Earning first ranking since 1996, Penn State hoops far from satisfied
Patrick Chambers can be forgiven for refusing to spend his Monday afternoon basking in the moment.
Joining reporters for his typical weekly press conference in the bowels of the Bryce Jordan Center, the news for his Nittany Lion men’s basketball program was anything but the norm just an hour earlier.
For the first time since January 1996, Penn State is in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
At 9-2 on the season, including a 1-1 mark against Big Ten competition, the No. 23-ranked Nittany Lions have a win against No. 7 Maryland, a road win at Georgetown, a neutral site win against Syracuse, an ACC/Big Ten Challenge win against Wake Forest at the BJC, and most recently, a 73-71 win against Alabama Saturday afternoon. An unbeaten 7-0 at home, the totality of the Lions’ resume to this point in the year also earned a No. 18 spot in the initial NCAA NET rankings for the 2019-20 season, also released Monday afternoon.
Still, with games remaining against Central Connecticut State Friday evening and against Cornell Dec. 29, both at the BJC, to wrap up the nonconference slate before moving full time into Big Ten play in January, Chambers isn’t letting anyone get carried away.
“I am truly excited for our players and our team, the program, the families, I am. To be able to have that recognition for these guys, they've worked so hard, five years, four years, three years. Their dedication, their commitment to this program has been just incredible, what they've meant to me and Penn State in general. So I think it's really cool,” Chambers said. “And we're going to enjoy it today. And I think they should. It's like winning a game. We haven't been there since 1996. That's a long time. It's a lot of games. So it's something to cherish for today.
“But I truly believe we haven't hit on all cylinders yet. So I'm excited about what we can get out of this team still because we really haven't played our best basketball. So the ranking is awesome. (I’m) happy for the players, happy for the staff, thankful to the leadership here. But there are a lot more games left.”
The program’s positive news didn’t end with its rankings Monday.
Also announced with the conference’s weekly awards, senior forward Lamar Stevens was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Week for his performances in wins against Maryland and Alabama. In the two-game stretch, Stevens posted 33 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, and seven blocked shots. His recognition is Penn State’s first conference player of the week since Tony Carr in February 2018.
“I just got off the phone with Lamar and I just said, ‘This is great. Really enjoy this today. Embrace this.’ We haven't been here in a long time, and specifically him and his tenure here. So enjoy this. And tell your teammates to enjoy. That doesn't mean go out, you gotta do well on your exams,” Chambers said. “But then we come back tomorrow, it's over, it's behind us. And now the script has flipped. We were the hunters. We were the hunters. Anybody in Top 25 is the hunted. So things are a little different now.”
For Penn State to continue its upward trajectory, Chambers is convinced that it must continue to make improvements on what it has shown to this point in the season.
Noting that his team’s win at Georgetown, a sparkling wire-to-wire win that wasn’t as close as its 81-66 final score, was its best performance of the season, Chambers added that Ohio State’s all-cylinders, 32-point win against his Nittany Lions was a performance worth aspiring to. By hitting good open shots, getting tough stops, and finishing plays on both ends of the floor with strong rebounding, he said, the Nittany Lions can still find more consistency in its path toward February and March.
“There are some weaknesses there. The middle ball screen is still a problem. I don't want to switch it all the time. Our rotation has got to tighten up. Offensive rebounding has got to tighten up. I think we had 16 turnovers (against Alabama). It was too many,” Chambers said. “So there are some things we got to work on in practice by going up and down to make sure that we're making this simple play, not the SportsCenter top 10 play. Let's just make this simple play and make sure we get the two points or at least get to the free-throw line. There are some things there that we need to adjust, and on the defense.
“So let's work on our weaknesses. We'll have a cleanup day Wednesday and start preparing for our game on Friday. Give them some time off during Christmas, four or five days. But then you got Cornell and Ivy League scares me. I sat next to Tommy Amaker yesterday recruiting. That league is crazy. Yale was terrific. Harvard is terrific. Penn is terrific. They all got upset wins. So we gotta be ready to compete every single night. But we need a growth mindset. Continue to get better.”
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