2025-26 PSU MBB Thread
- Thread starter Tom McAndrew
- Start date
Not if they keep turning the ball over and refusing to block out.
Mingo 1-4 shooting, 0 assists, 2 TOs.
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Mingo's broken nose, Juric's illness, and Rice's concussion haven't helped. Let's see how they finish.
PSU continues to do PSU things. USC wins 77-75
17 turnovers
5 missed FTs including front end of two 1-1
Reed is improving but he's a senior. Juric is improving. Foul trouble kept him off the floor during key minutes today. Rice is sorely missed.
Tunca has taken a step back. Mingo struggled again. 3-9 shooting, 4 turnovers, only 2 assists.
17 turnovers
5 missed FTs including front end of two 1-1
Reed is improving but he's a senior. Juric is improving. Foul trouble kept him off the floor during key minutes today. Rice is sorely missed.
Tunca has taken a step back. Mingo struggled again. 3-9 shooting, 4 turnovers, only 2 assists.
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Let's face it; this team AND this coach do not know how to win. I told my wife, when they were up by 12, they would blow the game. It is as certain as the sun rising in the east. I am done.
Take care all.
Take care all.
Most I’ve watched all year. Reed and juric looked good as far as Psu big men ever are
Mingo is a baller. Dilione and Stewart can play
Good game!
Mingo is a baller. Dilione and Stewart can play
Good game!
what can I tell ya? Been this way for decades and I don’t bother much but this was a good game.They are 1-11. Thank you Mrs Rhodes for your post
If you’re being serious, then you need a reality check.
Can you believe that Minnesota actually lost to this absurd team coached by this absurd coach?
Recorded it and just got done watching. This is the correct description.
Mingo had his worst game of the year. The little PG for USC was really in his stuff all day. I said to my son that those 2 missed front ends of 1/1 were killers. Dilione only splitting his FT later was bad too.
That being said, Arenas is a baller, he will be a first round pick.
They’re great at losing close games and equally as good at getting blown out…it’s a rare combination.
This game basically was a carbon copy of last season’s home Sunday afternoon loss to Oregon; the only difference is that last season’s team, which stunk too, was like the 1987 Lakers compared to the current team. The one similarity is that both teams had the same head coach, who has turned a mediocre Big 10 program into probably the worst Power 4 program in the country, and it really isn’t even close. Just think, Pitt, which gets blown out by almost everybody, blew out this PSU team on a neutral court.
Basically everything is correct here: This is usually when I say it's not fair to fire him because everyone else got 8 years...but screw that. Fire him. This is a complete embarrassment to the University and anyone else who gives a damn. Hell it's an embarrassment to the ones who don't give a damn also.
Wow. This article popped up in my feed.
Penn State basketball is a joke, even to coaches across the country
Penn State basketball is a joke, even to coaches across the country
Not a surprise at all. Shows how little people know about PSU basketball when they are claiming PSU should be in the tournament every other year or regularly get 20 wins without padding the schedule with cupcakes. Its probably one of the bottom 5 jobs in power 5 basketball.
People always bring up that we are close to Philly and Pittsburgh, but those kids have never come here outside of the few Chambers got. Unfortunately he didnt know what to do on the court with them.
You're right in what you said, but it has to start somewhere. The state of this program is beyond embarrassing. Although PSU never has been a major player since it joined the Big 10, it has been competitive in a lot of seasons while winning maybe 7 to 9 conference games and even doing fairly well in the Big 10 Tournament on a few occasions, as recently as 2023. However, this current coach, by doing whatever he's done in the last three seasons, has imploded whatever competitiveness this program had.
At least under Chambers and Shrewsberry, this program had a chance to finish in the middle of the Big 10 in most seasons and, like in 2020, even in the upper third. Regardless of the lack of winning history, there's absolutely no reason why this program should be this bad (no program should be this bad and hopeless) and generally totally bereft of legitmate D-1 talent.
One last thing: despite how bad this job is right now, it's still a Big 10 job at a big time school in a part of the country that plays good high school basketball. Based on this, this job should be enticing. The powers that be just have to get off of their asses and do what's necessary to sell all of this and, most importantly, fund the program to make it enticing. This can be done.
NIL made it worse, and there is no way they are going to pony up the $$ needed to get good players. The SEC used to be behind the ACC, BIG, Big 12, Big East and even PAC whatever when it still existed. Now they are the #1 conference in the country, and you wont see them backing down anytime soon. Hell, people are bitching that PSU can't get top FB guys due to lower NIL than the top FB schools, no way will they get anywhere close to top guys for basketball.
They have to hope that a couple of these freshmen stay and develop and they can find a guy out of the portal like Pickett or Funk to add to the team. Mingo is probably gone so they will have an opportunity to get a decent PG from the portal but its going to have to be a guy from a lower conference who is happy with a reasonable NIL and knows they will get lots of playing time. His bro is trending to UNC now after their big win over Duke.
