UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – "Get one percent better every day" has been Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers' consistent message to his team. Going into the 2019-20 season, he's challenging the Nittany Lions to take it to another level and have a "Mamba mentality."
The title of Kobe Bryant's autobiography came up quite a bit at the Penn State men's basketball media day in the Bryce Jordan Center Monday. From podcasts and videos to motivational quotes, Chambers has shared various excerpts with Lamar Stevens, of which "Mamba Mentality" was one.
"I think Lamar is an elite player, obviously a first-team All-Big Ten player, but I want more and what more is that," said Chambers, beginning his ninth year as head coach at Penn State. "It is so small, the more that I want. If he (Lamar) goes with that Kobe Bryant 'Mamba mentality,' I think he gets there individually, but then he brings everybody with him…now you got everybody with a 'Mamba mentality' (and) that is a tough team to beat."
The Nittany Lions were hard to beat in February and March last season, going 7-3 over their last 10 Big Ten Conference games, which included wins over No. 6 Michigan and No. 17 Maryland.
"At the end of last year, I think we were one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, if not the country, and I hope to take that momentum, and bring it in," Chambers said. "We brought it this summer for sure, and we need to bring it in to nonconference play. I really believe by Lamar coming back, there was just more belief, and even more confidence that we can do something special."
The shared experiences of the 2018-19 season helped this Penn State team focus on the year ahead.
"There's never a season that's not going to have its ups and downs. I think last year we experienced the worst of it, and we were able to climb out of that, continue to play hard, continue to play Penn State basketball, and continue to come in here and get better each day. I think that we're prepared for that with the older guys we have and I don't think anything will really knock us off our course this year."
"I think we have more answers than questions," Chambers said.
The answers started coming in the spring when both Stevens and Mike Watkins announced they were returning to Penn State for their final year of eligibility. Headed into 2019-20, Chambers and the coaching staff have both a more experienced team and options.
"We have some depth at the guard, we have some depth up front," Chambers continued. "Right now, we could play 10 or 11 guys, that's today. I still haven't landed on a starting lineup. Normally it's pretty clear who the starting lineup is for me in my tenure, and now there is some great battles at the point guard spot, and the wing spot, even at the center spot."
Stevens echoed Chambers' comments.
"The biggest difference for sure is our depth," Stevens said. "We have 11 guys that could seriously play and seriously make impact. We have a lot of guys that can erupt for 20 points a game. We have guys that can get stops and rebounds. That's the biggest difference for this team. There's so many guys that can play, so many different guys that can start each night and really step up in times that we need it."
The Nittany Lions play host to Delaware in the Bryce Jordan Center for the Hoops 4 Disaster Relief charity exhibition game at noon on Sunday, Oct. 27. They'll open the season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 with nine of their first 13 games at home.
Season tickets for the 2019-20 Penn State men's basketball season are currently on sale and offer fans the best overall value. Season ticket holders enjoy several benefits, including priority purchase privileges for tickets to the Jan. 4 game at The Palestra. Student season tickets are $35 and can be purchased at gopsusports.com/mbbstudents.
Single-game tickets for the 17 home games at the Bryce Jordan Center go on sale exclusively for men's basketball season ticket holders at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8 and for Nittany Lion Club members at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 9.
For more information about new men's basketball season tickets, visit the online ticket information page or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Keep up-to-date with the latest information from Coach Patrick Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, liking the team's page on Facebook and following the team Instagram account at @pennstatembb.
