2024-25 PSU MBB Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Hicks is a good shooter. Dunn is pretty good. We need a PG who can get into the paint and kick it out to the shooters. There aren't many perimeter shooters who can create their own shot.
Baldwin was that guy but now he avoids contact and we don't have another PG. This year is nearly lost and Ace is gone next year. What then? Portal?
Snatching defeat from victory | Penn State men's basketball collapses versus Michigan
Stress and adversity have defined Penn State’s recent stretch of games, as each of its last four contests were decided by single digits. This didn’t change when the Nittany Lions
Another tough one…needed one more stop down the stretch, or to score on one more of those late possessions. Played pretty well, but not getting one of these wins really narrows the path to the dance. Huge one now against OSU where we need to find a way to pull it out.
Konan has to figure out the foul issues. He’s spent too much time on the bench in close games, and we need him too badly at both ends to spend so many possessions with him on the bench.
Disappointed with our BLOB sets as of late…we’re not generating easy baskets off of them (Dunn did hit one three tonight early that was semi-contested), but had a turnover and burned a timeout on other ones. Just getting the ball in was a struggle on several…need to be better.
With how much we rely on turnovers, it’s surprising we were in it going -9 (18 to 9).
With all the early talk of depth, we’re settling into a 7 man rotation without Puff…and Ace going 40 every night with a bad back. Not a great recipe for stacking the wins we’ll need and keeping Ace fresh.
Konan has to figure out the foul issues. He’s spent too much time on the bench in close games, and we need him too badly at both ends to spend so many possessions with him on the bench.
Disappointed with our BLOB sets as of late…we’re not generating easy baskets off of them (Dunn did hit one three tonight early that was semi-contested), but had a turnover and burned a timeout on other ones. Just getting the ball in was a struggle on several…need to be better.
With how much we rely on turnovers, it’s surprising we were in it going -9 (18 to 9).
With all the early talk of depth, we’re settling into a 7 man rotation without Puff…and Ace going 40 every night with a bad back. Not a great recipe for stacking the wins we’ll need and keeping Ace fresh.
I thought Ace poked it away, but we never saw the good angle. I’d think if we pushed hard, it would have been reviewed, but we gave a half hearted plea. Though it seems to be the norm now to review plays that are almost completely obvious (unfortunately).
Mingo is a point guard. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting from day 1 next year.
Time to start getting ready for the future and let the freshmen guards get more playing time and experience….they might even give us a chance to win some of these close games …..more to gain than loose by including them a little bit more
Why did #14 not get back in the game? 4th foul with 5 minutes to go, never comes back. Memo to Rhoades… your 2-3 zone blows!
Have to wonder, would it have been better to initially sit Ace for a couple weeks instead of 1 game…we are still loosing with him. Healthy freshmen may have let us steal a win along the way…and a now healthier Ace might then help close out the season…all hindsight now…
Based on my post a week ago, here is the updated path to the bubble (10-10 in conference)...
Date - Opponent - Updated Pomeroy % of winning
2/15 - Washington - 82%
2/4 - Minnesota - 79%
2/19 - Nebraska - 67%
2/22 - at Minnesota - 57%
1/30 - Ohio St - 53%
2/11 - at USC - 49%
2/26 - at Indiana - 46%
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3/1 - Maryland - 45%
1/24 - at Iowa - 40%
2/8 - at UCLA - 31%
3/8 - at Wisconsin - 21%
1/27 - at Michigan - 19%
Extremely important Ohio St game on Thursday night, as we're hitting the point where we can't give away any of those homes games where we have a >50% chance of winning. And really any home game for that matter...I personally like our chances better against Maryland at home than the road games at USC/Indiana.
