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.

BATTLE OFF AND RUNNING

The Nittany Lion basketball team proved that its game against the Penn Quakers was nothing more than a Training Day, winning its season opener 70-55 on Friday night. Star guard Talor Battle earned much of the Glory, netting 27 points to go along with his 10 rebounds and four assists to lead the team in all three categories.

Junior Jeff Brooks played great as an Inside Man, and was the only other Lion to score in double figures, chipping in ten points in 27 minutes, perhaps showing that this is the year He Got Game. Guards Chris Babb, Tim Frazier, Cameron Woodyard and Adam Highberger shot just 31%, making fans Remember the Titans of last year's sharpshooting backcourt.

Penn, from Philadelphia, hung tough with the Nittany Lions for most of the night, but the Lions showed tremendous Courage Under Fire to pull away with a late surge and win their fifth straight conference opener.

Oh yeah, Denzel Washington was at the game to watch his son, a freshman on the Quakers, play.

5 REASONS TO GET ON BOARD WITH PENN STATE BASKETBALL

The Penn State basketball team opens its 2010 season on Friday night against the University of Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center. Just in case you were looking for a reason to pay attention to Eddie D and the boys this year, here's your list of five reasons why you should care about Penn State basketball.

5. 15th Anniversary of the Bryce Jordan Center
If you've been to Rec Hall for a game, you'll probably never be convinced that this arena was an upgrade (and a nostalgic part of me doesn't disagree) but the Bryce Jordan Center was unveiled as one of the jewels of college basketball fifteen years ago. In a terrific turn of serendipity, the ribbon-cutting on the state-of-the-art building coincided with one of the best regular seasons in Penn State basketball history. Since then, the teams that have called it home haven't always been great, but the amenities, parking and video boards certainly are. Now, finally, the team promises to be even better than the halftime acts that used to be the main drawing point for half the crowd.

Many jokes have been made about the museum-feeling associated with games in the BJC, but that's more due to the fans and the play on the court than the building itself. Last year, the BJC was host to thrilling wins against George Mason and Illinois and the growing student section has begun to carve out a niche for itself among Big Ten fan bases. Maybe you've been hibernating since the team moved across campus or maybe you were never big into college hoops, but this year is the best time to come and see why, on the BJC's 15th birthday, it was the envy of other schools when it first opened.

4. The Schedule
It took longer than most people would have liked, but the Penn State team has finally made amends for the weak out-of-conference schedules it has played in previous seasons. Whether or not the soft slate was the reason the Lions didn't get invited to the Big Dance last season, this year's campaign is dotted with quality teams. The season opens with Penn and then takes the Lions down to South Carolina for the Charleston Classic that includes South Carolina, Miami (Fl), Davidson, South Florida and UNC Wilmington. Other non-con opponents include Virginia, Temple, Virginia Tech and American University all before a blockbuster Big Ten schedule begins.

3. The Big Ten Network
It was easy to ignore Penn State basketball in years past since it was never actually on television, but now, with the Big Ten network, you can follow the Lions every step of the way. The only game on Penn State's schedule not listed as being televised as of today is the December 5th game on Broad Street in Philadelphia against Temple. You won't have to squint at the box scores to find out what happened to the Lions anymore, just flip on the BTN and watch.

2. You Might Regret it Later if You Don't
Most of today's Penn State football fans weren't around when coach Joe Paterno took the head coaching job in 1966. We've come in at various points throughout his long tenure and relied on videos, books or other fans to fill in the gaps we missed. It is beyond anybody's realistic or even wildest dreams that the basketball program will reach the heights of the football squad, but there's no arguing that this is a program that can succeed and be competitive for NCAA Tournament berths and conference titles every year.

The Lions success last year was hopefully just the beginning of what they can accomplish and the excitement felt by getting on the bandwagon now cannot be replaced by jumping on five years from now when winning is a regularity. There's something special about being around for the start of something important (just ask Ben Franklin and company) as anybody in MSG for the NIT Championship last year will tell you.

