Blue White Illustrated

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 prom- ising 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 web- site editor Nate Bauer talked with Chambers about the season to come. Here's what he said: BWI 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 some- times 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. BWI 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 be- cause 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 fo- cused 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. BWI Do you feel as though you have to replace what Josh Reaves and Rasir Bolton brought to the floor? Can any- body match Josh's defensive intensity? CHAMBERS First of all, what an amaz- ing 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. BWI 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 forget- ting, we're thinking guard, guard, guard, and I agree. I think we have more an- swers 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 sopho- more, 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. BWI What do you see out of Lamar's teammates that you can point to and say, that's a direct reflection of his influ- ence? 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 under- stand the mission that Lamar has for this program and himself as an individ- ual. 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. BWI 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. BWI How much of a departure is that for him?

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