I was excited about Penn State's upcoming basketball season. Returning starters, two speedy new guards, and unprecedented depth at forward were all reasons to look forward to this season. However, consecutive losses to South Carolina and Rider have left me considerably less optimistic than before. Right now it doesn't seem like this team will do any better than in years past, but there's still a lot of games ahead of us.
In the game against Carolina, PSU looked versatile, as redshirt freshmen David Jackson (7 points) and Andrew Jones (8) led the Lions in scoring in the 1st half. In the 2nd half, Jamelle Cornley made his surprisingly quick return and quickly scored 8 points with 9 rebounds in just 14 minutes. Claxton and Battle each scored in double figures.
The two themes of the game were:
1) USC point guard Devan Downey scoring from everywhere (30 points)
2) Penn State missing 3-point shots over and over and over (4/25, no typo)
The persistent Talor Battle was a big reason for Penn State's shooting woes. Despite being ice-cold from long-range, Battle was not afraid to just keep chucking it up there. He finished 1/10 from downtown, and a reasonable 4/7 from midtown. Even Morrisssey and Walker were a combined 1/7 from 3-point land.
Penn State actually played man-to-man defense in this one, and perhaps that's why one player game up so big. I doubt a zone could've stopped Downey, though. He scored from both outside and inside, finishing with sparkling numbers from both 3-point range (4/7) and the free throw line (10/11). Shooting guard Zam Fredrick and forward Mike Holmes were the supporting cast for Downey. Holmes was very efficient from the post, adding 13 points on 5/8 shooting and 9 rebounds. Fredrick did a little bit of everything with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
I was still feeling okay after this game. The Lions got scoring from many different players, Talor Battle's aggressive play was encouraging. If only he had made a couple more of those 3s!
Then we played Rider today...
The whole game was a complete nightmare. Penn State game out of the gate hot and took a 13-point lead that lasted about 5 minutes. Cornley came into the game again and Mike Walker finally got hot from downtown to give us a few minutes of bliss before it all went bad again.
In the 2nd half, Penn State went cold from downtown again, but mostly they just couldn't play defense. Jason and Ryan Thompson as well as the Mansell brothers all shot around 50%. When Ed switched to zone it got even uglier. PSU really looked LOST playing zone coverage, and Rider's snipers shot over it with ease.
Penn State looked like the old Penn State again. Geary Claxton tried to do to much and ended up scoring 23 points, but on 9/24 shooting. For some reason Battle didn't play in the 2nd half. Andrew Jones and DJ were almost non-factors. Cornley was the only bright spot for the Lions. He's actually looked like a better shooter than Claxton and doesn't seem to force things as much. He ended with 17 points on 8/12 shooting.
And that was that. And we don't have to watch Penn State play football OR basketball tomorrow!
Here's something to dwell on, though: UCF just took Kansas State to overtime before finally falling. PSU plays UCF on Sunday. Absolute must win. Finishing 8th place in that tournament could be the worst thing to ever happen. We'll see...
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Non-stop College Basketball
How good is college basketball right now? Because of tournaments in Hawaii and Alaska, we get to watch all night. It's 11:35 pm. Duke and Marquette are tied at 54 with 12 minutes left, and Michigan v. Butler in the Great Alaskan shootout hasn't even started yet. Wait, maybe it did, but I have to wait for Ohio State to finish off Syracuse to find out. It's a good win for the Big Ten, but I wish I wasn't scared of OSU already.
The announcers just said that Jim Boeheim has won 80 times in Madison Square Garden (where the game is being played). That's gotta be a lot more than Isaiah has, right? I wish I wasn't so sure about this.
I can't wait for tomorrow, though. Penn State kicks off the Old Spice classic in Disney World against their first major conference opponent of the season. It's South Carolina, and they're fresh off a loss to the other USC. The Cocks will be glad that the Lions have no one like OJ Mayo, who dropped 29 in that game. Hopefully Geary Claxton will come close to that, because PSU will be lacking Jamelle Cornley, probably for the entire tournament.
South Carolina's two best players appear to be point guard Devan Downey and forward Dominique Archie. Downey is averaging 7.3 assists through 3 games (4 assists v. USC) and Archie was on the SEC all-freshman team last year. PSU's interior defense will be challenged, as Archie put up 20 points on 9/13 shooting with 7 rebounds v. USC.
