PSU - That was ugly
- Thread starter GatoLouco
- Start date
I love it. Team showed it has real gumption—not the ersatz kind.
My only regret is that Robbie Hummel was not there to see Martinelli use his right hand.
My only regret is that Robbie Hummel was not there to see Martinelli use his right hand.
Down 10 at the 15 minute mark of the 2nd half the Cats outscored PSU 31-17 the rest of the way.
That was impressive. A 3-1 start to conference play. Very impressive.
GOUNUII
Like a long night at the bar with many drinks and no success with the ladies...
...I'll take ugly
With Mickey Gilley's country western classic playing in the background...
"The girls all get prettier at closin' time!"
"The girls all get prettier at closin' time!"
Some poor free throw shooting in the last couple minutes made the game closer than it had to be
That was a critical win. I have been hoping against hope that they could reach the halfway point in conference play 5-5, which would be remarkable considering the first ten games include two with Purdue, two with the Illini, one at Wisconsin, one at Nebraska, and OSU and MSU at home. The second half of the season‘s schedule is a little more forgiving.
What a weird box score. 18 turnovers, only 44 FG attempts, but we shoot 61% and score 76 points.
Ty Berry is 18-31 on 3s in his last 5 games, averaging 17 ppg in that span. That after scoring a total of 3 points the 2 games before that. He's up to 46% from 3 on the year. That's probably not sustainable, but him ending up 41-42% this year would be what we've been hoping for out of him.
We had the same offensive efficiency against MSU and PSU when you look at possessions that didn't end in a turnover - 1.46 PPP. The difference between scoring 88 points in a comfortable 65 possession win and scoring 76 points in a 70 possession game - 18 turnovers vs 5.
I've got a great story about "closing time". It has a lot to do with a Jimmy Buffet(RIP) song
Team showed great poise to come back after falling behind by 10. They went on a 15-0 run. They are a gritty team that does not give up. My concern is the lack of depth in a long season. Is there anyone who can join the rotation even for 5 minutes a game?
Funny you mentioned that. Right after the game I watched The Exorcist. Now THAT is a double feature!
To have three legit scoring options outside of Buie is so big. Berry, Brooks (who has actually struggled the last month before tonight) and Langborg are all guys who can be legit scoring options on a given night. What a weapon to have for a playmaker like Buie.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had four different guys who can go for 20 on a given night. It allows for more margin for error from the others.
It also allows for us to win a road game on a night we had double the turnovers we typically have.
The turnovers were just ridiculously absurd, but at least the defense improved greatly after a horrible first half there too.
I fundamentally do not understand why Collins stuck with the decision to use a lot of Barnheiser, Berry, and others (even Martinelli) to bring up the ball and initiate the offense against the press and trap. I understand the initial philosophy behind it, but Penn State was eating those guys alive and forcing way way too many turnovers when Boo wasn’t in control of things. I do not understand at all how they didn’t move away from that as the game went on, especially when they were having BB initiate the offense in the closing minutes, which caused even more turnovers.
I fundamentally do not understand why Collins stuck with the decision to use a lot of Barnheiser, Berry, and others (even Martinelli) to bring up the ball and initiate the offense against the press and trap. I understand the initial philosophy behind it, but Penn State was eating those guys alive and forcing way way too many turnovers when Boo wasn’t in control of things. I do not understand at all how they didn’t move away from that as the game went on, especially when they were having BB initiate the offense in the closing minutes, which caused even more turnovers.
That's what makes us a pretty good team. When you are actually playing the game with legit threats around you things are so much easier.
You can't easily see it from the stands but as one of those threats steps up, the other team, not even needing input from the coach, adapts. Think last night with Berry, he hits a few, the guy guarding him stops floating much on defense on the help side. It opens the game more for the other threats. More space to play, lesser defenders on them. Someone else steps us. And so on and so on. The blanket struggles to cover all threats.
NU does drama. Looks like NU has momentum, is even favored and you tune in expecting to see NU set the pace, only to watch the first half of the PSU game, which was just absolutely discouraging in every way. It seemed like the TV was saying, "Turn me off!!! Turn me off!!!" Good thing we've been discouraged by the great NU teams in the past, so we knew to wait for the Cinderella ending. Huge W. Looks like NU has momentum.
SO impressed that NU just turned this game around - mostly the better players finding their games. The curse of PSU is lifted.
Seems like the press loves UW, likely picked by 6 or so, but NU could have one of their really good games and win it. You want some more drama there?
SO impressed that NU just turned this game around - mostly the better players finding their games. The curse of PSU is lifted.
Seems like the press loves UW, likely picked by 6 or so, but NU could have one of their really good games and win it. You want some more drama there?
Honestly, I wasn't worried at halftime. Penn State lost their whole team this offseason and changed their playing style completely. All we had to do was re-gain our composure and drop a couple Nicholbombs.