Penn State basketball finds offensive rhythm with increased movement to halt losing streak
Sometimes an offense can stall out in a more drastic way during a losing streak. Players stagnate, watching their teammates dribble and waiting to get their turn to isolate.
The Penn State offense began to take that shape during the team’s five-game losing streak, but that ended — along with the streak — Thursday night in the team’s 75-67 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The NIttany Lions moved without the ball in their hands and put together an effort that looked like an offense that was more connected than it had been since the calendar turned to 2021.
Penn State’s change in activity level was something interim head coach Jim Ferry said the team practices, but just needs to play more to put it into action.
“It’s just reps, guys,” Ferry said after the win. “I can draw up practice right now and make it awesome. The drills would look great, everybody would be bouncing all over the place and it would be great. But you’ve got to be able to do the things in the games. And that’s what it comes down to, just game experience for our guys. ... Guys really trusted each other to make the plays.”
The offense can — and should — continue to grow its activity as the team gets its feet back under it. The Nittany Lions were off for nearly three weeks after the program had several games postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests in their Tier 1 personnel.
That extended off period led to a more isolation-heavy offense. Players were essentially playing one-on-one frequently on offense and looking to generate open looks in that fashion. The Nittany Lions have several players who can do that effectively, but they don’t feature enough talent to do it throughout an entire game — very few college teams do.
That type of offense faded into the background for Penn State Thursday night and it allowed Penn State to create — and take advantage of — more easy opportunities.
Junior guard Myreon Jones, who tied with junior guard Izaiah Brockington for the team lead in points with 17, reiterated Ferry’s point that it’s something the team practices, but agreed that the team enacted more off-ball movement than it had in recent games.
“In practice we’ve been preaching that, in film sessions we’ve been preaching that,” Jones said. “Just move without the ball, keep moving the ball, and we’ll get good opportunities on offense.”
The team’s movement wasn’t limited to themselves, either. The Nittany Lions moved the ball with much more urgency than they had in their losses to Purdue and Illinois earlier in the week and Jones was one of the many beneficiaries.
Players cut to the rim when their defenders fell asleep, but also dished passes to their teammates when they were pressured with the ball. They swung it around the perimeter with ease, forcing the Scarlet Knights to swing around the 3-point arc with the hope that the ball would stop or they wouldn’t give up easy shots.
Instead, Penn State made them pay.
They passed until they found a wide-open teammate to knock down an easy shot. They attacked defenders that closed out too aggressively, creating advantageous situations and two-on-one opportunities with the aforementioned defender out of the play and only the opposing big man near the rim. Sometimes they took that shot, and sometimes they dished it to their teammate when the big man inched too far forward and left senior center John Harrar open under the rim.
Harrar, after all, had earned those easy looks. The senior center works harder than anyone on the court to secure possession on rebounds and prevent opponents from backing him down near the basket, while being its leader on and off the court.
“John Harrar is the greatest leader I’ve ever been around,” Ferry said. “I’ve coached for 30 years. He’s the most consistent human being, and that’s in everything. ... He leaves every ounce of energy he has on the court, every day. I see John again get 11 rebounds and it doesn’t surprise me. Sometimes I don’t think John gets enough credit for how good of a basketball player he is. He’s truly the heart and soul (of the team).”
Whether it was caused by Harrar’s effort on the boards, the ball movement or the players’ movement when they didn’t have the ball in their hands, Penn State found itself in advantageous positions frequently Thursday night. With their season on the verge of falling completely apart — and every reason to let it after former head coach Pat Chambers resigned in October — the Nittany Lions came together to create a cohesive offense and glue themselves back together, even if only for a night.
