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we're going to get you the ball at the el- bows, and you're going to drive it, you're going to jump stop it, you're going to get yourself to the free throw line, and I thought he took good threes. He didn't take any that I thought were too crazy. BWI Did his confidence improve as a result? CHAMBERS I think his confidence has always been there. I think he was always prepared to be the leading scorer if we needed him to be. And he's very secure with who he is. You could see him [at Big Ten media day earlier this month]. He was very confident walking around as if he's the best player in the league, which is great. BWI Josh is your next projected NBA draft prospect. CHAMBERS Isn't that exciting? Two years in a row we have the potential to be in the draft? Well, he's a senior, so it is exciting because he's leaving no matter what. So yeah, it's awesome that he has an opportunity to get drafted. He's a stat-sheet stuffer. Analytically – and the NBA is really into their analytics – across the board, this kid is a positive. BWI Were there lessons learned for him? Do you feel like maybe he's made strides there? CHAMBERS I think so, but it's always a work in progress with an 18- to 22-year- old. He's doing really well academically right now. I think he felt horrible about those four games. And I think he would say the same thing. BWI Maybe not just for him, but can you use that as an example to everyone else this year? CHAMBERS We went 1-3 in that stretch. And he's already talked to the team. In the summer, he talked to the freshmen really about taking care of their academ- ics, staying on top of it, and right now that's what he's doing. BWI What do you envision his role to be this year? CHAMBERS It's got to be increased. I'd like him to score the ball a little bit more. But he is a facilitator. With Tony and Shep out there, really Josh became the point guard. I mean, Tony brought the ball up, he initiated it, but Josh was the one who was really delivering. That con- nection between Josh and Mike was al- ways fantastic. Josh made great plays down the stretch to get everybody involved, and he's got to do that. He's got to score a little bit more, he's got to continue to shoot the three. He shot over 50 percent. I don't know if he's going to shoot 50 percent all season long, but I'd like him just to be consistent. He shot 37-plus from three. I'd like to see him just get right around 40. But I'd like that to increase, I'd like to see him get to the free throw line a little bit more. We're going to rely on him to gradually change a little bit for us. And that's going to be hard for him because he's so used to just defending, rebound- ing, picking up the loose change. If they need me to shoot, I'll shoot. And now we want him to take the next step in that progression. BWI What is Mike's ceiling in the ways he can impact the game? CHAMBERS The only person who's going to hold Mike back is Mike. Because Mike is incredibly talented. His skill set has grown. He's gotten even better. His passing ability has really improved. His free throws have improved. We're work- ing on a top-of-the-key three for him, because he has a nice stroke. He really does. And he defends and rebounds. We've just got to tighten up some things on the defensive end. He wants to block shots, and I don't want the ball in the paint. So let's play better ball screen defense, let's be in stances. He doesn't really have to box out because he's going to get the ball at the top of the white box. He's going to go get it up there. If he could just clean up some habits, I think it will really increase his produc- tivity. BWI You talked several times about the perspective that John Harrar's outstand- ing play could bring to Mike. Do you still use that as a motivator? CHAMBERS Absolutely. Right now, John is winning the battle. I don't fear saying that, and I don't mind allowing you to write it. John is winning the battle. John is playing great. He's doing all of the lit- tle things. And Mike sees that. John is playing that well. And he's sound. He's not the shot blocker that Mike is, but he's going to wall up, he plays great ball screen defense, he's going to block out. The kid had 10 rebounds in the champi- onship game. The first start of his career is at MSG in the Big Ten tournament, and he stepped up and played great. So he's doing a lot of great things for us, but it should push Mike to new lev- els. John pushes Mike constantly in practice and they're very good friends, so it's a healthy competition. BWI How does it change your coaching to have that second guy down low? CHAMBERS You might not look at it like this, but I love Julian Moore. Obviously, he didn't score, but Julian Moore was fantastic. He allowed me to play de- fenses that I really couldn't otherwise play, because he could cover one through five. He's not going to produce down there on the offensive end, but he could catch and dunk, which he did a phenomenal job of down the stretch. So

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