State Penn it is
- Thread starter T_Levine
- Start date
Nicholson only got 11 minutes in game one, because PSU is small and NU matched up. Even if Verhoeven plays well, we’ve got to flip that and let Matt play. PSU gets to the bucket a lot, and we need Nicholson to limit their effectiveness, while EVERYONE ELSE STAYS ON THE PERIMETER.
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I’m very okay with this. I love seeing IL lose & I want revenge on PSU. If they beat us again (which they always seem to), especially since we will have a big crowd advantage over them, hats off. But I’m happy with another crack at them.
I am curious to see that crowd advantage. I don't doubt we will have a lot more fans than PSU. But as Indiana is in the same section, I am guessing they are snagging up all the IL resold tickets.
And Indiana fans will surely be rooting against us. They probably view PSU as an easier opponent, and they hate NU this year — they still think NU colluded with the refs to steal both games against them. Which, of course, we did, thanks to all of the refs with Northwestern degrees.
I am fully expecting Nicholson to get some early run, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if Collins sticks with him. My expectation is that he will use Beran at the 5 for long stretches and it will work.
If you feel compelled to go small, the best choice is Beran who can score better than Verhoeven and defend all over the floor, as opposed to Verhoeven, who can't.
But if we are patient on offense, PSU is not really capable of defending the lob to Nicholson (where he just gets position by the basket - not off the pick and roll) The question is - can we execute it. My guess is that we can't.
If you want to go small, putting Beran on the bench is a good option. Matt will grab 10 offensive rebounds tonight.
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I hope Nicholson has the huge game I was expecting when I sat thru that Welsh Ryan torture session on March 1st...
But if Collins sees Penn State go small and decides to bench Nicholson (again) I'd rather see Beran out there than Verhoeven. "Beran at the 5" has been effective when the opponent doesn't have size.
Of course, I'd rather play to our size advantage than go small and play to PSU's advantage.
I’m with you. MN will be tough to defend and could have a nice rebounding night. Also, let Pickett butt back until he runs into that mountain. Chase cheats to base line side to cover that kick and rotate leaving weak side open. That would require a bunch of passes or an interesting (and probably high) pass over MN.
I’ve been trying to figure out which sections are for certain schools-where do find that info?