Penn State basketball's game with Delaware State canceled
Penn State Nittany Lions basketball's game against Delaware State slated for Wednesday has been canceled and will not be made up.
Story: Penn State basketball's game with Delaware State canceled
- Thread starter DavidEckert
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If this trend continues - and there is no reason to believe it won't - it will be rather unfortunate for all of the kids who transferred into Penn State, from low-level programs, to play their mercenary year - hoping to play as many games as possible against tier 1 competition. What did they have, 4 or 5 kids transfer in from low level programs for a 5th/6th year at Penn State and the Big Ten?
But for Micah S. and his program, it might be a good thing - depending on how many conference games end up being discarded. Given how unlikely it is that his club would compete against many other Big Ten programs in 2021-22, a 3-7 conference season doesn't ring through as quite as big a failure as would a 5-15 season. That could make it a little easier for him to continue to sell a "we are climbing" deal out on the recruiting trail.
Now, then again, people in charge may finally decide to "just play the damn games", and the season will move forward as per normal, after the first of the year. I suppose we will see.
But for Micah S. and his program, it might be a good thing - depending on how many conference games end up being discarded. Given how unlikely it is that his club would compete against many other Big Ten programs in 2021-22, a 3-7 conference season doesn't ring through as quite as big a failure as would a 5-15 season. That could make it a little easier for him to continue to sell a "we are climbing" deal out on the recruiting trail.
Now, then again, people in charge may finally decide to "just play the damn games", and the season will move forward as per normal, after the first of the year. I suppose we will see.
The thinking here is that the holidays are a very high risk time period, in terms of tons of people congregating with groups, and then coming back to other groups ... so why not give the kids this time to enjoy the holidays and reduce the chance of spreading covid/flu amongst themselves and their competitors ... rebooting, of sorts, in the New Year, to allow them to play their remaining schedule then. It does not appear to have anything to do with shutting things down on a continuous or repeated basis. Losing 3 non-conference games over the holidays isn't a "trend" that looks to be continued.
Besides that fact, PSU has one bad loss ... to UMass ... otherwise they took an undefeated LSU to OT, lost to a decent Miami squad and took their expected lumps against superior OSU and MSU squads (but still didn't get blown out of the gym). They'll be competitive in most games, even if they won't have a stellar record in-conference. No reason to act like the sky is falling and suggest not playing games is better than playing them.
You could have, I think, stopped at that point. If the "thinking" is that a group of youngsters on a nearly deserted campus - who then get together to play a basketball game, in front of predominantly small, local "crowds" - is a graver viral-transmission situation than a group of youngsters amidst 10-20-40 thousand other youngsters - newly congregating on campus from points east/west/north/and south - in front of large mobile crowds, then it really isn't "thinking" that is going on.
Might that happen? Sure, it very well could. But it certainly won't have even a little bit to do with "thinking".
As to the primary topic of the original post: Whether having much of the Big Ten season cancelled is better or worse for Penn State Basketball, I suppose that is very subjective and debatable. Obviously, if it were to happen, it would affect all conference teams - not just Penn State. So that part would be equal, so to speak. If one assumes 2021-22 would be a very bad year for Penn State basketball, compared to its Big Ten colleagues, maybe having the thing erased is a good thing - from a competitive standpoint with regard to being able to sell the future of the program - as opposed to going out and getting their ears kicked in 4 nights out of 5. Maybe not? Who knows? But it was just a thought based on those potential outcomes. Maybe the Big Ten season will go off without a hitch, and Penn State will be competitive - that would be the best of both worlds, but I don't think it is likely. Time will tell.
First, you completely misunderstood the point. Kids are seeing family and friends over the holidays. They aren't just on a nearly deserted campus playing in front of small, local crowds.
Second, they've only gotten their "ears kicked in" once this season, and it was OOC. It's debatable, if that were to happen, however, if it would have any impact at all on prospective recruits for a new coach. And it's very unlikely to happen. It's pretty much a non-issue. They'll take their shots from the better programs, losing by 10+ most times ... a blowout here or there and probably an upset or two, or very close games when we don't expect it in some others. But the "there's no hope, and we're going to get run out of the gym each night so better to have it all shut down" stuff just isn't worthwhile discussion.
Ok then. None of what you seem to have wanted to respond to, was anything I said, which is kind of strange, I guess. But feel free to expound.
By the way, while you're at it, could you share the winning numbers on the upcoming Powerball drawing? That would be nice.
Wait, what? Your initial premise was that it was so unlikely that we'd be able to even compete against many of the conference teams, that we might be better off not even playing at all, because otherwise, the performance may be so bad that it would harm the program, and you're using the "oh, since you're so sure of the future, tell me the wining lottery numbers" weak sarcasm on me because I have suggested, based on the season so far, we'll be competitive and the program will be OK if we play out the year? LOL. Hey, man ... have a fabulous evening.
Since this post, all games have gone off without a hitch, and the results have been:
W v. Indiana
W @ Northwestern
L v. #3 Purdue, with a lead as late as 3:30 left, and competitive the entire way
If you want those powerball numbers, let me know. I’ll only charge you half the after-tax lump sum amount, since it’s a sure winner.
Considering that the Powerball was struck not once but twice on Wednesday, and today is Saturday, sign me up!
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