Blue White Illustrated

���Whatever Coach Chambers needs, if he needs me to go out there and play D, that���s what I���m going to do,��� Johnson said. ���If he needs me to score the ball, obviously, I can score the basketball. So it���s just whatever Coach Chambers is asking of me. I can do it. ���I like to mix it up. I can shoot the ball. I can get in the paint and attack and, once my offense is going, I can get my teammates involved. I like getting other guys involved as well. I just like to mix it up.��� Not a superb defender or rebounder, Johnson was supplanted by true freshman James Robinson on Jamie Dixon���s defense-minded starting squad early last November. The move led to a public rebuke of Dixon on Twitter and, eventually, a transfer to Penn State in December. There were reports that Dixon tried to patch up the relationship, but Johnson had already decided former walk-on guard Nick Colella and big men Sasa Borovnjak and Jon Graham, have all struggled, averaging no more than 5.3 points per game apiece. No one would question Newbill���s toughness and leadership, but the consequences of Frazier���s injury have been all too evident, especially with no true backup point guard to fill in. In conference play, the team was shooting only 35.9 percent from the floor and a paltry 23.8 percent from beyond the arc ��� the worst averages in the Big Ten. Its defensive and rebounding numbers were also weak, but they were overshadowed by the offensive problems. Finding a way to consistently score points has been the biggest challenge this year. Through their first 10 conference games, the Lions were averaging just 55.0 points per game, a decline of 5.4 points from last year���s average. Without Frazier, the team���s confidence has been shaken. Players are still finding ways to get open, but they aren���t as open as they had been with Frazier on the floor. And they aren���t knocking down those shots with regularity. As for Newbill, Chambers has to leave, and the two sides split amicably. Since leaving Pitt, Johnson has been competing on the Lions��� scout team, working hard against emergency point guard Newbill and shooter Jermaine Marshall in practice. He���s also settling into his new life at University Park. Johnson said he ���loves��� his new teammates and coaches, and that attitude has served him well as the team fights for small successes on and off the hardwood. ���He comes in with a great confidence,��� Chambers said. ���He���s very confident in himself and his ability. He makes our second team really good and really competitive, which is terrific, and that���s what we needed. We were missing that before he got here. ���That confidence and belief in himself are only going to trickle down to that huge freshman class that we���ve got com- been effusive about his willingness to do whatever is asked of him. Protecting the spirit and effort of one of his most dedicated and enthusiastic players has taken precedence over offering a frank explanation of the team���s shortcomings this season. ���I think he���s doing a really good job. The only area [where the team would like to see improvement] is if he had more assists,��� Chambers said. ���If he had a 10-assist game, maybe that would really start to differentiate him as a true point guard. But he needs to score, and he has a scorer���s mentality. As a comboguard, that���s the way he���s built. But, again, I think he���s doing a really good job, under the circumstances. ���I���d love to be nit-picky, but I just can���t do that because he���s done everything I���ve asked him to do. ��� I ask a lot of him.��� Penn State is trying to build a game plan around players who aren���t used to their roles. It���s been a huge challenge, and Newbill and Marshall have been struggling to find answers while taking on point guard responsibilities. Frazier, dealing with his own frustrations, helps direct his friend and ing in, and to the younger guys, because he���s been through it. He was in the Big East. He played at Pitt. He���s been through the battles, he���s been on the road, he���s played in tough games. So he���s been there, and that can only help.��� Though he���s spent time at point guard for the scout team, Johnson, like Newbill, is more of a combo-guard who moves well without the ball and can take advantage of a variety of scoring opportunities. Johnson���s ability to make an immediate impact when he becomes eligible in December remains unknown. Until then, he plans to continue to work hard for himself and his teammates. ���He wants to be a player,��� Chambers said. ���If he can bring some guys along, you get them in the gym and you get them better. Perfect. It just makes us a lot deeper at the guard spot next year.��� teammate from the bench. He said he���s disappointed that he isn���t getting the chance to team up with Newbill this season, and he can���t help but dwell on the impact his injury has had on the team���s success. ���All through the spring and all through the summer, we worked on me being the point guard,��� Frazier said. ���Then, obviously, this incident happens and you don���t get a chance to prepare for it. You get a couple of days in between games. You don���t get a chance to prepare, and now you have a whole switch. Everybody is moving up a position into new spots. ���Especially D.J., he works his tail off and he���s trying his hardest. We spend countless hours talking and watching film, just me and him before games. Add that to the time he spends with Coach... it���s just tough. It���s definitely tough for him, but he���s handling it well. He���s competing, and his drive and his will to win are so admirable.��� Unfortunately for Newbill and his Penn State teammates, the payoff has yet to arrive. The harsh reality is that it may not materialize until next season, when Frazier returns to the point.

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