Tuesday Truths: A Bouquet to Pat Chambers


“He’s the hardest working man in the Big 10”

ESPN’s John Gasaway:

Tomorrow night Penn State’s playing a game at Ohio State that the Nittany Lions are very likely to lose, so this may seem like an odd moment to throw a bouquet to Pat Chambers. Be that as it may, PSU has a defense that has very clearly been better than the Big Ten average. That is news, in the sense that it’s the first time in Chambers’ tenure that Penn State has been better than average on either side of the ball.

And all it got the Lions was three wins and eight losses. There’s a lot of close-game heartbreak in that record, as you’d expect, but then again with this offense PSU is hard pressed to play anything but close games to begin with.

Don’t blame D.J. Newbill. In conference play he carries a larger sack of possessions around than any other player in the Big Ten and yet he’s still managed to make half his twos. Newbill’s main challenge on offense is that the best perimeter shooter on his team might be a guy named D.J. Newbill, and he’s actually not that great from out there.

Let’s see, tough defense, maniacally overworked featured scorer who arrived as a transfer, school acquired by the Big Ten to improve the conference’s football, historically benighted basketball program — it all adds up. When Chambers starts tweeting at halftime, the parallels to Nebraska 2014 will be complete.

via Tuesday Truths: “On the shoulders of giants” edition | John Gasaway.