Penn State Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes | Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats
December 10, 2019
Coach Oats | Head Coach
Opening Statement:
Tough game. I grew up in the Big Ten country and watched a lot of Big Ten basketball throughout my years. We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game. Coach Chambers got this program up more where he wanted to. I wouldn't be surprised if they're in the top 25 come Monday. With [Lamar] Stevens and the shooters they put in, [Mike] Watkins being kind of an elite rim protector, I think they're pretty good on both sides of the ball. We knew it was going to be a tough game coming in. I did think we matched their toughness for the most part. We just kind of ran out of gas there at the end of the game. I thought we outplayed them for about 32 minutes in the four-minute stretch there, from the under eight to the under four, really killed us. We were up on the glass up until the end. They got that one possession running where they got four shots off. Just ran out of some energy there late. I'm proud of the effort our guys gave, Penn State's a real quality team. Like I said, they're going to be up in the top half of the Big Ten in my opinion. We just saw what they did to Maryland earlier in the week. They're good and we struggled a little bit but part of that is them. Their defense is good. I don't think Kira [Lewis Jr.] will go three from 18 again. You know, that obviously hurts. They get in their scheme, which was pretty good, they switched to ball screens and when you got an athletic big like Watkins, he just kept blocking shots at Galin [Smith]. At least he was able to stay in front of guards which makes it tough. We tried to play [Alex] Reese a lot more at the five to drive Watkins away from the rim and it helped that he got in foul trouble. We also had a bunch of foul trouble too, so we couldn't really make them pay in the foul trouble stuff and we had a lot more foul trouble than they did.
Q: Can you describe what Lamar Stevens presents at the end of the game, especially in the last five minutes?
A: He's an issue, like he's big, strong, and physical. We started with Javian Davis on him, then we went to Herbert Jones, who was on him a lot for a large part of the game. When you put a big on him, he likes that kind of mid-post out, 18-foot catch, rip and go by you, or catch back you down. When you got a smaller guy like Herb [Jones] on him, so then he's backing us down and he's a pretty good passer. So, we helped him to try to help Herb out. He sprays the ball, they hit a few three's off it, he's a problem. There's a reason he was preseason first team all-Big Ten, he's an issue. On the other end, on defense, we had five blocks. We were trying to interchange and put Stevens more at the rim and bring Watkins out away from the rim, but Stevens ended up with five blocks and it's usually Watkins with the five blocks. Stevens got it today, kind of based off what we were trying to do with him, He didn't hit three's today, but he hit two against Maryland. If he's hitting a three, he's a real problem to cover someone. Even without that, he ends up with 18. I thought the first half we did a pretty good job. Not to make any excuses for our guys but Herb hasn't practiced, Reese hasn't practiced, Beetle [Bolden] hasn't practiced and they were all just running out of energy at the end. When we're running out of energy and they're still playing hard, they really turned it up in the last eight minutes in the game and that's where they won the game.
Q: How did you feel about your team's defensive one ball pressure and how it disrupted Penn State's offense, especially in the first half?
A: Yeah it was great for again, about the first 30 to 32 minutes. We chart deflections, we had zero deflections in the last eight minutes of the game. If you look, while we were playing hard and getting deflections and playing tough on the ball, I mean, [Jaden] Shackelford blew up that one dribble handoff and we got the offensive foul right in front of their bench. I thought our guys gave an effort, deserving the win for about 32 minutes and we just kind of ran out of juice. Like you said, when we had zero deflections, it's not only the deflections, it's that you're playing hard, it's the rebounds, everything with effort. They just they closed the game up in the last eight minutes and we couldn't close it out. When we were fresh and were able to give an effort, I thought the deflections really kind of took them out a lot of what they're doing. It kind of messes up their rhythm on offense or passes or second laid it helps you guys out a little bit.
Q: Why do you think Kira Lewis Jr. went three from 18 tonight? Was something off or was it just chance?
A: I don't think any of it was just chance. Some of them he just missed decent shots but Jamari Wheeler is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country. When they started switching the ball screen, I mean, you know if you go back to the NBA Playoffs two years ago when teams switched to eliminate the three [spot] and take it all away, your bigs able to stay in front, it makes it really hard. Kira pulled up from the three a couple times with a big on him, missed, then tried to go by him, Watkins blocked it and then he missed another one. Their scheme was good. Jamari Wheeler is good on the ball and so are their other guys. They don't have a poor defender that they put on the floor. Sometimes, if somebody's switching everything, you can go attack a poor defender. They had some guys who maybe were a little bit better than others but there's no poor defenders out there. When they're switching everything and every last guy on the floor can do a pretty good job on defense it makes it really tough on your point guard.