Nov. 19, 2010
Penn State Post-Game Quotes
Head Coach Ed DeChellis
I thought we played very very good defense in the second half. We had a stretch in there where after the first five minutes we were skating around and I thought from the 15:00 mark to the 8:00 mark I thought we really defended and we got some easier baskets and some breakouts and transition baskets and made some shots. We loosened things up and were able to get a lead. For those guys at the end it was kind of hard. They were going uphill for the last eight minutes.
Q: Can you talk about the performance of Jeff Brooks and Talor Battle?
A: I thought Jeff and Talor were very good offensively. I thought they both made really good decision. I thought their shot selection was really good. They did some things that don't show up in the stat line. I thought Tim Frazier did a very nice job defensively on the point guard for Fairfield who is a really good player. He bothered him all night. I thought Billy Oliver did a nice job on the inside and he's always where he is supposed to be. I thought he was pretty solid too. I thought Andrew Jones rebounded the ball well. This is going to be a good team in their league and is one that I was really concerned about. We needed to play a little bit better but I thought we made some shots offensively that opened things up.
Q: Can you talk about their defenses a little bit?
A: Yeah they were matching up and going back and forth. They did some interesting things, which was good for us. We call a man-to-man play and they would go to zone, they were in zone and we call a zone play and they go back to man. They were just trying to do some things so we just had to just run some basic stuff and attack either one. The first half it was a little harder so the guys were away from me and we can't get as many offensive calls so the second half we just went with some basic stuff.
Q: Has Jeff Brooks helped take the scoring load off of Talor Battle?
A: We've only played three games, this is a long year. There will be times when guys don't play well and other guys will have to step up and make some plays for us. But I think Jeff Brooks has done very well the first three games. My goal is to get some guys to play better and more consistently. We just want to play better each game. Talor will have to score some nights, and hopefully he won't have to score and other guys will step up. But I thought Talor Battle was really in control I thought he did a really good job.
Q: What kind of accomplishment was it for Talor Battle becoming the fourth leading scorer in Penn State history?
A: I think it is a great accomplishment. That's the kind of guy I think he is. When we recruited him we thought he could be a special player and he has really turned about to be a special player. Not only scoring but also an ambassador to the program. He's been great on campus and great in the community. I think there is more than being on some kind of scoring list. When he leaves he will have a lot of records, which will be nice, but I think people will remember him as a person. He's a great student, and a great ambassador.
Q: Did you do anything special in practice to pick up your shooting?
A: I didn't talk about the shot I talked about the preparation for shooting the basketball. I talked about our feet, I talked about our positioning when we are catching the ball, and I didn't talk about the end result. I talked about the preparation for the shot. I didn't want them thinking "we're not making any shots", my thing was let's prepare to make the shot. We worked diligently on that but sometimes it's just coming out of a slump. I don't think we shot as much as we normally shoot, I didn't want to blow their minds in a sense that we are doing all these shooting drills because we aren't shooting well. That just gets into the psyche. I just focused on the preparation for the shot.
Jeff Brooks #25
Senior Forward
Q: Can you talk about the start of this season, and how you are playing?
A: Just playing I guess, nothing special. Just going out there every night and trying to be a factor out on the floor and also being a senior leader. I try to bring some energy out there and also produce every night. As a senior I think you have to take on the roll that you are supposed to be one of those players that is supposed to go out and produce every night and that's something I want to do. Every night I just go out with the same mentality, try to have fun and be aggressive and see what happens.
Q: Can you talk about their 2-3 zone and their changing defenses?
A: Coming in to the game coach said they would play a lot of changing defenses so it was kind of weird. We thought they would start out in man, and then we saw a 2-3, and then we saw a matchup (zone) it kind of messed us up as you could tell in the first half. We didn't know what to run, we were kind of discombobulated and then we started getting into our rhythm and just run our stuff I think it worked for us. I guess like Andrew said we just stuck to our game plan after a while and stopped trying to play to them and play to our own game and it worked for us.
Q: Was there anything different about your long range shooting tonight?
A: No we just made shots (laughing). We were taking shots earlier in the season but tonight they were just falling for us. Every night they are not going to fall for us like they did tonight. You have to make up for that on the defensive end and I think tonight we did both well. We made shots and we played defense so I think that's why we came out with a good win tonight.
Andrew Jones #22
Senior Forward
Q: What was working for you guys on defense tonight?
A: We just stuck to our game plan really. Contain 3, he loves getting to the paint and kicking out for shots. And for the most part trying to keep them off of the glass because they are long and athletic. That was our game plan and it worked for us.
Q: Can you talk about the energy it gave you guys when Jeff Brooks knocked down a couple threes?
A: Whenever Jeff has been aggressive like that, whether he is hitting shots or not he is helping the team. Because usually he is shooting a high percentage shot. Whether it's a wide-open trey ball or getting to the cup those shots are easy to rebound. So whenever he is being aggressive in general whether he is making shots or taking shots he is always helping the team.
Fairfield Head Coach Ed Cooley
Opening Statement:
I think Penn State did a really good job. We looked at their last tape and they didn't shoot the ball very well from three so you have to give them credit making eight more threes than they did the last game. I thought that was the real key to this game. We wanted to rebound the ball, which I think we did. Again, we've had back-to-back games where we have been really inept on offense: not handling the ball, not passing the ball, not catching the ball. We had point-blank layups that we missed. I don't know if it was their length. Right now, we've just got a long way to go offensively. You can credit Penn State; they shot the ball really well today. It just was a lack-luster performance for us offensively. We have yet to give up 70 points but we're only scoring 50-something points a game. Defensively, I thought we did what we had to do. It kept us in the game. They had 26 points at half but you're not going to win many games on 10 assists. You're not going to win many games shooting 31 percent. Credit their defense as well, but you know, right now we're just not a very good offensive team.
Q: How difficult was it to try to stop Jeff Brooks and Talor Battle?
A: We play good players. I don't know if it was so much us having a tough time stopping them, as we were stopping ourselves so they were getting transition opportunities from our ineptness on offense. They made shots. They were very comfortable making shots. They scored in transition, not so much in the half court. When you look at their threes, I think of the nine threes they hit, seven of them were in transition. So, we didn't get back to our spots in our defense. Once you make one or two, you kind of feel good about yourselves and then when the opposing team is not playing well you just get more confidence. I don't know if it was a struggle guarding them, as it was we just weren't very good offensively and they got transition baskets.