Pickett, freshmen & more: The rundown on Penn State men’s basketball before season opener
Penn State’s first scrimmage during a practice this year went about as you’d expect. The team’s best player — Jalen Pickett — led his team to a victory. Ho hum. Except, Pickett wasn’t paired with the players he spent the 2021-2022 season playing with.
He was with all freshmen.
“I did not ask for that,” Pickett said with a smile. “It was a big surprise for me. ... Just seeing them come out and compete as hard as they did shows me that we got the making for a really good team.”
That’s part of the value the senior guard brings to the table for the Nittany Lions and part of the reason he was named to the preseason All Big-Ten team.
Pickett is not a typical lead guard in modern basketball in some ways. He doesn’t blow by opponents off the dribble or finish above big men around the rim. His pace is more methodical. He plays at his own speed and does things his way. That can be an adjustment for teammates when they run the pick-and-roll.
Many screeners have to blaze toward the rim, anticipating the lob from the ball handler. Things are different at Penn State with Pickett. He tries more to put defenders on his back him and make them play from behind him, slowly drawing the screeners defender toward him.
His pace has been something Kebba Njie and Demetrius Lilley — the program’s two freshmen centers — have had to adapt to.
“After every practice, we watch film,” Pickett said. “... They’re just taking everything they’re learning from me, and I’m learning from them what they want, too. If we have that dialogue and they’re happy and I’m happy, it just makes it better for the team.”
Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry has seen Pickett’s growth this offseason and said it was clear early on that he was the best player the team had to offer.
For all of his scoring, passing and defensive ability, Shrewsberry said it still mostly boiled down to one attribute.
“He’s won, pretty much every time (in practice),” he said.
Kebba Njie’s development
One of the focal points of the early part of the season will be Penn State’s center rotation and for good reason. John Harrar’s departure leaves a wide hole at the position and one that will not easily be filled. There will be a few players who try to take on some of that role, but the Nittany Lions will likely look to Kebba Njie to take over in the role full time sooner rather than later.
The freshman has already added plenty of muscle after being a relatively thin high school senior and is continuing to mature physically. Now the next step is finding the consistency it takes to play in the Big Ten — just as it will for all of the freshmen.
“Kebba will have days where he just looks like a million bucks,” Shrewsberry said. “It’s like, holy smokes these guys have potential. But they have to put it together day after day after day. That’s what these fifth year guys do. That’s their challenge.”
He won’t be the only player vying for those minutes, which should only help him improve. Caleb Dorsey is the most likely candidate to earn some of the available playing time and keep it, while Mikey Henn could contribute early in the season and Demetrius Lilley could gain minutes as it goes on. Dorsey is a 6-foot-7 junior who has previously seen limited action but now looks much stronger entering his third year as a Nittany Lion.
Dorsey provides shooting and now some added strength at the position, while Njie is a more skilled big who is more capable as a lob threat and in the paint right now. The two bring different dimensions that should help Penn State play either based on matchups and have some sort of advantage.
Growing as a team
Shrewsberry’s Nittany Lions continue to build cohesiveness on the court as they prepare for the season and they’ve had the entire summer to make sure they keep pulling in the same direction on that front.
The team’s summer together has contributed heavily to the cohesion — something it didn’t have last year.
“We didn’t have a full summer kind of COVID free where we could do a bunch of things together. Guys were arriving at different times throughout the summer,” Shrewsberry said. “(This year) we had almost everybody here the whole summer. We went eight weeks where we were doing stuff every single week. Just building off the court who we are.”
Now the team’s focus has shifted to to the court, where they have under two weeks to prepare for their season opener. While the Nittany Lions aren’t quite there yet, having the trust off the court will be a major benefit.
“We have great cohesion off the court,” he said. “We’re not where we need to be from a technical standpoint, but from a trust standpoint we are. ... You get late in games, when you really trust each other, when you really believe in each other, you pull out some late game victories.”
Quick Hitters
- Shrewsberry said the team has had the occasional bumps and bruises in the preseason but has come out relatively unscathed.
- Myles Dread said this summer was different for him because he felt healthy for the first time in a while. He should once again be a key contributor as a wing who can shoot and defend.
- Seth Lundy has taken a step forward on defense again this season, this time as an off-ball defender after became a strong on-ball defender last year.
