Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades speaks to the press following the Nittany Lions men's basketball game versus the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, February 3, 2024.
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00:00 We're not, we call it zero percent complaining.
00:04 Zero percent complaining, we're not making excuses.
00:06 Hey, the scoreboard's gonna go on tonight.
00:09 We gotta find a way to win.
00:10 I mean, I'm just so proud of our guys.
00:12 - Coach, 22 points for Ace today,
00:15 13 of those in the second half.
00:17 What is it about his leadership that makes him so good?
00:20 - Well, number one, he's just so competitive.
00:22 I mean, really, the league doesn't know him like I do
00:26 and some other people out there.
00:29 He's just, his competitiveness is elite.
00:33 Shooting drill, playing ping pong, whatever it may be,
00:37 it's elite.
00:38 He wants to win more than anything.
00:40 He would play today and not score a point
00:41 and take a shot if he knew his team would win.
00:44 That's the difference of him
00:45 than a lot of other guys playing basketball.
00:48 Winning to him is the most important thing.
00:50 He's very unselfish.
00:52 I always say he's a selfish winner,
00:53 but he's an unselfish player.
00:54 And I think that carries over.
00:57 He gives guys confidence, which is so tough.
01:00 He gives Zach and DeMarco and other guys confidence.
01:03 So he had a great week,
01:04 but I thought the biggest thing with him today,
01:05 he didn't, and the other day against Rutgers,
01:08 he didn't let anything bother him.
01:09 He didn't get frustrated.
01:10 He had a clear mind the whole time.
01:13 When you're a vet and you have played a lot of games
01:15 and you have a clear mind, usually play well,
01:18 or you're in the game to figure it out.
01:20 - How much did your road victory over Rutgers
01:24 help go in today?
01:25 Although you got behind, you got behind,
01:27 and that's what gave you some confidence.
01:28 - Great, great question.
01:30 Tremendous.
01:30 We didn't win before the Rutgers game this week.
01:34 So when you win on the road,
01:36 then you can say, "Hey, we did it already.
01:38 "Let's try to do it again."
01:40 So without a doubt.
01:41 And because not having Kanye,
01:44 it gave the other guys more time on Wednesday night
01:46 as well as Rutgers on the road.
01:48 So that helped me get experience-wise
01:50 coming in here today.
01:51 So all those things are good lessons and experiences.
01:56 Experience is the greatest teacher.
01:58 So it allowed these guys to understand,
02:00 "All right, I got my work cut out for me to come in here,
02:02 "but I did it the other day."
02:04 - Mike, I know pressure defense is part of your philosophy.