March 9, 2006
Times are good for the Nittany Lions in Indianapolis. With their 18-point pounding of Northwestern, the Lions got their first win ever in Conseco Fieldhouse, first in five years in the Big Ten Tournament and largest margin of victory ever in the tournament. Now comes the No. 1 seeded Buckeyes...
The day started with an early 8:00 a.m. breakfast on the fifth floor of the Embassy Suites. As the coaches are known to do, the time was moved up from 8:30 (got to stay on your toes), but players showed little signs of the early morning wake up call as talk was lively and players were loose as they dined on a spread of French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, fruits and pastries. Their bellies filled and spirits high (except for a notably tired Ben Luber who was fighting the affects of a virus), the Lions then adjourned to the adjoining room for a walk through on a make shift court taped down by managers the night before.
Apparently the walk through went well as the Nittany Lions handled Northwestern with ease defeating the Wildcats for the third time on the year and by a successively greater margin each time. It was a considerably less than full Conseco Fieldhouse that greeted Penn State for the game (the norm for the early first game of the tournament), but the Nittany Lion faithful were there, in the first several rows behind the bench and on the opposite side of the floor, and made plenty of noise. Several parents and family were in attendance, including those of Geary Claxton, Jamelle Cornley, Mike Walker and Ben Luber.
As the Nittany Lions warmed up, ESPN commentators Brent Musburger and Steve Lavin familiarized themselves with a team they had heard much about but had not yet seen in person. They then made their way back to the locker room for a private chat with Head Coach Ed DeChellis. Musburger has been very generous with his praise of DeChellis on the year, at one point calling him "my choice for Big Ten Coach of the Year." Smiles, handshakes and laughs were frequent as they got down to the business of getting the nitty gritty on the Lions. Meanwhile, assistant coach Kurt Kanaskie may have gotten the better end of the bargain as he chatted with sideline reporter Erin Andrews as they stood side-by-side watching the Lions go through lay-up drills.
Following the Lions dismantling of the Wildcats, Coach DeChellis had a quick on-air chat with Andrews before heading to the locker room to commend his troops on a well-played game and remind them "your highlight is yet to come." DeChellis also twice called for a round of applause for the "purple team" (Penn State's scout team name for the week) that helped prepare Penn State so well for the Wildcats 1-3-1 and press defense. Then it was off to the interview room where DeChellis, Claxton and Travis Parker climbed a four foot high podium to address about 20 reporters, many asking about the signs of a program on the rise. According to NCAA rules, Penn State's locker room is then open to reporters for 30 minutes, a first for many players including Milosh Bogetic who on several occasions asked if the circumstance would mean he would be seen out of uniform, and in a manner indicating he didn't mind showing off his "chiseled" physique. After reporters departed, a TV in the locker room allowed players to gather and watch the closing seconds of Syracuse's upset of UConn in the Big East Tournament. You gotta love March Madness, and they do.
Then it was back to the hotel. The coaches immediately got to work trying to figure out how to beat Ohio State on Friday. Coach DeChellis and assistants Kurt Kanaskie, Hilliary Scott and Dan Earl gathered around a film projector in the Lions fifth floor meeting room and reviewed tape of the Lions' last loss to Ohio State and Northwestern's game against the Buckeyes, among others, as they analyzed how the Buckeyes would attack a zone defense. They would work up until a break for dinner at 6:30 and then back at it again until a team meeting and snack at 9:30 p.m. Then it was lights out and cell phones collected at 11 p.m. and a good nights rest until they do it all over again starting 8:00 a.m. Friday.
March 8, 2006 - Photo Gallery
And we're off...
the Penn State men's basketball team put it quest for a Big Ten Tournament title and a post-season bid on the move Wednesday as the Nittany Lions boarded a Delta chartered jet and made a quick one hour flight to Indianapolis where they will take on Northwestern at noon on Thursday in the tournaments opening game.
The Nittany Lions put in two hours of practice in the morning at the Bryce Jordan Center, still working on the finer points of exploiting the Wildcats 1-3-1 zone defense and full-court press. With the scout team dressed in purple jerseys and Keith Hardin mimicking Wildcat leading scorer Vedran Vukusic, Coach Ed DeChellis and the staff put the Lions through a spirited practice removing any lingering rust following the Lions' first weekend off since December. The Lions then lunched on subs in the south gym before boarding the bus for University Park Airport at 1:15 p.m.
It was full plane of 45 passengers that headed to Indy. Athletic Director Tim Curley, several athletic staff members and family members, including Coach DeChellis' wife, Kim, and daughters, Erin and Lauren, joined the usual traveling party. Never short on food, passengers were offered a chicken sandwich and a bag full of pasta salad, Doritos, trail mix, M&M's, and everyone's favorite Tasty Cakes to curb in-flight hunger and Gatorades and bottled water to fight thirst. One quickly learns that elite athletes consume massive quantities of calories, for everyone else it's a test of will to keep from growing a tire around the mid-section. During team travel, coordinating and providing food is a prime concern for the staff and head managers, Pete and Adam, and not far from the minds of players.
A notoriously agitated flyer, freshman Milos Bogetic passes the flight watching a Japanese horror movie. "It has English subtitles," he assures. A fan of gore and suspense, who knows where Bogetic found such a movie, but it's probably better than the remake of the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" he entertained himself with in the Lions last trip to Iowa. Sophomore Mike Walker entertains himself perusing the latest Sports Illustrated, notably the player polls from each of the major conferences. Can't say if he agrees with the pick of Michigan State's Paul Davis as the "Biggest Cry Baby" or Illinois' Dee Brown as the "Biggest Trash Talker" in the Big Ten, but one would think he might argue with the selection of Illinois' Assembly Hall as the "Toughest Place To Play" given his three late three-pointers and the Lions 66-65 upset of the Illini earlier this year in Champaign.
The plane lands in a wet and dreary Indianapolis. Maybe hoping to change their luck, the Lions have never won a Big Ten Tournament game when it has been held in Indianapolis, Penn State changed its hotel from The Omni to the Embassy Suites. It's a nice hotel with each room door opening out to a vertigo inducing, 18-story atrium. This is bad news for recent All-Big Ten selection Geary Claxton who groans when he gets his key for his 12th floor room, preferring, contrary to his on court exploits, to stay closer to the ground.
"Dinner is at 6:00 p.m.," Director of Operations Eldon Price announces, meanwhile players talk of hitting "White Castle" or "Steak & Shake" in between. There will be a team meeting and snack at 9:30 p.m. (usually pizza) and then cell phones are collected and the lights turned out at 11:00 p.m. Wake up call is at 8:00 a.m., breakfast at 8:30, then, their calorie tank needles pegged on full and well rested, the Lions will head to Conseco Fieldhouse to put it all on the floor.