Blue White Illustrated

M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 Chambers views CBI practices as opportunity to build for future Patrick Chambers wasn't deaf to the comments made about his Penn State men's basketball team Sunday night fol- lowing the announcement of its inclu- sion in the College Basketball Invitational. Those comments had to do with the re- lationship between the CBI and the other tournaments that are set to begin shortly. It's bad enough that the National Invitational Tournament exists as a stepchild to the NCAA tournament each spring, the critics grumbled. Now comes the CBI offering nothing more than a shot at an even less significant form of supremacy. Unsurprisingly, that is not how Cham- bers views it. "I'm very appreciative of this invitation and this tournament, and I know the value of it, and I know what people are saying and I disagree with a lot of those opinions," he said Monday afternoon. "My [Boston University] team went to the NCAA tournament the next year [after reaching the CBI semifinals in 2010]. It's not a guarantee, but I think it's very help- ful." Simply put, by tipping off the first round of the tournament at the Bryce Jordan Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Hampton (18-12 overall, 13-3 MEAC), the Nittany Lions (15-17, 6-12 Big Ten) will get to continue playing basket- ball for at least one more night, and pos- sibly a lot longer. The tourney winner could end up playing as many as six games, giving Chambers and his staff an opportunity to continue developing a team that features seven players who are in their first or second seasons with the program. "I think it's great. It gives us a chance to practice. It gives us a chance for the younger guys to play in a game," Cham- bers said. "There are so many positives for these players and for this program. I was excited. It was very late [Sunday] night [when the invitation was tendered], but I was nonetheless excited." Noting the importance of additional practice time to the likes of Jordan Dick- erson, Donovon Jack, Brandon Taylor, John Johnson, Graham Woodward and Geno Thorpe, among others, Chambers said getting more minutes and more game experience will only help the team next season. "We get to practice with them," he said. "So I get to work with them for at least today, tomorrow and Wednesday and continue to develop, which I think we do a great job of. I think we do a very good job of developing our players, so if I can get a couple extra practices, a couple extra weeks – who knows? – I think that can only help our future." Of course, for the Nittany Lions to ex- tend their season beyond Wednesday night's matchup into next week – the winner will face either Stony Brook or Siena on Monday – they will need to get past Hampton first. Describing the Pirates in terms the Nit- tany Lions understand explicitly, similar to the Minnesota team that beat Penn State back-to-back to finish the regular season and Big Ten tournament, Cham- bers noted some of the specifics of Hampton's style. "They're not as big, but they're very quick and very athletic and very fast and they want to score in the upper 70s. They play good defense," he said. "It sounds like I'm talking about Minnesota, which is a good thing. We just played Min- nesota, so we're prepared to go against pressure and things like that, but it will be good to get out of the league and see where we are and see where some of these younger kids are. "They're going to press us. They're going to be all over us. They're going to fly up and down the floor. They're a good shot-blocking team, good defensive team, a high-scoring team. They have a really solid point guard, big inside pres- ence, play 10 or 11 guys who have 10 min- utes or more, so their depth is going to be a challenge. It's going to be a very diffi- cult game." M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L Save the last dance FIST BUMP Chambers is hoping the CIT will prove to be a springboard into next season. N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M THE CBI AT A GLANCE WHERE Bryce Jordan Center WHEN 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 MORE INFO If the Nittany Lions defeat Hampton on March 19, they will play again on Monday against the winner of a first-round matchup between Stony Brook and Siena. Bill Zimmerman

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