RECAP | BOX SCORE | JOSH REAVES QUOTES | PHOTO GALLERY
Penn State Men's Basketball
Head Coach Patrick Chambers
vs. Colgate – December 8, 2018
Opening Statement
"I knew Colgate was really good and I've known Matt Langel since he was a player at Penn. They're very well coached to their system, good big men who could shoot it, really good guards. I thought we did a really good job on their point guard, who's really been their leading scorer and a tough guard to defend and we did a good job on him. Last time [Will] Rayman was here, he had 30 or so and we chopped that in half so that's a positive. I thought his scheme was great. He really tried to keep our freshmen guards off-balance and continued to change defenses, man to man, 1-3-1, 3-2, just mixing it up to keep us off balance. That definitely worked in the second half but it was good to see Mike out there. He's still at 55-60 percent and he really impacted the game today getting 23 minutes. He has that ability to score the basketball and we knew that and I've challenged him the last few days. Nice to see us score over 70, nice to see us make some free throws and we got timely stops in the last three minutes which we practiced. And our defense did a nice job."
Q: Could you tell us why Mike [Watkins] started? How important was that for him to be productive in a closer game than opposed to a blowout?
A: I knew this wasn't going to be a blowout; they're too lethal from behind the arc and they have too many shooters on the floor. They're like Bucknell; they remind me a lot of Bucknell with Dave Paulsen. It was huge. We started him because we wanted to keep him going when he started getting cold. I talked to John [Harrar] because John's been playing fantastic and I told him I want to try this to keep him loose and keep him ready to go and I think it worked for the most part. He still has to trust it, I felt like there was a big jump was that lob dunk late. It was great to see him hit critical free throws in crunch time so that was a big confidence boost for him and for our team. Lamar [Stevens] had a double-double but I didn't think he looked like Lamar. He looked a little tired, to be truthful, because we've asked him to do everything. So it was big that Mike stepped up for us.
Q: What do you think about Rasir [Bolton] playing calmer and more within himself today?
A: I thought he played at a great pace and our team shared the ball. 15 assists is great though I thought it would be more. Josh [Reaves] went for five. We found him and he had his feet ready, we've talked the last couple days about being down and ready to shoot. The prep work then leads to made shots and I felt like we did that today, he did that specifically.
Q: What does it mean for Mike's confidence that when the offense isn't at its best, you trust him to get baskets and get out of a little bit of a rut?
A: It not only helps his confidence but it helps the team. If we're struggling to make threes or to make shots, we have some very reliable to throw the ball to and man was he effective.
Q: You mentioned Lamar [Stevens] looking tired. Were you trying to get Lamar less involved because the defense wasn't allowing it or was his usage not much of a concern?
A: It's not a concern right now but after the last few weeks of him doing it all, you can see he looked a little fatigued and you're right I do have to get him out for a couple minutes here and there. I like Trent [Buttrick], he's been playing really well in practice. I just have to find Trent a couple more minutes here and there but Lamar's been a do-all guy for us and on his worst day he still gets a double-double.
Q: Were the turnovers a result of the zone defense they were playing or trying to press when some shots weren't falling?
A: It was probably a little bit of both. Our guys were trying to make plays and do the right things but we get a little too cute and try and make hero plays instead of playing simple and solid and shooting open shots instead of passing up trying to do something spectacular to wow the crowd. We'll give them credit; a little bit of both, them changing it up on the freshman guards and us trying to be too cute.
Q: You mentioned that the two Big Ten games were sort of a way to benchmark the things you had to work on. What are you trying to do over the next four games in terms of the feedback you go there?
A: I like our defense, I like where we're at there. Obviously we did a heck of a job rebounding today. I want to play with more pace and tempo, I think we have to push the ball more, we've got great speed with Rasir [Bolton}, Jamari [Wheeler} and Josh Reaves, Lamar [Stevens}, Mike [Watkins], MJ (Myreon Jones) who's sneaky fast and even Myles [Dread]. I think we got great speed and I think we have to use it on the offensive end and play with more energy and pace to put defenses on their heels. Maybe put a group out there that's starting to get cohesive. I'm still mixing with lineups and I just changed the starting lineup today. So hopefully we could settle in on a starting lineup and settle on a rotation.
