The strengths Penn State has are basically built to beat us. Some statistical analysis I’ve done basically confirms what we all see. We struggle against teams that can shoot. The big 3 stats that correlate to beating us in B1G play so far are three pointers made, free throw percentage, and turnovers committed. Penn St is 16th in the country in free throw percentage at 77.6%. They’re 5th in the country in three pointers made with almost 11 per game. And they are number 1 in the country in turnovers committed, turning it over less than 9 times per game. Let’s see if we can make some adjustments, if not Tuesday won’t be very fun.
Tuesday is gonna be a big test
- Thread starter ScooterSports
- Start date
It’s a bad matchup for us but we’ll figure out a way to win
Penn State coach mentioned as Mike Brey’s successor at Notre Dinero.
You needed to do “statistical analysis” to conclude that teams that have more three pointers made are more likely to beat us?
Shrewsbury would be smart to leave for ND..payday plus his whole team is gone next year
Shrewsbury is a hell of a coach. PSU plays a similar style to us, but shoot the 3 very well. Bad match up overall.
Would be great for us if Shrewsbury leaves for Notre Dame
Would be great for us if Shrewsbury leaves for Notre Dame
You guys are crazy giving Penn State all the credit. Caleb will be assigned to Pickett and will disrupt him. Once that happens , then Funk and Lundy are not as effective. How are they going match up with us ? They cannot. It will be a well contested competitive game but we should prevail by more than the point spread. Rutgers after a loss is normally big time money.
We need CAM I AM to get his stroke back. He is probably in the gym as we speak..
Purdue back to Number 1 in the country and guess who is the only team to have beat them? Put the MSU GAME in rear view mirror and beat PSU Tuesday and get back on track.
They shoot well. Better bring it. I think we will shoot better, and the home cookin will help.
They shoot well from the outside... and their offense is almost entirely predicated on that. They have shot 47% of their shots from the arc (12th in 3PA, 336th in 2PA) and don't really get to the line (362nd in FTA). They are 9-0 in games where they've shot better than .400 from the arc, and 3-6 in games where they've shot under that.
Myles Dread has taken 95% of his shots from the arc in 23 min/g (only five 2PA all year), and Andrew Funk has taken 76% of his shots from the arc in 34 min/g.
They don't really play with a center, either - running with a smaller, guard-centric lineup. I have a feeling we'll see Mag at the 5 for stretches of the game.
35.7 min - Pickett; 6-4, 202
33.8 min - Funk; 6-6, 219
29.6 min - Lundy; 6-5, 188
27.2 min - Wynter; 6-2, 175
22.8 min - Dread; 6-4, 220
14.9 min - Njie; 6-10, 237
12.5 min - Dorsey; 6-7, 230
11.4 min - Mahaffey; 6-6, 200
10.1 min - Johnson; 6-3, 175
Myles Dread has taken 95% of his shots from the arc in 23 min/g (only five 2PA all year), and Andrew Funk has taken 76% of his shots from the arc in 34 min/g.
They don't really play with a center, either - running with a smaller, guard-centric lineup. I have a feeling we'll see Mag at the 5 for stretches of the game.
35.7 min - Pickett; 6-4, 202
33.8 min - Funk; 6-6, 219
29.6 min - Lundy; 6-5, 188
27.2 min - Wynter; 6-2, 175
22.8 min - Dread; 6-4, 220
14.9 min - Njie; 6-10, 237
12.5 min - Dorsey; 6-7, 230
11.4 min - Mahaffey; 6-6, 200
10.1 min - Johnson; 6-3, 175
No. Cliff needs to have a dominate game. He is due
He'll also need to defend Funk far large stretches, who puts up 5.6 threes per game. Their starting center is a freshman who only plays 15 min/game on the season, though he's played a bit closer to 20 lately.
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Yes, but for 20-30 min of the game, Penn State likely won't have a true center in and will be running with 3 guards and 2 small forwards. Omoruyi hasn't always fared well in that setup, as it pulls him away from the basket defensively and limits his rebounds/blocks.
But he doesn't get starters minutes. He's only had 20 or more minutes 3 times this year, with his highest being 23. He scored a total of six points over the last five games. There's a good chance that Funk or Dorsey will be the tallest Nit on the floor for about half the game.
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Feed cliff all night long!!
I also see us playing Hyatt and Mag together at times to spell Cliff rather than Rieber/Woolf
I also see us playing Hyatt and Mag together at times to spell Cliff rather than Rieber/Woolf
Exactly…not all bad paper matchups equal a loss. We are the better team and at home with school in session.
What i see from PSU is the ball sticks in the hands of Pickett a lot. If we get strong pressure on him it will put the ball in the hands of other guys lindy dread funk.
The key is to not lose Funk. Cams off the ball D is going to big here
The key is to not lose Funk. Cams off the ball D is going to big here
We have played two subpar games in a row at the RAC. We need to defend home court from the tip and dictate the tempo. PSU is a team that can stick around in games. Yes im very worried about their propensity to hit the 3
Yes, fans should be worried playing any opponent that has multiple 3 point shooters.Michigan State and Iowa are recent examples.Any opponent that scores at least 70 points is a real problem for Rutgers because of their long scoring droughts.Rutgers must defend the home court in all remaining games.
I believe we play most effectively when pressing the ball baseline to baseline. We create turnovers when pressing which equates to transition points. The opposition tends to wilt under that pressure especially at home in the cauldron of the Trapezoid.
Pickett is a tremendous player. They launch so many 3's that we need to close out well on their shooters.