Date - Opponent - Updated Pomeroy % of winning
2/15 - Washington - 82%
2/4 - Minnesota - 79%
2/19 - Nebraska - 67%
2/22 - at Minnesota - 57%
1/30 - Ohio St - 53%
2/11 - at USC - 49%
2/26 - at Indiana - 46%
-------------------------------------------------------------
3/1 - Maryland - 45%
2/8 - at UCLA - 31%
3/8 - at Wisconsin - 21%
Extremely important Ohio St game on Thursday night, as we're hitting the point where we can't give away any of those homes games where we have a >50% chance of winning. And really any home game for that matter...I personally like our chances better against Maryland at home than the road games at USC/Indiana.
If I had to bet on our destination today, I'd go with the College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas. I assume we'll end up going something like 19-14 (8-12, then 1-1 in the Big Ten tourney), and that seems like that landing spot with that number (unless we missed it and ended up in the NIT, but that seems unlikely).NIT? CBI?
My newest "welcome to College Basketball in 2024-2025" observation...I was looking at the Memphis Roster (props to Penny Hardaway for a really nice season thusfar). They go 8 deep most nights, and here is the path each player took between high school and Memphis...
PJ Haggerty - TCU (2023), Tulsa (2024), Memphis (2025)
Dain Dainja - Baylor (2022), Illinois (2023-2024), Memphis (2025)
Tyrese Hunter - Iowa St (2022), Texas (2023-2024), Memphis (2025)
Colby Rogers - Cal Poly (2020-2021), Siena (2022), Wichita St (2023-2024), Memphis (2025)
Moussa Cisse - Memphis (2021), Oklahoma St (2022-2023), Mississippi (2024), Memphis (2025)
Nicholas Jourdain - Temple (2021-2023), Memphis (2024-2025)
PJ Carter - Campbell (2021-2022), Georgia Highlands JuCo (2023), UTSA (2024), Memphis (2025)
Baraka Okojie - George Mason (2024), Memphis (2025)
The state of our MBB is embarrassing. Defense is non existent with Baldwin not able to harass opponents. They still double team but lack the quickness to recover when the opponent reverses the ball. They only had 1 steal and only got 6 TOs in the 1st half. That's not how it was last year or this year before Baldwin's injury. We also gave up 9 offensive rebounds. OSU got 11 more shots than PSU in the first half.
Ace gives the ball up and mostly hangs around the perimeter on offense because he's avoiding contact in the paint. If he doesn't get into the paint he doesn't shoot FTs and doesn't kick it out to Hicks. 2 players are neutralized.
Add 4 missed FTs, a flagrant 1 (Konan), and a technical foul (Kern).
What a mess!
Ace gives the ball up and mostly hangs around the perimeter on offense because he's avoiding contact in the paint. If he doesn't get into the paint he doesn't shoot FTs and doesn't kick it out to Hicks. 2 players are neutralized.
Add 4 missed FTs, a flagrant 1 (Konan), and a technical foul (Kern).
What a mess!
More missed FTs.
Foul OSU at end of shot clock.
Foul 3pt shooter 25' from basket.
Ace misses uncontested layup.
The spirit, intensity, and discipline are gone.
If I was Rhodes I'd want to quit and start planning for next year because this team is having trouble competing. Of course he can't do that. At least empty the bench. Down 18 with 6:30 to play.
Foul OSU at end of shot clock.
Foul 3pt shooter 25' from basket.
Ace misses uncontested layup.
The spirit, intensity, and discipline are gone.
If I was Rhodes I'd want to quit and start planning for next year because this team is having trouble competing. Of course he can't do that. At least empty the bench. Down 18 with 6:30 to play.
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I feel badly for die hard fans who expect more from this program. It will always be what it has always been.... mediocre.
Kern is killing them tonight. they kept going back-and-forth between eight, nine nd 10 points and he was fouled a couple times and only made one out of four if he could make the free throws it could’ve cut into the lead slightly and not let it get out of hand by getting up to 12 or 13. Those Mrs. by he and Konan may not have let them back to a win, but at least these last six minutes would be competitive
Leaving guys open for wide open 3s, cant rebound, can’t shoot 3s or FT, Ace is a shell of himself due to injury, down 20 despite OSU being in foul trouble.
