Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1514597
C oming off a 92-61 thrashing at the hands of Michigan State on Jan. 4, Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades rattled off a litany of issues with his team's performance. In a shellacking that he would de- scribe as "embarrassing," the Nittany Lions turned the ball over too much. They weren't tough with the basketball in traffic against a Spartans outfit rid- ing a winning streak and playing with physicality. And, in taking rushed shots early in possessions, Penn State left it- self consistently facing a Michigan State team running in transition. And yet, an underlying component played an equally compelling role. Tak- ing open three-pointers and subse- quently missing them, Penn State found itself in an early hole thanks to its poor percentages. "There were some wide-open shots you've got to knock down at this level. You don't get many of them, and when you do, you have to take advantage of it," Rhoades said. "That's been an is- sue this year. Not shooting the ball well enough, especially on kick-out, open threes. You've got to make them." Through the first half of the season, Penn State has not. Consequently, a team that was highly competitive in all but three of its first nine losses has repeat- edly found itself on the wrong end of de- cisions that might have gone differently with improved shooting from deep. A Hot Start The results have belied the objectives laid out by Rhoades and his staff when they began building the roster last spring. Defense was a priority, as it had been throughout his coaching career. The complexities of implementing it with a roster full of incoming transfers meant that patience would be required. But senior Ace Baldwin and junior Nick Kern Jr., defensive-minded guards who were transferring from Virginia Com- monwealth, would help the effort. On the offensive end, spacing the floor would create avenues for penetra- tion, with Baldwin, sophomore guard Kanye Clary and junior guard D'Marco Dunn all capable of creating shots. At the heart of the offense, graduate forward Qudus Wahab could further clear space and present problems for defenses in his own right. And with the additions of junior forward Zach Hicks, a high-priority target in the transfer por- tal, graduate forward Leo O'Boyle and sophomore guard Jameel Brown, Penn W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 4 MEN'S BASKETBALL RANGE ANXIETY Timid perimeter shooting has held back the Nittany Lions this season NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M Coach Mike Rhoades believes his team needs to be more confident when shooting from beyond the three-point arc. "There are some wide-open shots you've got to knock down at this level," he said. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL