THE WINNING RECIPE

It's plain to see, even to Joe Paterno and his new surgically enhanced eyes, that something needs to change for Penn State basketball. The first six weeks of conference play have provided exactly zero victories and shoved the Lions into the basement of the Big Ten standings. However, as the recent slide by Saturday's opponent Michigan State has shown, things can change in this league in a hurry.

Just because the Lions haven't won yet, doesn't mean they can't or won't - it just means that they'll have to make some changes to get over that hump that looks more like Mount Everest after eleven straight losses. So, in the midst of what amounts to a bye week, we're taking the opportunity to look forward instead of backwards and breakdown what has to be done if Penn State is going to salvage what's left of the season.

PUSH THE BASKETBALL
Nobody will confuse this Penn State team with the slow, plodding types so often associated with Big Ten basketball. It's brutally painful to watch this team try to execute in the half-court with an offensive arsenal that consists of ball screens 25 feet away from the basket, an occasional staggered screen for Talor Battle or Chris Babb or my personal favorite, bleeding the shot clock dry to run a clearout for Battle to try and take his man off the dribble. When you have a roster like Penn State's, without a true back-to-the-basket post player, why not try and use your guard strength to create tempo and get some easy buckets off of the other team's misses.

One of the problems with this proposal is that the guards aren't available to receive the long outlet passes since they are the ones rebounding the basketball. Still, you should be able to leak out a guard to try and push the ball up the floor and if the bigs aren't the ones snaring the rebounds, then they should be able to fill the lanes on fast breaks or clear out space for open looks from the other guards on the secondary break.

GET IN THE ZONE
This team is struggling to defend teams man-to-man. It can't seem to stop the ball on penetration and the help defense is too often late, causing major problems when the defense has to rotate to find the open shooter. Ed DeChellis, master of the 1-3-1, should take some of his own advice and employ a trapping 1-3-1 or a 1-2-2. At the very least, Penn State should use these defenses after made foul shots just to give the opponent something to think about. A player like Tim Frazier would be perfect on the baseline of a 1-3-1 and playing zone would help keep Battle fresher for the offensive end.

The danger with playing zone defense would be open looks from three for the other team off of skip passes or the lack of rebounding assignments. However, the Lions are already the worst defensive three-point team in the conference and the rebounds it does collect are often from the guards crashing the glass. A good mixture of trapping, aggressive zone defenses and man-to-man pressure could give Penn State a psychological advantage and help to create more turnovers that lead to easy buckets.

THEY'RE CALLED FREE FOR A REASON
There's just absolutely no excuse for Penn State to be making less than 70% of its foul shots. Shooting free throws is more muscle memory than anything and being successful comes from repetition of a sound routine. The routine starts with finding the middle of the floor with your lead foot and ends with the ball going through the hoop. I've always felt that practice time is too precious a commodity be wasted on foul shots. The players who are really struggling need to be putting in extra time so that when the opportunity does arise in the games, it's an automatic two points.

INBOUNDS PLAYS
Whatever playbook the Lions are using to get their inbounds plays from needs to be torn up. Then thrown away. Then lit on fire. Then have the ashes put in a cannon and shot into outer space towards the Sun.

Counting to three and then launching a soccer style toss into the backcourt for your guard to chase down isn't just unproductive, it's embarrassing. I find it hard to imagine that the team and the coaches have yet to find away to consistently pass the ball to somebody within shouting distance from the hoop. Every inbounds play doesn't necessarily have to result in a slam dunk. But it really should be more than just an upper body exercise for the man throwing it in.

It's been a excruciatingly tough start for the Lions, but with seven games remaining and the magical elixir known as the Big Ten tournament exactly one month away, the team is running out chances to do something positive with the momentum it built in Madison Square Garden last spring. This Saturday against the slumping Spartans is the perfect stage to unveil some of the magic that made last season so special and prove that this squad will be a tough out in Indianapolis.