The Cocks do seem to lack some depth. Although they did play 9 men against USC, they got just 2 points from their bench. It's too early to tell if that's a fluke or not.
Hey, the Knicks lost again, this time on the road at Detroit. They really, really, really stink. Ironically, Isaiah was cheered during intros because of his past Motown heroics. He'll be lucky to still be around when the Knicks return to Detroit on April 8th.
Here's a link to the recap.
Check out the quote from reserve Pistons guard Flip Murray. Ouch. Well if you believe Nate Robinson, the team hasn't quit yet. Then again, if you believe Nate Robinson, then the team is just really, really bad even though they're trying their best. Pick your poison. And remember, that's just an expression.
Zach Randolph can sum up the Knicks' season in a nustshell: "They hit a lot of shots, and we didn't do much."
The announcers just said that Jim Boeheim has won 80 times in Madison Square Garden (where the game is being played). That's gotta be a lot more than Isaiah has, right? I wish I wasn't so sure about this.
I can't wait for tomorrow, though. Penn State kicks off the Old Spice classic in Disney World against their first major conference opponent of the season. It's South Carolina, and they're fresh off a loss to the other USC. The Cocks will be glad that the Lions have no one like OJ Mayo, who dropped 29 in that game. Hopefully Geary Claxton will come close to that, because PSU will be lacking Jamelle Cornley, probably for the entire tournament.
South Carolina's two best players appear to be point guard Devan Downey and forward Dominique Archie. Downey is averaging 7.3 assists through 3 games (4 assists v. USC) and Archie was on the SEC all-freshman team last year. PSU's interior defense will be challenged, as Archie put up 20 points on 9/13 shooting with 7 rebounds v. USC.
The Cocks do seem to lack some depth. Although they did play 9 men against USC, they got just 2 points from their bench. It's too early to tell if that's a fluke or not.
Hey, the Knicks lost again, this time on the road at Detroit. They really, really, really stink. Ironically, Isaiah was cheered during intros because of his past Motown heroics. He'll be lucky to still be around when the Knicks return to Detroit on April 8th.
Here's a link to the recap.
Check out the quote from reserve Pistons guard Flip Murray. Ouch. Well if you believe Nate Robinson, the team hasn't quit yet. Then again, if you believe Nate Robinson, then the team is just really, really bad even though they're trying their best. Pick your poison. And remember, that's just an expression.
Zach Randolph can sum up the Knicks' season in a nustshell: "They hit a lot of shots, and we didn't do much."
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
The Knicks are Bad
Since the Knicks let that game slip away in Sacramento, they've been blown out twice in a row. I don't even want to talk about it. How did they ever even win two? The Knicks turn the ball over all the time, and when they do get shots, they rarely go in. And that's the good half of the team. Defensively, it's even worse. It's just so frustrating to watch them right now. O well. The good news is I know how Dr. House feels all the time.
In the 4th quarter, "FIRE ISAIAH!" chants rained down from the Garden crowd. It's so bad right now. I keep telling myself they'll be good again someday, but that day isn't soon.
Between despicable Knicks and PSU performances, the Giants saved the week (barely), by winning at Detroit. The 16-10 victory greatly increased the Giants' chances of making the wild card, as they now have a one-game lead over Detroit as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The defense was great after a frustrating outing against Dallas. They got pressure with and without the blitz. Good ol' Michael Strahan was the team MVP with 3 sacks.
On the other side of the ball, Eli Manning was accurate, but an absence of big plays led to some stalling in Lions' territory. 2 fumbles cost the Giants some points, and it almost cost them the game, had it not been for Kitna's late INTs.
It was another good game for Brandon Jacobs, but this time as a receiver. Eli dumped it to him 4 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. BJ's performance was good enough to lead all Giant receivers.
Unfortunately, Jacobs, as well as DE/LB Mathias Kiwanuka both left with injuries. Kiwanuka is expected to be out for the year. The good news? Derrick Ward is expected to return against Minnesota.
