Basketball Penn State's defense suffocates Rutgers in 61-46 win

[ryoder1]

Ace played great, going all 40 on a night that we really needed it. There were a couple of times where Rutgers made a run and Ace scored or made a great play to settle things down…but Wahab was my player of the game. He really neutralized, if not outplayed a really good big. Cliff was totally off his game and out doubles caused him so many problems. We left a lot of shooters open and gave up some pretty easy layups that they missed, but it’s not like we played our best game either. Too sloppy, didn’t hit much from outside, let them get to the line too much, yet still won comfortably.

Kind of makes up for that Minny game we threw away. We are an inconsistent team and need to avoid these horrific stretches of basketball for a half or ten minutes or whatever that essentially lose the game. We are going to have bad stretches but can't just be pathetically bad.

Dropping behind 16-0 to an average OSU team sealed our fate. Giving up a 15-0 run to NW that gave them control and the game was still close. Minny roaring back from down 14 to beat us by 9 in the 2nd half at our place. Those are 3 losses that at the very least could have been just 2 losses. Next up at Indiana who is not that great and have some injuries but they play well at home.

 

[cyrizzle]

Ace said last night in his postgame interview we need to make this start a win streak for us, and he’s right. If we continue to play defense like this for a full 40 minutes each game, a big win streak is possible. All it takes to get on the right side of the bubble is a big winning streak like we had 4 years ago where March Madness got cancelled because of COVID. In that season, we went on an 8 game win streak in conference from mid-January to mid February and that propelled us to what would have been a 6 or 7 seed in the tournament if it would have happened. I’m not saying we need to win 8 games in a row, but even a 5 or 6 game winning streak would probably put us on the right side of the bubble!!

 

[bcspsu]

Ace said last night in his postgame interview we need to make this start a win streak for us, and he’s right. If we continue to play defense like this for a full 40 minutes each game, a big win streak is possible. All it takes to get on the right side of the bubble is a big winning streak like we had 4 years ago where March Madness got cancelled because of COVID. In that season, we went on an 8 game win streak in conference from mid-January to mid February and that propelled us to what would have been a 6 or 7 seed in the tournament if it would have happened. I’m not saying we need to win 8 games in a row, but even a 5 or 6 game winning streak would probably put us on the right side of the bubble!!

You're expecting something that most likely is unrealistic with this team. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that they've been able to win four Big 10 games, and they very easily could've won a fifth, sixth or even seventh Big 10 game against either Maryland, Northwestern and/or Minnesota. It's disappointing that they were able to beat Wisconsin at home, which may win the Big 10, and then proceeded to lose to Minnesota at home, which is a mediocre team that had been in a slump; they're just totally inconsistent from game to game and within games.

The fastest way to turn a program into a winner is by instilling a desire to play defense at a fanatical level. I believe that that was how Coach K began to turn around Duke (remember their players in the 80s and 90s pounding the court when they were on defense and needed a big stop), and that definitely is how Howland turned around Pitt in the early 2000s. However, with this PSU team except for last night, they score a lot of points but give up a lot too, and that is what has disappointed me most with this team. Because PSU very rarely has been able to field teams with equal talent as MSU, Purdue, etc., I've always wanted them to play a blue collar defensive system and make it their calling card season after season, but never has happened regardless of who the head coach was.

 

[The Spin Meister]

maybe but the answer is not playing without Clary

that will not work for long hope he comes back

Try reading again. Never said we should play without him. Or anything close to that.

Said we played better as a TEAM and should play that way from now on. Meaning play as a TEAM when he is back.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Ace said last night in his postgame interview we need to make this start a win streak for us, and he’s right. If we continue to play defense like this for a full 40 minutes each game, a big win streak is possible. All it takes to get on the right side of the bubble is a big winning streak like we had 4 years ago where March Madness got cancelled because of COVID. In that season, we went on an 8 game win streak in conference from mid-January to mid February and that propelled us to what would have been a 6 or 7 seed in the tournament if it would have happened. I’m not saying we need to win 8 games in a row, but even a 5 or 6 game winning streak would probably put us on the right side of the bubble!!

The only way a 4-5 game winning streak will impact our NCAA chances will be if it occurs 4-5 consecutive days in March. That’s our only realistic path at this point.

 

[GregInPitt]

The only way a 4-5 game winning streak will impact our NCAA chances will be if it occurs 4-5 consecutive days in March. That’s our only realistic path at this point.

