Penn State Men's Basketball
UMBC Head Coach Ryan Odom
vs. UMBC - December 29, 2018
Q: What are your overall thoughts on today's game? I think there were nine lead changes over the first 13 minutes and then Penn State kind of took control.
A: Yeah, no doubt. Their physicality was the biggest thing, the biggest problem on defense for us to be able to attack them on offense. Their bodies are big, they got us into some one-on-one situations where they, just quite honestly, did a really good job of staying between us and the basket and we couldn't really get in there. We had some success early on with our ball screen offense and being able to get downhill and I thought our guards made some good plays and reads and we were able to stay in the game because we moved it a little bit faster. And then defensively, you know, the guys were energized and they played toe-to-toe for the better part of 12 minutes there in the first half. As all good teams do, and Penn State's a very good team, they're one of the best top-50 defensive teams in the country, I don't know what their exact number is but they're really good. They began to grab hold of the game late in that first half and a lot of it was knocking balls loose and getting out in transition. Certainly [Lamar] Stevens made some big plays, they made some timely threes, they had some execution baskets on some of their plays, their go-to plays, they made two threes on which was disappointing for us but, you know, that's why they're go-to plays.
Q: What did the scout tell you about [Rasir] Bolton when you guys were looking at him?
A: I mean [he's a] really good shooter. [He's] a guy that can kind of do both - he's a good handler and he can shoot the basketball. We talked to our guys about not just playing our cards early and going underneath the ball screens too early where he can feel room and rhythm and be able to knock it down. He got one in transition, he got a couple on kick-outs. They've got a good mix of being able to throw it into the post and pound it in there, but then they've also got enough shooters to be able to make you a little wary about running down in there every time to help.
Q: Does [Lamar] Stevens kind of fall into that category?
A: Yeah, no doubt. They made smart plays throughout, getting the ball inside - certainly to him. He's a guy that can face-up, kind of an old-school power forward where he can play facing the basket and play off the dribble, play in recoveries when other guys are coming back at him he can beat you off the dribble and go make a play, but he's also a good player in the post. He didn't turn it over in the post. We went after him some but he calmly made passes out of there and they were able to get good looks out of that. The two big guys, you know, they're just big, physical players. They do a good job inside as well. In the second half I thought our defense was a little bit better and then they would come up with timely rebounds. The ball would get tipped around, and it's kind of demoralizing, deflating when that happens.
Q: Talk about Jose [Placer]. You got him off the bench.
A: Jose was good. Certainly in the first half he came in energized, came in and played well and gave us a lift there. There was kind of a moment in that segment when he was there where he was making some shots and the ball was moving, and I thought he did a nice job running the team at that point.
Q: Talk about how steady Joe [Sherburne] has been for you.
A: Joe's been excellent all year. We need him to be. For sure, he's a leader of the team and a guy we talk on heavily.