Ed DeChellis And Players End Of Year Press Conference

by Adam Bittner on Mar 24, 2011 9:38 AM EDT in Basketball

It's been exactly a week since the men's basketball team fell to Temple in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and it seems reality and acceptance are finally beginning to set in for coach Ed DeChellis and the Nittany Lions. Wednesday, in the team's final weekly press conference of the season, and in the case of guard Talor Battle, his Penn State career, players and coaches covered a range of issues and topics ranging from their reaction to the loss to the future of the program. Here are a few of the highlights before we set you off into about 40 minutes of video.

Battle drove back to Albany after the team arrived back in Happy Valley last Friday morning. He didn't sleep. He just grabbed the first coffee of his life at a rest stop and stuck it out. Tim Frazier went to bed. DeChellis actually kept working if you can believe that.
Not sure if this makes the videos but according to DeChellis, redshirt freshman forward Jonathan Graham is up to about 240 pounds from 200 when he stepped on campus this summer. Both DeChellis and the players believe he benefited greatly from his redshirt season. Whether that's them blowing some early smoke for next season or not, sounds like we might want to keep an eye on him next fall.
Jeff Brooks will either rehab his dislocated shoulder or will get surgery. DeChellis and the doctors aren't sure yet. If he gets surgery, it may limit some of the pro workouts he can do this summer, DeChellis plans to talk to some agents to see what the right course of action will be.
DeChellis says he doesn't know what will happen with Taran Buie yet. He hasn't talked to him, nor does he have plans to in the near future. For more on that, check out this story by Alex Angert of the Daily Collegian.
With one scholarship left (for now), DeChellis plans to attack the guard position in the late recruiting period. Penn State can't talk to recruits off campus until after the Final Four, though, so don't look for any breaking news on that front in the next couple of weeks.

Enjoy the rest of what DeChellis and his players' had to say after the jump.

Ed DeChellis steps to the mic and looks back on the season.

Ed DeChellis talks about the late recruiting period and the future on Taran Buie.

Talor Battle talks about his future and the players look back on the first few days after the loss to Temple.

Battle and Frazier finish up their comments...and the torch is passed.

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Comments

It'll be intersesting to see what Buie does.

I find it a bit telling that Battle says Buie would have gotten in trouble wherever he went. It is also a bit telling that Buie had 2-3 “run-ins” with authority within his first semester of being at Penn State.

I’m glad ED is sticking to his guns and not caving into the desire to play one of the most, if not the most, highly rated recruits to ever come to play basketball for Penn State, especially with his job essentially on the line. That takes conviction.

I really hope that Buie can make the most with any potential second chance he gets, whether it is here at Penn State, or elsewhere.

by The JuggerNitt on Mar 24, 2011 10:11 AM EDT reply actions

It'd be really nice if it were here.

Buie has a lot of potential, so let’s hope that things have settled down with him.

I’m a bit surprised Ed’s looking at guards, with Frazier, Marshall, Bowman and incoming freshman Lewis. Although taking a kid like this would be really interesting….

http://thetimes-tribune.com/sports/knight-vision-scranton-s-terry-turner-not-letting-eye-injury-steal-his-focus-1.1110372#axzz1HTAAKpWB

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 24, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions

It is nice to see the "how many puns can I throw into a single headline" game is alive and well in Scranton.

by VVeRPennState on Mar 24, 2011 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Lewis?

Trey Lewis is going to Michigan. We actually don’t have any guard commitments for next year yet.

by dbl5030 on Mar 24, 2011 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Wow, nevermind.

confused Lewis with Burke. Too many Treys!

And let’s not talk about Tre Bowman…

by dbl5030 on Mar 24, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Why not?

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 24, 2011 12:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Only a junior, no?

