Offensive shortcomings leave Penn State seeking solutions

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry wasn’t going to go overboard.

Coming out of a 68-51 loss at Iowa on Saturday afternoon, Penn State’s most lopsided loss since an 81-56 dismantling at UMass the second game of the season, the Nittany Lions would take a close look at what went wrong. Set to return to the practice floor Monday afternoon, with a film session before it, the good and bad of the performance would come into focus.

In a game of two halves, the Nittany Lions kept it close with a dominating effort on the glass, only to see it slip away after the break, Shrewsberry points to maintaining focus as key moving forward. 

But the core identity of Penn State’s success this season hasn’t changed. Nor, said Shrewsberry Monday afternoon, has its primary shortcoming.

“We’ve always kept a defensive mindset since we’ve started practice, and I think you’re seeing that with our team. I think that’s what’s helping us stay in games,” Shrewsberry said. “The problem is our offense. Our offense isn’t very good. That’s where we’re gonna get to work here in the next few days is trying to improve that.”

Penn State’s offensive problem

Penn State’s work will need to be quick.

Back on the road for the third time in three games, a home date with Minnesota canceled last Wednesday, the Nittany Lions will travel to Bloomington, Ind., on Wednesday. An 8:30 p.m. tip, the date with the Hoosiers (14-5 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) will again test Penn State’s scoring.

Now ranked 51st nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 63.7 points per game, the Hoosiers will get a rematch against a Penn State offense trending downward. At the moment, that most notably manifests itself as the No. 304-ranked scoring offense at just 65.5 points per game.

Worse, Penn State is last in the Big Ten in scoring against conference opponents, notching 62.9 points per game. More than two points worse than next-to-last Rutgers (65.1 ppg), Penn State’s effort also stands worlds away from teams in the middle to the top of the conference, with Wisconsin, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Illinois all posting more than 73.0 ppg.

“We’re getting worse in that area, so we need to focus on that,” Shrewsberry said. “How do we be better? Our defense will keep you from sustaining those long stretches. But now how do we be better so we don’t have those long stretches? We’ll go in stretches where we’re guarding and we’re getting stops, but we’re not scoring. Then it flips, or you start scoring, but then you can’t get stops.”

Seeking solutions

Determined to make improvements on that end of the floor, citing every facet as needing to be better than the program showed at Iowa, Shrewsberry added that small details are ripe for progress.

Specifically pointing out screening, angles taken setting them, and forcing help defense, Shrewsberry said some of Penn State’s offensive strengths have been minimized as of late. 

“We’re allowing too many people to go under screens and they don’t have to help, so now you’re never playing against a closeout, which is where we can be good at. Now we’re getting threes, or we’re playing off our shot fake, we’re driving, we’re making decisions. Those are all things that are helpful. We got to get back to screening the right way to get downhill and get into the paint,” Shrewsberry said. “We’re a really good team scoring in the paint early in the season, getting to the rim, scoring more which draws help. Now we’re kicking out and we’re getting threes. 

“We haven’t gotten help very much. We haven’t broken the defenses down through that, and part of that goes back to our screening. Getting open shots or causing help.”

Needing to be better than the Big Ten-low of 51 points scored against the Hawkeyes, Shrewsberry added that an improved Penn State defensive effort will aid the effort. 

‘That consistency of continuing to guard even through struggles, continuing to guard even through the good times as well, is what we need,” Shrewsberry said. “So we’re gonna get to work on fixing our offense so we don’t have those long ruts.”