COACH CHAMBERS QUOTES | POSTGAME NOTES | COACH PIKIELL QUOTES | RECAP
Penn State Men's Basketball
Student Athlete Postgame Press Conference
vs. Rutgers – January 26, 2019Lamar Stevens | Forward | Senior
Q: I think you heard me ask Pat [Chambers] about turnovers by the veteran guys. What is it that you guys have to do better in that regard? And are you pressing people a little bit as three veterans are out there?
A: We need everybody to step up and play every game. Our freshman are playing good. Like you said, we need more from our veterans. Nobody played a perfect game. I had 21, but I missed two free throws. I'm sure I could've grabbed more rebounds. You look at Josh's [Reaves] stat line, of course he could've played much better. Mike [Watkins] too.
Q: These young guys that have yet to experience a win in the Big Ten. Your freshman year, you had some troubles as well. What are you, Josh [Reaves], and Mike [Watkins] saying to them? Because obviously as athletes that can be tough but you have to want to come back.
A: We have a great team. We have a great group of guys who are just hungry to win. It hasn't really been a challenge. Everybody is mad that we lost, but like Coach said, everybody wants to win. So we have to keep going, getting back in the gym, keep working on our game, and hopefully we'll get over that hump.
Q: Pat told us the other day that you guys were prepared for Geo [Baker] and the challenges that he would bring. What specifically made him so tough tonight?
A: He's a good player. He made some tough shots. He made his free throws. He's confident. He's a good player and good players play.
Q: How do you get young guys to keep believing?
A: Just knowing that when you watch the film, you realize how close you are. We have lost a lot of one-possession games where if we did this or that, or grabbed a rebound or made a free throw, we would've won the game. That's what they're starting to realize. Like 'Dang, I didn't notice every possession does matter in the Big Ten.' It's really just a learning experience for them. They're learning and getting better each game.
Q: When you go back and look at some of those possessions, the rebounds or the free throws, the things you can control, what do you think the ratio is between things that are out of your hands and stuff that when you look on film you go, "we could've done this better and it would've gone better for us"?
A: I would say that there's a lot more things that are in our control that you may not see. If we executed this play right or stuck to our defensive principles on this play and it would've been a stop or something might've changed, you don't know how the ball would've bounced, but if you would've done it properly you would've been in a proper position and it might've been tougher for them and easier for us.
Q: Lamer you had 16 of your 21 in the second half and all of your free throws came in the second half as well. How much does getting to the free throw line help you get you motivated when you see the ball go in the hoop.
A: Helps me a lot because I'm a very aggressive player. When I get to the free throw line it helps build my confidence.
Q: Off the court there are kids and families battling a lot harder struggles. Talk about THON and how special today was and what's going around that and what it's like to be part of that as an athlete.
A: Today was a great day. Just coming out onto the court during shootaround and pregame and seeing all the colors (of the THON T-shirts) and then seeing the kids who have lives much harder than us. We're just playing basketball and we lost a game. They're battling every day. Today was really special for all of us. I'm so thankful for the support that we got, the fans who came out to support such a great cause. It was a really magical day.