Penn State Q&A w/ David Jones

David Jones covers Penn State for the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

You can find his work at:

http://blog.pennlive.com/davidjones/index.html

Baltimore Sports and Life appreciates Mr. Jones for answering a few questions on the Nittany Lions prior to the Maryland vs. PSU match-up Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Baltimore Sports and Life: “At the end of the 2008-09 season, Penn State won the National Invitation Tournament. Due to that there was some excitement heading into last-season, but the Nittany Lions slumped to a 11-20 finish. However, 11 of those 20 losses were by 6 points or less. With 75% of the scoring returning, including 4 Senior starters is there belief that PSU can turn things around and push towards the NCAA bubble this year?”

David Jones: “Considering that the Big Ten has as much quality depth as it has had in some time, I’d say it’s a real long shot. Other than Talor Battle, the Seniors have not been dynamic players. One of them, Jeff Brooks, is starting to play like he’s serious. But they would need all four of them to really start delivering and I don’t see it.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “I’ve read that Head Coach Ed DeChellis has previously played a lot of zone defense, but wanted to transition to more man-to-man defense and pressure on the ball this year. Has that change of defensive philosophy been evident so far this season?”

David Jones: “The defense has been better but not the point where the Lions have been particularly disruptive. And last season they were almost the least disruptive team among all 340 in D1. They forced fewer turnovers per possession according to Ken Pomeroy than any other major-college team except one (ranked 339th). And that has to change because they need to ignite some breaks for three reasons: they are not a very good half-court offensive team nor are they very big but they are good finishers on the break. Mississippi torched them from 3-point range in an 84-71 loss in Jackson in their last game. That’s been a constant problem under DeChellis whether he plays zone or man. One thing they’ve been extremely effective at is keeping opposing teams off the offensive glass. They generally play back, don’t take risks in the passing lanes and they check out very well off their man defense.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “As you mentioned, Senior PF Jeff Brooks is emerging. Through the first 5 games, he is averaging 16.6 ppg, and 7.8 boards. As he is shooting 65% from the floor, I am imagining he is doing most of his work close to the basket. Where has his game matured?”

David Jones: “Actually, he’s doing damage all over the floor. It’s a pretty remarkable turnaround for him so far. he’s been the team’s most accurate 3-point shooter as well, something he’s never been much good at. Brooks has been a chronic underachiever his first three years, a kid with a great 6’8 lithe body and lots of spring and reach who easily loses confidence and gets anxious for reasons no one can figure out. It may be because he’s too bright for his own good and thinks too much. When DeChellis signed him out of Louisville, a lot of recruiting geeks I know considered him a real get for PSU, the kind of kid they could build the program around. Didn’t work out that way. He’s sort of drifted around, got his 7 and 5 per game and made a spectacular dunk or highlight rebound or block and then disappeared for 20 minutes. He finally started working on his game over last summer and the results are apparent. His shot is completely overhauled, now a nice trajectory and rotation instead of the line-drive he used to shoot. He’s developed a shot fake and a 12-footer on the baseline or in the lane. Looks like a completely different player.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Battle declared for the NBA but returned to college. He was 2nd-Team All Big Ten last year, after being 1st-Team the year before. What do you like best about his play? Outside of his limitations from the line (69.7% for his career), and from the 3 point line (35.3% for the year) what will he have to improve to have a chance to play at the next-level?”

David Jones: “Talor is a great kid whose goal is to support his poor family, a dysfunctional brood of six still in the house, not counting his Mom. I don’t know if he can do it. He’s a unique player in that he’s not particularly quick or strong with the ball at his size, like say a Jameer Nelson. And yet he manages to squirrel around with little stop-start moves and get where he needs to go most of the time. But when he gets bracketed off the high ball screen out top, which many times the PSU offense distills to late in a shot clock, he just is not either lighting quick with the dribble or physical enough to bust the trap and penetrate or get up and over defenders. He does what he does with guile and know-how more than raw gift. That’s his real impediment at 5’11. Because the kid has the heart of a lion. Nobody shrugs off failure quicker; no one believes more that a last-second shot is going in. He wants to be the guy at crunch time and yet is not a selfish player as some clueless network pundits have labeled him. He just needs some help and he’s never gotten it here.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Joining Battle on the PSU roster this year is his brother Taran Buie. The Freshman guard is a name familiar to Maryland fans, as he was pursued hard by the Terps. Buie is averaging 7.2 ppg, and is getting good time (16 minutes a game). What have you seen so far out of him?”

David Jones: “It’s hard to gauge him so far because the competition other than Ole Miss has been substandard. Buie’s shot was masonry the first few games like he was jsut casting it up there. It looked better against Furman on Sunday. He had a nice little step-in pull-up from 16 and hit a 3. His contribution is going to have to center around defense for this season. But he is quick and touch and likes contact at the rack and finishes anyway.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Another familiar name to Terp fans is the Freshman Forward Jonathan Graham. Graham’s father starred at Maryland, and the Terps were somewhat involved in his recruitment. He has not had the opportunity to play yet for PSU, so I understand you might not have seen him directly. Any reports of how he has performed in practice, or of the Coaches expectations of him going forward?”

David Jones: “Jonathan’s knee has been bothering him some and they are going to redshirt him. I think that might’ve been the plan all along because they’ll really need help on the back line next year.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “One of the other Senior Starters is the SF David Jackson, who is averaging almost 11 ppg. What can you tell us about him?”

David Jones: “The one player you can count of to make the sensible play when it needs to be made. Not a flashy player and not a dynamic one but he’s Battle’s favorite teammate and he’s made some shots this year. He played well at Mississippi and showed some leadership. Not going to kill you with his outside shot but surprises you with the big rebound in traffic and is good at putting himself in good defensive position.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Senior Center Andrew Jones (6’10, 245 lbs) figures to draw the defensive assignment against Maryland’s Jordan Williams. Jones has 105 career starts, so he has plenty of experience. How good is he defensively? Who is the primary backup to Jones?”

David Jones: “This is a problem match-up for the Nits. If they called all the fouls on Jones that he commits he’d be DQ’d in 10 minutes every game. He tends to swat with hands, is not very quick with his feet or his jump and tends to be timid when needing to challenge guys at the tine. Chris Kramer of Purdue – a guard – famously tomahawked straight over the top of him on a run-out in a critical blowout loss at the Big 10 Tournament in Indianapolis two years ago, a defeat that sank PSU’s NCAA chances. The real dilemma for DeChellis is Jones does not have a viable back-up. Billy Oliver, the only other big man available, is more of a perimeter player and cannot adequately defend someone like Williams.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Last season Penn State became the first Big Ten team to win 3 consecutive ACC/Big Ten Challenge games. Predictions on this Maryland vs. PSU match-up?”

David Jones: “Penn State absolutely must have this game to have any hope of an NCAA bid. Considering DeChellis’ problems recognizing how the selection committee operates (and that it likes to see significant non-conference wins), I don’t know if the team fully recognizes how critical this game is. But if anyone has bothered to tell them they might at least be ready to play. Battle loves the bright lights; he always plays his best against the best competition and he is very weary of the non-conf pins DeChellis commonly sets before them in November and December so he’ll be stoked. That said I think they need huge games games from Jones, Brooks, and Jackson and a break here and there to get this done. I wouldn’t bet on it.  Maryland 80, Penn State 73.”