Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/121281
faced in Chambers��� second year as head coach. The Lions played the sixthtoughest schedule in Division I, according to Jeff Sagarin���s rankings. The Lions��� slate featured eight games against five Sweet 16 teams, and 11 opponents reached the 64-team NCAA tournament field. Looking back on the season, Chambers said he doesn���t spend any time considering what might have been had Frazier not gotten hurt. ���I won���t torture myself,��� he said. ���I���m just going to look at the team that we had and see if we did a good job this game or where we���ve done good things or where we haven���t.��� Even during their losing streak, the Nittany Lions showed intermittent flashes of potential. With Frazier taking mental notes from the bench, guards D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall gradually adjusted to their new roles as the season progressed. Playing out of position at the point, Newbill finished with a team-high 504 points. Against Big Ten competition, Newbill and Marshall finished fourth and fifth in scoring, respectively, averaging more than 16 points per game apiece. Ross Travis, meanwhile, finished sixth in rebounding, averaging 7.2 boards per game. By adding Frazier back into that mix, the Nittany Lions will have three highly capable scorers on the court at all times next season. And starting in December, they will have the services of John Johnson, a Philadelphia native who transferred from Pittsburgh. With Johnson���s scoring potential factored Frazier continues to make strides Penn State senior point guard Tim Frazier is finally able to run ��� a first since he ruptured his Achilles tendon on Nov. 18 in Puerto Rico. No longer needing the assistance of an AlterG anti-gravity treadmill, Frazier is starting to make significant strides on his road back to the hardwood. ���It���s a huge milestone that I���ve been Tim Owen READY TO REBOUND Travis, who has two years of eligibility remaining, finished sixth in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 7.2 boards a game during league play. in, the Nittany Lions will have more offensive options than they did this past season. ���I think it will be a great thing for us to have three or four scorers on the court at the same time,��� Frazier said. ���If one of us has an off night, the next one steps up, and you even have a third option for the next guy to step up. So it will be great.��� The Lions should also benefit from the maturation of Newbill and Marshall, both on the court and off. Playing without Frazier, they both seized the looking forward to for a long time, and to be able to achieve that only makes me look that much more forward to the next couple of weeks,��� Frazier said March 25. ���I was just excited and jittery to move my feet a little bit, but it did feel weird when I got off [the treadmill]. I���ve been calling it the space machine for the last four or five weeks because, when you stand off it, it���s really like you've been walking on the moon and now you���re stepping back on the earth and realizing that you���re back on the ground.��� Frazier was grounded for nearly the entire season, but he���s due back next year and will be surrounded by players like Jermaine Marshall and D.J. Newbill who developed into reliable scorers during his absence. Marshall recently concluded a breakout season in which he finished sixth in the Big Ten with 15.3 points per game. He called Frazier���s eventual return ���a big step��� for the team. ���It opens a lot of things up having Tim back,��� he said. ���Me and D.J. get to go back to our natural positions, and hopefully we can do some great things.��� ��� N.B.