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Q&A: Pat Chambers previews the 2019-2020 season

Patrick Chambers knows what it’s going to take to get Penn State back to the NCAA tournament. It’s going to take an offensive surge that complements the Nittany Lions’ feisty defense. A year ago, the Lions finished 13th in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (41.7), 10th in both 3-point field goal percentage (32.0) and free throw percentage (69.3), and ninth in scoring offense (69.7 points per game). As if to highlight the disparity between their defensive scrappiness and offensive struggles, they were first in the league in steals (7.7 per game) and last in assists (12.2 per game).

This year, Chambers is hoping to change all that.

“We need to have a really good offensive identity, and our offense needs to help our defense,” he said. “Our defense is pretty consistent; for the most part, you know what you’re going to get. We’re usually in the top half of the league. Nationally, we’re usually in the top 25, right around there in KenPom. I think our offense needs to help our defense.

“What does that mean? We have to take care of the basketball. We’ve got to get uncontested shots. We’ve got to put pressure on the paint. We’ve got to do a really good job with offensive rebounding. And we’ve got to maximize the free-throw line. So if we can do some of those things, I want to see us get better in that in the preseason here. Consistency throughout. I thought we were inconsistent in December and in January last year. Even when we were playing great competition, we played well, but not well enough for 40 minutes. We just couldn’t nail it down for the full 40. So consistency, day in and day out.”

As he prepares for his ninth season at Penn State, Chambers believes he has a roster that can accomplish the team’s goals. It features first-team All-Big Ten forward Lamar Stevens, shot-blocking big man Mike Watkins, a group of promising guards led by sophomore Myles Dread, and a freshman class headlined by four-star forward Seth Lundy. The Lions finished the previous campaign by winning seven of their last 10 regular-season games and are eager to pick up where they left off.

Recently, Blue White Illustrated website editor Nate Bauer talked with Chambers about the season to come. Here’s what he said:

Pat Chambers enters his ninth season with Penn State.
Pat Chambers enters his ninth season with Penn State.
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BAUER When you step away from last year and can take emotion out of it, what do you see?

CHAMBERS I just thought we were youthful. Our guards were young. Jamari [Wheeler] was a sophomore and he didn’t play that much as a freshman. Tony [Carr] played all the minutes. And then you’re asking freshman guards to step in and play critical minutes in a critical role and maybe they just weren’t ready at that point.

Our schedule was probably too hard. Confidence is an amazing thing for kids today. If they’re feeling confident, man, good things are going to happen. And I think we give them confidence. I think they know we support them. But sometimes that basket looks like a golf hole. It gets really small when you’re not seeing the ball go through consistently. I would say don’t let missing shots deflate your effort, and sometimes that happened.

BAUER You led the league in steals but were toward the bottom in 3-point makes and defense. Can you live with that?

CHAMBERS I can’t live with that because it doesn’t lead to wins. We did a Sweet 16 analysis this off-season. I did it a few years ago. I did it again this off-season. Being number one in steals didn’t equate to being in the Sweet 16. Defending the three as a team, as a unit, absolutely did. And that’s what we’re focused on right now. That’s the three-point line defensively. So I think we will be that much better. We’re longer, we’re quicker, we’re athletic, and we’re older.

On the other end, I felt like we had younger guys taking the critical threes. I think Myles Dread is going to be that much better, even though he was our best three-point shooter. The addition of Curtis Jones – I think he’s older, he’s wiser, he’s a senior. I think he’s going to be a good three-point shooter. The emergence of Trent Buttrick recently – he’s one of our best three-point shooters right now. Izaiah Brockington right now doesn’t take a ton of them, but when he does, he makes them. And then you hope Jamari can chip in and Lamar can chip in with one here or there – one per game, or on a good day two per game. … I need Lamar to do that for himself. But I need Jamari to do that just to keep everybody honest.

BAUER Do you feel as though you have to replace what Josh Reaves and Rasir Bolton brought to the floor? Can anybody match Josh’s defensive intensity?

CHAMBERS First of all, what an amazing story, where Josh started and where he ended up. That’s a testament to Josh and this program, this great staff we have. I think Brockington can do it. I think with Izaiah Brockington, Jamari Wheeler, an older Curtis Jones, a much-improved Myreon Jones, I believe those guys can bring what Josh Reaves brought and what Bolton brought.

