We look to be 5-1/2 pt favorites at present. Not playing at Penn State, but in Philly at legendary Palestra. Will be an extra charged fanbase and much more enthusiastic there, that at PSU's regular home court.
PSU is a different team to play against. A lot of times they have no one taller than 6'6" on the court. They have the ball in Pickett's hands 75% of the time. He either backs down his defender into the low box to either score or dish out to someone for 3's(usually), note he averages over 7 assists a game and scores 17 pts a game. Probably along with Edey , the 2 prime candidates for POY in BT Conference. At times , approx 18 mins/game they will have a 6'10" player in the game. They have 2 prime 3 pt shooters in transfer Funk, who shoots 7+ 3's a game and Dread , who has been at PSU for last 6 years. They are one of the most prolific 3 pt shooting teams in CBB. Lundy is a 6'6" athletic wing who we have went against in the last couple of years, and is more of a slasher, but shoots the 3 well also.
How will we defend Pickett who is 6'4" and strong, I assume Morton will be on him most of the game. He has to be strong and hold his postion and do his best to keep him from backing him down. I don't believe you can afford to double him as he is adept at kicking out to the good 3 pt shooters. When Njie is in the game Edey may be able to guard the basket and help Morton some on Pickett. When PSU goes small, I am not sure what Matt does with Edey on Defense????? On the other end, I don't see how PSU can guard Edey without Njie in the game. I assume Braden gets Wynter, Loyer has Funk, Gillis probably on Dread and MAYBE(??) Edey guards Lundy. But not sure how that works as Lundy, though a slasher , shoots 40% from 3 with 5 attempts a game. So will our advantage on offense with our height , be greater , that the risk of having Edey guarding a smallish 3 pt shooter. That is the question of the game?
We know PSU's coach(Micah, our former offensive coordinator) will know the majority of our offense better than our players do, and he will have a good defensive plan.
We should be able to dominate them on the boards, as that is one of their weaknesses, not surprisingly , due to their size.
I think Matt will gamble and pick one of their players to allow to shoot 3's, and hope we can pound them on the offensive end and the boards.
Anyone else have any thoughts as to our strategy and how it will play out? It just seems to me , to be another game down to the wire, with a shot or a stop at the end winning it.
PSU is a different team to play against. A lot of times they have no one taller than 6'6" on the court. They have the ball in Pickett's hands 75% of the time. He either backs down his defender into the low box to either score or dish out to someone for 3's(usually), note he averages over 7 assists a game and scores 17 pts a game. Probably along with Edey , the 2 prime candidates for POY in BT Conference. At times , approx 18 mins/game they will have a 6'10" player in the game. They have 2 prime 3 pt shooters in transfer Funk, who shoots 7+ 3's a game and Dread , who has been at PSU for last 6 years. They are one of the most prolific 3 pt shooting teams in CBB. Lundy is a 6'6" athletic wing who we have went against in the last couple of years, and is more of a slasher, but shoots the 3 well also.
How will we defend Pickett who is 6'4" and strong, I assume Morton will be on him most of the game. He has to be strong and hold his postion and do his best to keep him from backing him down. I don't believe you can afford to double him as he is adept at kicking out to the good 3 pt shooters. When Njie is in the game Edey may be able to guard the basket and help Morton some on Pickett. When PSU goes small, I am not sure what Matt does with Edey on Defense????? On the other end, I don't see how PSU can guard Edey without Njie in the game. I assume Braden gets Wynter, Loyer has Funk, Gillis probably on Dread and MAYBE(??) Edey guards Lundy. But not sure how that works as Lundy, though a slasher , shoots 40% from 3 with 5 attempts a game. So will our advantage on offense with our height , be greater , that the risk of having Edey guarding a smallish 3 pt shooter. That is the question of the game?
We know PSU's coach(Micah, our former offensive coordinator) will know the majority of our offense better than our players do, and he will have a good defensive plan.
We should be able to dominate them on the boards, as that is one of their weaknesses, not surprisingly , due to their size.
I think Matt will gamble and pick one of their players to allow to shoot 3's, and hope we can pound them on the offensive end and the boards.
Anyone else have any thoughts as to our strategy and how it will play out? It just seems to me , to be another game down to the wire, with a shot or a stop at the end winning it.
