Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Ed. note: Way to go, Josh! Josh Moyer makes an attempt to explain the NIT selection process.Criteria for NIT baffling loyalists:
"Most basketball fans are aware of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the fact that Penn State has a good chance of being there -- but few people understand the 40-team selection process. ..."
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Monday, February 27, 2006
Big Ten Wonk - a hoops blog by john gasaway:
"8.
Penn State has had the best offense in the Big Ten over the past two weeks, scoring 1.12 points per possession."
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Sunday, February 26, 2006
Scout.com: Travis Parker's Last Hurrah?:
"An athletic department source said the NIT has already made very preliminary inquiries about PSU playing host to a first-round tournament game. Though the university is also hosting an NCAA women's subregional, it is confident it can easily accommodate the NIT. DeChellis wanted no part of the NIT talk in his postgame press conference, saying his team had not wrapped up anything and 'I keep telling them the highlight is yet to come.' ..."
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Nittany Lions reach landmark:
"STATE COLLEGE - It's true that translating a name like Ed DeChellis into chant form is no easier than it is fashionable for a Big Ten student section to joyously spell out 'NIT.'
"But Penn State fans have suffered long enough while waiting to cheer for a men's basketball team. Let them have their fun. Let them, with the clock winding down on a 68-55 victory over Northwestern, shout in unison 'ED DE-CHELL-IS,' knowing their beleaguered coach may be on the verge of leading his program to better days.
"They should do it even if the accomplishment would be a disappointment by the standards of most Big Ten schools. Even if the head coach, when asked about the display of gratitude, responded only with disbelief. 'My name?' he asked. ..."
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Friday, February 24, 2006
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CBS News | Tough-Luck Five: Do we allow mulligans? | Feb. 23, 2006:
"Penn State: Penn State makes this story, but with an asterisk. Like the other four schools, the Nittany Lions have suffered enormous attrition. Like the other four schools, the Nittany Lions haven't won as much as they could have. Unlike the other four, though, Penn State will be better in the long run not in spite of -- but because of -- this strange season. In 2004-05, center Aaron Johnson was the Big Ten's top rebounder and guard Marlon Smith was Penn State's best talent, but they were me-first players whose offseason transfers cleared the way for sophomore scoring leader Geary Claxton and certain Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jamelle Cornley. That's a good thing. The season-ending injuries to Danny Morrissey and Maxwell DuBois, and the season-crippling injury to Joonas Suotamo? Those were bad things. Morrissey (8.3 ppg, 37.5 percent on 3-pointers) was Penn State's best shooter. DuBois was going to be a key reserve. And Suotamo, a hyped 6-10 freshman from Finland, has never been able to show his stuff after missing the first eight games with a broken foot. Penn State could have been much better than 13-11 overall and 5-8 in the Big Ten, but coach Ed DeChellis' third season hasn't been a funeral. It has been more like a birth."
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Sunday, February 19, 2006
Penn State-Purdue highlights (video/quicktime Object)
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Thursday, February 16, 2006
Basketball: Lions topple Hoosiers, 71-68:
"UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Coffee pulled him out of bed yesterday and dragged him all the way toward lunch. Then the game grabbed hold of him; thank goodness for the game, a reprieve on the path to depletion. The sky darkened, student section filled, the adrenaline spiked, and Penn State coach Ed DeChellis danced, arms waving, along the courtside paint, looking about as fresh as a man can look on another night of almost no sleep. ..."
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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Andrew Jones III and Jason Love star on the court. Now if they can get on TV.
Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/14/2006 | Abington Friends pair shine just outside of the spotlight:
"As some of the top basketball teams in the nation convened in Trenton last weekend for the PrimeTime Shootout, two stars from the same squad gave reason to believe more will be heard about them in the future.
"Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson of Episcopal Academy, you might ask?
"Or perhaps 7-foot-2 Brian Zoubek and slick shooting guard Blake Wilson of Haddonfield?
"Well, those Division I-bound blue-chippers did show up, as Episcopal edged nationally ranked St. Patrick (N.J.), 60-55, and Haddonfield made an emphatic statement against previously unbeaten Solon (Ohio), 59-47.
"But another dynamic duo from this area also wowed in Trenton. They are the impressive 6-9 senior twin towers of Abington Friends - Andrew Jones III and Jason Love. .."
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Monday, February 13, 2006
Battle opts to go to Penn State:
"Bishop Maginn junior Talor Battle, one of the top basketball players in Section II, has given an oral commitment to attend Penn State University in the fall of 2007. ..."
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Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Like Jamelle Cornley, Mike Garvey of the Collegian also has a bright future, if this piece today is any indication ... -- Ed.Cornley playing beyond his years:
"The black curtains rarely move on Saturdays anymore, if they ever did in the 10-year history of the Bryce Jordan Center. They conspicuously try to hide the small men's basketball crowd. Maybe if we don't let them see the seats, they won't notice they're completely empty.
"Judging from the sparse Concourse Level attendance at this season's games, they won't move. There won't be any Monty Hall showing what's behind curtain No. 3, no one pulling the strings.
