BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s basketball teams met with the media on Tuesday as coaches and players discussed the first set of pre-season practices and the upcoming 2008-09 season.
Season tickets for both teams remain on sale at the LSU Athletics’ Ticket Office starting at $95 for the women and a special 100th anniversary price of $100 for the men’s basketball team. The men play the first of 21 home games on Nov. 15 against Jackson State at 1 p.m., while the women open the season on Nov. 16 playing host to the State Farm Tip-Off Classic when they host Notre Dame in the first game of a nationally-televised doubleheader that also features Pittsburgh and Texas A&M.
The men’s basketball team will host a Purple-Gold Scrimmage that includes an autograph session on Tuesday, Oct. 28. The event is free to the public and doors will open at 6 p.m. with the scrimmage to begin at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Here are some of the comments of the coaches and players at the media day session:
Men’s Basketball Quotes
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“Obviously, I have a different way of showing my level of excitement for the basketball season than Coach Chancellor, but it’s interesting. I’m very thankful for the comment that he made referring to me as a hard-working coach. We are all working hard as a group. I said this about a week ago. Quite frankly, I thought this group of young men has done a very good job of changing the culture of the men’s basketball program in the short tenure I’ve been here of four or five months and turning the negativity that surrounded the basketball program. All that being said, this is still a basketball team that won 13 games last year, lost 18 games and lost their best player, so we need to prove we’re worthy of whatever preseason expectations or rankings are out there.
“We’ve had six practices in two and a half days, and they’ve done a decent job of competing at a high level. We have a long ways to go, make no mistake about it. Our margin of error is extremely slim for this basketball team, any way you look at it from the standpoint of our ability to remain injury free, from our standpoint of our ability to defend and rebound and take care of the ball at a high rate. One of the things that’s going to be the measurement of our year and how successful we are is our ability to compete and play through adversity, play through adversity on every possession whether it’s on the offensive or defensive end. The good thing about it is this is a group that is going to be better and play their better basketball at the end of the year. I really feel that way.
“We have a decent nucleus of 10, maybe 11 guys at one time. The keys to our basketball team will probably be Garrett Temple, Chris Johnson and Tasmin Mitchell. I’ve been very impressed with Garrett Temple since I’ve got here, and it has nothing to do with basketball. It has more to do with how he is as quality young man and his willingness to give to his teammates and his willingness to give to his university. If his teammates were 75 percent of where he was, then we have something special going. Of course, Chris Johnson is a kid that in our system, offensively and defensively, can be primed to have a decent year if he stays healthy because the ball is going to go in and out, and our system is one that’s predicated on post players having a lot of success. Tasmin Mitchell is a guy that we all know hasn’t played in three games in about a year and a half, but also, there’s an element of rust there, and this game is hard enough to play if you’re out there everyday. He hasn’t been out there in a year and a half. Tasmin needs to tone down his comments. As I’ve always told him, enjoy playing and try to get better everyday.
“From everybody else, we need to fill in the blanks. I’m sure everybody is wondering well, what about Marcus Thornton who was of course the second-leading scorer in the SEC and our leading scorer last year. Well, that’s only one end of the floor. Right now, Marcus has got to understand that he has to do a better job of making his teammates better; he’s got to do a better job on the defensive end.
“I do feel good. I really do. I feel good about their willingness to be receptive to what we ask them to do, and the key for us, the key for any team I’ve ever been affiliated with, when they’re good, they take ownership and they buy in on a consistent basis and they compete at a high level. That’s how you win games. I’m not one to talk about goals and expectations. The bottom line is if you take care of the little things, the little details everyday and learn how to compete. We all as coaches and players want to win. At this time of year, everybody thinks they are going to go the Final Four or the Sweet 16 or the NCAA tournament. The bottom line is you need to learn how to be competitive on a day-in, day-out basis, and then, at the end of the year or during the course of the year, it will take care of itself.”
PLAYER QUOTES
On Coach Trent Johnson…
“It’s just like going to tryouts in ninth great. Everyone starts out fresh and works hard and fights for a position that could go to anyone.