BAUER You lose a little bit of scoring with Rasir.

CHAMBERS I think M.J. takes that up. I think Curtis picks it up. I think Izaiah Brockington picks it up. I expect Myles Dread to average double-figures. And oh, by the way, Mike. We keep forgetting, we’re thinking guard, guard, guard, and I agree. I think we have more answers than questions. But if you said, what are you concerned about, it would be the guards. Jamari is a junior, M.J. is a sophomore, Izaiah is a redshirt sophomore, but he’s never played in the Big Ten. And Curtis, this is his third team, and I have a new system, I have different terminology. You know what you’re going to get from Lamar, that’s for sure. You know what you’re going to get from Johnny. You’ve got a healthier Mike Watkins. That’s a good thing.

BAUER What do you see out of Lamar’s teammates that you can point to and say, that’s a direct reflection of his influence?

CHAMBERS When Lamar decided to come back, the group chat went crazy, and the sacrifice by every guy on this team just skyrocketed. In the gym, extra lifts, extra shots. They understand the mission that Lamar has for this program and himself as an individual. And he wants to bring these guys along. So by him coming back, that process already started. Guys showed up early for Summer Session Two, as opposed to waiting to the very last day. “I don’t want to go back to school.” No. They showed up early. Guys came to Summer Session One when they had the option not to. So there were a lot of positives that came about from Lamar deciding to come back, and in a way that people on the outside are not going to realize.

BAUER How well do you think Lamar was able to reset to be able to approach this season without some of the baggage of past disappointments?

CHAMBERS I think he’s in such a good space. He’s ultra-confident in his ability and who he is. Again, he’s not so much thinking about just himself anymore. He’s talking to every single guy, making sure they understand the drills and why we’re doing the drills and how this is going to help us win games. That’s a whole other level now. We need this much more from him, and that’s tough to do when you’re anticipating being a Player of the Year candidate in the Big Ten and All-American and all that good stuff. He’s got to go that much more, and I think he’s trying to do that. But while he’s trying to do that, he’s trying to bring everybody with him.

BAUER How much of a departure is that for him?

CHAMBERS He was quiet because Tony was with him. Now, Batman’s gone and he becomes a Batman and he has to take on that role. And I think that was new for him last year, knowing that he has to take the shot, knowing that he has to go to the free-throw line, knowing that he has to make the play. So we had some ups, we had some downs. Now he’s going to learn from those experiences and be that much better, so he can be vocal, so he can be the guy who we all envision him to be.

Center Mike Watkins will have a big impact on Penn State's success this season.
Center Mike Watkins will have a big impact on Penn State's success this season.

BAUER At his best, what does Mike Watkins look like?

CHAMBERS Clint Capela for the Houston Rockets. An absolute dominant, energetic man. Running the floor beautifully, blocking shots, getting every rebound. He didn’t have a second jump last year. Shooting top-of-the-key threes, and he’s shooting at a decent clip. It’s not horrible. His skill level, back to the basket, has gotten better. Kevin Freeman has done a very good job with him. He’s got to make free throws. We need him in at the end of games. Over the past few years, I’ve taken him out where I wish I could have had him in. But my fear is that he gets fouled, he goes oh-for-two or one-for-two and it’s just not going to get it done.

BAUER If he’s maximizing his potential, what do you envision for Jamari Wheeler?

CHAMBERS For us, in February, I thought he was the difference. His pace, his tempo, his toughness, his defense, and he started to find the basket a little bit, started to score a little bit himself. But go back to the Minnesota game in overtime. I considered in the last few minutes drawing up a play for him because he was playing with such aggressiveness. And he was in attack mode. He made some layups. He had a floater. He was doing some good things, and Lamar was dead. And I thought about that. I thought Jamari was the difference.

Where can Jamari go now? Look, Purdue did not cover him at all. You have to be secure with that the first time around. So here comes the ball. You might not shoot the first one, you might reverse the ball. But when it comes back, now shoot that one. That’s a good one. That’s a good one. I think that if he can just slow down and be capable of putting the ball in the basket, that will help us play five-on-five, and create the space that Lamar might need out there. And then the thing would be just decision-making. He’s doing a nice job right now of really setting the table and making everybody around him better on the offensive end.

