Feb. 6, 2011

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Penn State Coach Ed DeChellis Quotes:

Q: Were you hoping to get more out of (David) Jackson and (Andrew) Jones without (Jeff) Brooks in there?
Coach: Yeah you would like to, but it just didn't happen. We tried to run some stuff to try to get them the ball, but it just didn't happen.

Q: Were you disappointed with your defensive effort?
Coach: Yeah, we just didn't guard them the last 10 minutes of the game. The focus was inconsistent. The first half we played well offensively and had a good flow. We subbed some guys and we let them get 2 or 3 transition baskets in a row. We didn't score the last 7 minutes of the first half, that's huge. We came out the second half with a better effort, we got a lead, but the last 7 or 8 minutes, we just didn't stop them. We made some really bad decisions offensively that led to some baskets at their end.

Q: What was the impact of Jeff Brooks not playing and having to play some more bench players? Did you miss his scoring?
Coach: We missed his scoring, but we scored enough points to win. That wasn't the problem; the problem was defensively. You have to guard them. They were efficient offensively and made some big shots. We let guys rise up and shoot over us, which is not the thing to do. We did not post rebound the way that we needed to so that we could run the break. That was a problem for us; we never got any easy baskets pushing the basketball. Defensive rebound, outlet, push it to get some easy baskets. Defensively, we didn't do what we needed to and made some critical mistakes offensively.

Q: How disappointing was it to only get 2 points off the bench?
Coach: Well, the guys we played didn't play a lot of minutes. (Jermaine) Marshall played 11 minutes, Billy (Oliver) played 16, Tre Bowman played 4 or 5 minutes. It is what it is; I'm not changing it right now. But if we defend a little bit, we're probably happy. We scored 62 points. Coming into the game, I thought 62 points would be enough to win. We just need to play better defensively; we can't let a team shoot 68% in the second half.

Q: Cam (Woodyard) said you told him 7 minutes before the game that he would start. Did you do that intentionally?
Coach: It was like what I tell our guys all the time. Its not about who starts, its about who finishes. I didn't want anyone to be laying in bed last night thinking about getting the start. I just said, hey you'll start tonight, you'll do fine.

Q: You took a season high 28 threes, was that an emphasis with Jeff out?
Coach: No, not at all. We took too many threes. But we had some drives and kicks and the extra pass was important for us. We made some big threes in the second half, but that wasn't what we wanted to do.

Q: The last couples possessions they scored on some drives, did they stretch out your defense?
Coach: We didn't defend the pick-and-roll well. That was a focus problem. We found them early and had some problems with them. They changed some things up, they had 10(Tim Hardaway Jr.) use the ball screen instead of 4(Darius Morris). We just had to keep the ball in front of us. The big kid rolls and gets the easy baskets. We talked about flattening those and making him drive left. He prefers to drive right more than left. It comes down to ball containment on screens; we've done it for three days now, it just didn't translate to the game.

Q: Did Cam do what he needed to?
Coach: I thought he came in and started well. He didn't make many shots in the first half. The second half, he got a rhythm and got some baskets for us. It was positive, all good stuff. He got 7 rebounds for us. I thought he was fine. We just didn't do some other things we needed to. Again bench points, whatever they are, I'm looking at defense and rebounding.

Q: Jeff is your big shot blocker. What impact is that on your defense when he isn't playing?
Coach: He was on the bench yelling, "Block it! Block it!" Unfortunately, we aren't as far with other guys on blocking shots. I'm sure Jeff would've come over and blocked some shots for us. We didn't have that, so we have to figure out another way to guard them.

Q: After a performance like this, does Cam emerge as the leader to replace Jeff?
Coach: It's a good day for Cam. We'll go back to practice Tuesday and see what Jeff's status is. If Jeff can go, we will try to work him in. If he can't go, we'll probably play Cam again after this performance and play with the guys we have.

Q: Were you comfortable with that 8 point lead with 8 minutes left?
Coach: No, we're never comfortable with a lead. We left guys that we didn't need to leave and didn't push out on guys. We wanted them to drive and get 2s, not 3s. We just didn't do it.

