PSU MBB on ESPNU at noon today.
- Thread starter CattyGuy51
- Start date
PSU is lucky to be within 8 at half. My observations:
- VT has good 3pt shooters with a quick release. PSU defenders have been a little lazy getting out to defend. They're lucky that VT missed a few.
- VT is quicker than previous opponents. Lazy passes that worked against slower opponents get tipped by VT. VT has 3 blocks, 4 steals, and a 6-1 advantage in offensive rebounds. The only way to beat that is with better hustle and going up stronger.
- Pickett hasn't had room to work down low. PSU loses their half court offense if opponents take that away.
- VT dominating in the paint. We might see a lot of that on BiG play. PSU just doesn't have the size and strength.
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The good thing about being so proficient hitting 3s is that an 8-9 point deficit can be eliminated fairly quickly.
Agree, but PSU's 3 pt shooters can't create their own shots. Dread is an awesome 3 pt shooter when he's square to the basket but not so much coming off a screen.
Dalion Johnson is really struggling. Poor shooting, forcing things, turnovers.
Mahaffey has been a surprise this game. He's a work in progress but he's brought much needed physicality.
Mahaffey has been a surprise this game. He's a work in progress but he's brought much needed physicality.
Bad TO with only 4.7 seconds remaining. That leaves minimal time to get a shot.
Also, PSU should have called TO if they couldn't inbound the ball.
Bad clock management at the end but at least PSU fought back. Hopefully PSU learned something about playing physical opponents.
Also, PSU should have called TO if they couldn't inbound the ball.
Bad clock management at the end but at least PSU fought back. Hopefully PSU learned something about playing physical opponents.
I missed the game. Saw we lost by 2, outscoring Va Tech 30-24 in the 2nd half. I assume we had a possession to tie or win and could not convert? I have no idea how good Va Tech is, we will see. Not a bad loss by any means. Need to beat Clemson on the road in a couple weeks.
Didn’t see it but at least they scrapped and had a nice 2nd half comeback. Good things ahead!
Va Tech won the ACC Tournament last year; they lost some key players but have been picked by most to be in the top half of the ACC. Here is a blurb from Gary Parrish of CBS:
| 7 |  Va. Tech |
| Mike Young has coached in each of the past three NCAA Tournaments -- first at Wofford, then at Virginia Tech, where he guided the Hokies to the ACC Tournament title last season. The Hokies lost a lot from that team -- most notably leading scorer Keve Aluma. But Justin Mutts is back. And Wright State transfer Grant Basile has enrolled. So Young could have Virginia Tech in position to make the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season come March. |
I watched the game. VERY slow start by PSU. Shots just weren't falling. Picket was 0-5 and yesterday 7-7 at the beginning of the game. They were down by something like 16 but made a bit of a run near the half. Really scrapped back at the end of the game but missed some critical shots. Still had a chance to win and just had an unfortunate turnover caused by good defense at the end. They were getting killed inside but kept changing defense to try to combat it. the freshman center is just not strong enough at this point. A year in the weight room will help. Still should be a fun season.
I think shots weren't falling because they weren't getting good looks. PSU's offense is predicated on Pickett getting into the paint and either scoring or kicking it back out to open shooters. If opponents take that away PSU struggles.
The other thing that seemed obvious is VT was stronger and quicker. They had 4 blocked shots and 9 steals. Pickett had 4 turnovers and Wynter had 4 turnovers. I don't think PSU was ready for VT's quickness. They made adjustments in the second half but it was too little too late.
Maybe they learned something about intensity necessary to compete at a high level. That could help when they get into the BiG schedule. Mahaffey was a pleasant surprise.
They haven’t been able to put two good halves together in the three games I’ve seen. They either start out well and fade, or start out slow and pick up steam. If they can put two halves together, they could be a handful for a lot of teams. Since they have almost no inside game, I’d like to see them run more. I’d also like to see some zone defense to help with the constant pounding inside and maybe they will against teams that don’t shoot the three as well as VT. It’s still early, but unfortunately a team like Penn State has to win pretty much all their OOC games to have a shot at getting into the tournament.
Tired legs equals poor sbeating. Back to back games and this is what you see. If they aren't shooting well and hitting the threes it's going to be tough.
They will lose some they should win and will most assuredly surprise somebody they have no business beating. Should be an interesting season.
They will lose some they should win and will most assuredly surprise somebody they have no business beating. Should be an interesting season.
Va Tech was "meh" last year. They were 19-11 heading into the ACC tourney and got hot at the right time. Definitely not a bad loss for Penn State today but a team we could have beat. At least it was close
Makes the Clemson game pretty critical to win for the resume. I don’t think we can count on Butler giving us much help in terms of SOS.
