Penn State Men's Basketball
Head Coach Pat Chambers
vs. Bucknell – November 19, 2019
Opening Statement: First, I have such incredible respect for Bucknell and what Coach Davis does. I mean that game, anytime I put it on the schedule, it's always a tough 48 hours because the weirdest things happen when Penn State plays Bucknell. It's the 104th game, right? Wow, pretty amazing. Just as the kid [Avi] Toomer just got back from injury and I knew that they had some really incredible firepower, so we definitely didn't take them lightly. I thought our defense in the second half was unbelievable. We had a really good job in stances, really communicating, and limiting them to one shot. I mean, they got a few but they were dead ball. I thought Lamar Stevens showed why he's a candidate for Player of the Year and All-American. He really stepped up and his energy, his effort and his enthusiasm has really dominoed through the rest of the team. I want to give to Jamari Wheeler a shoutout, he was so banged up. He hurt his elbow and was laying on the couch at halftime and I was asking 'Can he go'? He said 'Coach I'm definitely going, I gotta go.' So he's got ice everywhere. He's got ice on his knees and hips. I just looked at him saying man winning hurts, winning hurts. But really, really impressed with our second 20 minutes.
Q: What do you take out of the first half, but, from your perspective defensively they obviously move the ball well. It didn't look like you were moving quite quickly enough to cover.
A: Yeah, I agree and they play with great pace and tempo, much like Georgetown did. I felt like we were on our heels a little bit and they definitely had that momentum. Fortunately, we have some firepower that we can score the basketball this year and then we had to make some adjustments at halftime. Maybe we do a little bit more switching than I would like, because I really want to stick with our foundation of man-to-man. We did some things to really disrupt and I thought we communicated and we just did a better job. Again, four days off and it looked like we were a little bit rusty.
Q: Can you talk about the efficiency of Mike's [Watkins] game in this game and the season so far? I mean he's scoring a lot of points on very few shots.
A: So far so good, now it's day to day. Mike's in a good space and you know, the goal was to get these guys the ball and we did that. We did that early and we did it often. If they were going to double, we have three-point shooters out there. If they weren't going to double, those guys are going to have big games. It's nice to see Mike and Lamar [Stevens] play well together. I don't think we've seen that. So, we're very fortunate and Mike, again, he's doing exactly what we need him to do.
Q: Rose just mentioned four-straight games at start of the season with incredibly efficiency. So in your mind, what exactly in these first four games is clicking for the offense?
A: I think we're sharing the ball and we're understanding. You know, although we pounded it inside, I still think we're doing a really good job of moving the ball. To be able to score 45 in the first and 53 in the second shows the firepower that we have. No one said it was MJ's [Myeron Jones] best game, right? Offensively, he did some other really fantastic things, but then you put Brock [Izaiah Brockington] in the game and he gives you a spark. You put Curtis [Jones] in the game and he gives you the spark. I mean, he was three for three in the first half. That's the type of team we have right now and we can go deep into our bench and really get some production, but I think everybody's a willing passer right now and wanting to share the ball.
Q: Lamar had a decent first half, six points, and then obviously went on that run by himself to start the second. What kind of change for him offensively and was that the game plan moving into the second?
A: The game plan was definitely working inside out, that's for sure. Coach Ferry and I met over the last couple days, that's what we wanted to do, but I think it started on the defensive end for us. We were able to get some stops and he was able to get in on some space out there. I mean, we have incredible speed. I think that jumped off that, and if that didn't show tonight, you got to come out and watch us again. I saw that versus Georgetown. I think Georgetown has incredible speed, but I think the defense end, he was able to get some dunks, which got himself going a little bit and got his teammate going.
Q: This is the second most points, Penn State has actually scored in a games in the last 10 seasons, so I wanted to ask you, what exactly has made this team feel so special to you, to be able to produce like this, this early in the season already?
A: You know, I do think we have a lot of talent. We have guys that can score inside and we have guys who can really shoot the ball. They put the work in. The connection that they have, I think really shows out there. The love and care that they have for one another, again, may not put you in a better position. We're no longer an ISO team. You know, we had to go ISO the last couple years because that's what we had to do. But this year I feel like when we're moving the basketball and everybody's getting in touch and putting pressure on the paint, good things are going to happen.
Q: We talked a couple weeks ago about Lamar, you know shooting more outside of the big thing we've talked about over the season. Obviously, He dominated in the lane today, but he didn't take a shot outside the lane today. Is there like a reason Not many three-point opportunities came out for him?
A: He did take the fade away that him and I discussed. So he did take one outside. Now I think he took what the defense, I thought he played a nice pace offensively. I think he knew that he had an advantage and we had to keep going to him. And I thought he made really good decisions and put himself in a positive situation. And that's what he's got to do. The fact that he had 27, didn't shoot free throws well and didn't take a three just shows you what type of caliber player that Lamar is, and he's got to be okay with that too, right, it's okay not to shoot a three. It's okay. I know we've worked on it all summer, we worked on it our entire career, but it's okay. You know, as long as you're producing.