So my thing right now is him and M.J. are battling for that starting point guard spot, and they are competing. He does a little bit better job of running his team. We need somebody who’s going to run the team. If you’re not in the right spot, you’re not in the right spot. You need to go over here, you need to go over here. Just little stuff that a point guard could do.

BAUER Is Myreon Jones more in the role of a scoring point guard like Tony?

CHAMBERS He is more of a Tony, a D.J. Newbill. He is probably shoot first, pass second. First of all, he came back, which was awesome. It just shows you a lot about the culture we have. He’s shooting the ball well, but he has to take better shots and has to also understand he needs to make his teammates better. And I need to come a little bit closer to him. He needs to come a little bit closer to me. So we’re going to meet in the middle. I’m going to let him take a tough shot every now and then, because he makes tough shots. But he’s also got to come my way a little bit by getting some more uncontested shots. And make sure you’re setting up. Mike’s going to need a touch, you’ve got to understand that in your head. Lamar needs a touch, you need to understand that in your head.

He is rangy. His wingspan is unbelievable. His closeouts are just fantastic. And he gets a lot of deflections. So come a little bit closer defensively, make some better decisions offensively. But I think he’s got a chance to start, I really do.

BAUER It’s a three-point game in a lot of ways now, and Myles Dread is your guy. What has the emphasis been for him from the end of last season to now?

CHAMBERS So just keep developing your three. Quicker release, slide three, shot fakes, little things like that. But also, let’s evolve your game. Let’s come off ball screens, let’s make decisions. You’re going to garner so much attention. Other than Lamar, you’re the next guy who is going to get a lot of attention. So you’ve got to be able to make decisions. He’s got a high IQ. He can read ball screens well, drop it down to Mike or throw it back or take his own shot. He’s a really smart kid, so let’s work on getting you some free throws, let’s work on you being OK with getting to the basket.

BAUER Can you give us the scouting report on Curtis Jones?

CHAMBERS He’s a very good three-point shooter. Great burst. His first step is just magnificent. He can get up and dunk on you if he needs to. I’m trying to get that out of him to play harder, to play Penn State hard. He’s a very good three-point shooter, got a good midrange, pretty good finisher. Doesn’t avoid contact. I would say he needs to get to the free-throw line. And I love rebounding with my guards. I take that from Kyle Lowry, coached him at Villanova. He averaged like six rebounds a game as a sophomore. It’s such a big difference. He’s getting a rebound and he’s gone. And we have all the speed and athleticism, so let’s utilize what we have.

BAUER You touched on this, but how much do the guards dictate your success?

CHAMBERS I think it’s all 15 guys. The consistency that we’re going to play with, the determination that we’re going to have, the hunger that you need to break into the top half of this league. It’s pretty fierce, and you’ve got to bring that every day in practice, the weight room, wherever we go. So I don’t want to put it all on the guards. I think Jamari’s got good experience now. I think overall, the team’s got good shared experiences. And let’s bank on that they learned from that, and hopefully, we can utilize those this year.

All-Big Ten forward Lamar Stevens returns for his final season in State College.
All-Big Ten forward Lamar Stevens returns for his final season in State College.

BAUER Last year, John Harrar was thrust into maybe a little bit bigger of a role than he was suited for or wanted. How do you expect him to perform in a more evenly distributed environment?

CHAMBERS I think John put too much pressure on himself. It wasn’t like he played poorly, but he just put too much pressure on himself. Here’s a guy who went for a double-double. He had 10 rebounds in the first half of the [NIT] championship game in the Garden [in 2018]. So I think he put too much pressure on himself to be Mike, or to score, or to do more, when instead he needs to be John. Just play hard. Focus on the good things that you do. You defend, you rebound, you make great decisions on the offensive end. We’ve tweaked our offense a little bit to work with these guys, and it’s worked out well. And John’s lost a ton of weight. He’s 230. He’s running faster, he looks quicker, he’s jumping higher. I think he feels good about himself. I think he’s got a really good midrange jumper, he’s hitting it right now. I’m going to allow him to shoot that top-of-the-key three.

BAUER What are your initial impressions of Seth Lundy now in full practices?

CHAMBERS I think you’re really going to like him. People compare him to Lamar, and I don’t think that’s right. He’s playing the three, he can handle the ball, he can shoot it. I think that their bodies may be similar. I mean, he 6-7, 218. He’s playing really well. He is very aggressive, very strong, plays tough and physical beyond his years. He really does. He’s tough. He gets in there and he scraps. He’ll dive, he’ll take charges, he is selfless.

