Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry seeks 'killer instinct'

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry wasn’t thrilled with the weather on Thursday. With snow blanketing the region, the University Park campus effectively shut down for the day.

Meeting with reporters via Zoom, Shrewsberry acknowledged his displeasure over the hiccup.

“You guys know how much I love practice, so I hate this stuff,” Shrewsberry said. “I hate weather and I hate things getting messed up, but we’re gonna try and get in and get some stuff done, keep preparing for our next game so we’re not living in the past.”

Eventually, they would.

Back to the Bryce Jordan Center hardwood for practice ahead of a Sunday return to action, this time hosting Canisius for a noon tip (BTN), Shrewsberry said he was determined to move past the program’s big upset win at Illinois over the weekend and onto what’s next.

“I thought we did a great job against Illinois. It was a big win for us on the road, one that we needed to get,” he said. “But now we need to move to our next game. We need to be focused on Canisius and playing well on Sunday.”

Revisiting the 74-59 win over the Illini, what’s next for the Nittany Lions in their three remaining nonconference games, and more, Shrewsberry offered his insight into the 7-3 Penn State men’s hoops program: 

A jolt of confidence?

Summarizing what he saw from the effort in Champaign, Ill., Shrewsberry said strides were taken in having a team-wide commitment to performing the jobs it was asked to do. He also said it needs to be an element of the group’s identity that carries over into future games.

But, in discussing the confidence boost the win might have provided coming off disappointing back-to-back losses at Clemson and against Michigan State, Shrewsberry was resolute in his assessment.

“This team never lacks confidence. They don’t lose their confidence. They don’t lose their swagger,” Shrewsberry said. “We might not play well at all times. We’re gonna play hard every game, but we might not play at our best in terms of execution standpoint. But they never lack confidence. 

“You should hear them in practice, after practice, before practice, and everything else. They believe in themselves, they believe in the work they put in, they believe in the preparation that our staff puts in. So that’s never wavering. Just we need to be performing and executing at a high level at all times.”

Cold-blooded

This Penn State team has coalesced around the fighter’s mentality that has made every game it has played competitive.

An element Shrewsberry is happy to have in a group, one that responds and plays well when its back is against the wall, another level remains, though. 

Citing leads of double-digit points in two of the three losses his Nittany Lions have sustained thus far, the ability to snuff out teetering competition is where he wants to see them go.

“When you get that, are you gonna let teams back in it because you take your foot off the gas? Or are you gonna play with more of a killer instinct and take the lead from 10 to 15, or 15 to 20, and completely shut people down or take all their hope away? That’s where we have to improve,” Shrewsberry said. “We had the lead against Illinois and then we let them back in, but we knew they would go on a run, especially on the road. So I felt like we responded during that run when we haven’t always done that. 

“This team is really good when their backs are against the wall. Really good. They’re not always really good when things come easy for us, and that’s where we need to get better. That’s where I want to see us take a lead and expand it and get better in that way. So the next opportunity we get to do it, that’ll be a challenge for us.”

Growth potential

Given the nature of Penn State’s next three opponents, with Canisius, Quinnipiac, and Delaware State all likely Quad 3 or 4 games, Shrewsberry was asked about the potential opportunity to develop the young bigs feeling their way through their debut seasons in the program.

Effectively addressing it a couple of times, Shrewsberry dismissed anything that complicated or would prevent his priority in these games: Winning.

“Practice time can help you get better, games can help you get better. I’m also gonna try to win against Canisius,” Shrewsberry said. “This isn’t like a trial game, this isn’t like an exhibition. Something is going in that L column if you don’t play the right way if you don’t play well. 

“So winning is my priority and my only priority and trying to help those guys if we can get better, that’s what we’ll do. But practice is really important for that as well.”