If Jacobs led the team in receiving you know it couldn't be a good day for Plaxico Burress. He actually did make a couple nice catches in the 2nd half, but apparently his ankle is getting worse and worse. At this rate, there's no way he'll be able to play in the playoffs. He needs time to recover so we have him when we really need them. Toomer, Shockey, and Moss will have to step it up the next few weeks. Fortunately, Moss is taking steps to becoming a bigger part of the offense. He caught 4 balls for 46 yards on Sunday, but his fumble cut short a promising drive in the first half.
BREAKING NEWS: The Mets just traded Guillermo Mota for Johnny Estrada. Everyone jump for joy. Unless the Mets start Estrada over Castro. That would be bad.
In the 4th quarter, "FIRE ISAIAH!" chants rained down from the Garden crowd. It's so bad right now. I keep telling myself they'll be good again someday, but that day isn't soon.
Between despicable Knicks and PSU performances, the Giants saved the week (barely), by winning at Detroit. The 16-10 victory greatly increased the Giants' chances of making the wild card, as they now have a one-game lead over Detroit as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The defense was great after a frustrating outing against Dallas. They got pressure with and without the blitz. Good ol' Michael Strahan was the team MVP with 3 sacks.
On the other side of the ball, Eli Manning was accurate, but an absence of big plays led to some stalling in Lions' territory. 2 fumbles cost the Giants some points, and it almost cost them the game, had it not been for Kitna's late INTs.
It was another good game for Brandon Jacobs, but this time as a receiver. Eli dumped it to him 4 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. BJ's performance was good enough to lead all Giant receivers.
Unfortunately, Jacobs, as well as DE/LB Mathias Kiwanuka both left with injuries. Kiwanuka is expected to be out for the year. The good news? Derrick Ward is expected to return against Minnesota.
If Jacobs led the team in receiving you know it couldn't be a good day for Plaxico Burress. He actually did make a couple nice catches in the 2nd half, but apparently his ankle is getting worse and worse. At this rate, there's no way he'll be able to play in the playoffs. He needs time to recover so we have him when we really need them. Toomer, Shockey, and Moss will have to step it up the next few weeks. Fortunately, Moss is taking steps to becoming a bigger part of the offense. He caught 4 balls for 46 yards on Sunday, but his fumble cut short a promising drive in the first half.
BREAKING NEWS: The Mets just traded Guillermo Mota for Johnny Estrada. Everyone jump for joy. Unless the Mets start Estrada over Castro. That would be bad.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Failure in East Lansing
The weekend got off to a great start on Friday night, when some buddies and I went to see Penn State's basketball team dismantle the Golden Griffins of Canisius College 93-40. It was a good night for the Lions, who satisfied those fans who felt that they didn't beat St. Francis by enough points on opening night. As usual, Geary Claxton headlined with a double-double. Amazingly, he notched 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes on the floor. More surprisingly was Talor Battle's presence in the starting lineup. He took Walker's usual spot and played reasonably well. We still haven't seen very good long-range shooting from Battle, but his aggressive offense style is encouraging. He finished with 5 assists and looked great running the floor during PSU's many fast break opportunities. Also of note was Danny Morrissey, who caught fire from downtown (5/7) and Schyler King, who looked surprisingly competent in limited time, with 7 points and 3 rebounds. He'll do a great job filling in for Claxton in garbage time this year.
With everyone leaving for Thanksgiving break, there wasn't much to do on Friday night, so I decided to tune my Slingbox to the Knicks v. Kings game. This was not a great idea. It was Kevin Martin's turn to light up the Knicks, and he did this from both short- and long-range. When Martin's defender stepped back to respect his dribble-drive, he'd just shoot it right over the top. It wasn't until Stephon Marbury stepped up with some top-notch ball denial skills in the 4th quarter that the Knicks were able to come back and send the game to overtime. There, the Knicks narrowly missed a victory when Jamal Crawford and David Lee rimmed shots on the last possession. In double OT, the Kings took a 7-point lead and held on despite another Knicks comeback attempt.
Here are some more Knicks notes:
The loss seems even worse when you consider the turnover ratio was +3 in favor of Penn State.
The silver lining for the Lions was Rodney Kinlaw rushing for a 4.5 average on 28 carries. He was consistent all game long (his longest rush was just 15 yards), and provided much-needed support to Anthony Morelli.
Speaking of AM, he can have a bad game without throwing a pick, as he demonstrated today. A minuscule 5.4 YPA was not what we needed, although the loss can hardly be blamed on the offense.
