Penn State Men's Basketball
Student-Athlete Postgame Press Conference
Vs. Virginia Tech – November 27, 2018
Lamar Stevens | F | Junior
Q: Lamar, Coach Chambers talked about how they switched you to a five on defense, how does that change your mindset when you know you're going up against a bigger guy and why do you think it worked so well for you guys tonight?
A: It doesn't really change my mindset. I just trust Coach Chambers and whatever he tells us to do because he's put in the work and he studies so much film. I listen, and we take pride in just playing defense. I think it worked for us because we were able to switch one through five and they weren't able to attack a five man off a ball screen. Instead I got to guard them, and I feel like I can guard one through five.
Q: Can you take us through the final two minutes there. It seemed pretty crazy at the end. What were the conversations like going on in the huddle and what were you telling your teammates, especially playing with a bunch of young freshmen in a big game against a ranked opponent at the end?
A: I just reminded them that we were going to win this game. We'd been doing everything it takes to put ourselves in a position to win and everyone stepped up. I was just encouraging them – telling them to keep playing hard, one more stop, one more rebound and they did that.
Q: Mike Watkins' numbers don't jump out offensively, but he made a clear impact on the defensive end of the floor. How much does it help knowing that you have an elite interior defender playing behind you?
A: It helps big time. Mike is a great player. He can impact the game in many ways. He's either scoring or on defense. Having him back is a great relief for us. I know it's a relief for John [Harrar] because he doesn't have to play that many minutes.
Q: Tough loss against DePaul, tough loss against Bradley, big win tonight. What goes through the emotion in the locker room when you got back?
A: It was so much excitement. We all put the work in. We know what we are capable of, and I think we are starting to find that slowly but surely. We are enjoying ourselves, trying to take it one game at a time and enjoying the win.
Q: Myreon Jones hadn't played a lot of minutes and kind of struggled in the first couple games of the season. What was it like seeing him have a breakout performance tonight?
A: We all knew it was going to come, we were just waiting on it. We knew he was going to erupt in a big way, and he did. He came out. He's an extremely confident player and he works really hard so he deserves moments like this.
Q: In the last five minutes Virginia Tech had more turnovers than field goals made. What were you guys doing down the stretch that seemed to put them on the fritz?
A: I think when they switched me to the five it messed up their game plan. I thought that was a great decision by coach. It got them out of their flow and we were able to really pressure the ball. I think Josh [Reeves] came up with big plays, Jamari [Wheeler] did and John too. It was a total team effort.
Q: Congrats on the win, I just have to ask, do you like the pink and black jerseys?
A: Absolutely, do you like them?
(I love them)
LS: Me too.
Q: How nice is it to have a game where you're not as efficient offensively as you would like to be, but everyone around you is able to pick you up, especially since so far this year you have scored so many points every single game?
A: I think it's a great testament to how good of a team we can really be. We have so much depth and when everybody is really clicking we are a big time team. No team can ever sleep on us with as much firepower as we have. I think it really showed how good we can be.