Q: With Jeff potentially out, how important is it for bench guys to step up?
Coach: Well it's important, but again it's not just scoring, it's defense. Everyone who was in there has played. It wasn't like we had guys who haven't played.

Q: Did you see a difference in (Tim) Hardway Jr.'s play from the first game?
Coach: No, not really. He was a little more aggressive with the basketball. He's developed as the year's gone on. He made a big three on the wing that was crucial for them. He made 2 threes tonight, but the one on the wing was critical for them.

Q: Did that Hardaway Jr. three change the game?
Coach: Yeah, that was big for them. It was a really big shot. There were some plays in the game on offense where we did some goofy things that were at critical times. We didn't get a shot and let them go down and score three. Those things were really frustrating.

Q: Michigan had that run with a few threes. How tough is it to guard them on the perimeter?
Coach: You have to get your hands up. That's what was frustrating. You can't have your hands down and watch a guy rise up and shoot. We talked about getting into them and getting our hands up to make them put the ball on the floor and do something they don't want to do. We can't let them just catch and shoot.

Q: Talor (Battle) said you lacked a sense of urgency and toughness. What toughness does your team have?
Coach: Well, we'll find out. I can't answer that today, we'll find out how much toughness we have. We're going to keep grinding it out, there's still a lot of basketball. February is a big month for us. We'll find out what we got and hopefully these kids will compete. We have to move on to the next game.

Q: How serious was Tim's (Frazier) injury?
Coach: He cut his head open. I haven't got back to the trainer's room to see if he needs stitched up. He got hit on the top of his head.

Q: Was there any chance for Jeff to play today? When will he be back? Is it similar to (Jamelle) Cornley's injury?
Coach: There was no chance today. I really don't know when he'll be back. He's made good progress since the injury. That doesn't mean they will clear him for Thursday or next Sunday. You have to be careful with it because if that comes out again, he's done. Mel's was different that was his left arm and this is Jeff's right arm, his shooting arm. You expose yourself more when you shoot the basketball. If you get bumped the wrong way, it could come out again. Then it's a longer recovery time. We want to make sure his strength is where it needs to be. That's what Dr. Sebastianelli has told me. He needs to have enough strength to hold his arm up and hold it back to protect himself. We will watch how he does in practice. It's a process that we need to take.

Penn State Player Quotes - #12 Talor Battle & #24 Cammeron Woodyard

Q: Where did the game go with the last six or seven minutes left?
Battle: We played soft. We lacked toughness. I am not going to beat around the bush. We just didn't make the plays, the toughness plays. We didn't make one stop. We turned the basketball over and we deserved to lose today. We didn't make one game winning play. As a team we couldn't make one stop. We aren't getting our hands up. Guys are nailing threes in our faces. All of the things coach preached all week, we failed to do. In that case, we deserved to lose.

Q: Did you guys think that Jeff Brooks would be able to go today?
Battle: No, we knew. We practiced without Jeff knowing that he wasn't going to play. It wasn't about having Jeff or not having Jeff. We were winning the game, we split the game in two halves we were up by ten points in each half and we allowed them to go on runs and beat us. Like I said, it comes down to lack of toughness. No sense of urgency. For us seniors, time is running out so I am upset about this one.

Q: How disappointing was it to not get production off the bench? Battle: It was very disappointing. It has been one of our Achilles' heels all season. Hats off to Cammeron who stepped in and played pretty well. He picked up almost all of Jeff's points. Then you look at the rest of it and we didn't have much more. So, that was the problem.

Q: Can you talk about Cammeron Woodyard's play? Were you impressed by him?
Battle: Yeah, he was relaxed and comfortable. He played really well. I'm happy for Cammeron but it stinks that he had such a good game and we lost. He can't even enjoy it

Q: 28 3-point attempts, do you think you guys were too reliant on the long ball today?
Battle: I don't know. I wouldn't say so. 10-for-28, we didn't shoot it too poorly from three. That's a pretty good percentage. I bet if you add that, thirty points in the last half were our points. So, I guess we shot a lot of them but we hit a few. We just couldn't get anything. It's not about our offense, it came down to us not getting a stop and not getting our hands up. We turned the ball over in key stretches of the game.

