Alex Church insists the Penn State basketball team is at a pivotal point in its season. After a last second loss to Rider Friday night, the Lions must decide what type of team they want to be in Big Ten play.
By Alex Church
Let’s be honest, a non-conference loss over the holiday break is not the end of the world. But its time for Penn State to decide what type of basketball team it wants to be in 2018.
With a December 30 matchup against Coppin State standing between the Nittany Lions and resuming conference play, Pat Chamber’s squad is running out of time to figure things out.
The Lions’ last two losses, including a heart-breaking 71-70 defeat to Rider Friday night, have both come by one point. This easily could be a team with six consecutive victories, but Penn State has now gone 4-3 over its last seven games.
The most troubling factor over the last month has been that the Lions appeared to be the better team in every game that they’ve played. Penn State missed a plethora of easy buckets at NC State, before failing to convert 11 of 29 layups against Wisconsin.
With all due respect to the Rider Broncs, they’re the Rider Broncs.
But how does a team learn to win close games? There’s really not a true answer. Sure past experiences will help the team moving forward, but at some point this group needs to turn a corner. It starts with leadership.
Tony Carr, the Lions de facto star, did not score in the final six minutes of the Rider game. Watkins, Penn State’s dominant big man, did not score in the final five.
All good teams have a level of balance, but they also need a star or two to carry them down the stretch.
There’s no reason to question the commitment or character of the players, but recent one game suspensions to Carr and Nazeer Bostick for unspecified violations of team rules do not bode well for team chemistry.
Rider coach Kevin Baggett told the media that Bostick told him before the game that the contest “would be over in 10 minutes.”
While Chambers stated that he had “heard a different story,” the quote does not reflect the values the coach attempts to instill in his players. It also provided the Lions’ opponent with an extra level of motivation.
Masked in the home loss was a strong performance from senior Shep Garner on the perimeter. Garner made 6-11 3-point attempts and led Penn State with 18 points.
Julian Moore provided four points and four blocks in 12 strong minutes off the bench. Moore spelled Watkins at times when the sophomore battled foul trouble throughout the game.
Oh, and Josh Reaves nearly turned out a triple-double.
There’s no doubt that the Rider loss could just be a typical holiday letdown that many teams experience every year, but it unfortunately fits the recent narrative around this team.
Penn State must leave its bad habits in the year 2017, and learn how to finish games in Big Ten play.