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Penn State Basketball Message Board for News, Nittany Lion Basketball Recruiting, PSU talk: PennStateHoops.com: “Anyone notice Claxton’s mom was sitting in the student section during the game? Last week, some girls had a big sign asking her to sit with them and this week, she was there. Pretty cool. “
Centre Daily Times | 02/19/2005 | PSU relying on its freshmen:
“Penn State shooting guard Danny Morrissey is eloquent, candid, thoughtful. He has a clear grasp of the situation he and his Penn State teammates are in, probably has ever since he and the three other freshmen came to University Park this summer.
“‘Some of the kids were going crazy,’ Morrissey recalled. ‘They were away from home for the first time. It was like summer camp for a lot of these kids.’
“It isn’t unusual for a senior or even a junior to refer to freshmen as ‘kids’ — three years of college is a lifetime — but it sounds funny coming from another freshman. At least, it should.
“In many ways, though, Morrissey is a freshman by academic standing only. He has lived away from home for the past four years. He’ll be 21 by the time he starts his sophomore season, and he might have the oldest pair of knees on the team.
“‘He’s a mature, serious person,’ Penn State assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie said. ‘The fact that he was away from home for high school probably has something to do with that. He’s goal-oriented, knows what he has to do to achieve his goals, just goes about it and does it.’
“As they muddle through what can only be considered a rebuilding season, which continues at 2:30 p.m. today at Northwestern, the Nittany Lions are sending Morrissey and their other ‘kids’ against the men of the Big Ten. …”
FightOnState.com: Hoop Preview @ Northwestern: “Think this is a great chance for PSU to break the league road losing streak? Think again. NU is 20-6 at Welsh-Ryan the past two seasons and 48-23 there under Carmody. “
The Daily Northwestern – Euro trip (Men’s basketball):
“Northwestern coach Bill Carmody has been fortunate not to have his three Croatian players — Vedran Vukusic, Davor Duvancic and Ivan Tolic — cave into the temptations of leaving school early to return home and to play in the European professional leagues.
“But Penn State coach Ed DeChellis was not so lucky. When the Nittany Lions face the Wildcats on Saturday in Welsh-Ryan Arena, DeChellis will be without his leading scorer from last season.
Jan Jagla decided to leave the Nittany Lions following his junior season and is now playing professionally in his native country of Germany.
“The prospect of being able to play professionally close to home in a familiar style of basketball is too appealing to turn down for many European players.
“Across the conference, Big Ten coaches are losing players to the European professional leagues, which offer lucrative contracts and an alternative route to the NBA.
“‘I think young guys will continue to leave,’ DeChellis said. ‘The NBA has gotten so involved with European basketball. It’s a huge feeding ground. Basketball is becoming more popular in Europe every year, which means they’re paying kids more money and the exposure is greater.’ …”
The Lions are trying to break a few streaks tomorrow on the road against a struggling Northwestern ballclub.
“After losing 15 of its last 17 games, saying that the Penn State men basketball team is frustrated would be the understatement of the season.
“‘You don’t have the type of season we’re having in terms of wins and losses and not have frustration,’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘It would be abnormal if we weren’t. We’re just not playing well as a group and individually, if you look at stats we’re not have banner years shooting the ball and so forth … to get out of that frustration you have to win and to win you have to do the little things for 40 minutes.’
“The Nittany Lions (7-17, 1-10 Big Ten) will have a chance to break two streaks — a 29-game losing streak on the road in the Big Ten and an overall six-game losing streak — tomorrow as they travel to Evanston, Ill., to face the Northwestern Wildcats (12-12, 4-7). …”
“STATE COLLEGE – To describe the Penn State Nittany Lions’ 83-63 loss to No. 1-ranked Illinois last night requires some thought.
“Hard to call it disappointing, for what PSU fans there are out there. Of a team that’s been trudging through the last month winless, you couldn’t have much expectation to begin with.
“The overriding feeling was one of a marquee act come to a tiny stage. The Illini were Tom Hanks visiting summer stock and playing with the wide-eyed community theater. Ali boxing a 4-round exhibition against the local toughman winner for charity.
“As an awed PSU coach Ed DeChellis said of the Illini: ‘Everybody can do everything.’
Well put. This was a 30-point game (74-44) by the time Illinois coach Bruce Weber lifted off the accelerator and brought rocket-powered point guard Dee Brown (19 points, 11 assists) and sinewy power forward Roger Powell (21 points, 10-for-10 FGs) back to relax. And truth be told, his team probably played at about 80 percent of potential thrust. …”
Starkey: Illini playing way into Big Ten history – PittsburghLIVE.com:
“UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State didn’t belong on the same floor as No. 1 Illinois on Wednesday.
“Didn’t belong in the same building, city, state, country, world or universe, either.
“Penn Hills might have provided better competition, which is why it’s hard to gauge the Fighting Illini from watching their 83-63 victory before a season-best crowd of 10,966 at Bryce Jordan Center.
“Oh, everybody knows that Bruce Weber’s team is good. It’s very good. It’s 26-0 good.
“It appears to be as good as advertised.
“‘Better,’ said Penn State guard Mike Walker, who watched the Illini make 22-of-33 field-goal attempts in the first half and finish with 27 assists, three short of the record for a Penn State opponent.
“‘They’re at a different level than other teams in the Big Ten.’ …”
“STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Bruce Weber searches for motivational tactics like that guy on a sandy beach waving a metal detector. Going into Wednesday night’s game against Penn State, the Illinois coach thought he had found a gem: No. 2- ranked Kansas and No. 3 Kentucky each lost road games this week.
“‘I saw both of the games, so he doesn’t really have to mention anything to us,’ Illini guard Dee Brown said. ‘We understand the importance of it. We’ve got vets on this team.’
“Brown said Illinois, the No. 1 team in the country, was riled up about playing unranked Penn State because ‘we don’t want nobody storming the court on us.’… “
Column: Get on with it – The Daily Illini – Sports:
“STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State student Adam Sterusky told me the football team could field a better basketball squad than what Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis puts on the floor.
“I thought Sterusky was kidding.
“He wasn’t. And Illinois knew it, too.
“The Smilin’ Illini looked bored during their 83-63 beating of Penn State. Not in the second half that didn’t matter, but before tip off.
“How could you blame the Illini? …”
Quad Cities Online – Illini set school mark with 26th straight win:
“STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The week already had its big upsets.
“No. 2 Kansas couldn’t handle Texas Tech and coach Bob Knight in a Monday-night shootout. On Tuesday, No. 3 Kentucky had little emotion or energy and fell at South Carolina. But No. 1 Illinois had no such trouble in its trip to the Nittany Mountains.
“Illinois rolled past Penn State 83-63 Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center for a Big Ten Conference win by slicing the Nittany Lions’ defense with crisp passing and hot shooting in the first half.
“The Illini logged 19 assists and just two turnovers by halftime, then cruised to their sixth straight win against Penn State.
“‘We knew the importance of this game,” said Illinois guard Dee Brown, a blur of orange who finished with 19 points and 11 assists. ‘We were riled up for this game. We didn’t want anybody to storm the court on us.’… “