Q: Cammeron, when did you find out that you were getting the start today?
Woodyard: Seven minutes before tip.

Q: What was your reaction?
Woodyard: Let's do it. I just came out and prepared. The whole time I was warming up, I was telling myself "be ready to go." We are going to have to step it up as a bench and as a team as a whole. When they told me I was starting, I was like, "let's do it."

Q: Can you talk about those two threes you had in the second half?
Woodyard: I think they were huge. After Talor hit one, I hit one and came back down and hit another one. It started us off in the right path the way we wanted to start off the second half.

Q: What kind of confidence does a game like this give you moving forward?
Woodyard: It boosted it. It puts it right back where it needs to be. Now I know I can knock down shots.

Q: Talor, is this one of t he most disappointing losses? Like you said, 10 point lead in the first half and a 10 point lead in the second half. Will this go down as one of the more disappointing losses?
Battle: Definitely, it was disappointing. We are shooting ourselves in the leg to get where we wanted to get. We had a chance to go 6-5 and get Jeff back and move on. Unfortunately, we didn't. We took a step backwards and dug ourselves a hole. We can't afford to lose. We just have to get hot.

Q: Just to clarify, did you feel like the defense was not there for the entirety of the game or just certain runs?
Battle: It was just stretches. If you want to be a good basketball team you can't do that. A team like Michigan, they are never out of a game because they shoot so well from the three. We just stand there with our hands down and they knock it in our faces. It is just so disappointing. Every time it goes up, you just see the ball going through the hoop. It was just like last year in our home court here. You just shake your head because you don't want to lose a game like this.

Q: When you are in the middle of that, how do you react to feeling off?
Battle: We have to get a basket. When we don't get a basket, we turn the basketball over. That is again why I said we lack toughness. Before Stu Douglass hits a three, we turn it over. Stu Douglass hits a three and we turn it over. Matt Vogrich comes and hits a three and we turn it over. Tim Hardaway, Jr hits a three, now it's a tie game. So, we give them four possessions without us shooting a basket. You are not going to win a game like that. That's what I mean by we lack toughness.

Q: Talor, how do you get this group of younger guys going knowing you only have two weeks left?
Battle: We had a lot of room and Coach asked if anybody had anything to say. I stood right up and told everyone. For us seniors, this is the end of it. We're not freshmen or sophomores, where we can say it's a game. No, these are last games for people. I am just so disappointed that we lost a game. Like I said, all week we just practiced on getting our hands up and doing this, and we didn't. When we don't execute ourselves, we lose. At the same time, I am mad for today. I will get over it and try to get the guys moving in the right direction for Thursday.

Michigan Coach John Beilein

Opening Statement: We're really pleased with this win. I think everybody knows that without Jeff Brooks Penn State is a different team. It's really hard to get ready for that, not knowing if he's going to play or not. So I hope he gets ready very quickly, they've worked really hard - those four seniors - to get in this position, sitting there on the bubble. I hope he gets healthy because he's a heck of a player and they've got a very good team. We're obviously very pleased with our kids' effort today; it was very up and down. We had some moments when we looked like we've looked a couple times this year, we lost a little focus, but we ended fighting through that stuff and making plays when we had to.

Q: After all the close losses, to get a win here, does that just show the progress?
A: Between the Michigan State game, which was very similar to this, where you've got to make money plays with two minutes to go in the game, or three minutes to go in the game. That was helpful, it helped in this one. Winning on the road is obviously a different thing. It's part of the process, you never have this attitude of `been there, done that,' but it's true to a degree. It's not as foreign as it was when all these kids walked on the college away court for the first time.

Q: Hardaway had spurts like that before, but never really with the game in the balance. Is that another step for him?
A: I think he gets so upset when he gets quick fouls and it obviously limits the time that he can help us win a game. I knew he was going to take advantage of that time and we went to him to start the second half - the first play we went right to him because now he's got a warm-up, he's ready to go, but we're trying to find new ways to get him more involved. He certainly took advantage of that today.

