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Penn State Pre Game Thread


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When: Sunday, January 2nd 4 PM EST

Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, PA

TV: BTN

So far, Penn State is 5-5 under new head coach and former Purdue assistant, Micah Shrewsberry...0-2 in the Big 10 after facing 2 of the tougher teams in the conference...

Here are the results so far...

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A lot of guys we're already familiar with...Seth Lundy can be quite a player, but he's very inconsistent and can shoot the Nittany Lions out of games...If he gets on a roll though, he can be a handful...Sam Sessoms and Miles Dread are two burly guards that can take it to the hoop, and pretty good from the 3 line. And John Harrar is a big, strong, unathletic center that is a real blue collar guy. Penn State lost 3 key player in Isaiah Brockington (transfer to Iowa State), Jamari Wheeler(Ohio State), and Myreon Jones (Florida), and replaced them with Jalen Pickett (13 ppg last year at Siena), Jalanni White (4 ppg last year at Canisius), and Jaheam Cornwall (14 ppg at Garner-Webb).

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You can see they go about 8 deep, but they're thin in the front court.

Highlights of their games vs Michigan State

Road test. We can beat this team, but we have to bring our A game defense for 40 minutes. Harrar is very strong, and you're not going to push him around, but he's slow and isn't the most athletic guy...But he's one of the harder workers in the Big 10. Trayce had 21 points and 6 boards in our only game against them last year, an 87-85 OT win in Bloomington.

As long as we don't let Lundy go off, and he's gonna be a tough match-up for Stewart or Kopp, I think we can do well here...Harrar isn't a shot blocker, so our guards can do some things on the dribble drive. Sessoms had 17 points against us last year, but I think both XJ and Rob match up well on him...Pound them inside and play defense and we'll come home with a win...

Edited by IUFLA
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Glad you went ahead and started this thread. Thank you. 
 

This is our biggest game of the year so far. We are playing a team we should beat and we are on the road. We’ve got to pick up all the road Ws we can. If we win this one, I’ll feel like we are off and running and should not drop below 0.500 in conference all year. If we lose, I’ll probably get that here we go again feeling.  Having said all that, I think we win. I don’t know by how much. I don’t care by how much. 

Edited by Parakeet Jones
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40 minutes ago, FritzIam4IU said:

I think IU wins this game but I expect it to be close. I am concerned the Hoosiers will come out slow/rusty from the long delay between games and holidays. I am hopeful with the long  delay everyone will be healthy and ready to suit up.

PSU hasnt played since Dec.11th.

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Not that it means all that much, since both teams have some different parts now, but here are the highlights (if you want to call them that) of IU's OT win in Bloomington versus the Nittany Lions last year...

 

3 things stood out to me...Our defense was poor, we had success going to the hoop, especially Galloway, who had one of his better games...He was 4-4 from 2 and they were all of the dribble drive variety...I'm not sure Trey will play, but I think this sets up well for XJ and Rob...

The last thing, and I say this after listening to both Coach Woodson and Don Fischer talk about it this week...at the 14:30 mark of the first half, we had a 29-20 lead...By halftime, it was down to 5...In the first 5 minutes of the second half, the lead was gone and it was back and forth from then on...We actually got bailed out a little at the end...

Both Coach Woody and Fisch talked about RMK's thought that the two most important times in a ball game are the last 5 minutes of the first half, and the first 5 minutes of the second...that surely seemed to be the case in this ballgame...

I think Coach kinda knew what he was talking about...

 

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A winnable road game. Better make it count.

Nothing dynamic about PSU but they can be physical. Harrar is a bear - was hoping he might be a transfer to IU just for the physical style he plays, but he stayed. 

If IU plays defense and doesn't hand the game over (turnovers, missed free throws, chucking up needless shots) it's hard to imagine they lose this game.

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This has been the Penn State starting lineup for the past 2 games...

J. Cornwall ·6'0 so I'm thinking XJ on him

M. Dread ·6'4 Parker?

J. Harrar ·6'9 Trayce

S. Lundy ·6'6 Race?

J. Pickett-6'4 Kopp?

Kinda strange matchup for us, but I think if we see any defensive breakdown on Pickett or Dread, Rob will be in quickly...