Turner is two years out.

by Tailgate Shogun on Mar 24, 2011 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions

I've firmly backed off the fire ED ledge

the AD isn’t going to go make a huge hire so I see no reason in getting rid of ED. id rather see them upgrade the facilities for the bball program but im not too optimistic to that either. at least the team next year will be interesting.

by mjs2103 on Mar 24, 2011 10:26 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

"the AD isn't going to go make a huge hire so I see no reason in getting rid of ED"

that’s my position as well. Basically by getting rid of ED we’re hoping that we get lucky with an upstart coach. I don’t even think we’d be able to lure a successful assistant out of somewhere else, so really we’re going with a low probability hire. At least ED has shown some fairly consistent improvement, even if he isn’t a world beater. Sometimes one has to recognize their place in the world. I joke about the “Fire Wannstedt”, but I think the parallels are pretty apt. We have a coach who is doing about as well as can be expected in their position, and it is silly to fire them and hope for the best. Unless you have a good reason to believe you’ll have a good chance improve your situation it just doesn’t make sense to change things up (and there’s a difference between taking a risk and taking a foolish risk).

by The JuggerNitt on Mar 24, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Right. If Ed hadn't made the tournament, you make the upstart coach hire and hope to get lucky

because it shows recruits that you’re “serious” about changing the culture of the program. At least, that’s the line.

Firing Ed now, after winning the NIT (and being the 1st team out) in 2009 and getting to the Dance in the 1st round makes us look irrational to recruits and potential coaching candidates. It’s unfortunate that 2010 was as bad as it was, because if even half of those close losses turn into wins, we’re not even having this discussion.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 24, 2011 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I think we also have to give Ed the stepback year

We already know the situation with the returning players, and there are some promising recruits. So he gets a year for them to take their licks, improve, and he puts together another good recruiting class.

2012-13, though, we’s better be back in the tourney. I don’t care how far we advance, but we should be in there more years then not. I’m not looking for Final Fours, but I think making the dance is generally a realistic expectation right now given our place in the world.

by PSU Mudder on Mar 24, 2011 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I just want to see a gradual increase in the level of play next year.

By the Big Ten Tournament, we should be at least a formidible opponent.

Expecting to Dance next year is a lot, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t hoping for somewhere around .500 in total and something like 7-11 or 6-12 in league play.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 24, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't know what my expectations are

since the team is going to be completely different. I do hope to see that gradual increase as well, though. So long as the players develop over the next 2 years at a reasonable rate, I don’t see a big problem, at least one that would be fixed by getting rid of ED (though I do wish we’d have a semblance of an offense)

by The JuggerNitt on Mar 24, 2011 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree

Hopefully PSU plays better in the non-conference (and continues the complete ownership of Northwestern), but I look at a team like this year’s Iowa team: they took their lumps, but by late February / early March that team was a very competitive Big Ten team comfortably in the KenPom top 100. If PSU is a very competitive team by late February 2012 and comfortably in the KenPom top 100, hopes will by sky high for 2012-13.

As far as the conference goes, it’s hard telling. Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, and Illinois all lose a ton, and Wisconsin very well might lose both of the best duo in the nation (in terms of offensive efficiency, and it’s not close). MSU loses Summers and Lucas for sure. Northwestern loses a few dudes, but only one that bears mentioning. That guy, however, is arguably their best player in a very long time if not ever, Michael Thompson.

Iowa and Indiana return pretty much everyone from meh teams, so it’s hard telling with them. Michigan returns everybody from a good team, they should be very good..

Basically, nothing from 4th to 11th in league play should be particularly surprising for what should be a very young team in a very young Big Ten, but I’m not nearly so concerned with the league standing as I am with how the team is playing at the end of the year.

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 24, 2011 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

We've been Stockholm'd

And none of us has the money to buy our way out of it.

by Smee on Mar 24, 2011 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

My Indiana friend tells me

they have a load of talent coming in and his expectations are high for a return to the top.

"You're holding my hand Chuck - you sly dog!"

by rahpsu92 on Mar 24, 2011 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Indiana

anything from 2nd (I don’t think they’ll be as good as Michigan) to 11th (that’s where they finished this year) wouldn’t be a surprise at all.

Really, I look at Indiana basketball like PSU football. They should never, ever be bad. Mediocre and rebuilding from time to time, sure, but never bad. It’s the most premier program in the best HS basketball state, and they have a lot of recruiting ties in Illinois and Ohio.

If Indiana did nothing but harvest the best 4ish kids in state who wanted to play for them every year, they would never be worse than a 3 seed in the NIT and would have a Final Four team about once every 4 or 5 years. To see where Indiana has been the last couple years just demonstrates how abysmal of a recruiter Davis was and how much the sanctions that followed the Sampson era hurt the program.

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 24, 2011 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Jon Graham definitely does look bigger.