Q: Can you talk about the team's three-point shooting and how that affects the swing of the game?
A: With the exception of a couple of times, we were pretty selective, we only took 18. We took good ones. In the first half, we couldn't even get a good look in the half court and then we ended up in the transition game and that's where we scored the three in a row that put us back in the game. Second half I think we had one in transition. The others were out of set plays or just residual action from them. It's important for our team, with such young players and the inside developing, it's really hard to score if you're not making threes or at least driving the ball to the basket.

Q: Without knowing if Jeff Brooks would play or not, did you prepare at all for Cammeron Woodyard?
A: You look at his numbers and you see that he shot some threes, but he's numbers were not good, very typical of a young player who's not getting a lot of minutes. It's very hard for them to have good numbers. We respect everybody that's going to Michigan or Penn State is a pretty good player. We're we going to overplay his jump shot? No. But we were going to try to get a hand up in his face when he was there. He certainly may become a very good player. Jeff Brooks has turned into a special player.

Q: It seems like you have developed a new gear where you can turn it on and hit a couple of shots in a row, where that wasn't as developed earlier in the season. Talk about how you have gotten to make those clutch shots and gotten those runs to get you right back in the game.
A: I think it's experience. We've been in these situations a little bit and they know now that first of all, it's not over because you go down by nine. We've done it several times where we're just back in the game and that's the beauty of both the shot clock where they have to give it up, they can't sit on it. Also the three-point shot. You hit two or three in a row. Coaches are nervous when they're up 15 because you hit three and it's a six point game. So you can get back in a game very quickly, so it's good offensively and bad defensively for teams when their leading.

Q: Jordan (Morgan) had 11 boards, I think that ties a career high for him, did you get a sense when Brooks was out that he might be able to do that?
A: Brooks will clean up some things. We don't think a lot about those things, we just play. He needs to go to the boards whether he's playing against Shaquille O'Neal or not. He's got to go to the boards every single time as hard as he can. The more he goes there, the more fortuitous he'll be.

Q: You threw Eso (Akunne) in there, why was that?
A: Stu (Douglass) got hurt, Darius (Morris) was dog tired and Eso has been the fourth, sometimes the fifth guard, and I just wanted to get him in there. Colton (Christian) and Jon Horford could not practice yesterday, we didn't even know if they were going to play, they got IVs the day before. That's why we put Blake (McLimans) in there as well, let them go in there and play. That whole idea after that sixth/seventh man was not definitive yet. We just kept working with them to give people opportunities.

Q: There was 12 seconds left and Darius got the ball...
A: How about that? He was trying to be classy, like you don't run up the score when you're up 10. He was trying to just dribble them out to not show them up, not when you're up five.

Q: If I gave you the choice of shooting, or not shooting, or throwing the alley-oop to Morgan, what would you pick?
A: Just go put it in, how about that one? It was a simple play, but he had the right idea when you're beating a team you don't try and score more points. But we hadn't beaten them yet, as you can see. The last pass, we threw it over the top, was our fourth option but he hits the scoreboard or something, they get the ball underneath and we could lose on a three. So we earned a lesson on that, when you have a wide-open lay-up, just score.

Q: Your bench scored 20 points, Penn State's scored two. Do you see that as one of the big differences in the game?
A: Stu Douglass comes of the bench for a reason. We want a guy to come off the bench who's fearless in shooting. Matt Vogrich is the same. We want them to come off with this mindset that when they're open, they're going to shoot it. That's pretty much why those things happen. With them being down Brooks, now they're going into those guys that haven't played a great deal.

Q: This is a big win for you guys, now you've got three out of four wins. How does this kick-start the last push for an NCAA bid?
A: We hope so. As you go into these and try to get into post-season, how you play in February is very important. We're back home, but that doesn't ensure anything for us certainly. We've been as good at home as we have on the road in the league. Our kids have a lot of positive vibes going on right now, about how we can play, how we should play and win. That's all we're trying to do. A lot of people can play in the Big Ten, who can win in the Big Ten? That's what we're trying to preach everyday.