Penn State Men's Basketball
Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles Postgame Press Conference
vs. Nebraska– February 19, 2019
Q: Tim, can you talk about the way Lamar Stevens played and how difficult is he when he's hitting those three-point shots, which really hasn't been his thing?
A: He's a very difficult matchup for everybody involved. He's a strong player, takes contact, still gets into his shot, finishes shot. Then when he steps out and makes his first two three-pointers, now you're jumpy. He's so good at driving the basketball, and that's what makes things tough. He can drive it, you can be a little bit behind on the play, try and lean on him a little bit and it really doesn't matter.
Q: Tim, coming into this one did you expect Penn State to shoot as well as they did from the three and in general from the field.
A: I think you have to credit them for shooting that well. Their ball movement was really good, their guys stepped into their shots, they hit deep ones, they hit contested ones, they hit uncontested one. I think Pat Chambers did an excellent job having those guys ready to roll.
Q: With Rasir Bolton, what did you see from him, and coming into the game was he someone you were trying to take away?
A: Absolutely. He and Myles Dread are right there when it comes to three-point shooting, especially. You can't give him any space. You have to be able to get up into him, make him play in a crowd, make him feel your physicality, and any time he got away from us he made us pay. I think you have to credit Penn State, the way they came in and operated offensively. When a team is so strong on the three-point line like they were tonight, you're not going to beat them. I thought in the second half when we were able to make a little run, get some offense going, we made our first three, then Jamari Wheeler made some hidden plays with some offensive rebounds that kept possessions alive for them, that really was important for Penn State.
Q: How much of the first half scoring woes for you guys did you feel like was because of Penn State's defense versus what you guys were doing?
A: Pat [Chambers] always has them ready to play hard and physical. Their defense didn't surprise me a lot. I thought we were good against their press, thought we organized well and attacked. I thought we weren't as good in the straight half-court later. One of the guys described our performance as lackadaisical in the first half. When the guys self-describe it like that, that's usually a problem.
Q: Tim, you mentioned Jamari Wheeler's effort on the court tonight, is he kind of like a hidden gem for Penn State, someone who doesn't get enough credit?
A: Yeah, he appears to be a total team guy. A guy that's willing to do all the dirty work, play defense, find an offensive rebound, pick up full-court. If you're going to knock him around and screen him he just keeps fighting. I would say I'm very impressed with his energy and the things he brings to Penn State.
Q: Tim, you've gone against a guy like Josh Reaves for a number of years now, what is it about him that makes him so versatile on the defensive end?
A: While I think he reads the ball better than anybody. He's so dangerous in how he springs to the ball. He must be a smart, smart player. You've really got to try and manipulate it around at times, and be careful with him because if you try and organize yourself, he can make you pay. He's been a kid that's been very impressive. He made threes at our place. I don't think he did tonight, I don't recall maybe he hit one late. I think he's improved his overall game too. He's such a high-level athlete with such good instincts, he makes Penn State dangerous.
Q: Tim, Tanner [Borchardt] got into foul trouble pretty early in the first-half, how did that change your rotations and the way you went about the game from there?
A: Unfortunately, we had to go small which weakens us on the glass, and without [Isaac] Copeland who is our leading rebounder, that worries you. We put Brady [Heiman] in who's a freshman, he was going to redshirt originally but we had to play him. What it did was made us go smaller, and unless you're going to make a whole bunch of threes, you're not going to make a team pay by going small.