View From the Opponent's Bench, Part II

Thanks again to Devon Edwards from NittanyWhiteOut.com. Check out his site and read his answers to the questions below as we prepare for Tuesday's game.

Who besides Talor Battle do the Irish have to worry about and what will Battle bring to the table on Tuesday (besides his own web site)?

Well, Penn State relied all season on their "big three," Battle, guard Stanley Pringle, and power forward Jamelle Cornley. Each bring a different aspect of the game to the forefront. Battle, our all-big ten point guard, is without a doubt Penn State's best all-around player, who excels both from behind the arc and in driving to the hoop. He's really good at sucking in the defense and finding an open Nittany Lion for a quick two. Pringle is a lights-out three point shooter (48% from the year, tops in the Big Ten), who is a phenomenal on-the-ball defender, and can drive if given an inch. Cornley is listed at 6'5, but is probably closer to 6'4. That said, he's an absolute beast, checking in at around 240 pounds of pure muscle. That alone makes him a phenomenal inside presence, but he's one of the toughest mo-fo's in the NCAA. He just doesn't know the definition of giving up. He's also a pretty nifty shooter from outside and can create his own shot on occasion, though it looks really ugly.

38-33, seriously? Convince me that's good defense and not just terrible basketball.

Well, the Big Ten brand of basketball tends to favor low scoring games, and it's mainly due to the molasses-slow tempo that our teams tend to favor. Take our teams out of the conference, and you see that they're better scorers than they look. For instance, Penn State didn't top 73 points in conference, but bested that number nine times in non-conference play. That said, watching that game was absolutely painful, even for a fan of the winning team. It's not unusual for a couple shooters on a team to have an off-day, but both teams were having off days. They shot a combined 6-33 from downtown, and not much better from inside the arc. But the fact that Illinois shot a grand total of zero free throws shot by Illinois tells you that if Penn State didn't play lock-down defense, then the refs weren't calling much.

How good do you think the Big Ten was this year and how many bids did they deserve?

I think the Big Ten deserved every one of the seven bids it got, but it's very interesting to look at the breakdown of the bottom few teams in the conference that made the tournament. You look at Michigan and Minnesota and you see three phenomenal pre-conference wins, against UCLA, Duke, and Louisville, but little else. Then you take a look at Penn State and see that we really cleaned up against the top few teams in the conference (4-2 against Michigan State, Purdue, and Illinois). I'm not too bitter that we weren't in the tournament, but I feel like Penn State deserved to be in. As far as the top few teams, there's not a lot of elite teams, but Michigan State is, as you see, an elite eight team, and Purdue might have been the same if it weren't for a tough matchup with UConn. Illinois was probably overrated throughout the year, but I do think we were the second best conference, top to bottom, next to the Big East.

What do you think the Lions need to do to win on Tuesday?

Penn State has a very athletic team, and some very decent depth, so the key to winning and advancing to the NIT Finals will be running up and down the court and beating Notre Dame in a high scoring game. If we can push the tempo, create fast breaks, and force turnovers, like Penn State did against Florida, I don't think there will be too much resistance. Frankly, I think Penn State matches up well with the Irish, because we tend to guard the three point line well, and Cornley, small as he is, is a tough body to move in the low post. Penn State is at their best in an up-tempo game, which tends to implement itself in close games or when trailing. Almost all of Penn State's big wins came after a double digit deficit, because once Penn State gets up they tend to hold the ball for 30 seconds and jack up a three. If they can keep the intensity up for 40 minutes, well, I think that Notre Dame should be an easier beat than Florida. not to mention Michigan State.