"But Jamelle Cornley, a freshman forward on the men's basketball team, wants the curtain pushed aside to reveal the seats he hasn't ever seen. Big crowds are hard to come by and people need a reason to come, as at the Jan. 14 game vs. Iowa, when 8,293 showed up to see the football team honored at halftime.
"Otherwise, it's the Shroud of Losin'. But for how much that may bother Cornley, he's come to terms with it and the small crowds.
"'We're hoping pretty soon that they can just move them a little bit,' Cornley said. 'People have their own reasons [for coming], and you can't control it.'
"Add this to a list of things throughout his life he hasn't been able to control, from the death of his high school coach to the development of basketball skills. And if Cornley can face what he can't control, grab whatever power he can and come out for another round -- well, moving curtains will be no problem. ..."
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Paul Zeise's College Basketball Notebook: A long rebound:
"True, Penn State shocked the world Saturday.
"But the Nittany Lions' upset of Illinois might be the beginning of something big.
"In case you haven't noticed, Penn State has played well for most of the season -- a blowout loss to Pitt notwithstanding.
"Penn State overcame a 15-point deficit against the Illini and then survived a buzzer beater -- a 3-pointer by Illinois' Rich McBride was waved off by officials after they determined the clock had expired -- to pull one of the biggest upsets in recent history, a 66-65 win. The victory broke the Illini's 33-game home winning streak and also dropped the Illini into second place in the Big Ten Conference. ..."
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Centre Daily Times | 02/08/2006 | Penn State attempting to build on big win:
"Now comes the hard part.
"Penn State couldn't have earned more degree-of-difficulty points for Saturday's 66-65 upset of No. 6 Illinois. Avoiding a very conceivable hangover tonight against struggling Minnesota (8 p.m., Bryce Jordan Center), however, might come close.
"'Illinois didn't beat us Saturday night,' Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. 'I don't want Illinois to beat us Wednesday night.'
"This is new territory for the Nittany Lions (11-9, 3-6 Big Ten), and welcome territory. Saturday's win was their first over a ranked opponent in 14 tries in two-plus seasons under DeChellis and first since knocking off No. 5 North Carolina in the Sweet 16 in 2001.
"It was also a game that showed as well as any the resolve and determination of a group that is making up for what it lacks in depth, size and overall talent with smart play, improved chemistry and toughness.
"'We told our team that Penn State, pound for pound, is the toughest team the in Big Ten,' Minnesota coach Dan Munson said. 'That team you don't want to play no matter who you are or where you are in the Big Ten.' ... "
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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
ChicagoSports.com - Penn State upset-worthy:
"After Saturday's games, it wouldn't be totally out of line to say almost anybody can beat anybody in Big Ten basketball.
"Penn State's upset of Illinois ended the No. 10 Illini's 33-game winning streak at Assembly Hall and offers tangible proof road games can be won. It also should remind home teams there are no gimmes.
"The Nittany Lions (11-9, 3-6) had lost four straight coming into Champaign, all to ranked teams. With the exception of a 72-43 loss at Wisconsin, coach Ed DeChellis' team had been competitive every night. While winning a road game--at Illinois, no less--seemed a long shot, it was not a total surprise.
"'We told our team that Penn State is pound-for-pound the toughest team in the Big Ten,' said Minnesota coach Dan Monson, whose team visits Penn State on Wednesday. 'Mentally and physically, they kind of are like we were last year. They're the team you don't want to play no matter who you are or where you are in the Big Ten. It doesn't matter if they're 10 up or 10 down, they just keep coming after you.' ..."
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Thursday, February 02, 2006
Centre Daily Times | 02/02/2006 | Late baskets spell doom for Penn State:
"UNIVERSITY PARK -- He said what everyone in the room was thinking, what must be on the mind of every Penn State men's basketball fan lately.
"'We can't get over that hump right now,' Jamelle Cornley said Wednesday after the Nittany Lions' 71-65 loss to No. 21 Michigan in the Bryce Jordan Center. 'Teams always hit that one shot that buries us.'
"It was an all-too-familiar story for Penn State (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten). One of the guys in the other jersey -- in this case, Michigan's Dion Har-ris -- making a bunch of shots early and another -- in this case, Daniel Horton -- sinking a big one late. Harris led the Wolverines (16-3, 6-2) with 23 points, making 7 of 11 3-point shots, and Horton drilled a back-breaking three with 58 seconds left to give Michigan its fifth straight win.
"'Those two guards are very, very good for them,' said Penn State coach Ed DeChellis, who saw his team drop its fourth straight game. 'They make a lot of plays.'
"Spurred by big nights from Cornley (16 points, five rebounds) and Geary Claxton (17 points, eight rebounds, two blocks), the Nittany Lions led for much of the first half. Claxton, a ball of energy as usual, stuffed a dunk attempt, from the 6-foot-11 Courtney Sims, raced down the floor, caught a pass from Ben Luber and swished a 3-pointer, giving Penn State a 10-4 lead in the game's opening minutes and bringing the Jordan Center to life. ..."
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