Yep, and a more realistic outcome may be a winning record overall by playing well the remainder of the reg season and then a win or two in the B10 tourney to get a spot in the NIT which would extend the season and allow players like Brown and others to continue to improve looking towards next season. JMO

 

[NittanyChris]

Coach Rhoades had to build this roster almost from scratch. Making the NCAAS was never a realistic expectation for this season only.

 

[ryoder1]

The only way a 4-5 game winning streak will impact our NCAA chances will be if it occurs 4-5 consecutive days in March. That’s our only realistic path at this point.

Do we make the Dance at 17-16 and a 10-10 conf mark?

 

[Erial_Lion]

Do we make the Dance at 17-16 and a 10-10 conf mark?

Not close (it would be 16-15)…we’d need more like 19-12 (13-7) to get towards the bubble, and would still have work to do in the B1G Tourney. 20-11 (14-6) and we’d feel better (which means winning out). And if we’re honest, those aren’t happening this year.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Do we make the Dance at 17-16 and a 10-10 conf mark?

We make the big dance Rhoades easily wins Coach of the Year.

 

[bison13]

Its so funny how people change their tone after a win or loss. Today we are asking if 10-10 gets us to the dance and last game it was will we win another game.lol

 

[AWS1022]

Ace played great, going all 40 on a night that we really needed it. There were a couple of times where Rutgers made a run and Ace scored or made a great play to settle things down…but Wahab was my player of the game. He really neutralized, if not outplayed a really good big. Cliff was totally off his game and out doubles caused him so many problems. We left a lot of shooters open and gave up some pretty easy layups that they missed, but it’s not like we played our best game either. Too sloppy, didn’t hit much from outside, let them get to the line too much, yet still won comfortably.

And we did it without our best offensive player. I agree with you on Wahab…played well. As a whole, our shooting is just bad, but Baldwin seems to be finding his shot the last few games. And the O’Boyle experiment needs to end….I’d much rather have guys like Dunn and Brown on the court. Posters on the Rutgers message board were hoping we’d keep “the redheaded guy” in the game.

 

[AWS1022]

Baldwin played all 40 minutes. That seems impossible and still play as well as he did.

Why impossible? These guys are 18-22 years old, they should be able to play hard a whole game (except maybe some of the bigs).

 

[AWS1022]

I haven’t seen a lot of games and am certainly not a basketball expert but the TEAM looked better without Cleary. Instead of every one standing around watching him drive to the basketball all game they actually worked the ball around. Lots of movement which led to more aggressive rebounding. And that energy played out on defense leading to lots of turnovers.

He is a very good player but in games past they relied on him too much. Hoping this gives the other players confidence and encourages a more balanced offensive approach.

Watch the first half of the Minnesota game…that’s what they can do with Clary in the game. The offense was pretty terrible last night, they just didn’t look as bad compared to Rutgers. Clary is the best offensive player we have and it’s not even close .

 

[AWS1022]

Its so funny how people change their tone after a win or loss. Today we are asking if 10-10 gets us to the dance and last game it was will we win another game.lol

And it’s not like we played well and beat a really good team last night. We won a game that could have easily gone the other direction. It’s nice to get the win, but we will not sniff the NCAA tournament or the NIT, and that’s okay.

 

[ryoder1]

And it’s not like we played well and beat a really good team last night. We won a game that could have easily gone the other direction. It’s nice to get the win, but we will not sniff the NCAA tournament or the NIT, and that’s okay.

NIT is possible but unlikely. I agree we should not be disappointed about that. I want to see our defense improve. I would love for Rhoades to build a program known for tough, gritty defense. We are not getting any elite guys so let's beat teams with hustle and defense. And it would be nice to have a couple 3 pt sharpshooters.

 

[cyrizzle]

Not close (it would be 16-15)…we’d need more like 19-12 (13-7) to get towards the bubble, and would still have work to do in the B1G Tourney. 20-11 (14-6) and we’d feel better (which means winning out). And if we’re honest, those aren’t happening this year.

I’m not buying this. If we go 12-8 in the Big Ten we will be in the NCAA tournament. Even if we go 11-9 that should put us in. I think 10-10 would put us on the bubble, and we would have to win some games in the conference tournament like we did last season.

 

[ryoder1]

I’m not buying this. If we go 12-8 in the Big Ten we will be in the NCAA tournament. Even if we go 11-9 that should put us in. I think 10-10 would put us on the bubble, and we would have to win some games in the conference tournament like we did last season.

