PSU basketball realizes they're not supposed to win

Last time I wrote about the PSU hoops team, they had just beaten Illinois in Champaign to become 2-0 in the Big Ten. Well, they're not 2-0 anymore. Back in the friendly confines of the Bryce Jordan Center today, with an abnormally robust crowd of 10,000+ cheering them on, they blew a 58-42 second half lead to the Gophers to lose 76-73. And man, did they do it in style. The team had numerous chances at the line in the last 5 minutes to pad their lead. And they missed. And missed. And missed again. Overall on the game they shot 17-36 from the free throw line, and the percentage down the stretch was lower than that. Minnesota pulled ahead in the final 10 seconds after an intentional foul effectively gave them 4 free throws, of which they made 3. Our last chance was thwarted after Talor Battle did his best Luber impression, ignoring an open Danny Morrissey (5-9 from 3 on the day) and jacking up his own shot, which was far off the mark. Rather than be mad, I'm actually kinda impressed by the choke job.

Free throws are the only portion of any of the four major sports where there is nobody trying to stop you from succeeding. Just you and the hoop. When I played basketball in junior high, I was awful. I was the last kid on the bench. I was utterly useless when being guarded, and my idea of defense was just swatting at the ball until a foul was called or the other kid blew past me. But free throws? That was something I could control. I didn't have to be stronger than the other kid to make them. So I practiced a lot on my front porch back in the day. Having no siblings, it was really the only thing I could practice. And you know what? I became good. I would say at my highest point I was about a 65% foul shooter. Not spectacular for the college or NBA level, but pretty good for a pre-teen, and much f-ing better than PSU shot today! Now, I never got the opportunity to shoot foul shots in an actual game since no one in their right mind would need to foul me, and I would be horrible now since I haven't touched a basketball in about 10 years. But when I tried, I succeeded.

That's what makes it so frustrating to see a talented team like the Nittany Lions stink so badly at foul shooting. Obviously if you're recruited to play basketball at a D-1 Big Ten school, you're athleticly gifted. If a 12 year old with no athleticism or coordination whatsoever can become a decent foul shooter, a scholarship D-1 athlete can. It just takes practice. And obviously no one on this team has been practicing free throws enough. Which points the blame for this loss solely on coach Ed DeChellis. Sorry Ed, but when the entire team is consistently bad from the line, it's on you. Make them get up at 6 am or something and make 100 foul shots. And have them run a lap for each one they miss. Do something. Otherwise this team could be missing out on some big things down the line.

The Lions can redeem themselves with another game against ranked Wisconsin on Tuesday night, but that's a tough task. And after today, I will never make the mistake of getting my hopes up about PSU hoops again.