Not to start a whole “Neuheisel at the Corner Room” thing, but I live two doors down from Jon and Tre. I remember at the beginning of the year thinking he was ridiculously tall but pretty thin; wouldn’t surprise me at all if he put on 40 pounds of muscle. Nice guy too, so I’m hoping the best for him.

Tre, on the other hand, scares me.

by PJH3492 on Mar 24, 2011 1:30 PM EDT reply actions

Nice use of Neuheisel

by STU Boy on Mar 24, 2011 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Scares you as in, take your lunch money or afraid to see him off the bench and on the court?

I'm your late night evening prostitute

by Frank O'Brien on Mar 24, 2011 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Any word on which Big Ten teams we play only once next season?

I know football schedules are made further in advance, but I can’t seem to find anything that has which Big Ten teams we don’t play twice in 2011-12. Hope we catch a break after this past season.

by mundyscorner99 on Mar 24, 2011 3:01 PM EDT reply actions

With the addition of Nebraska

and the possibility of basketball divisions, I don’t think the conference has a clue as to what they’ll do with next year’s basketball scheduling right now

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 24, 2011 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions

FYI,

the conference has said there will not be divisions in basketball.

by lion09 on Mar 24, 2011 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks

I didn’t know if that was official yet

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 24, 2011 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions

You know what?

I like our basketball schedule the way it is and I’m sorta annoyed by the fact that it will be changed and for what? Nebraska football, volleyball, and wrestling? Ok, that’s great. But did we have to bring along that basketball team?

"Use their guts to lubricate our single leg attacks!" - Lycurgus

by ReadingRambler on Mar 24, 2011 11:31 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm sure the other Big Ten teams

were saying that about us in 1993.

This is BSD, the crazy stirs itself.

by Paige2PSU on Mar 25, 2011 1:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Or 1992 or before.

Didn’t our other teams start Big10 play before football?

This is BSD, the crazy stirs itself.

by Paige2PSU on Mar 25, 2011 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions

PSU started playing Men's Basketball in the Big Ten in 93

PSU’s last year in the A-10 was ’91, and PSU spent ’92 as an independent.

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 26, 2011 4:11 AM EDT up reply actions

Jeff Brooks. Pro Career?

If he is talking to an agent about the NBA, that would probably be a 5 second conversation.

by Slawsc on Mar 24, 2011 8:24 PM EDT reply actions

He might get a look.

You never know if it’ll be much more, but he has size, a good handle and some nice touch. If he turns into the headcase he was on the court for the 1st three years here then no, but this year’s Jeff Brooks is probably a better pro prospect (measureables-wise) than Talor Battle.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 24, 2011 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions

He, like many PSUers

will have a long and fruitful career playing overseas. Which is still a pretty good deal, when you think about it.

by Tailgate Shogun on Mar 24, 2011 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions

He's got the talent, size, and athleticism

He was the 3rd most efficient player (offensively) in a very good Big Ten. He’ll get a shot, even if it will mean playing a year or two overseas to get a serious look.

I've got the brains. You've got the looks. Let's make lots of money.

by ckmneon on Mar 24, 2011 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Don't forget Europe

I think he’ll definitely get a shot at a roster spot over there.

Adam
Black Shoe Diaries, SB Nation Pittsburgh, Daily Collegian Sports, BT Powerhouse, @fugimaster24
God Created the World Out Of Nothing, Paterno Built A National Superpower On Cow Fields...

by Adam Bittner on Mar 25, 2011 7:35 AM EDT up reply actions

I think a healthy Brooks gets a look by NBA teams

at least a second round or free agent and then play summer ball. He plays solid D and his offense is much improved with more room for improvement.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin

by BMAN13 on Mar 25, 2011 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Yup. Plus he's a legit 6'7 (6'8?) and can shoot a mid-range jumper consistently.

Not sure what he looks like from NBA 3, but he’s got pretty good range.

His skill set is excellent. Always loved the kid from when he was recruited, I just hope he’s turned the corner mentally. He’d make two ridiculous plays on both ends of the floor, then he’d make a pretty terrible mistake and he’d lose his mind for 10 minutes. He was just much more organized this year.

"I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the negative. I believe that having a good, peaceful mind is the basic premise for a good life."

by Adam Collyer on Mar 25, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions