15-16

Average, huh? Almost Made It

It was quite the up and down season. I'd go back and rehash it but I don't that that's worth anyone's time. Mike, of course, does an intelligent and thorough wrap up...what follows does not really qualify under those conditions.

Our two best, most experienced players were hurt. Depth, which would normally make up for this kind of misfortune, is not something you associate with Penn State Basketball. There was the sinking ship of the post-Claxon losing skid, and of course the uplifting wins over ranked Michigan State and Indiana, but what really happened this year?

Yes a 7th place finish is a step in the right direction, but I can't remember the bottom half of the Bit Ten being this bad in a long time. Before this year? Finishes at 11 (2007), 8 (2006), 11 (2005), 11 (2004), 11(2003), 11 (2002). That's pretty bad.

I'm not really getting at anything here, I suppose. Penn State's commitment to basketball is about on par with their commitment to keeping tuition stagnate. They have no interest in hiring a high priced football coach, so the thought of them opening up a 'national search' for someone better than Ed is laughable at best. That's the kind of thing that happens when Disney On Ice draws a bigger crowd than the Basketball team.

The team was forced to play freshman, showed improvement, gained a new leader in Battle, and actually came back at the end of a game....I should be happy. You know what, things could be a lot worse. (This is my attempt to end on a positive note.)

And before you ask: 169 more days.

PSU Basketball Loses Game, Claxton, Season

The Penn State Basketball team was totally owned last night by the Wisconsin Badgers, who at one point took a 31 point lead as PSU failed to score for like 10 minutes in the second half (edit: actual drought: 11:50 to 3:36). The leading scorer for the Badgers was a guy named Flowers. Insert girly/sally joke here.

Besides another Big Ten loss, which is nothing new for the Nittany Lions, who have lost just about every league game since 2001, Senior forward Geary Claxton went down with a knee injury. Non-sarcastic condolences go out to Geary, who has been a hard fighting member of the team for four years now. Injuries suck. You know you are a valuable member of the team when grown men are crying and telling you they love you after you get hurt.

"It's devastating for Geary. I went into halftime, and told him I loved him and hugged him," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said after the game.

Claxton was the team's leading scorer and the Big Ten's second leading scorer. He was in the middle of a four game double-double streak. He is also the Big Ten's second leading rebounder, and after he went down in the first half PSU managed to grab just 21 of the 60 rebounds in the game.

So, what does this mean? Well, for one thing, the season will not be pretty. I'm going to throw that out there. Without a rebounder this team could finish dead last in the Big Ten for something like the 7th time in eight years*. So much for offseason fun.


*I attempted to look this up but then realized it doesn't really matter. Our basketball team is poor, that is the point.