2 for 5 from the line).
Typically, for PSU, this is a game were Northwestern will play significantly "less horrible" in the 2nd half....and PSU will see the double digit lead late in the 1st half become a double digit deficit in the second.
Being without Reaves - probably for the better part of a month - ain't gonna' help.
Team is playing well and with confidence tonight against a good Northwestern team. This would be a very nice upset win for us on the road if we're able to hold on. Gotta hope they stay cold shooting the deep ball.
That would be nice.....
But, NW was 0-12 in the first half. They might improve a bit in the second
Thank you. Just turned it on and heard the.announcer say "Penn State starting to pull away". Let's hope they finish strong. I'm looking forward to hearing announcers say that a lot more in future years.
That would be nice.....
But, NW was 0-12 in the first half. They might improve a bit in the second
NW hit their first three with 10 minutes to go, PSU now up by 14. From three pt land, PSU 9-18 / NW 1-18. Obviously the difference so far.
And they have a little bit - we'll get in trouble if they get super hot and bury 3-4 in consecutive possessions.That would be nice.....
But, NW was 0-12 in the first half. They might improve a bit in the second
This would be a HUGE upset, NW has continued to improve under Collins. NW 's shooting matching the Chicagoland weather, supposedly 0* overnight, 3* tomorrow, -6* tomorrow night.
Nice win for the Hoopsters.
Northwestern as AWUL (missed their first 17 from behind the arc), but any B1G win - especially on the road without Reaves - is a pleasant surprise.
Played petty well inside (I expect NW is one of the weaker post teams in the B1G, but still a better than usual performance by the PSU "bigs")
The last two minutes of college basketball are agonizing. I have no solutions, but maybe there's a workable rule change.
They could cut timeouts by 80% - make the players make the decisions on the court
Bit most of the time is spent shooting FTs. They already cut TOs this season to help speed up the game.
The rules are already in place they just need to enforce the rules...call intentional fouls. To go along with this I'd also like to see intentional fouls be assessed with three foul shots. Boy would this change the game, and in my opinion for the better.
That would take some strategy away from the game. Yeah, it is "foul and hope they miss," but it's more than that. Deciding when is to early to start fouling, should you foul or not when you are up 3 with seconds left and they have the ball, etc.
This would absolutely change the strategy. You would have to try to win the whole game instead of just hanging around and hoping the other team doesn't make their FT's at the end of the game. I think the game would be much more exciting as teams wouldn't have this safety net and would have to try harder throughout the game.
Exactly - how is clearly fouling a guy to foul him not intentional
With the third foul (and thereafter) in the last two minutes.....simply award three free throws.
Or maybe two free throws AND the ball.
I don't blame NW for committing what, maybe ten or more fouls in the last three minutes, that was their only chance to close the gap. But the NCAA should (and won't) address this issue.
New rules for the last two minutes of the game.
1. All fouls will result in 3 foul shots.
2. If the foul is intentional the shooting team gets the ball.
3. The shot clock is reduced to 12 seconds for all possessions.
This should both speed up the game and make it more exciting. Plus, do the substantially reduced shot clock it should remain competitive for all games but the blow-outs.
1. All fouls will result in 3 foul shots.
2. If the foul is intentional the shooting team gets the ball.
3. The shot clock is reduced to 12 seconds for all possessions.
This should both speed up the game and make it more exciting. Plus, do the substantially reduced shot clock it should remain competitive for all games but the blow-outs.
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To do it, we will need 7 conference wins. It's possible, but to do it, we have got to beat Wisky this thursday, to start. The goal I had in mind this year was 6 conference wins, but I thought we would end up with 5. Right now we are at 2-4. 12 to go, and to get to the NIT we need to find a way to get 5 of the next 12, which would put us above .500 overall at seasons' close. Then we need to get at least one win the the tournament.
It starts at home vs Wisky, cannot lay an egg like we did agains Sparty.
How did basketball sink to the level where breaking the rules on purpose (aka "intentional fouls") is considered a "strategy"?
Hope springs eternal, but, looking at our remaining schedule:
Indiana, Wisconsin, @ OSU -- pencil in one potential win in that group
Northwestern, Nebraska, @ Rutgers, Illinois - POTENTIALLY 4 wins right there
@ Nebraska - toss-up, road B10 game, so say it is a loss
@MSU, Michigan, Iowa, @Iowa - losses, not giving us a chance in those matchups
That would make us 7-11 or 8-10 (The @ Nebraska game being a wildcard) --- We prob would need 8 for NIT. Its not simply a "go .500 in a major conference" qualification anymore.
8 is a STRETCH, but #KeepPounding. A win vs Wisky would go a long way.
I like your optimism, but I think we may be lucky to get 3 or 4 more conference. Our team just hasn't shown the consistency to play with good teams for the entire 40 minutes. I think Chambers' strategy has been to compete through intensity on defense. This is wise, because defense usually travels well. Seeing the MSU game last sunday in person, I didn't really see this working for Penn State. Eventually Chambers needs to establish an offensive identity (sounds like what some complained about CJF).
Agreed, may not be likely, but isn't a huge STRETCH. 4 more wins gives them 6. The difference between 6 and 7 wind in this game is a coin flip - crazy games and upsets happen often in college hoops. Heck, remember @Illinois in '06? Or, UMD almost played themselves into a huge loss a few games ago against us. I know 7-8 is quite optimistic, but it's absolutely possible.
Getting to 6 wins will be very tough.....getting to 7 or 8 wins, Chambers should be given a lifetime contract.
Back when it was "Be from a P5 conference and go .500 over-all" to get in,, that was a snide remark. Anymore though, the CBI takes that place and selection to the NIT is quite competitive, FTR.
I never said any differently, just offering a conceivable scenario to 7-8 wins, without having to take down any of the top teams on our schedule or win an additional road game not @ RU (heck, not a single win against a ranked opponent... and we seem to pull off an upset against a ranked opponent every season in the past decade).
Like 21 said, 7 conference wins and one win in the conference tournament or 8 conference wins with no wins in the conference tournament should get us in the NIT. If we only get 6 conference wins, we would probably have to make the Big Ten semifinals in the conference tournament to get there.
That was a pretty big win last night in terms of creating some hope of postseason play (at this point, just the NIT, but still it is something). PSU's current RPI jumped to 77, which is just below NIT territory. The team has to be more motivated now. It was a shame last year when they started 0-6 and all hope of postseason play was dead by mid-January. Credit goes to Chambers for a better start with an arguably lesser team this season. A long way to go, though. They need to avoid any 0-5 type stretches; also, the end of the conference schedule is easier than the beginning and they need to rack up some wins there. The team has to be more motivated now. If they had held on against Maryland this would have been an unbelievable start to conference play. Hopefully they can make up for that one with an upset later on.