What is hurting us is the non conf record but I see your point if we end up with say 11 wins in conference then win at least one BTT game that is a good resume. We are 10-11 now and 4-6 in conference. To get to 11-9 we need to go 7-3. That is a stretch but let's go with it. That means we finish the regular season at 17-14. Go 1-1 in the BTT makes it 18-15. Pretty darn good. What I am not sure of is how much they weigh the overall record vs Quad 1 and 2 wins. I know Quad 1 wins are seen as really good and we would have a few if we get to 11 conf wins. Plus we will have finished the season strong but I don't think that is valued much these days.

 

[Erial_Lion]

I’m not buying this. If we go 12-8 in the Big Ten we will be in the NCAA tournament. Even if we go 11-9 that should put us in. I think 10-10 would put us on the bubble, and we would have to win some games in the conference tournament like we did last season.

Let’s look at the 11-9 scenario…that would put us at 17-14 overall. With a record like that, you’d need an exceptional schedule. The Big Ten is solid, but not overly great this year. In the non-conference, we had a horrible showing. We played a very poor schedule, had no good wins against it, and had that awful Q4 loss. We had one Q3 win, and the rest Q4. It’s not like we even had any really good losses, as the best team we played was TA&M.

With a resume like that, 18-13 still is unlikely to be enough. Our NET is 114th today. We sealed our fate in November/December.

 

[Erial_Lion]

What is hurting us is the non conf record but I see your point if we end up with say 11 wins in conference then win at least one BTT game that is a good resume. We are 10-11 now and 4-6 in conference. To get to 11-9 we need to go 7-3. That is a stretch but let's go with it. That means we finish the regular season at 17-14. Go 1-1 in the BTT makes it 18-15. Pretty darn good. What I am not sure of is how much they weigh the overall record vs Quad 1 and 2 wins. I know Quad 1 wins are seen as really good and we would have a few if we get to 11 conf wins. Plus we will have finished the season strong but I don't think that is valued much these days.

Finishing the season strong doesn’t matter. We’d obviously pick up a few more Q1 wins, but not any of the really high level ones due to the outstanding schedule. Something like 18-15 isn’t close, and we’d probably be around a 4 seed in the NIT.

 

[Marylovesthelions]

After the loss of most of our players, I look at every win as found money. Rhoades has done a very good job. I have confidence that he will build a strong program. It took Chambers, a Philly native, almost 10 years to gain success recruiting players there. Rhoades is well known and respected among HS coaches.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Saw this blurb in the game notes for tomorrow about Ace...pretty good company (and the fact that no one has done it in over 25 years)...

• He is the first Big Ten player to have a 25+ point game (vs. VCU & Michigan), 13+ assist game (at Purdue) and 8+ steal game (vs. Northwestern) in a single season since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves during the 1997-98 season.

 

[ryoder1]

Saw this blurb in the game notes for tomorrow about Ace...pretty good company (and the fact that no one has done it in over 25 years)...

• He is the first Big Ten player to have a 25+ point game (vs. VCU & Michigan), 13+ assist game (at Purdue) and 8+ steal game (vs. Northwestern) in a single season since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves during the 1997-98 season.

Getting 8 steals in a game is very difficult to do. Very few guys can pull that off. That's impressive.

 

[bison13]

Saw this blurb in the game notes for tomorrow about Ace...pretty good company (and the fact that no one has done it in over 25 years)...

• He is the first Big Ten player to have a 25+ point game (vs. VCU & Michigan), 13+ assist game (at Purdue) and 8+ steal game (vs. Northwestern) in a single season since Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves during the 1997-98 season.

I thought I saw that he had a 15-10- 5-5 game the other day. When’s the last time that’s happened?

 

[Erial_Lion]

I thought I saw that he had a 15-10- 5-5 game the other day. When’s the last time that’s happened?

It was 15/7/5/5…assume it hasn’t happened recently for us, as Pickett never had a 5 steal game, and Reeves never had enough assists with a similar stat line.

 

[AWS1022]

I’m not buying this. If we go 12-8 in the Big Ten we will be in the NCAA tournament. Even if we go 11-9 that should put us in. I think 10-10 would put us on the bubble, and we would have to win some games in the conference tournament like we did last season.

Have you looked at our OOC results? You aren’t getting in with the losses we had. They would need to either win out or win the Big Ten tournament…neither of which is going happen.