And I know Race has the athleticism to guard the perimeter, but we absolutely cannot let Lundy get a good start, especially at home...Our depth might prove to be a difference maker here as well...if they play like they can...

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55 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

This has been the Penn State starting lineup for the past 2 games...

J. Cornwall ·6'0 so I'm thinking XJ on him

M. Dread ·6'4 Parker?

J. Harrar ·6'9 Trayce

S. Lundy ·6'6 Race?

J. Pickett-6'4 Kopp?

Kinda strange matchup for us, but I think if we see any defensive breakdown on Pickett or Dread, Rob will be in quickly...

And I know Race has the athleticism to guard the perimeter, but we absolutely cannot let Lundy get a good start, especially at home...Our depth might prove to be a difference maker here as well...if they play like they can...

Initially I thought that it might be a good game to start Leal or Scoop for either Kopp or Stewart, but then I thought it may be better to stand strong. We're the better team; let's play to our advantage, make them adapt to our size and see how it goes. 

If unsuccessful, the lack of mobility in our starting 2/3 spots will be a defensive problem all year. At least we have some depth with Leal, RP and hopefully (soon) Scoop. 

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4 hours ago, Euroclydon said:

A winnable road game. Better make it count.

Nothing dynamic about PSU but they can be physical. Harrar is a bear - was hoping he might be a transfer to IU just for the physical style he plays, but he stayed. 

If IU plays defense and doesn't hand the game over (turnovers, missed free throws, chucking up needless shots) it's hard to imagine they lose this game.

Hard to imagine? I’m thinking, it’s hard to imagine us NOT disappointing in a road game we SHOULD win. Hate to be pessimistic, but we just haven’t proven we’re capable of that toughness yet. Didn’t show up early at Syracuse and fell HORRIBLY apart at Wiscy in the second half. 

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55 minutes ago, kyhoosier29 said:

Hard to imagine? I’m thinking, it’s hard to imagine us NOT disappointing in a road game we SHOULD win. Hate to be pessimistic, but we just haven’t proven we’re capable of that toughness yet. Didn’t show up early at Syracuse and fell HORRIBLY apart at Wiscy in the second half. 

I expect it to be close the whole game.  they haven't played for almost a month, that just mean someone on their team will have a career night per usual.  Probably win, but i highly doubt we own them

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2 hours ago, tdhoosier said:

Initially I thought that it might be a good game to start Leal or Scoop for either Kopp or Stewart, but then I thought it may be better to stand strong. We're the better team; let's play to our advantage, make them adapt to our size and see how it goes. 

If unsuccessful, the lack of mobility in our starting 2/3 spots will be a defensive problem all year. At least we have some depth with Leal, RP and hopefully (soon) Scoop. 

Good point. Who, on their end, is going to deal with Race Thompson inside? They try to double too much and hopefully Stewart and Kopp can make them pay...

They're very thin up front past Harrar...get him sitting with fouls and we can cash in...

Like Coach Woody says...Inside out...

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20 minutes ago, TheWatShot said:

I don't know how anyone who's followed this program in recent memory would be expecting anything but a struggle. 

 

My biggest fear is we get an early lead, PSU starts getting chippy, then we get soft and come unraveled. 

Hopefully not this team, but yes I’m sure we’ve all been conditioned to have this exact fear. 

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18 hours ago, IUFLA said:

This has been the Penn State starting lineup for the past 2 games...

J. Cornwall ·6'0 so I'm thinking XJ on him

M. Dread ·6'4 Parker?

J. Harrar ·6'9 Trayce

S. Lundy ·6'6 Race?

J. Pickett-6'4 Kopp?

Kinda strange matchup for us, but I think if we see any defensive breakdown on Pickett or Dread, Rob will be in quickly...

And I know Race has the athleticism to guard the perimeter, but we absolutely cannot let Lundy get a good start, especially at home...Our depth might prove to be a difference maker here as well...if they play like they can...

Sounds like a game Jordan Geronimo could make in impact with their smaller front line. 

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3 hours ago, Fundamentals said:

Sounds like a game Jordan Geronimo could make in impact with their smaller front line. 

He could...I'm not convinced on JG as a perimeter defender yet, but he could be effective on interior defense and getting some putbacks...

I even think Michael Durr might get some quality minutes in...I think Harrar is a good match-up for him...

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