More notes:
Black Shoe Diaries, The Nittany Notebook
I think they're overreacting a little bit. The bottom line is that Josh Gaines and Mo Evans are not as good as we thought they were. The line can't get pressure by themselves against the better O-lines in college football. This was evident in the OSU and MSU games. Tom Bradley needs to mix it up some more and throw in some blitzes. We didn't recruit King and Wallace so we can put them in zones and depend on our safeties for deep coverage. Those guys are there so we can blitz, but Bradley hasn't blitzed enough.
With everyone leaving for Thanksgiving break, there wasn't much to do on Friday night, so I decided to tune my Slingbox to the Knicks v. Kings game. This was not a great idea. It was Kevin Martin's turn to light up the Knicks, and he did this from both short- and long-range. When Martin's defender stepped back to respect his dribble-drive, he'd just shoot it right over the top. It wasn't until Stephon Marbury stepped up with some top-notch ball denial skills in the 4th quarter that the Knicks were able to come back and send the game to overtime. There, the Knicks narrowly missed a victory when Jamal Crawford and David Lee rimmed shots on the last possession. In double OT, the Kings took a 7-point lead and held on despite another Knicks comeback attempt.
Here are some more Knicks notes:
- Eddie Curry just can't play defense at all. It's rare that a player can be so effective on the offensive glass, but so invisible on the other end. He finished with 6 offensive rebounds but only 9 total. Eddie also has trouble defending drives to the basket.
- Unfortunately, Isaiah must play Eddie because he's so good offensively. Hopefully David Lee continues his impressive play (24 points, 16 rebounds) so that we can play someone who performs at both ends
- Apparently Steph can play D when he wants to. His hustle against Martin in the 4th was admirable. I'm having second thoughts about wishing he would leave the team. His ability to penetrate the key makes New York less dependent on Eddie Curry
- Is Crawford better than Stephon? He's certainly a better jump shooter, but Starbury has the edge in passing and defense. Plus Crawford goes solo too often for my taste.
The loss seems even worse when you consider the turnover ratio was +3 in favor of Penn State.
The silver lining for the Lions was Rodney Kinlaw rushing for a 4.5 average on 28 carries. He was consistent all game long (his longest rush was just 15 yards), and provided much-needed support to Anthony Morelli.
Speaking of AM, he can have a bad game without throwing a pick, as he demonstrated today. A minuscule 5.4 YPA was not what we needed, although the loss can hardly be blamed on the offense.
More notes:
- Leading 17-7 early in the 2nd half, Penn State lined up for a field goal, but snapped the ball to kicker Kevin Kelly, who ran in for the 5-yard score.
- The Spartans responded with a fake punt run that turned a 3-and-out into a TD drive.
- Twice the Lions showed a strange formation in which AM split out wide and left Darryl Clark and Derrick Williams in the backfield. The result was two awful draw plays (one to Williams and one a Clark keeper).
- Junior WR Devin Thomas was Hoyer's favorite target, with 7 catches for 139 yards and 3 TDs. On the year, he has 68 catches for 1,087 yards.
- Morelli's only TD pass was a sweet play-action mini-bomb to Deon Butler on a 3rd and 1 in the 1st quarter.
Black Shoe Diaries, The Nittany Notebook
I think they're overreacting a little bit. The bottom line is that Josh Gaines and Mo Evans are not as good as we thought they were. The line can't get pressure by themselves against the better O-lines in college football. This was evident in the OSU and MSU games. Tom Bradley needs to mix it up some more and throw in some blitzes. We didn't recruit King and Wallace so we can put them in zones and depend on our safeties for deep coverage. Those guys are there so we can blitz, but Bradley hasn't blitzed enough.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Penn State vs. Canisius
Penn State basketball takes on Canisius tonight in what hopefully won't be an exciting match-up. The Canisius Golden Griffins are fresh off a blow out loss to Patriot League powerhouse Colgate. One player that could hurt the Lions is point guard Frank Turner. He was the 2007 MAAC rookie of the year and is a preseason 2nd team MAAC player this year. Another player with high expectations this year is forward Elton Frazier, whom the Sporting News picked to be this year's best MAAC n00b. Extremely large forward Rishawn Johnson, and guards Willie Hassell (no relation) and Jovan Robinson round out the Griffins' starting 5.