Blackwood, Juric, Tunca, Mirtic, Houser are the freshmen outside of Mingo. The first two are must keep, then if Dilione, Rice, one of the two other bigs stay you have 5 decent players. Tunca has not progressed but maybe he can, and Stewart is a kid I dont think brings much to the table. Jamison White is the only commit for 26 (6'7 F) and none of their other offers are interested so looks like it will be another year of portal guys to see if they can find some guys
I understand what you're saying about NIL, but there are a lot of schools that have less NIL money than PSU who are doing a much better job than what PSU is doing; I just think that NIL has become a convenient crutch to rationalize losing. PSU is not a pauper by any means. I mean, I'm sure that PSU has more NIL to spend than Miami (Ohio) and they've been ranked this season. Also, does Iowa have that much more to spend on their basketball program than PSU, which has a very good record this season? There are so many other examples. Also, in that sport, you really only need four or five so-called high-level players who can be surrounded with a bunch of grunts; you're not talking about having to stock a football team with 80 to 90 players. A good coach should be able to find four or five Big 10 caliber players within four hours' driving distance from PSU by just rolling out of bed; I mean, how many thousands of high school kids play high school basketball in PSU's footprint, many of whom are very talented, and they're all not going to Duke or UConn?
In the end, like I said, PSU has had many Big 10 seasons in which they won 7 to 9 conference games and actually beat teams like Illinois, MSU and Purdue, and also made the Big 10 Tournament Championship game twice; God, as recently as 2020, they were in first or second place in the Big 10 at some point in February. Even if PSU had no NIL to spend on basketball, which isn't the case, they should be able to put a more representative product on the court than what they have this season; this current team has an overall talent level that you would find on a mid-level Horizon League team.
In the end, this coach has failed to do whatever he set out to do in three seasons on the job. His biggest failing is basically losing whole teams to transfers at the end of each season and having to scramble to fill a whole roster. Obviously, as we've seen this season, it would be hard for any school to win like that, and especially a school like PSU that has no pedigree in this sport. Also, he did an absolutely terrible job with last season's team, which probably had enough talent to make the Tournament.
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Rhoades needs to be fired. There is no way you can keep him except if Mingo stays and he can pull off a miracle in the portal. The problem is can we fire him after that if all that does not happen or is it too late by then and we are stuck with him and another 1-19 or best case 2-18 conf record?
I think we just need to reset but if the program does not have a lot of money which judging from the athletic dept financials that were posted here we don't then we may need to keep him.
Penn State basketball does not have an identity. We need to model the program after Iowa or Wisconsin. Look at Iowa. How much do they spend in NIL? Iowa State is like #3 in the country.
Kraft should spend a week visiting both schools talking to their AD and others involved in those programs to get some ideas. Also visit Wisconsin. Not sure these schools would be open to a visit like that but at least try.
Iowa has this guy Bennett Stirtz. Averages 20 points a game. He played at Drake last year and averaged about the same. Shoots 40% from 3. We have to find a guy like this and build a team of good shooters who want to play defense and do the dirty work like rebound. We need a guy like John Harrar in the worst way.
Rhoades does not know how to keep a team together nor how to build a cohesive team. He just collects players then they never improve as the season progresses. There have been injuries like last year and some this year but you have to be able to overcome that to some degree. The eye opener for me is the general lack of competitiveness. We have had some close games versus good teams but also numerous horrific blowout losses. Add to that we have absolutely no clue how to win games. None. We couldn't win a close game if our life depended on it. I am stunned we were able to win the Minny game. Just lucky and law of averages kicked in. Whatever it was it does not hide the fact that Rhoades rarely, rarely has his guys mentally ready to execute in crunch time. That is 100% on him and his coaching ability.
The more I think of it we can't be held hostage to Mingo. Do what is right for the program and clean house with the coaches. Mingo can do what he wants. Put together a good NIL deal for him but not excessive to the detriment of not being able to build around him. He is not irreplaceable.
We have to take this program seriously and invest in a coach who brings a strong identity from a Power 4 program. There have to be better options than what we have now.
Like I said, the composition of this roster is not just based on NIL. I am an undergraduate of Duquesne so I follow them. This season, they are a mid-level, above .500 Atlantic 10 school and actually have improved as this season has progressed. Duquesne, of course, is a small Catholic school that probably doesn't have much NIL to offer, and certainly they aren't even in the same ball park as PSU. However, IMO, Duquesne has a better roster than PSU, and that's just unacceptable when you consider the resources that both of these schools have.
I just finished reading a book about the Wishbone offense at Oklahoma, and back in 1970 when Oklahoma decided to go to the Wishbone, Barry Switzer under Chuck Fairbanks had meetings with Darrell Royal and his staff at Texas about this type of offense.
Interesting and that is discussing specific basketball or in this case football strategy. I want Kraft out there for a broader reason on how best to run a basketball program in the NIL era when you have a limited budget. I would think he could get meetings with the Iowa and Wisconsin, etc ADs, for example. It is not like they are or would give away confidential trade secrets about players or recruits or portal targets or training tips or game plans, etc. that would put them at a competitive disadvantage. This would be at a program management level. He could use these insights as a foundation to go find the right coach.
What is the book?