Dec. 4, 2010

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Penn State vs. Duquesne Postgame Quotes

Penn State Head Coach Ed DeChellis

Q: What's the injury update on David Jackson and Billy Oliver?

A: We're hoping to have both of them back for the Virginia Tech game, but I don't think either of them will be available for Mount Saint Mary's. DJ will continue to be watched. He's wearing a collar. They're calling it a "stinger" in his neck. I've got to go back and talk to doc more thoroughly. He just said "don't plan on either guy for Tuesday or practice leading into Tuesday." I hope to have them back for Sunday against Virginia Tech. Yeah (DJ went to the hospital). They did a series of tests over there at the hospital and scans and so forth, and again - just doctor said don't count on either guy for Tuesday. When you're watching tape tonight, tomorrow and trying to prepare for Mount Saint Mary's. Billy got hit on the head and had a cutting headache again, and with his history, he just wants to watch it and hold him.

Q: Turnovers?

A: We played exactly how we practiced yesterday - turned the ball over, weren't focused. I tried to explain to our guys how this game was going to be. I said to them several times, they play like they're down 10 with four minutes to go and they play that way for 40 minutes. They going to pressure you, run around, run and jump and make a bunch of three's. They make tough shots. They did tonight - I think they banked three or four in - that's just kind of how it goes for them. I didn't think we passed and caught the ball very well in the first half and we didn't practice like that. We practiced the same way yesterday. I was very disappointed in our start, but I was very, very proud of our guys and the effort. We had two guys go down, other guys came in and made basketball plays. Obviously, Talor was outstanding, and Jeff got going a little bit the second half. He was floating around the first half and we got him in the post more the second half where he could do some damage. But, I thought the guys off the bench did a very nice job for us tonight. ... Our bench has not been a strong suit for us, so we were really reluctant, but we were forced to do it and it worked pretty well. Tre Bowman did a very nice job. I thought Jermaine (Marshall) did a very nice job the first half. Cam (Woodyard) came in and made some big free throws for us and knocked them down, and I thought Taran (Buie) had a solid performance off the bench.

Q: Turnovers

A: Well, we talked about it at halftime. Again, I just laid it out there to them. The NCAA tournament committee is not going to like you losing to Duquesne at home. That's just the way it is at the end of the day and you seniors have worked really, really hard and if you want to go out there and play and play better and pass and catch the ball, then we'll be fine. If you don't, if you play the way you did in the first half, then it's going to be a tough night for you. We're not going to get much done and not going to be successful so you got to pass and catch the ball, run to it, run through the ball and make basketball plays. I think we were playing really soft and tentative the first half.

Q: What did you think about Talor's performance tonight?

A: Well he was out there 45 minutes before shooting practice today. He was one of the seniors who showed up early and was out there and was focused. We needed a big game out of somebody when DJ went down ad Billy went down and he's a senior and stepped up and made some big shots. He made some big plays.

Jeff Brooks
Sr./Sr. Forward

Q: What was said at halftime?

A: We always talk as team when we come in at halftime - what we see, what we could do differently, what we could do better - but I was a little frustrated by the way that we were playing in the first half as we got suckered into the way they were playing on defense, just making us run with the ball, throwing it all over the place. So I told our team that we're playing exactly how they want us to play. We should come in, man up and just play our game instead of playing theirs, and that's what I think we did in the second half.

Q: How important was the bench players' performances after losing David Jackson and Billy Oliver?

A: It's big. Losing DJ (David Jackson) in the first half took away our post presence, also our perimeter presence out there so with T being hard from the perimeter, getting to the cup as well, it was a big contribution for us to have. I have always appreciated it. It takes more heat off of other guys and he opens it up for us even more, especially with guys struggling to shoot the ball at the moment. T picked up the slack and just played a great game.

Q: What did you do differently today than last game?
A: I think I did differently was play smarter. I wasn't reaching for balls on offensive rebounds and things like that. If I didn't get an offensive rebound, I just sprinted back down the floor, and I picked and chose where I could block shots. I got a couple today and instead of jumping at everything, I watched the film and saw myself jumping at shots that I didn't even have a chance at blocking so I think I did a better job at that today.

Talor Battle
Sr./Sr. Guard

Q: With DJ and Billy Oliver out did you feel like you had to pick up the slack?

