Penn State--Virgina Tech Preview

So two games have gone by since my last real post. A loss against Temple and a winagainst UMBC puts the Lions at a 6-3 mark and headed into the biggest game of the season so far. I know it seems like each game I say is the biggest, but a win Saturday night extends a 9 game home winning streak ; as well is a win against a well-known team on national tv in front of what looks like to be a large crowd. Virgina Tech brings a boat load of talent to the BJC and is coming off a 7-1 start and could be a sleeper ACC team this season. Check out the highlights from the last time these two teams matched up…….here

So how is a team that is having issues scoring fend off a team that has been on fire as of late?

1.Defense- Gotta trust the guy next to you, it’s all about not looking at the name on the jersey it is all about the fundamentals. Yeah it’s basic, but when you aren’t a Top 5 team you’ve got to keep it simple. Winning is winning, and for the most part how you do it is the same.

2. Take a good shot- It seems on the offensive side that the problems are about the same, I’m not going to pretend to know how the team functions on a personal level but they could use a dose of trust. Spreading the ball around knowing that the guy next to you can score. That being said you’ve got to play smart, the past few games I’ve seen a handful of questionable choices in shot selection. That will come with time, but at some point it needs to get better.

3. Let the crowd help you- You’re going to have a good crowd, use the energy and play with that energy. Talor always plays big when it is needed so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him feed off of the crowd and put up another big game. Not at all to wish Evan Turner an injury, but Turner’s injury allows players like Talor Battle to grab the spotlight from the triple double machine Turner has been this year. A game like this one is a good way to do that.

I’ve decided not to review the past two games because by now you’ve read everything you needed to know about those games. I’m not going to tell you anything you haven’t already read about.