Blue White Illustrated

tive of the role and more understanding of his role of searching for threes and not just standing. Now you can move but you've also got to defend, you've also got to rebound, and then you've got to lead. I do believe this: It was Shep and Bran- don Taylor as sophomores who led us to seven wins, which was a pretty incredi- ble feat for the group of guys that we had, but they were so bought into one another that it was incredible. I'm see- ing that with this team. [Last year] Shep [was] one of the big guns throughout the season. He was the third or fourth op- tion, and I think that can play with a kid's head a little bit. So I think his head is clearer, but it's not one kid who's going to be the decid- ing factor, it's going to be everyone who gets significant playing time, from Tony all the way down to John [Harrar]. Everybody knows their role and every- body has got to be an all-star in their role. BWI It seemed like foul trouble hung up Lamar Stevens at times last year. What are you anticipating from him this year? CHAMBERS We have to remember that these kids are coming in from high school and the EYBL circuit. They were never asked to play this hard in their life. And then they probably had four or five tough games per year in high school. So now, every night Lamar is playing a po- tential pro. You think about that. He played great against Michigan, but he got in foul trouble. I think Lamar had a great, great season. I'd like to see him up around eight rebounds per game. I'd like to see him get to the free throw line con- sistently. I'd like to just see him play with hair on fire. That's what I'm look- ing for, because everything else will take care of itself. Lamar is a mismatch problem. He worked on his three, he can post up, he can take you off the bounce, he can grab a rebound off the rim and push himself. He's a problem. But for us to be really good and for him to have a great season, I think his focus needs to be on his en- ergy and his rebounding and his defense, because everything else will take care of itself. BWI Josh Reaves' shooting might have been the big story line for him this off- season. CHAMBERS I think Josh had a really tremendous off-season. He just excelled and has new personal records in every- thing he did. I think it's just confidence. He's got to continue to shoot and know that we have confidence in him, and he's got to knock down the three. He had 25 points against Iowa, he had 21 against Northwestern. He's very capable. I want him to play like that. I want him to at- tack and play aggressive. I think he put the work in, so as a junior you start to figure things out a little bit. BWI With Payton Banks gone, do you need to fill that shooting specialist role? CHAMBERS The outside world thinks you need a specialist, a sharpshooter. I think we need a complete player, one who is going to defend, one who is going to rebound, one who is going to shoot consistently, one who can drive the ball and get to the free throw line or make plays for others. I think we have a lot of guys that can do that. BWI Mike Watkins obviously had an in- teresting first year with some flashes. What do you expect from him? CHAMBERS I expect a big jump. Here's a kid who didn't play in a year and never played in front of 17,000 people before and got acclimated a little bit. Foul trou- ble was a concern. I don't think we have to be concerned about that anymore. He had a very good summer in the weight room. He's right around 256. I think our staff has done a tremendous job with his development. I think he's smarter, wiser, a little bit more advanced on what to ex- pect this year. He really didn't know what to expect. Even though you watch, you don't know until you play. I expect him to be a double-double machine. I think he got eight double-doubles last year, and I expect him to have much more this year. BWI His on-court demeanor seems to give you guys a spark, but it also might get him into trouble sometimes. CHAMBERS There's no doubt. I think a key word for this team this year has been discipline. I've been talking about disci- pline. We have the talent. We're talented enough to win 15, 16 games, and we've done that. Now we've got to add disci- pline to it, and discipline can take you to 19, 20. So let's keep our emotions in check, let's play incredibly hard with great energy, let's not complain to the of- ficials, let's just worry about the next play. I think if Mike can do that and not get caught up in the refs or mistakes, then we can all move on and he'll be that much better and that much more valuable. BWI Where does Julian Moore stand with some of his off-season health con- cerns? CHAMBERS Julian is about 75 percent. He is in practice, but we're only doing two hours a week with him. But he was with the team full-time in the weight room, which was really positive. I expect a 23-year-old fifth-year senior who graduated to show his experiences in the Big Ten and understand what's going on. Maybe he's not a vocal leader from the front, but he can lead from behind. He's been through a helluva lot in his four years here, so he can really shed some light and pass down some incredible ad- vice to these guys on how to handle cer- tain situations. Slowly but surely, now that he's back in it, he's doing that. We've got good bigs. We've got Mike, Ju- lian, Satchel, John, Lamar, Trent. Last year we had two, now we have five. BWI Satchel Pierce isn't new to the program but will play for the first time. How much of an impact do you think he'll have? CHAMBERS A significant one. His numbers down on the foreign tour were great. He had two double-doubles. He's big, he's wide, he's a willing rebounder and willing screener. He's got great hands and feet. He's very skilled in the post and can shoot it out to the three- point line if I choose that. And he lost the weight, because we want to play fast. It doesn't mean we're going to score in the first three seconds, it just means we want to get the ball up the court. I think by him getting in such great shape, he's able to help us there now. We have the

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