Penn State Basketball Needs to Put Ball in One Players Hands Much More Than It Has

Penn State obviously lost a big-time player with Kayden Mingo during the offseason, with the hope that he and his brother, Dylan Mingo, were going to end up at Penn State.

Both brothers ended up going to Baylor, a decision that we really can't blame them for. At the end of the day, Baylor is a much better basketball program than Penn State, and playing for Scott Drew means something. 

It also led me to the question about how Penn State was going to look offensively at times. The Nittany Lions definitely have improved on both sides of the basketball entering this year, and look to be a team that might be a bit of a sleeper in the Big Ten. 

Not to say that Penn State is going to have a chance to win a national championship or compete in the Big Ten at a very high level, but it's going to be a much better team than it was a year ago. The one question it now has to answer is whether it can get some decent guard play to do what it was able to do last season with Kaden controlling the offense. 

There was a lot of hope that a guy like Jay Rodgers, the Central Connecticut State transfer, could possibly be that guy.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Rodgers is going to be that just yet.

“But what Rhoades neglected to do was effectively replace Mingo’s playmaking. Sure, he wasn’t efficient, but he was shouldering a huge playmaking load along with Freddie Dilione V. This year, primarily surrounded by three-and-D wings and glass cleaners in Juric and Roko Prkacin, Rhoades tasked St. Bonaventure transfer Dasonte Bowen and Central Connecticut transfer Jay Rodgers as his primary initiators. Perhaps needless to say, it hasn’t gone well.

“Not every play can make the jump up from the mid-major level, and even fifth- and sixth-year vets in Bowen and Rodgers looked to be seriously limited in what they can do off the bounce against Power Conference athletes. They can’t get penetration and struggle to create shots for themselves or for others,” Josh Yourish wrote.

While I completely understand what Yourish said here, I also think it's important to say that Rodgers hasn't really been given an opportunity to do so. He's only played 9.3 minutes per game, for whatever reason, and looks like a guy who can break down a defense.

We also have to remember that last year at Central Connecticut State, he averaged 6.9 assists and wasn't exactly a turnover machine with 2.7 turnovers per game. 

For a Penn State team that looks like it can use some shot creation, I'm a bit surprised to see Mike Rhoades going in this direction. It remains uncertain if that's going to change and he's going to get a bigger role eventually, but it feels like it's only a matter of time before they put the ball in his hands more.