Practice Summary From TDG Writer

[Friend Of Tubby]

He may have said that last year. He does need to move better without the ball, but more than anything else I'd love to see Tubby run more set plays specifically for him. He gets most of his threes in transition where he finds an open spot and his guys find him. But it seems like he rarely gets run off a double-screen with some backside action to make the defense either choose to jump out and guard Hoffarber or stay home and not give up a layup. Or whatever, but in the half-court we didn't seem to run nearly enough set plays for Blake.

Tubby has had good luck with senior G in his coaching career.

Gary Collier became MVC POY at Tulsa in 1994 and got drafted by NBA.

Shandon Anderson excelled at Georgia in 1996. He had a nice NBA career afterwards.

Jeff Sheppard had his best year at UK in 1998 as a senior. Ditto Keith Bogans in 2003 and Gerald Fitch in 2004.

I'd like to see Blake Hoffarber jump up to 15 ppg (range) this season.

 

[march madness]

If Hollins in 6'5" even in shoes I see him guarding the opposing teams small forward. We really have only one small forward Rodney. So Hoff and Hollins will play there also.

If there is one player who has shown instances of dominance it is Nolen. I wish the player who dominated Louisville could come back. If he could make a lay up and learn a simple bounce pass to the post player he would be great. His 3pt % really is better than most think. I'd put improvement there third.

 

[MN1nAZ]

If Hollins in 6'5" even in shoes I see him guarding the opposing teams small forward. We really have only one small forward Rodney. So Hoff and Hollins will play there also.

If there is one player who has shown instances of dominance it is Nolen. I wish the player who dominated Louisville could come back. If he could make a lay up and learn a simple bounce pass to the post player he would be great. His 3pt % really is better than most think. I'd put improvement there third.

Oto may be the answer to the SF shortage. Tubby says he'll be here next month and evidently his NCAA clearance will be done. He is 6'9" and got some good experience in Europe this summer. He may be a contributor.

 

[scher215]

I posted these numbers and explanation awhile ago in a different thread comparing last years stats (the 2009-2010 season) between Battle and Joseph. And other than scoring and Assists per game (and yes, I realize we were debating their ability as a "go-to scorer") they have not too far off numbers.

Battle benefits greatly from being on a sub par Penn State team (easier to pad his own points stats, however is harder to get assists), Devoe has a lot more talent around him, limits his scoring, plus Lawrence Westbrook who doesnt believe in the pass.

Stat wise last season, other than PPG, they are very similar. Devoe is not that far behind Battle stat wise, and also is a year younger.
Battle Joseph
Points per 40 Minutes 20.0 14.7
Field Goal Percentage 42.0% 39.3%
3-Point Percentage 35.0% 38.8%
Assists Per Game 4.161 3.0
Assist / Turnover Ratio 1.8 1.6
Turnovers Per Game 2.323 1.886
Steals Per Game 1.065 0.829
+ / - Average 1.1 1.4
Roland Average 1.7 5.2

 

[DailyGopher]

I don't know how this turned into a Battle/Joseph comparison but more importantly I don't understand how it is even a comparison. Battle is one of the 10 best players in the conference (for two straight years) and when you play PSU, you have to stop him if you want to win.

Forget stats and forget post-season awards (both of which Battle wins over DJ). Just watch the two players, Battle is at a different level. Sure he was on a bad team last year but in his sophomore year he played with Jamelle Cornley and they went on to win the NIT (where he averaged 16.4 ppg).

 

[scher215]

I don't know how this turned into a Battle/Joseph comparison but more importantly I don't understand how it is even a comparison. Battle is one of the 10 best players in the conference (for two straight years) and when you play PSU, you have to stop him if you want to win.

Forget stats and forget post-season awards (both of which Battle wins over DJ). Just watch the two players, Battle is at a different level. Sure he was on a bad team last year but in his sophomore year he played with Jamelle Cornley and they went on to win the NIT (where he averaged 16.4 ppg).