Against Colgate, Canisius' Pawel Malesa came off the bench to lead the Griffins with 16 points. He was 4/6 from long range, so watch out.
The Griffins start 3 guards, so it will be interesting to see if the Lions change their starting lineup. My vote is no, since Geary can play like a guard or a forward. The only question is whether DJ or Jeff Brooks will start in Cornely's spot.
That's it for now. Time to go to the game. BTW the Knicks are trying to end a 4 game losing streak, as they take on the Kings in California.
Against Colgate, Canisius' Pawel Malesa came off the bench to lead the Griffins with 16 points. He was 4/6 from long range, so watch out.
The Griffins start 3 guards, so it will be interesting to see if the Lions change their starting lineup. My vote is no, since Geary can play like a guard or a forward. The only question is whether DJ or Jeff Brooks will start in Cornely's spot.
That's it for now. Time to go to the game. BTW the Knicks are trying to end a 4 game losing streak, as they take on the Kings in California.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
State covers Rock
After Ohio State AND Michigan State fell to Division II teams, Penn State's exhibition against Slippery Rock became a little more serious. Not that much though.
The Lions prevailed 94-57, allowing "Nittany Nation" to breathe a sigh of relief and continue hoping for an exciting season. Here's the highlights...
Talor Battle looked pretty decent. 5 assists, 5 steals, and 14 points on 7/17 shooting. His 3-point shot looked a little shabby, but this kid likes to... MOVE IT when he has the ball. Battle showed some serious dribbling skills on his drives to the hoop. Penn State's fast break should be fun to watch with him on the floor.
The other big star on Wednesday was community college transfer Stanley Pringle, who like Battle, brings some much needed dribbling skills to the team. Finishing with 11 points on 5/10 shooting, Pringle showed the ability to get the ball to the hoop quickly. His finishes could use some work though. From what little I've seen, it seems like Battle is the better passer and Pringle is the better shooter. The heavy amount of minutes given to both newcomers was encouraging. The Nits might actually have DEPTH this season.
Walker and Morrissey didn't show us anything we didn't already know. They are the two best shooters on the team, no question. Their other skills, however, are quite limited.
The forward and center play on Wednesday was very disappointing. Geary Claxton looked downright awful after a dominant performance in the Blue/White game. Andrew Jones struggled to score all night. Jeff Brooks wasn't outstanding, but at least he didn't try to do too much. He put up 6 points and 7 rebounds. Jamelle Cornley and David Jackson did not play. I really think Andrew Jones will be a great player for this team down the road, but nearly fouling out in an exhibition game is not a good start. Still, he's bound to progress better than Brandon Hassell. Speaking of Hassell, he had a ho-hum game, but was able to convert on his two free throw attempts. It's clear he's been working on his shot. Maybe we can something out of him this year. This is me being VERY optimistic.
INJURY UPDATE: "Penn State was without junior Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio), who suffered a bruised bone in his left knee in the Blue-White Game on Oct. 27, and freshman David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.), who sat for precautionary reasons after experiencing some discomfort last week in the left leg in which a stress fracture kept him sidelined last season. Jackson was expected to practice later in the week while Cornley will miss 2-3 weeks."
--from gopsusports.com
I know. It doesn't sound good. The good news is that I don't think Claxton will continue to have problems like he did tonight. Still, the Lions' depth at the forward position will be tested early on. Expect Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones to log serious minutes in November.
Also, here's the entire box score. Enjoy.
By the way, Super Mario Galaxy is coming ON MONDAY. Could be the greatest thing ever. No joke. If there are any Wii non-believers left, they'll all have checked out by Monday.
"Expect to be blown away by the fantastic level challenges and galactic variety. Expect to be blown away by the addictive gravity effects -- you will jump off ledges just to see if you can rotate all the way around a structure. And expect to be blown away by the tight controls and beautiful graphics."
--from IGN.com
That's pretty much all you need to know about the game, but if you want to read more, click here, for Matt Casamassina's full review.
In hockey news, the Rangers lost a heart-breaker to the Islanders, but then rebounded to score (gasp) 4 GOALS against the Pens (final score 4-2). It was the Rangers' greatest offensive outburst since they netted 5 on opening night vs. Florida.
