2012-13 PRE-SEASON QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH PATRICK CHAMBERS
PRE-SEASON NOTES
Q: On his off-season knee surgery: A: It’s gone great. It’s just great to walk. I’ve got to tell you, it was a humbling experience being on crutches for two months not being able to pick up your kids and not being able to do the little things that you do in life. I was able to take a couple days off to take walks on the beach, push the stroller and take a bike ride. I’m ready for practice.
FRAZIER CLOSING ON 1,00O POINTS/ASSIST RECORD:
Q: On his first season at Penn State: A: We’ve laid a foundation of attitude and what that means to everybody on the outside world is playing hard, hustling, diving, taking charges and doing whatever is necessary to grind and show some grit out there. Maybe it didn’t reflect in our record and maybe it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard, but I felt like those kids really competed and they really tried. They came every day regardless of only having four wins in the Big Ten. They came; they competed; they wanted to get better; they were excited about the direction we’re headed in and that’s all you can ask for. With the guys that we had together and the youth that we had on the team, I felt like we were the best team that we could be by the end of the year. Q: On what he learned from last year: A: I learned a lot about their courage and their heart. I learned a lot about Tim Frazier and who he was and who he is becoming, and he still has room for growth. It’s good to see that they want to be good. They want to be successful and that’s what our locker room is, because it starts in the locker room. When the locker room’s cohesive, if it’s tight and there’s good chemistry, you’re going to see the domino affect onto the floor. Q: On his outlook on the 2012-13 season: A: We should be better. The mindset is different this year. We have a very cohesive unit that really like each other and want to be together. They know everything now, our terminology and expectations. The learning curve is very small and the comfort level with me is different. We are going to run and open it up a little bit. We will look to get stops and get run-outs off the stops. We have to play with confidence and freely. Q: On Tim Frazier: A: At Deron Williams, he played so well there. Then he goes to LeBron James and every step of the way he’s had an amazing summer as far as development and maturity. He has really taken ownership of this program. That is the greatest thing. I see that as an All Big Ten player, he’s only going to continue to get better because he hasn’t gotten there yet. Everybody thinks he’s arrived, but he hasn’t arrived yet. Q: On D.J. Newbill: A: He’s going to open up space. He is a weapon. They have to worry about D.J. He’s 6-4, 205 pounds. The guy is a running back in the NFL is what he is. He is so talented, so gifted, high IQ for the game, and he can get a shot whenever he wants it. Five guys can’t cover Tim Frazier any more. I think it’s going to help Tim and also it’s going to give Tim a little bit of a break, because D.J. can play the point as well. Q: On the backcourt and Jermaine Marshall: A: I am really excited about those three guys right there (Frazier, Newbill and Marshall). I think the light has come on for Jermaine Marshall. He’s going on his fourth year. He’s grown up. He’s matured. He had a great summer, academically and athletically. He’s jumping higher than he ever has and his threes have gotten better. We need him to stretch the defense a little bit. He’s probably our best shooter as far as three-point shooting. Q: On returning frontcourt players: A: Jon (Graham) looks terrific and is right where he needs to be. He is moving better, is quicker and I expect him to have a good year. It’s great to see Sasa (Borovnjak) back at 100 percent, getting better and he understands he can’t play just one end of the floor. Ross (Travis) has worked very hard on his jump shot and handle and is really a guard who likes to mix it up with the bigs. We love his effort and versatility.
8 ˜ PENN STATE BASKETBALL
Senior guard Tim Frazier, the only first-team All-Big Ten selection returning in 2012-13, will enter the season with 970 career points, just 30 shy of becoming Penn State’s 30th 1,000-point scorer in program history. Frazier posted 602 points last season, the seventh-best total in program history, and is on pace to finish among the top five scorers in program history. Frazier also enters the season with 444 career assists, the seventh-best total in program history, and 134 steals, good for ninth all-time. Coming off a PSU season record 198 assists last year, Frazier is well within range of eclipsing the 20-year old career assist mark of 600 set by Freddie Barnes (1989-92). His 76 steals last year rank as the fifth-best season total in program history and put him on pace to become just the fourth Lion to record 200 career steals.