1. Talor Battle
He's a beast. Last year as a sophomore, he rose to the top of list of Big Ten guards while leading the Lions to the most regular season wins in school history. Despite being the focal point of every defense he played against, Battle routinely came up with clutch baskets and let the fans know the team was never out of any game it played. The All Big-Ten performer shared the leadership mantle with Jamelle Cornley and fought through a mid-season slump caused by fatigue and personal issues, to lead the team into the post-season. Now that Cornley has gone on to the pros, Battle is the unquestioned leader of this team and he's already proved to the world that he has the skills to be one of the country's best guards.


Battle, the BJC, the BTN, the schedule and beginning of new basketball tradition. If you aren't there to see what this team has in store for fans after the first postseason championship in the program's history, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

BATTLE ILLUSTRATED

SportsIllustrated.com has posted a story about Penn State's star guard, Talor Battle. The Albany, NY product has enjoyed a meteoric rise arriving on campus to becoming one of college basketball's best point guards. The rising sophomore was recently honored by being named to the USA Basketball Roster for the World University Games this summer.

Read the article here.

THINK THEY'RE MOTIVATED NOW?

Shame on you if you were in the State College vicinity and were not at this game. I'm sure it won't haunt you for years to come.

Talor Battle may have just become a candidate for next year's Player of the Year award.

STEPPING STONES

It's been a year of milestones for the Penn State men's basketball program. Actually milestones might not be the best word to describe them. We'll call them stepping stones as Penn State continues to build a program worthy the white and blue jerseys they wear.

Here's a brief list of the accomplishments so far:

• Just the 10th 20-win season in program history
• Finished tied for 4th in the Big Ten (best finish ever)
• Victories over four Top 25 ranked teams
• Wins over two Top 20 ranked teams on the road (first time ever)
• Ten Big Ten wins (second most ever)
• Five road wins overall (most since 2000-01 season)
• Three Big Ten road wins (ties program record)
• 15 home wins on the year (school record)
• 13,425 attendance over final three home games (highest three-game attendance average since 2000-01 season

The Lions weren't done at the end of the regular season either. Monday evening, coach Ed DeChellis was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by conference media voters. For a man who has had critics calling for his firing at the end of each season since he came to Happy Valley, this has to be a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. Although there were times this season when fans everywhere didn't think DeChellis was qualified to coach middle school girls ball, let alone Division One (CALL A FREAKING TIME OUT!), the award was certainly earned after looking at the list of accomplishments this team has achieved.

DeChellis is just the second Nittany Lion coach ever honored with a Coach of the Year award and the first since his mentor Bruce Parkhill was named the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year in 1990. For a program that has struggled to pull in blue chip recruits for as long as you and I can remember, adding a coach of the year title to your coaching staff will definitely boost your credentials.

The Lions took a giant step in the right direction last off-season with the hiring of assistant coach Lewis Preston. Preston, who won a National Championship last season as an assistant with the Florida Gators, is a key recruiter for the Lions and known as a post-player developer (something the Lions need). Now, with a head coach with a Big Ten Coach of the Year title and an assistant with a championship ring on his hand, Happy Valley looks a little brighter in the eyes of young recruits.

In addition to DeChellis's award, you know the Big Ten awards couldn't be complete without Talor Battle and Jamelle Cornley. Battle earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from both conference coaches and media. Although this award fell short of the Big Ten Player of the Year aspirations both fans and coaches hoped for, it was certainly a feat as he's only the fifth Nittany Lion ever to hold first-team honors. For a sophomore who led the Big Ten regular season in scoring (17.3 ppg), the praise was certainly earned.

In addition to Battle, Cornley earned second-team selection from the media and third-team honors from the coaches and senior guard Stanley Pringle was an honorable-mention pick from both. Rising big-man Andrew Jones was named Penn State's sportsmanship award winner.

Let's hope the Lions can put these awards to good use as they'll face Big Ten cellar-dweller Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The NCAA Tournament is the next stepping stone for the Lions, and they can't get there without a win on Thursday.