State of Penn State Basketball: 10 games in, where are we?
By Evan Smith
John Harrar currently averaging 7.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 28-47 from the field (59.6%), 0-1 from three (0.0%), 17-29 from the line (58.6%)
Analysis:
No one plays harder. Seriously.
Harrar takes a ton of criticism from fans because he’s not as tall as virtually any other center in the conference, but, the dude works his butt off (remember the first possession vs Travion Williams and Purdue where he got THREE offensive rebounds?).
It’s not Harrar’s fault he doesn’t have a power forward or back-up center on the roster to play with. I may catch some heat for this score, but I don’t care. Harrar does his job way more often than not.
Grade: 8.1/10
Seth Lundy currently averaging 12.4 ppg, 4.3 rbg, 43-104 from the field (41.3%), 17-51 from three (33.33%), 21-25 from the line (84.0%)
Analysis:
Seth is an enigma?
Lundy can go for 30 points, and then not score the next two games.
Consistency will absolutely be the area he needs to improve upon. Lundy’s also better than a 1-in-3 shooter from beyond the arc, likely due to him taking some tough and forced shots.
Since Lundy’s playing a forward, I’d like to see more rebounds from him, as well, and an improvement in his assist to steal ratio (6 to 14, yuck).
Grade: 7.6/10
Trent Buttrick currently averaging 2.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 11-25 from the field (44.0%), 6-17 from three (35.3%) and 0-1 from the line (0.0%)
Analysis:
If he hadn’t scored some big baskets in the last two games, this analysis would look very different. If he can get the three-point shooting up even just a little to 40% (and most his shots are uncontested), that would help him become an actual weapon.
Now, how does your back-up center (or back-up power forward or whatever you want to call him) only have one free throw through 10 games? To make things worse, Buttrick’s lone attempt was a miss on the front end of a one-and-one. That’s not acceptable.
Buttrick is drastically undersized, but averaging 14 minutes per game. You’d think Buttrick can bring a bit more to the table than he currently is.
Grade: 6.1/10
Abdou Tsimbila currently 1.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 4-9 from the field (44.4%), no attempts from three or from the line
Analysis:
This is not a conference that’s easy to come in as a Freshman big man (except at Michigan). Tsimbila gets out there and hustles.
There are times he looks like Tsimbila can make an impact, and there are times he looks completely lost. He just needs more run.
The shortened non-conference schedule and lack of practice time has hurt Tsimbila the most. There’s a lot to potentially like here, but with Harrar potentially graduating and no 2021-2022 recruits signed, Abdou will realistically need to play 25 minutes per game next year, and he’s not there yet.