Big Ten First Look: Penn State

In 2010, Penn State was the thinnest team in the Big Ten – their five starters all averaged over thirty minutes per game, and only a sixth player made an appearance in each game – this team was more reliant on it’s starting five than any in the conference. The problem, of course, is that most of them were seniors. Between all-conference selections Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks, third scorer David Jackson, and offensive-rebounding force Andrew Jones, Penn State loses 49 points per game and 21 rebounds with virtually nobody with experience ready to fill in the blanks. In the off-season, Penn State also replaced Ed DeChellis – figuring that losing most of your roster is the best time to change schemes. So what returns? Most importantly, the Nittany Lions return point-guard Tim Frazier. As a sophomore, Frazier was not much of a scorer (his eFG% a paltry 46%), but he was an effective game manager, with his assists nearly doubling his turnovers. He also was Penn State’s most effective ball...