Takeaways: PSU 74 NU 70

[lou v]

https://northwestern.rivals.com/news/takeaways-penn-state-74-northwestern-70

 

[catcrazy]

Takeaways are that we find every which way to blow a game. Our team creates ways. Let’s completely blow it up and get a new head coach and staff. New players too. This is incomprehensible

 

[Hungry Jack]

Close, but...

For all the caterwauling about our woeful play over the last 10 minutes, I think we should remember to give credit to PSU's Lundy, who was basically unconscious in crunch time. He won the game for PSU. And I cannot recall a game where a guy like Pickett jacked up a bunch of buzzer beater shots that typically just don't fall. It was uncanny.

But in the grand scheme, close games (football or basketball) can be diagnosed in terms of a handful of pivotal plays that tilt the outcome. Winning teams have players who can make the play. Losing teams pound sand.

When Pickett got his fourth foul, my immediate thought was "go after him and get that 5th foul." I am not a coach, so I don't know if that is reasonable, but a good way to beat a team is to take away their weapons. We played a lot of man last night, and did a good job for the most part of limiting their chances. But between the offensive rebounding and improbable shooting (Lundy and Pickett), we let them hang around and then steal the game.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Takeaway: OH NO, WE SUCK AGAIN!

 

[freewillie07]

Close, but...

For all the caterwauling about our woeful play over the last 10 minutes, I think we should remember to give credit to PSU's Lundy, who was basically unconscious in crunch time. He won the game for PSU. And I cannot recall a game where a guy like Pickett jacked up a bunch of buzzer beater shots that typically just don't fall. It was uncanny.

But in the grand scheme, close games (football or basketball) can be diagnosed in terms of a handful of pivotal plays that tilt the outcome. Winning teams have players who can make the play. Losing teams pound sand.

When Pickett got his fourth foul, my immediate thought was "go after him and get that 5th foul." I am not a coach, so I don't know if that is reasonable, but a good way to beat a team is to take away their weapons. We played a lot of man last night, and did a good job for the most part of limiting their chances. But between the offensive rebounding and improbable shooting (Lundy and Pickett), we let them hang around and then steal the game.

I was thinking the same re: Pickett. That's one area in particular where coaching could have made a big difference. Call a set that gets him matched up with Nance or someone who can bait him into a foul.

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

I remember one season long ago when Carmody's 'Cats broke out the 1-3-1 and blew PSU out in the Big Ten Tourney by forcing a bunch of turnovers. Ever since then, PSU always seems to be a bad matchup for us, even in their "bad" years. Even when "bad" they always were still physical which gave us matchup problems.

What is it about PSU?

 

[CappyNU]

I remember one season long ago when Carmody's 'Cats broke out the 1-3-1 and blew PSU out in the Big Ten Tourney by forcing a bunch of turnovers. Ever since then, PSU always seems to be a bad matchup for us, even in their "bad" years. Even when "bad" they always were still physical which gave us matchup problems.

What is it about PSU?

For a while, it was Ed DeChellis, who just had Carmody's number. During their overlapping tenures, we went 4-12 against PSU including 6 losses where they had a worse Kenpom ranking, whereas we went 0-6 when they had a better Kenpom rank. Amusingly, when Carmody went to Holy Cross, DeChellis was at Navy, where DeChellis went 6-4 against Carmody though Carmody went 2-5 as the worse team and 2-1 as the better team.

Back to PSU, Carmody went 3-1 against Pat Chambers, with NU being the better team in each matchup, though the 1 came in the death spiral part of the 2013 season. Once Collins took over, his first game against PSU was on senior day where we lost by 27 and scored 32 points to a PSU team that played in the CBI. Collins so far is 5-8 against PSU, 2-3 when we are the better team, and 3-5 when we are the worse team, the only 3 upsets we've had against PSU in 15 years.