Q: How do you get guys better at those fast break situations? Because obviously you are really good at the million-miles-a-minute scenario, but at the same time you see kind of the segments where the ball is falling out of bounds, how do you get good at something that fast?
A: That's why you have 16 turnovers because we try to play fast. You work on it at practice. Josh [Reaves] can tell you, we just did it on Thursday. We played at an incredible pace on Thursday and we didn't go very long, only went about 70 or 80 minutes, but we played at an incredible pace. Just to get the ball up the floor, we call three trips. See where we are and see the discussion making. Fast is slow. We might have been a little too fast in certain possessions today, and that is where you saw some turnovers, but we have to keep working on that because I think it really benefits Lamar [Stevens] because they can't load up to him and then Lamar has more space because he commands a double team every game he plays, and that must be frustrating for him too.
Q: What are the challenges coaching when you are up by 19 in the first half and you have to keep it going?
A: It's a great challenge with a young, youthful group. Josh [Reaves] was great during one of those timeouts when they started coming back because we kind of took our foot off the pedal a little bit where we need that killer instinct to put a team away. 19 should go to 25, and that's a learning process. I'll flip it on you, when we have been down these guys have dug deep and got us back to a one possession game. We have that piece and now we have to learn how to do this piece. The schedule we put together is a gauntlet, it is really difficult.
Q: Rasir [Bolton's] performance today was really important as far as getting the win, but what can this do for him moving forward having this type of efficiency?
A: He is going to have to move up the list on the scouting report, I can tell you that. Lamar [Stevens] is probably the top guy on the list, Rasir has to move up, and now you have to worry about Mike Watkins too, and they already know about Josh [Reaves]. There are a lot of guys out there that they are going to worry about and that is going to create a lot of space for us, which is exactly what we need. We need space out there for guys to make plays on the offensive end. Keep getting better, one percent better that is our goal.
Q: You have a week off, can you talk about what you are going to do and does it come at a good time?
A: We have study hours the next couple days because obviously they have exams. Tuesday we will do some individuals. Wednesday we will go back to full team. Thursday, full team, but not really taxing maybe just 60 minutes just to make sure we stay in shape. Friday, we really have to get back to it because we have a really good NC State team at two o'clock on Saturday. It did come at the right time, and I think we would all agree. We are 5-4, which is where we are and we are supposed to be where we are right now. We have a lot of growing pains, we have got a lot of stuff to learn, but this is the perfect time to get a couple days off to get reacclimated and take care of academics then come back hard in a few days.
Q: Kind of off topic, you honored Patrick Moore out there today, what does that mean to you and the rest of the program?
A: I was distracted a little bit truthfully. I could actually hear the fans cheering for him, which was awesome. He means the world to us. He is at practice every day, he is one of our managers, he works in the offices. He was actually a little sick a few weeks ago. We were very concerned, everybody was calling and texting him making sure he was alright. He is a big part of our family, and we love him very much.
Q: Lamar said after the last game that he felt like he needed to do more or wanted to do more, how do you get him satisfied with what he is doing and not constantly thinking about how he has to carry more and more of the load?
A: You know what I think he is going to do? He is going to look at this box score and watch this game and say that he can trust these guys. He can trust Rasir [Bolton], he already trusts Josh [Reaves], and now he is going to trust Mike [Watkins] again, which is fantastic. So he has a couple guys out there that he really trusts, and they earned his trust too. It is all between the ears. You can't beat yourself and you can't be stressed out with every shot attempt or every missed assignment on defense, you have to keep playing to get better, keep playing hard, keep competing, and he did. To get a double-double is fantastic when he didn't have a great shooting night.
Q: Myles [Dread] has struggled in the past five games. What is his confidence like right now and how has the team been getting him to stay confident with a shot even when his three-point shots aren't falling?
A: Really simple, defending rebounds, and he is doing that. He is a big body. He was in there playing 25 in the post and that's why right now he is in the starting position. I have been able to play different defenses with him, and he is very reliable and well coached. He is going to body some of these guys where Rasir [Bolton] is a little bit thinner and MJ (Myreon Jones) is a little bit thinner, they have a little way to go with that. I am still very confident in Myles Dread.