WHAT A YEAR:
Senior Tim Frazier returns for his final campaign after one of the finest statistical seasons in Penn State history. Some of the highlights: • First Lion to lead the Big Ten in assists and just the third to lead the conference in steals in conference games. • Only NCAA Div. I player to average at least 17 points and six assists per game. • His 19.6 ppg average in conference play ranked second, just 0.4 shy of earning the Big Ten scoring title. • Ranked first in assists (5.6), first in steals (2.4), second in scoring, second in minutes played (38.0) and third in free throw percentage (87.4) in Big Ten Conference games. • Third Lion to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals in the same season and first to post a top 10 season in each. • Set a Penn State season record 198 assists and ranked 14th in the NCAA (6.2). • Posted the seventh-best point total in Lion history with 602 – just the fifth PSU player to eclipse 600 points in a season. • Fifth among major conference players with 17 20-point games (12 in Big Ten play). • Led the nation accounting for 58 percent of the Lions’ offense with his combined field goals (208) and assists (198). • Improved his scoring average by 12.5 ppg, the second-largest increase in the Big Ten in the last 15 seasons.
FRAZIER’S BIG SUMMER:
Tim Frazier had a big summer playing against the nation’s top collegiate players as he was invited to attend the Deron Williams Skills Academy in June in Chicago and the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas in July. Both events were conducted by Nike. One of just two Big Ten guards and 16 top collegiate guards overall invited to attend the Williams camp, Frazier excelled to earn an invitation to the James Academy, which featured 25 top collegiate players (guards, wings and posts) that
advanced from the earlier Williams, Kevin Durant and Amare Stoudemire Skills Academies. While in Las Vegas, players shared practice and competition space with players from the U.S. Olympic Team, which made its final selections during the same period in Las Vegas, and had regular interactions with three-time NBA MVP James and many of the NBA All-Stars that competed on the Olympic Team.
NEWBILL EYES RETURN:
Sophomore guard D.J. Newbill (6-4) has his eyes set on Nov. 9 as his first return to official collegiate competition in 20 months. Newbill sat out the 2011-12 season after transferring from Southern Mississippi in late August of 2011. He started all 32 games as freshman at Southern Miss, posting 9.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg to be named to the 2011 Conference USA All-Freshman Team. The 2010 Pennsylvania Class AA Player of the Year (24.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 5.0 apg) out of Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion HS, he recorded six double-doubles and 15 double-digit scoring games at Southern Miss and led team in rebounding 11 times. Newbill has reshaped his body going from 220 pounds down to 205 and reducing his body fat to 7.8 percent.
CHAMBERS HAS AN EVENTFUL OFF-SEASON:
It was an eventful off-season for head coach Patrick Chambers as he and wife, Courtney, welcomed their third child, Caitlin, to the family on March 23, he underwent reconstructive knee surgery on his left leg on May 11 and his father, John “Rube”, passed away on June 11 after a long battle with Alzheimers. Chambers underwent arthroplastic surgery, which involved resetting the top of the tibia below the knee to change the angle of the joint. The energetic coach was limited to riding a scooter and nonweight bearing crutches for six weeks and was on crutches for two months. He began walking short distances without crutches on July 6 and after months of rehab returned to normal mobility in August.
COLella Earns Scholarship:
Senior guard Nick Colella will finish his career on scholarship as coach Patrick Chambers renewed the grant he gave the former walk-on for the 2012 spring semester. Colella began his career at the Division III Penn State-Behrend campus before joining the team as a walk-on prior to the 2010-11 season. He served briefly as a practice player with the Lady Lions in his first month on campus before going through the try-out process. Colella started six Big Ten games last year, including hitting three treys for nine points in 37 minutes of his first career start at Michigan State (2/8). He made 16 threes in Big Ten games, third-most on team, and posted two double-digit scoring games in Big Ten play, playing 16 minutes or more in 13 Big Ten games and averaging 20.8 mpg in conference play. He hit a career-best 3-of-5 from three for a careerhigh 11 points at No. 11 Indiana (1/22).