Q: There was a second half, defensive possession at Bucknell. I think everybody on the floor touched it almost twice it went around and back. Ended up scoring, but the defensive movement on that, there was a guy there every time that ball got to the next guy how much of a possession like that is something that you kind of clip those 10 seconds and say you know that's what we're looking for?
A: I know exactly the possession you're talking about. You know everybody says, we take the ball from one one end to the other. And that shows our speed there's no doubt about that. But we got the three-point shooters in that possession that you're talking about, man. We were flying. Next guy up, next guy up, next guy up. And then 13, Moore, hits a little fade away on Brockington and I was like, oh, but I applauded them in the next media timeout of like incredible job of just stepping up and being great teammates.
Q: Did you notice that a defensive intensity changed from the first to the second half. Seemed like Bucknell got a couple off of made baskets beating you guys down the court. And did you expect Bucknell to play at that high tempo pace?
A: Yeah, we absolutely did. In the scouting report, we have really pushing the ball and makes and misses. And we had to sprint back and maybe we didn't get back fast enough or with getting out quickly, they can get the ball up the floor, but we learned our lesson quickly, and we flipped the script on that. Bucknell's a good team and well coached.
Q: It seems that every time Jamari comes into the game the team just gets that extra defensive spark, that extra step on defense. Can you just kind of go through that and what he kind of means to the whole defensive scheme of the team?
A: Jamari's an incredible impact on our program, not just on the defensive end, I mean, did he get double digits I thought he did, yeah. He get 10? He's five for five today. So, I mean, he's so crafty, so sneaky and that's what we need him to do, but his leadership, how he impacts the entire game, not just the defense event. I said it, I'm going to say it again. Everybody wants to tell me what he can't do. But let me tell you what he can do: he's a great leader, he sets the tone for this team with toughness, He sets the table on the offensive end, and he sets the tone on the defensive end. That's a special talent.
Q: [Jamari] went off. Is he okay?
A: He's banged up, he's bruised, but he's tough. I could've put him back in.
Q: For the buckets [Jamari] did get, is that something that you scout beforehand?
A: You know, it's really our concepts, it's all about our motion and boomer concepts. As long as we're playing within the confines of our offense, I think he's got opportunities because they're more worried about 11 and 24 and three-point shooters and so that'll give him some advantages like oh he's not going to score so maybe take a break and then he just has a burst, and he just goes and he has some really good layups, really good opportunities.
Q: What can you guys do to maybe get more, I don't know the words, chemistry or synergy but what can you do to kind of get more consistent performances out of [Mike and Lamar] when they're on the floor together?
A: Keep giving them the ball. Really, it starts on the defensive end. I thought Lamar's defense, we even bring up, I thought Lamar's defense was so much better in the second half. I mean he took it upon himself to really get in some stances and communicate a little bit more. I thought Mike did the same thing on the offensive end. Those two need to be consistent and work well together. And we're doing that in practice. So I think that's where it starts, it starts in practice. They understand it. They're good friends. And then it leads to the floor.
Q: To some of the fans who were booing that you didn't go to 100, what would your message be to them about sportsmanship?
A: You know what it's about respect for Coach Davis and Bucknell. I have incredible respect for them. I love his program, they're a winning program. They do things the right way, they're always fighting for a championship. And I just didn't. I don't want to do that, you know, we had a comfortable lead. It's not the time to try to rub it in anybody's faces. And again, I'm friends with with coach.
Q: What do you make of, you know, you guys built that early lead in the first half and then to see Bucknell kind of chip away at that a little bit but taking that second half, what do you kind of take away from just that run. You guys were on a 17 to 2 run the second half there to really pull away was kind of that message and you know what really lets that?
A: You know, we can get a heck of a lot better, which is scary because we just scored 98 points right and we held a team to 28 in the second half, but we can get a heck of a lot better. We have to put two halves together. And I thought we did that against Georgetown, they scored 34 and 32 points per half, but we need to be doing that on a consistent basis. So, no doubt, second half for the first four or five minutes was fantastic. We're going to watch that, we'll be positive about that, but we also got to watch the first half on where we didn't get it done, because the great teams that's what they do, they play an entire 40 minutes.
Q: This is somewhat of a generic question but you guys have been putting up great numbers offensively and, as you mentioned, you know, throughout this entire, you know, press conference of Jamari buying in, and Mike buying, Jamari, etc. etc. etc.. How has the entire team kind of embraced this mentality of sharing the basketball moving ball?
A: Yeah, I think they're enjoying it. I think they like it. I think Lamar likes it, so he doesn't have to shoulder all the pressure of scoring like he did last year. There's other guys out there that are more than capable. We got four or five guys shooting at a very good clip from three and Mike's producing like we've been hoping he would. So I think that's a positive for our team moving forward.