BAUER You made it clear that you don’t need him to start as a freshman, that there’s no pressure to do that. But can he play his way in?

CHAMBERS Yes, he can. The way he’s been playing the past four or five days, somebody is going to be unhappy by Jan. 1. I’m excited. Have we ever sat here and had discussions like this? We don’t have to start a freshman. And we might, just because he’s that good, because we can. Because I choose to. But then think about the depth that you have if you do that.

BAUER Is there a danger of having too many players? Your depth is as good as it’s been, but are there downsides to that?

CHAMBERS The downside is, somebody’s going to be unhappy. You’re not going to be able to play the nine and ten guys as much as you might want to, as much as they might deserve. Really, we all get comfortable with eight. We’re all comfortable with eight. We all find a nice rotation. Everybody gets their rest time on the bench. But now I firmly believe we would be doing this team a disservice if we don’t play ten. And we have to find that and how we’re going to manage that and how we’re going to do that. Trent Buttrick needs to play. He’s going to play spot minutes for Lamar, and Lamar can’t play 38 minutes again. Just can’t. He was exhausted in February. He can’t play for 38 minutes. So Trent will get those minutes, and Trent is going to be our shooting five. So he’s going to play some five when we have foul trouble, and we want him to shoot threes. We can have five guys on the floor who can score the basketball – shoot, dribble, score the basketball, and I’m talking about threes. So Trent needs those minutes.

You know, we want Curtis, Izaiah, depending on who you start, either Jamari or M.J. And then obviously John. John is playing. He’s one of the hardest workers on this team. He’s got to play, we’ve got to find minutes for him. It’s a good thing for us, because I think in the Big Ten, there are going to be ankle turns. There are going to be minor injuries. I always look at Michigan State. They got hurt, next man up, they kept winning. And I think we could be in that position, as long as we don’t lose any of the big dogs. I think we could put ourselves in a position to stay at an elite level even if we had some minor stuff going.

BAUER What does it mean to you to be in year nine with the program and land the major donations you did for the facilities improvements that are coming?

CHAMBERS It’s huge. The belief, the investment, the generosity of Penn Staters, the alumni and our donors. After the season, everybody thinks I go away for the summer. I actually went on a little bit of a tour to raise money. And people were incredibly kind and generous. And to me, the fact that we’re able to do this and start it in April 2020, it’s another powerful statement for our program to say, Hey Coach, we believe in you, we believe in what you’re doing, and we like how you’re doing it, you’re doing it the right way. What do you need?

BAUER To what extent do you need that to be a yearly aspiration – those kinds of facilities improvements?

CHAMBERS If you want to be consistent and you want to fight for the top half of the league, Big Ten championships or going to the NCAA tournament every year, and that’s how you’re going to be judged, then you need to make improvements every year. I’m really proud of what we’ve done here, though. We’ve branded the concourse, we branded outside, we changed the training room with hot and cold tubs, which I was super excited about. We did the training room, we got a new film room. It’s all minor victories in my mind. A small step, minor victory, slow grind. Just take a step. Every year, you had to take a step. That was my goal, and I think we’ve done that. I think at least when you walk in the door, you know Penn State basketball plays here. And I think when recruits come in, they have what they need. Maybe we don’t have the icing and the cherry on top, some of the bells and whistles you see at some of these places. But you know what, we have what we need to be successful, and we’ve developed basketball players who are now playing in the NBA and a ton are playing overseas, which we are super proud of.

BAUER What benefits have you seen from Tim Frazier’s NBA longevity?

CHAMBERS Nobody thought he would play in the NBA. Nobody. Not any of the alums thought he would play, guys who have played in that league. And what he’s done to sustain, to play now going into his sixth year, to get his pension, I couldn’t be prouder. A guy who you would say wasn’t the best shooter somehow found a way in a happy three-point land NBA, because he tries to win attitude club every day. Any time you talk to him, he’s just trying to win attitude. First one there, last one to leave. What a great representative of our program, the way he conducts himself, and how he finds a team every single year, which is fantastic. And I would say the same thing for Josh Reaves. A do-it-all guy, led the Big Ten in steals three straight years. All-Defensive team. I mean, it speaks volumes that people want him in their organization.

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