3 Reasons Penn State Basketball Isn’t going to play this postseason
By Evan Smith
No offense … Seriously
When Maryland took a 55-42 lead with 8:40 to go in the game Monday night, Penn State Basketball found itself in a significant hole.
At that point in the game, the Nittany Lions were averaging .933 points per possession (42 points on 45 possessions). For the remainder of the game, Penn State would possess the ball 15 more times.
Keeping their .933 points per possession average, that works out to just under 14 more expected points.
They were down 13 … meaning they couldn’t give up a single point for the remainder of the game if they wanted to win.
What does all this math mean? THEY PLAYED TOO SLOW.
It’s clear this team wants to utilize the entire shot clock and force teams to defend for thirty seconds. That’s a great strategy when you don’t turn the ball over and you’re playing from in front. But not when you’re down 13?!? Their stubbornness to keep playing a slow-down style of offense prevented them from having any chance of making a comeback. Look at the lengths of Penn State’s first 8 offensive possessions after trailing by a game-high 13 points.
27 seconds
27 seconds
12 seconds
19 seconds
24 seconds
29 seconds
18 seconds
29 seconds
Despite significantly higher points per possession (1.375) than they experienced all game and the fact they cut a 13 point lead to 6, there was now only 1:07 left in the game. In seven minutes and 33 seconds, they only had 8 possessions.
Five possessions in that stretch had shots attempted with 6 seconds or less left on the shot clock. The team must understand the need to be flexible when the game situation (time and score) demands it.
So yes, they will find themselves in lots of close games simpy by reducing the number of possessions in the game. However, if they’re playing from behind, the refusal to increase the pace at all makes comebacks near impossible. While perhaps not his drastic, numerous games this year could be defined the same (at Ohio State, at Wisconsin, home Michigan, at Minnesota all come to mind).
Hopefully next year with some new recruits, Penn State will find a way to change their tempo when trailing late in games.