{"id":174223,"date":"2015-07-02T19:34:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T23:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pennstatehoops.com\/?p=174223"},"modified":"2015-07-02T19:34:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T23:34:18","slug":"jones-penn-state-gets-tough-defense-savvy-guard-with-big-game-cred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pennstatehoops.com\/pennstatehoops-com-has-ceased-operations\/jones-penn-state-gets-tough-defense-savvy-guard-with-big-game-cred\/","title":{"rendered":"Jones: Penn State gets tough, defense-savvy guard with big-game cred"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/sports\/index.ssf\/2015\/07\/in_uconn_transfer_terrence_sam.html\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/pennstatehoops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/628x471jpg-1c1332e01ff0097b.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>Dave Jones:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I remember vividly the first time I noticed Terrence Samuel. It was midway in the first half of his Connecticut Huskies&#8217; ugly but interesting 2014 NCAA tournament national semifinal upset of No. 1 overall seed Florida. And it&#8217;s a window into the kind of player Penn State is getting when Samuel transfers in and begins playing the season after next.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of Samuel&#8217;s entry, UConn was trailing 16-4 with nine minutes left in the first half and had been thoroughly outplayed by Billy Donovan&#8217;s national leader in defensive efficiency. The Huskies had bumbled through 16 possessions, six ending in turnovers. They needed to jump-start their offense, but how?<\/p>\n<p>The answer seemed counterintuitive but it worked: More defense.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s what the Brooklyn-bred Samuel, then a freshman, brought to the game as UConn coach Kevin Ollie switched to a triple-point-guard lineup. Teaming with Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, Samuel was a dynamo, pressing the perimeter, harassing the Gators on double-teams like a jumping spider hopping around a screen door. For a 6-3 guard, he&#8217;s dogged, disruptive and surprisingly quick.<\/p>\n<p>In less than six minutes, Connecticut had tied the game 20-20 at the under-4:00 timeout and the game never took another significant turn. The Huskies continued to dominate on the defensive end. Florida never made a single 3-pointer after its first possession and died with a sigh, 63-53.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel played 18 minutes and the Huskies were a whopping +15 while he was on the court. He was in the middle of the game&#8217;s single pivot point&#8230;.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/sports\/index.ssf\/2015\/07\/in_uconn_transfer_terrence_sam.html\">In UConn transfer Terrence Samuel, Penn State gets tough, defense-savvy guard with big-game cred | PennLive.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dave Jones: I remember vividly the first time I noticed Terrence Samuel. It was midway in the first half of his Connecticut Huskies&#8217; ugly but interesting 2014 NCAA tournament national semifinal upset of No. 1 overall seed Florida. And it&#8217;s a window into the kind of player Penn State is getting when Samuel transfers in &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pennstatehoops.com\/pennstatehoops-com-has-ceased-operations\/jones-penn-state-gets-tough-defense-savvy-guard-with-big-game-cred\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Jones: Penn State gets tough, defense-savvy guard with big-game cred&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jones: Penn State gets tough, defense-savvy guard with big-game cred - PennStateHoops.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pennstatehoops.com\/pennstatehoops-com-has-ceased-operations\/jones-penn-state-gets-tough-defense-savvy-guard-with-big-game-cred\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jones: Penn State gets tough, defense-savvy guard with big-game cred - PennStateHoops.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dave Jones: I remember vividly the first time I noticed Terrence Samuel. 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