A: I was just playing with the flow of the game. Jeff (Brooks) was making some moves the whole game where we knew eventually he was going to start making them and he did. Whenever they found that I was just hitting shots - it was one of those days where I was really feeling good and confident shooting the basketball.

Q: What did Tre Bowman give you off the bench today?

A: Tre played great; him and a few other guys. Billy (Oliver) before he went down, I think Cam (Woodyard) hit some big free throws. My brother (Taran Buie) played a good role guarding the (Bill) Clark kid when we went to the three-guard lineup. Even Jermaine (Marshall) attacking the basket, unfortunately he was unable to make some shots, but I think we're going to need it, especially in the game today where some guys went down. People really stepped up. And Tre - this is his first significant minutes, how he was coming in, playing, attacking the rim and making some plays, so I'm happy for Tre.

Q: Why do you think there were so many turnovers?

A: I mean myself, I know I had three of them in the first half, and what they were doing - we were going fast and they're stunting at us, so I'm thinking someone's open, then he's retreating and that's when they were getting their steals. So after that happened a couple of times, Coach (DeChellis) told me just keep putting it up on the board and he told the other guys that because then they were out of place and the guys could just getting the rebounds. But you know we were getting them in so that's fortunate enough.

Q: How frustrating is it that they were taking long 3-pointers?

A: I mean they were coming long, but Coach told us before the game, when you take long shots, there's going to be long rebounds. He doesn't go for that, "there's nothing you can do." We tried that a few times, saying that. That doesn't work. We got to get that ball so that's all I can say, got to get the ball.

Q: Was the game as physical as it looked?

A: Yeah, man. They played pretty physical. Some guys were getting hurt left and right. Nothing was intentional, obviously, but two teams really playing hard. That's what basketball is. Hopefully those two guys on our team that got banged up will be all right and get back out there soon.

Q: Missed free throws?

A: That was horrible, inexcusable. The funny thing about us, if you notice, when the first guy starts missing - it's normally how the first guy shoots - if he starts missing, it just kind rolls on. Everybody starts missing. So that first guy has to hit the first free throws.

Duquesne Head Coach Ron Everhart

Obviously I'm a little disappointed we didn't defend a little better. And as well as we rebounded during the game, I thought we did a pretty good job on the glass. We didn't come up with a couple of key defensive rebounds down the stretch. You just can't win games, from our perspective, when you allow the opponent to shoot 60% in the second half. Of course Battle was a big part of that, breaking down our defense and making threes. I thought Brooks was a real key for them on a couple of dribble drive plays late in the game.

Q: How did Penn State change the game in the second half?

A: I thought one of the big keys in the game today was Coach DeChellis went to a three guard line up about five or six minutes into the second half. He played all three point guards at the same time. That got us out of our press a little bit. We couldn't really trap those guys because they were so good putting it on the floor and getting to the basket. I thought from their standpoint, offensively that turned it around. I thought we could have done a better job defensively. But in saying that, we couldn't take as many chances with all three of those kids on the floor at the same time so we couldn't trap them and do some of the things we ordinarily would have done.

Q: How much did T.J. [McConnell]'s injury affect his play?

A: I'm not real sure, I think it affected his confidence though. He's normally a little quicker laterally than what he was tonight. I thought he got beat in our press off the dribble a few times; in the last game that didn't happen to him quite so often. It was just one of those things where we were struggling offensively. We had some guys out there that were turning it over a little too much. We felt like we just had to keep him out there. The one key play he fell down on that back cut when Battle got the three, we didn't get to him. That was a key basket for them because it went from a two-point game to a five-point game in the last three minutes or so. I'm not sure how much it affected him but I know he's not back to where he was for sure.

Q: When you watch a guy like Talor Battle does that bring back Eric Jackson memories?

A: Yeah, he's a game changer. There's no doubt about that. He was unbelievable today.

Q: Playing a team in the Big East and then coming three days later playing a team in the Big Ten how much do you think that helps you're A-10 opponents coming up?

A: Our schedule is pretty brutal in that regard but it's not a bad think because I do think its going to help prepare us for our league much better if we weren't playing these types of teams. This is a real good team. These guys are very well coached and they play together. I don't know how many seniors are on this roster but I thought they had a lot of seniors on the floor at the same time. It seemed like those kids really understood what they were doing. They executed well.