We will just have to agree to disagree, but at the end of the season it would be interesting to compare the success of each player and their teams.

IMO, Battle is one of the most overrated players in college basketball.

 

[march madness]

Oto may have small forward skills on offense, but I doubt he can guard the small 3's in the big ten. But I hope he can.

 

[GopherD]

FOT, you forgot one player that I'll remember for a long time who was a guard that succeeded under Tubby in his senior year, Patrick Sparks. He is a similar player to Blake in that they are both money from beyond the three-point line, but limited in putting the ball on the floor.

Quick thing on Devoe here. The kid clearly has more moves than the step-back jumper. There were a couple of times last year where he put a move on his defender, drove baseline and had a high off the glass layup. Also, he comes off screens pretty well for jumpers.

But if we're comparing Battle to Devoe offensively (who aren't very similar players IMHO), I'd take Talor right now. But remember, Devoe is a year younger, so we'll have to see how he plays in the final two years to really settle this. I think it's a wash defensively though.

 

[98VQueens]

Oto may have small forward skills on offense, but I doubt he can guard the small 3's in the big ten. But I hope he can.

Oto will create major match up problems for the opposing defense. He is long and very athletic, he will be fine on D.

 

[DailyGopher]

Quick thing on Devoe here. The kid clearly has more moves than the step-back jumper. There were a couple of times last year where he put a move on his defender, drove baseline and had a high off the glass layup. Also, he comes off screens pretty well for jumpers.

I get that he has more moves, but when he has to score on any possession (end of shotclock or end of game) his "go-to" move is get to 10-12 feet from the hoop and fade away. He did it in the Purdue home game too. That time he pump-faked though and got an open look but it was still a fade-away along the baseline.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

FOT, you forgot one player that I'll remember for a long time who was a guard that succeeded under Tubby in his senior year, Patrick Sparks. He is a similar player to Blake in that they are both money from beyond the three-point line, but limited in putting the ball on the floor.

Quick thing on Devoe here. The kid clearly has more moves than the step-back jumper. There were a couple of times last year where he put a move on his defender, drove baseline and had a high off the glass layup. Also, he comes off screens pretty well for jumpers.

But if we're comparing Battle to Devoe offensively (who aren't very similar players IMHO), I'd take Talor right now. But remember, Devoe is a year younger, so we'll have to see how he plays in the final two years to really settle this. I think it's a wash defensively though.

Blake is a better shooter than Sparks but few are/were as good in clutch situations as Patrick. If Sparks were a few inches taller, he'd have NBA potential.

 

[EG#9]

Thanks for the practice report Daily Gopher.

On the Devoe/Talor Battle debate: I think Battle has a significantly better handle and is more explosive going towards the basket. Comparing stats is silly: Battle has been "the man" on several mediocre Penn State teams while Devoe has been in a 10 man rotation on 2 tournament teams. If Devoe and Battle switched places, Devoe's scoring average would rise and Battle's would fall.

The most disappointing thing from the Daily Gopher report was his observation that Sampson and Iverson looked "the same". I was hoping the light would go on for one of the two this year and we'd have a truly dominant college C. They both have shown flashes of being able to be that type of guy, and with 7 footers, they can improve rapidly later in their careers.

 

[Go Gophs eh?]

well, one practice isn't going to define their season. the first practice and they dont look like all world players?! heaven forbid!!

 

[98VQueens]

On the Devoe/Talor Battle debate: I think Battle has a significantly better handle and is more explosive going towards the basket. Comparing stats is silly: Battle has been "the man" on several mediocre Penn State teams...

You can scoff at the NIT, but that was a good (Championship) team. The difference is; if Battle was a Gopher the past three season he would have still been "the man".

The most disappointing thing from the Daily Gopher report was his observation that Sampson and Iverson looked "the same".

DailyGopher wrote- Iverson looked much more like the Iverson we saw in the second half of the season than the first.

Iverson's last seven games: 19 P/40, 8.1 R/40, 0.9 A/40, 3.5 B/40