I had an opportunity at Bryce-Jordan to sit in the 2nd row at center court right behind the scorer's table. It's a fascinating place to watch a game, with the ability to see the interaction between coaches and players, coaches and refs, and see the players' at eye level. IMO, this affords an opportunity to see things I don't normally see from TV and elsewhere in the venue. It also doesn't hurt that it was at PSU, where it doesn't get too loud for 90% of the game.
So with that, a few random musings (because maybe you'll like my musings like you like Brian's musings):
Coach/Player interactions
Player Evaluations:
Miscellaneous musings:
So with that, a few random musings (because maybe you'll like my musings like you like Brian's musings):
Coach/Player interactions
- It was pretty clear that the guy that Painter was communicating with the most was Ivey. He was quite often reminding him to square up defensively and get into a defensive stance. You can tell they are working on getting Ivey to be more sound defensively. Also interesting (at least to me) is that Painter calls him J.I. rather than Jaden or Ivey. Hadn't heard that nickname for him
- When I realized Newman hadn't played late in the first half, I made it a point to watch him during breaks the remainder of the game. He didn't look happy (frankly, you don't want someone happy in that situation) but he was still engaged with his teammates. Coach Lusk even pulled him aside coming out of a timeout early in the second half and was giving him instruction and he was engaged.
- It was fun to watch the interaction between Ivey and Painter after Jaden made the boneheaded steal attempt when we went up 13 and gave up a three. Painter's head just dropped with a "I can't believe you forgot what we've talked about 27 times this week" look and Jaden didn't want to make eye contact with him coming up the court because he knew he had made a mistake.
- On the other side, you can tell that Shrews has his guys' ear and they are learning from him. They had a great chemistry for a team with so many new (albeit older) pieces.
Player Evaluations:
- As Brian mentioned, it was good to see Ivey much more engaged defensively. You can tell it was a point of emphasis in practices leading up to the game. That said, Jaden still isn't great at getting into a proper defensive stance. My amateur view is that he stands with his legs too close together and it allows opponents to get him off balance and even fall at times. I'm sure he's relied for so long on his athleticism to bail him out defensively that it's still a work in progress.
- Speaking of defense, those on the board that claim Sasha is a poor defender don't know what they are talking about IMO. He certainly has some athleticism challenges but he works hard and is in the right position the vast majority of the time. He almost single handedly shut down a good player in Seth Lundy Saturday.
- Watching Harrar and Tre/Zach go at it up close is great theater. Sucks that the officials were so inconsistent in their calls. They let them bang at times and at times call fouls. It has to be frustrating for a player to navigate.
Miscellaneous musings:
- It's cool to see how friendly and cordial the players and coaches are with the officials during stoppages in play. Refs get a lot of vitriol from us and also from players and coaches but you can tell there is also a level of respect for the tough job they have to do.
- I will never understand how a university that can get 107K people to consistently show up for football can't get 1/10 that to show up for basketball. I get that some travel from Pittsburgh/Philly and beyond but many (including students) are close enough to watch their team play the #3 team in the country. What the hell else is there to do in Happy Valley?