Finally the Knicks defeated Denver in a wild one at the Garden on Tuesday night. Zachary Randolph has been just as good as advertised. The problem for the Knicks is that their starting lineup lacks defensive skill. Fortunately David Lee and Renaldo Baulkman are ready to enter at any time. I'd rather have one of those guys starting, as having Randoplh and Currey on the court at the same time seems redundant.
Penn State takes on Temple in Philly on Saturday. We're driving down tomorrow. Hopefully there will be time to research Temple's squad before the game.
The Lions prevailed 94-57, allowing "Nittany Nation" to breathe a sigh of relief and continue hoping for an exciting season. Here's the highlights...
Talor Battle looked pretty decent. 5 assists, 5 steals, and 14 points on 7/17 shooting. His 3-point shot looked a little shabby, but this kid likes to... MOVE IT when he has the ball. Battle showed some serious dribbling skills on his drives to the hoop. Penn State's fast break should be fun to watch with him on the floor.
The other big star on Wednesday was community college transfer Stanley Pringle, who like Battle, brings some much needed dribbling skills to the team. Finishing with 11 points on 5/10 shooting, Pringle showed the ability to get the ball to the hoop quickly. His finishes could use some work though. From what little I've seen, it seems like Battle is the better passer and Pringle is the better shooter. The heavy amount of minutes given to both newcomers was encouraging. The Nits might actually have DEPTH this season.
Walker and Morrissey didn't show us anything we didn't already know. They are the two best shooters on the team, no question. Their other skills, however, are quite limited.
The forward and center play on Wednesday was very disappointing. Geary Claxton looked downright awful after a dominant performance in the Blue/White game. Andrew Jones struggled to score all night. Jeff Brooks wasn't outstanding, but at least he didn't try to do too much. He put up 6 points and 7 rebounds. Jamelle Cornley and David Jackson did not play. I really think Andrew Jones will be a great player for this team down the road, but nearly fouling out in an exhibition game is not a good start. Still, he's bound to progress better than Brandon Hassell. Speaking of Hassell, he had a ho-hum game, but was able to convert on his two free throw attempts. It's clear he's been working on his shot. Maybe we can something out of him this year. This is me being VERY optimistic.
INJURY UPDATE: "Penn State was without junior Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio), who suffered a bruised bone in his left knee in the Blue-White Game on Oct. 27, and freshman David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.), who sat for precautionary reasons after experiencing some discomfort last week in the left leg in which a stress fracture kept him sidelined last season. Jackson was expected to practice later in the week while Cornley will miss 2-3 weeks."
--from gopsusports.com
I know. It doesn't sound good. The good news is that I don't think Claxton will continue to have problems like he did tonight. Still, the Lions' depth at the forward position will be tested early on. Expect Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones to log serious minutes in November.
Also, here's the entire box score. Enjoy.
By the way, Super Mario Galaxy is coming ON MONDAY. Could be the greatest thing ever. No joke. If there are any Wii non-believers left, they'll all have checked out by Monday.
"Expect to be blown away by the fantastic level challenges and galactic variety. Expect to be blown away by the addictive gravity effects -- you will jump off ledges just to see if you can rotate all the way around a structure. And expect to be blown away by the tight controls and beautiful graphics."
--from IGN.com
That's pretty much all you need to know about the game, but if you want to read more, click here, for Matt Casamassina's full review.
In hockey news, the Rangers lost a heart-breaker to the Islanders, but then rebounded to score (gasp) 4 GOALS against the Pens (final score 4-2). It was the Rangers' greatest offensive outburst since they netted 5 on opening night vs. Florida.
Finally the Knicks defeated Denver in a wild one at the Garden on Tuesday night. Zachary Randolph has been just as good as advertised. The problem for the Knicks is that their starting lineup lacks defensive skill. Fortunately David Lee and Renaldo Baulkman are ready to enter at any time. I'd rather have one of those guys starting, as having Randoplh and Currey on the court at the same time seems redundant.
Penn State takes on Temple in Philly on Saturday. We're driving down tomorrow. Hopefully there will be time to research Temple's squad before the game.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Early Evening Madness
Even if the Nittany Lions don't win a lot of games this year, at least the season got started off right.
After all, you can't go wrong with the entire squad cranking that on the BJC floor.
