Penn State Hoops podcast: Nittany Lions focused on growth
Penn State basketball finished 2-1 in the Charleston Classic last weekend and heads into a light week with only Lafayette on Friday. To get fans ready for what’s to come, the Blue White Illustrated Hoops podcast brings insight from expert Nate Bauer. He and host Thomas Frank Carr discuss how things have started the year and how they might change before the Nittany Lions pick up play in earnest around the Big Ten tipoff weekend. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you don’t miss an episode of the show!
Penn State taking self-scouting, improvement seriously
T-Frank and Bauer start the show with a review of the Charleston Classic and the close loss to Virginia Tech that landed Penn State in third place for the weekend. Bauer discusses how poor shooting was to blame and is still very high on the team’s ability to win each night, even with glaring disadvantages in the paint.
Next, Bauer details what he learned from Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry this week and how the team is using these off days around the holiday to get better. The team only plays two games in nine days between the end of the tournament and the game against Clemson next Tuesday.
So what are they doing? Bauer talks about the team’s need to improve its young players and critical facets of its identity with self-scouting. Next, he and T-Frank discuss what those facets are. Bauer describes Penn State’s identity through six games and points to the areas of improvement but also highlights its clear strengths. Finally, he gives a timeline for how and when the freshmen can contribute through this non-conference slate.
Check out the related basketball content below:
Penn State takes defensive strides, sticking to plan: Notes
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry is leaning into the plan. His Nittany Lions stocked up on shooters in the offseason and have established themselves as one of the nation’s most proficient, electric teams from beyond the arc.
And Shrewsberry is fully intending to see that continue the rest of this season.
Coming off a 2-1 set at the Charleston Classic last weekend, Shrewsberry visited with the media to take stock of the Nittany Lions as they continue through their successful nonconference slate:
Setting the formula
Among the top teams in made 3-pointers, 3-point attempts, and 3-point shooting percentage, the season’s opening stretch has offered an opportunity for self-reflection. Held under 60 points only by Virginia Tech, Penn State isn’t denying its interior size soft spots. But, with a resolve to shoot well and shoot often from deep, the course for the season is set.
“The strength of our team is our shooting, and us being able to have multiple guys that can spread the floor, that can shoot, that can move it to each other. We have to buy into that and I think we’ve done a good job of doing it,” Shrewsberry said. “People also know what our strength is. So their game plan is to try and take that away, and I think that’s where we have to be good is to take advantage of that. So I think that’s gonna continue to be a growth process for us, of knowing this is who we are, this is who we want to be, and let’s continue to play to our style.