At best, this team wins 3-4 more games. Time for Rhoades to start playing the young guys to build for next year.
At best, this team wins 3-4 more games. Time for Rhoades to start playing the young guys to build for next year.
Routed at Rec | Penn State men's basketball drops crucial home contest to Ohio State
Penn State’s late-game issues have been in the scope of criticism lately as the team hasn’t consistently closed out games well enough to earn a win. Whether those games were
Ace is a shell of himself right now, and we’re not playing the style we need to with the lack of depth and injuries. If you had told me we’d get this much out of Konan, I’d guess we’d be a tourney team. Not defending well enough, lack of attention to detail (Konan F1, horrendous Tech on Kern, late shot clock bailout fouls, completely unforced turnovers).
I don’t get the refusal to play Carter, and the thinking that Ace should still be playing 40/night with this injury…he looks spent. And don’t get me started on the BLOB plays…another night where we turn it over coming out of a TO and continue to struggle even getting it in.
I don’t get the refusal to play Carter, and the thinking that Ace should still be playing 40/night with this injury…he looks spent. And don’t get me started on the BLOB plays…another night where we turn it over coming out of a TO and continue to struggle even getting it in.
Men’s basketball struggles at the foul line in Return to Rec loss versus Ohio State
Despite the friendly and historic confines of Rec Hall, Penn State’s recent struggles persisted during an 83-64 loss against Ohio State on Thursday night.
Penn State men’s basketball loses rebound battle in Return to Rec loss
With its loss to Ohio State, Penn State has dropped three games in a row. The loss to the Buckeyes is, in large part, due to the blue and white’s
18th (last) in conference games in defensive rebounding, and 17th in eFG%. Tough to win when your opponent is shooting well, and you’re not rebounding enough of their misses.Penn State men’s basketball loses rebound battle in Return to Rec loss
With its loss to Ohio State, Penn State has dropped three games in a row. The loss to the Buckeyes is, in large part, due to the blue and white’swww.psucollegian.com
I would assume we’re much lower in defensive components from last year as well. Good defense can make up for bad offense, but we’re not the same there this year either.
Overall, we’re about the same as last season. However, we were much stronger over the first couple months, and have fallen way off this month.
We’re really built to play one way, and our weaknesses come out at both ends of the floor when we’re forced into a half court game. And with these injuries (and for whatever other reasons), we’re allowing it to be played in the half court. We need to get back to creating chaos and turnovers.
OT…We hear a lot of the “that’s the worst call I’ve ever seen”. But the JT Toppin F2 and ejection today is up there with the worst calls I’ve ever seen. Shocking that they can watch this and upgrade it to a Flagrant 2. Glad that Texas Tech overcame it and won today…they deserved it.
Texas Tech AD calls Toppin's ejection 'egregious'
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt issued a statement after the Red Raiders' overtime win over No. 6 Houston calling the decision to eject JT Toppin "egregious."
www.espn.com
We weren’t a “lower quartile” team then (as you called us), and we aren’t now. Hence, it’s an overreaction.
I’d settle for people giving a little respect to what Micah accomplished here in two years. The number of posts minimizing it or being do happy that we could go from him to Rhoades was shocking.
We're 1-7 in our last 8. Which quartile does that put us in over that time frame? We're a wet dog fart.
I was a fan of Micah's and wanted him to stay. I also thought Rhoades was a nice hire, but so far ... eh. That said, that crew of kids that Micah had put together that would have been our future at PSU isn't looking so hot right now. His son is OK, but Carey Booth is bouncing around and not doing much, Njie hasn't developed much and Imes is much of nothing so far. It does look like he's bringing in a nice class for next year, though.
Regardless, it's going to be ... uh, interesting this offseason. Tons of kids moving on, and we don't even know which guys who could stick around will choose to do so. And it could be hard to convince replacements to transfer in, since we've sputtered with what we do have.
I'm an optimist about PSU sports, but I'm pretty much at the end of my hoops rope.