Even better was reserve Finnish center Joonas Suotamo impersonating Soviet super-boxer Ivan Drago. Besides shadow boxing the Nittany Lion, Joonas entertained the crowd by attempting a speech in a Russian accent. At least that's what I think he was doing. It was difficult to tell if Joonas (pronounced "Yo-nas") was speaking Finnish with a Russian accent, English with a Russian accent, or Russian with a Finnish accent. Still, high comedy.
The main events of the evening were a slam-dunk contest and a 3-point contest.
Newcomer guards Taylor Battle and Stanley Pringle upset freshman foward Jeff Brooks to reach the slam-dunk finals. With the title on the line, Battle sadly failed on his attempt, allowing Pringle to jam his way to the championship.
The 3-point contest was interesting because each Nittany Lion was paired with a random student teammate. Danny Morrissey headlined the winning pair. Unfortunately, none of my buddies were able to humiliate themselves in this competition.
It's too early to tell how this Penn State team will finish. The team has definitely added athleticism (the 3 best dunkers are all new to the team), but will that translate to more offense? It depends on the play of the guards. We know that Cornley and Clatxon can score, but is Walker ready to become a major part of the offense? If not, can Pringle and Battle contribute right away? These answers will come soon enough.
By the way, here's the All Big Ten preseason team:
Drew Neitzel: MSU guard
Jamar Butler: OSU guard
Geary Claxton: PSU foward
D.J. White: Indiana foward
Shaun Pruitt: Illinois center
I'm surprised by Pruitt being there. Last year it seemed he was by far the 2nd most talented player on the Illini, behind Warren Carter. Now he's the man? Maybe he can shoot free throws more consistently this year, but I still don't see it.
Tomorrow I'm road-tripping to Maryland in search of a career. Hopefully the Knicks can put up a good showing in their opener in Cleveland.
Meanwhile, the Rangers just won 2-0 over the Caps at the Garden. They have played in the exact opposite way as everyone thought. Instead of an offensive juggernaut, the Blueshirts feature a feeble offense that is balanced by a nearly impenetrable defense. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been the MVP so far.
After all, you can't go wrong with the entire squad cranking that on the BJC floor.
Even better was reserve Finnish center Joonas Suotamo impersonating Soviet super-boxer Ivan Drago. Besides shadow boxing the Nittany Lion, Joonas entertained the crowd by attempting a speech in a Russian accent. At least that's what I think he was doing. It was difficult to tell if Joonas (pronounced "Yo-nas") was speaking Finnish with a Russian accent, English with a Russian accent, or Russian with a Finnish accent. Still, high comedy.
The main events of the evening were a slam-dunk contest and a 3-point contest.
Newcomer guards Taylor Battle and Stanley Pringle upset freshman foward Jeff Brooks to reach the slam-dunk finals. With the title on the line, Battle sadly failed on his attempt, allowing Pringle to jam his way to the championship.
The 3-point contest was interesting because each Nittany Lion was paired with a random student teammate. Danny Morrissey headlined the winning pair. Unfortunately, none of my buddies were able to humiliate themselves in this competition.
It's too early to tell how this Penn State team will finish. The team has definitely added athleticism (the 3 best dunkers are all new to the team), but will that translate to more offense? It depends on the play of the guards. We know that Cornley and Clatxon can score, but is Walker ready to become a major part of the offense? If not, can Pringle and Battle contribute right away? These answers will come soon enough.
By the way, here's the All Big Ten preseason team:
Drew Neitzel: MSU guard
Jamar Butler: OSU guard
Geary Claxton: PSU foward
D.J. White: Indiana foward
Shaun Pruitt: Illinois center
I'm surprised by Pruitt being there. Last year it seemed he was by far the 2nd most talented player on the Illini, behind Warren Carter. Now he's the man? Maybe he can shoot free throws more consistently this year, but I still don't see it.
Tomorrow I'm road-tripping to Maryland in search of a career. Hopefully the Knicks can put up a good showing in their opener in Cleveland.
Meanwhile, the Rangers just won 2-0 over the Caps at the Garden. They have played in the exact opposite way as everyone thought. Instead of an offensive juggernaut, the Blueshirts feature a feeble offense that is balanced by a nearly impenetrable defense. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been the MVP so far.
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