Penn State Men's Basketball
Head Coach Patrick Chambers Postgame Press Conference
vs. Yale – November 23, 2019
Opening Statement
A: What an incredible game. You never plan on waking up and shooting 5-for-27 from three, and if you would have told me that we held Yale at 31 and 25 points, I would have thought we won by a considerable amount. And, you know, the ball just wasn't going in, but that's how we're built, we're built on defending and rebounding. We talked about it in practice all of the time – there are going to be nights, there are going to be days on the road or at home where you're not making shots. And obviously that was the case today, but our team really was resilient, they persevered. They were awesome in huddles, their eye contact onto me and every huddle was amazing. And give credit to Yale and coach [James] Jones, they got a really good team. That's an NCAA Tournament team. They know how to win, they know how to play. But I'm really proud of the small lineup that I played that last nine minutes or so, man did they play super hard.
Q: Coach that game was kind of the definition of just a gutsy win where it is all grit and determination down the stretch. Going on a 16-2 run over the last five or so minutes there, and keeping them off the boards the last three. What was difference there in the last couple minutes as the shots were starting to fall?
A: Yeah, I just thought we sped them up, we forced them into difficult shots. I mean Lamar [Stevens]'s block was monstrous, the game could be in overtime right now. That was a big block and then finally Curtis Jones Jr. hits a huge three. It was like it opened up the basket for us because Myles [Dread] hits the next one. I think we sped them up, and those five guys really played tough, physical, Penn State basketball.
Q: Coach it seemed like every time you guys got close, they would hit a big shot and stop the momentum. What was your message to the team throughout the game, halftime, breaks, and timeouts?
A: We knew they were a good team. We hit a big three, they would come right back and hit a three. We respect Yale, it wasn't like we did not respect them. We did. We knew this was going to be a very difficult game. I thought in the first half our body language was a little poor. We were a little deflated when you are missing shots. I thought in the second half we got over that, and I called it mental conditioning. Missing or making shots should never dictate your effort on the defensive end. That is one thing that can be constant, and I felt like they did that as hard as they could specifically in the last nine minutes of that game.
Q: Coach, what do make of the effort you got from [Izaiah] Brockington off the bench tonight? He had a huge offensive rebound on the kick back as you said [Curtis] Jones hit the three, but to get that and the play that he had tonight?
A: Look, here's where our depth mattered. And I don't know if we'd win this one last year. Brock came off and provided an amazing spark. Getting down the hill, making his free throws, making this 15-footers mid-range. It's only a matter of time before he knocks down some threes because he's working on it, and they typically go in and practice so I'm confident in that, but that offensive rebound was huge and the confidence for Curtis Jones, a senior, to really step up and knock that down, because when you're making threes in that type of situation they're huge and they're daggers – they're daggers to the other team, they'd be a dagger to us. And he just played fantastic.
Q: Looking at the first five wins here this season, you played some really quality opponents. What do you make of the way that you guys have started here with these wins?
A: You know we got a long way to go. We got to get better. Obviously today, there's some blind spots that we got to correct. And that's the positive thing, they're all correctable. I think our team is very connected. So, a lot of love and trust in that locker room. If there wasn't, you don't win that game, but there is, but there's some things we definitely need to clean up before we head to New York.
Q: What was the atmosphere like in the locker room? You guys haven't been down like that in a half here this season.
A: Jubilation, I mean they were celebrating fired up.
Q: At halftime?
A: Not at halftime, I thought you said at the end of the game, I'm sorry. At halftime, I kind of gave them extra time. I usually come in at the 10-minute mark and talk to them for four or five minutes. I wasn't yelling, I wasn't screaming, it's just a matter of fact, you know, this is what we got to do. It's one possession at a time and we can get this done if we all buy in and play Penn State basketball. And they knew, I said 'Look, all we have to do is win it by one.' Well we won it by two so close enough. But that was the message, and again it's not time for me to overreact. There's no time for me to panic because if I did in the halftime, in the timeouts, then that's going to go to them and now, you know, the ball, the basket looked like a golf hole. You know, it would only look even smaller if I, you know, went crazy and screaming and yelling. That doesn't work anymore. So I was very positive, very upbeat at halftime, and I feel like they responded very well.