Best of Luck,
Groz
Best of Luck,
Groz
I have the same emotion going into every game. I know we can win if we play well but I'm always worried about the offense .
Exactly. The MSU game was a clinic on how to exploit RU’s aggressive help defense to generate wide-open three pointers. And MSU is not nearly as efficient from 3 as PSU is.
Agree with all those who say RU’s offense must come alive to win this game. If Cam returns to form, Cliff dominates the post and Paul can score more than 10, then I think RU will be fine. But, relying on our offense is not our strong suit, especially if we can’t get TOs and easy buckets against a PSU team that just doesn’t turn it over.
I'd say we should pressure the ball in the backcourt to shorten their shot clock, blanket Pickett and run them off the line. There's no big to double in this one, so we don't need to dig down off the shooters. They have a lot of assists, so they move the ball well on the perimeter - just need to extend the defense and force them inside to take 2's instead of 3's.
They average 74.5 ppg.... 33 from 2P, 33 from 3P, 9 from FT. And of their 33 points from 2's, 12 come from Pickett. In conference, they've averaged 70.3.... 31 from 2P, 31 from 3P, 8 from FT; and 14 of their 31 pts from 2P come from Pickett. If we can keep McConnell on him to prevent him from getting the ball and stymie him when he does, then force the others to come inside to score, that could be a recipe to gum up their offense.
As far as our offense, we'll be bigger than them at almost every position and should be forcing the ball inside. They don't get many steals (326th), and they're terrible on the offensive glass (362nd). Mag/Hyatt/McConnell/Mulcahy should be able to operate in the post, and Omoruyi can clean up the glass and get putback dunks. And if they sell out to defend the paint, Spencer should get good looks.
They average 74.5 ppg.... 33 from 2P, 33 from 3P, 9 from FT. And of their 33 points from 2's, 12 come from Pickett. In conference, they've averaged 70.3.... 31 from 2P, 31 from 3P, 8 from FT; and 14 of their 31 pts from 2P come from Pickett. If we can keep McConnell on him to prevent him from getting the ball and stymie him when he does, then force the others to come inside to score, that could be a recipe to gum up their offense.
As far as our offense, we'll be bigger than them at almost every position and should be forcing the ball inside. They don't get many steals (326th), and they're terrible on the offensive glass (362nd). Mag/Hyatt/McConnell/Mulcahy should be able to operate in the post, and Omoruyi can clean up the glass and get putback dunks. And if they sell out to defend the paint, Spencer should get good looks.
Penn State really plays a smart strategy given their roster. On offense they are on the extremes, horrible rebounding, a ton of threes, extremely low turnovers and good shooting three. Do not draw fouls and go to the line On defense they play soft, they sit back and give you jump shots, 3's and long 2's (70% of the shots they allow are "far 2's or 3's), they don't get turnovers but they rebound fairly well.
More or less, they want to get into a game of horse with you and win.
Outside of the obvious (their 3-point % vs. ours), really interesting battle is turnovers.
Strength on strength. Penn State offensively is best in the country at not turning it over, we are 14th best at causing turnovers.
Think we have a really interesting choice on defense. Do we double and trap and believe we can get them into turnovers? The risk here is teams that pass well, do not turn it over and can shoot 3s has been our poison. Or do we perhaps go straight man, with little double teams? Cliff is the help if our man gets beat on penetration. Their center does not score, so if he goes outside let him. Think this could stop the easy catch and 3 shots, dare them to try and penetrate.
More or less, they want to get into a game of horse with you and win.
Outside of the obvious (their 3-point % vs. ours), really interesting battle is turnovers.
Strength on strength. Penn State offensively is best in the country at not turning it over, we are 14th best at causing turnovers.
Think we have a really interesting choice on defense. Do we double and trap and believe we can get them into turnovers? The risk here is teams that pass well, do not turn it over and can shoot 3s has been our poison. Or do we perhaps go straight man, with little double teams? Cliff is the help if our man gets beat on penetration. Their center does not score, so if he goes outside let him. Think this could stop the easy catch and 3 shots, dare them to try and penetrate.
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I think we're going to play a lot of switching man 1-5 and/or fighting over screens, and force them back from the line. If we're going to give up threes, let them be 25-footers and not 22-footers. That will mean playing Mag at the 5 for stretches, I think, going Mulcahy/Spencer/McConnell/Hyatt/Mag. Even Hyatt/Mag/McConnell should be able to bully them underneath for offensive boards. My guess is we don't see much of Reiber/Wolf in this game, as they aren't really perimeter defenders.
If they want us in the mid-range shooting game, McConnell/Mag/Hyatt should be able to score in that 5-15 foot range, with Omoruyi cleaning up the glass for dunks and Spencer as an outlet outside.
Let Omoruyi go up against Njie while he's in, and let Mag be our 5th man when Funk is the tallest Nit on the floor.
Harassing them in the backcourt and at the arc will make passes more difficult, and less opportunity for the easy catch and shoot looks. As long as McConnell doesn't need anyone to double Pickett, that will allow us to stay more honest on the shooters.
Cold shooting like against MSU means we lose.
Team runs hot and cold. You never know which team will show up.
When we're good, we're good. When When we're bad, we're bad.
Consistency separates the good, the bad and the ugly.
Team runs hot and cold. You never know which team will show up.
When we're good, we're good. When When we're bad, we're bad.
Consistency separates the good, the bad and the ugly.
We shouldn't be scared of them
No excuses..we should win because we are better
Saying its a bad matchup is pre excusing a possible loss
Step the F up at the RAC
No excuses..we should win because we are better
Saying its a bad matchup is pre excusing a possible loss
Step the F up at the RAC
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