Penn State Men's Basketball
Head Coach Pat Chambers
vs. Virginia Tech – November 27, 2018
Opening Statement
I want to give credit to Virginia Tech. Buzz [Williams] does a great job and they have really good players. Justin Robinson's one of the best point guards in the country. I knew it was going to be difficult to defend him. He really makes them go. I was really proud of the way we responded in that second half. We gave up 37. To only give up, to one of the high scoring teams, only 25 points. It's Penn State basketball. We were defending. We were rebounding. We were all over the floor. Our sophomores really stepped up. I think John [Harrar] felt better that Mike [Watkins] was back, so he could really go out there and play care free, not worry about fouling. I thought Jamari Wheeler really set the tempo for our toughness on the defensive end. What can you say about your freshman Myreon Jones? I told you guys this kid's nickname is "Buckets." I just knew it was only a matter of time before he'd see the ball go in. It was nice to see Ra[sir] [Bolton], as well, make some shots after struggling the last couple of games. I think it was a total team effort. I am really proud of our leadership. Lamar Stevens was unbelievable and incredibly unselfish.
Q: Buzz Williams mentioned that Mike Watkins was a game changer, can you talk about his involvement on the court changes the game for the team?
A: Like I just said, I think Mike changed John. I think Mike changed Jamari a little bit. Where they know that they could play care free and know that they have Mike coming in the game or Mike being out there. Jamari can take a little bit more chances. He can play a little bit tougher, a little bit more physical. Obviously, rebounding has been a little bit of an Achilles' heel, and Mike played 20 or 21 minutes and had seven rebounds. His ability to protect the rim really helped us in the second half. But, you can see he's got a long way to go to be in shape and the habits we need to form for Mike to be who he was toward the end of last year. But again, I think he's helped our team and their confidence.
Q: You mentioned the second half response, what was your approach to level your guys out and get back?
A: It was the same approach that it was at Bradley. One possession at a time. That's all we talked about. One possession at a time. We knew they're going to go on runs. We're going to go on runs. I didn't see any bad body language in the huddles. I saw Lamar really stepping up talking to everybody. That's what we needed. We needed our guys to take ownership at that point. We got the stops that we needed and we started to see the ball go through the basket.
Q: You can preach all you want about defense winning games no matter what happens offensively, but how important was it to see it in this game because both teams were struggling down the stretch and for you guys to be able to pull it out defensively?
A: It's huge as we continue to develop and become the best team that we can be as the season goes along and prepare us for the Big Ten play this Saturday. To be able to win, and it was a little bit ugly at times, which I don't mind ugly. I want to defend. I want to rebound. I want to dive. I want to take charges. All that good stuff. But, we made the necessary plays. I think it gives our team, gives our leaders tremendous confidence in what we're doing.
Q: You talk about how it was ugly a little bit. It was like a street fight a little bit, I know that is kind of cliché. How did you guys react to being in that type of game? I know younger kids may lose their cool, but it didn't seem like they did.
A: It's a good point. Sometimes we also talk about street fights or rock fight and we use those clichés all the time. We knew it was going to happen. I think Saturday's and Sunday's practices prepared us. Wright State. DePaul. Wright State. Bradley. Prepared us to be successful in this game. To not let anything get to us, just the next play, next possession, next stop, next rebound. Keep sharing the ball on offense. I felt like in the huddles these guys were so in tune, so dialed in and that's what it's going to have to be as we progress here as the season goes on.
Q: What is your defensive strategy of matching Lamar instead of John Harrar against Kerry Blackshear Jr. on the post and why do you think it worked so well?
A: It really wasn't about that match up but it was about Robinson. Everything was about Robinson for me. Another cliché, we wanted to cut the head off. We blitzed them a little bit and we got the balls out of his hands, but when we switched with the five it wasn't a good match up. That moved Lamar onto the five and Josh Reaves on to Robinson. When they did run a ball screen, I felt very good about it and when the wanted to go post-iso with [Kerry Blackshear], I felt like Lamar could cover one through five. He is one of our best post defenders, I felt good about it.
Q: Despite Mike not being as conditioned as the rest of the team, were you surprised that Mike Watkins didn't try to switch to defending guards throughout the game?
A: When Mike is in the game that is not going to be our defense. We got to stay home and be solid.
Q: Was this the best defensive performance you've had here at Penn State?
A: I would say the second half. That goal is to play 40 minutes of Penn State basketball. Each guy has 200 minutes. We have to maximize those 200 minutes. I would say the 20 minutes in the second half looked pretty good to me.
Q: Myreon Jones saw a career high in minutes tonight. What would you say his mentality was after he saw some of his shots go through and what is the impact of having three freshmen stepping up and making plays early on in the season?
A: It's great to have that luxury of these guys. It would be nice if they all played great together, that would be fantastic. MJ [Myreon Jones] has had really good practices. He stayed the course when his minutes were in single digits. I'll go back to Saturday and Sunday, I thought he was fantastic. Even down in Cancun he had a very good attitude and very good approach. I saw the ball go through the basket for him and it was only a matter of time and we saw it tonight.
Q: What does it say about your team when Lamar shoots 6-of-16 and is still able to beat a ranked opponent?
A: It says there is a chance that we might have some depth. Which is great, but we just need to get Josh Reaves going. I think that as we progress here, we have the making of a very good basketball team this year.
Q: What do you learn about your players when Josh isn't out on the floor making defensive plays when the game is close?
A: It's hard when that happens. It happened in the first couple games here if you recall. He didn't play the first whole half. I think it was Jacksonville State, if I'm correct. So, we've experienced it in games. We work on it in practice, but to be able to do it and find success, and be only down by two, just shows we're getting a little bit better each day.
Q: How do you think your younger guys handled this close game in spite of all the foul trouble and all the replays the refs watched mid-game?
A: Great learning experience. Great confident boost going into two Big Ten games. Really executed our four minute defense at the end of the game, almost to perfection. I still have to watch the film. I'm sure I missed something but again, it goes back to having great leadership and guys were dialed in and very focused. We got big rebounds when we needed to.
Q: You guys were able to keep Virginia Tech to six 3-point attempts in the second half versus the first half where they went 8-of-13. What did you do differently in the second half?
A: I thought that we communicated at half time. It wasn't any great, bigtime adjustment, it was just communicating a little bit better and trusting each other. It was something that we worked a little bit on Saturday and Sunday. We did a better job of that and then we made the adjustment of sending Lamar to the five. I think that really helped us out.
Q: Virginia Tech only played seven of their players today with only four of them scoring. How does that change the style of your defensive play?
A: Well to me it was all about Justin Robinson. Like I said, I think he's one of the best point guards in the country and is one if the toughest kids. I recruited him in high school and man, he has passed all expectations. I thought that we had to slow him down in the second half and I think we did a good job of that.
Q: How important is it to go into Big Ten play with a ranked win and what does that do to your team's confidence going into this weekend?
A: I think that we are getting closer of who we need to be with Mike Watkins back. I felt like we had good reps down in Cancun. I was really proud of the way we competed. I think the team that we envisioned to be is that Wright State game where defensively we locked down and looked good offensively. We just have to keep getting better. I don't want to get too far ahead here. I want our guys to enjoy tonight and enjoy this victory. We will start working on Big Ten play as it approaches on Saturday. We have a lot of room for growth and we can get a heck of a lot better. Even if we dropped this game, I still think that we can go on and still be a very good team.
Q: Is Myles Dread okay? We saw him on the bike earlier in the game and saw different rotations as the game played out.
A: I just want them to play as hard as they can, for as long as they can. I wanted to use as many guys as possible.