“Out of all of the coaches I’ve had, he’s the best one. He is like a father to me. I talk to him on a personal basis. He’s a coach that knows what he’s talking about. He’s been to the NCAA tournament plenty of times and sweet 16. He knows his stuff.
“My hat is off to other staff because they did what they had to do, but Coach Johnson is on another level with everything. Not just with defense and offense and blocking out, but everything that goes with basketball. I think he’s going to come in here and do big things.”
On coming back after his injury…
“I haven’t played all year and have been out for a minute. Just to practice I was hungry to do everything 110 percent. I’m hungry to win some games and hungry to get this program back on the road.
“Mentally, by watching the game from the sidelines and some of the mistakes I’ve made, it has broadened my game up a lot. I learned a lot being out. I’d rather be on the court learning a lot, but I learned a lot being out. As players we need to interact as one and that is going to help us be successful this year.
“I could learn a lot from each of my teammates. I take their positives and try to put that into my game. I’m going to try to limit the mistakes that I make. I saw a lot of things sitting on the bench last year that I’m going to try not to do this year.”
On Coach Johnson…
“I think he’s sincere, he’s coming in to change the program. We’re seniors, we have one year left, but this is a long term thing. He has to change the perception of the program and all that starts with his first year and as seniors we have to be able to lead. We need to be the ones who take what he says and explain it to the players if they don’t understand. He has experience and being here for three years and having to change is going to be difficult, but everybody’s going to be one the same page.
“During practice coach Johnson is very organized. We get to places quicker. If we don’t get to the right spot you’re going to have to run. It’s all about the mindset of working hard all the time. When you step in between those lines its all work and you don’t rest until the game is over.”
On being ready to play…
“I’m anxious to play. After being here three or four years I’ve become accustomed to playing any position. I am anxious to play and even win a little this year and Bo Spencer and Chris Bass are going to be handling the point guard duties most of the time this year. I’m anxious to do whatever it takes. I’m just anxious to get out there and play.”
Women’s Basketball Quotes
LSU Head Coach Van Chancellor
Opening Statement
“After five practices I really like our team. I like our enthusiasm. I like how we play, and when you have a team, you’d like for your best player to be your best leader, a player who’s leading by example. That player for us is Allison Hightower. I’d like to make a couple of announcements about our season. We have the State Farm (Tip-Off) Classic here this year on Nov. 16 and that’s going to be a heck of a weekend for sports fans — men’s basketball, women’s basketball and a football game thrown somewhere in there. We play Notre Dame. They’re ranked in the Top 15 in the country. Texas A&M plays Pittsburgh. I think all three of them will be ranked in the Top 25. Then what we’re really excited about is the end of the year. We host the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA tournament. I just hope LSU is in there. That’s our goal. That’s what we’re trying to do. I think it’s a heck of a deal. Season tickets are on sale for $95. You get 16 home games, two exhibition games and the right to buy to tickets to the NCAA’s for $19, and we’re going to be there. This team, I believe with all my heart will be there. Our trip to Canada was great. I thought it taught us a lot. It gave us nine extra practices, a wonderful time to find out about our team, and we have used that because we play in less than a month. We needed that to be ahead with a young team. We’re basically putting our team together, and I am excited about that. “
On how the style of play will change without Sylvia Fowles …
“All of my career we have basically stayed with the same defensive plan, and we’ve always adjusted our offense to utilize what our players could do. Right now we have a better shooting team with the exception of Sylvia Fowles. You cannot replace a player who shot 55 percent for a four-year period, but we have better shooters at other positions, so we’re going to change our offense a little bit and allow our five players to face the basket more and play a little more of an open post.”
On who the starting five will be …
“Our best starting five is Allison Hightower and four more. I don’t who the other four are going to be, and it changes daily. I’m not trying to hide anything. If I had a five I’d tell you right now. That’s where we are right now, but I can tell you we’ll probably play more players and change the starting lineup more than I ever have in my career.”
On junior guard Allison Hightower …
“She’s been beyond anything I would have ever expected. She’s our best weightlifter. She’s our best player to run at six o’clock in the morning. She’s our best practice player, in terms of how hard she works. We’ve asked her to run more plays. We’ve asked her to run this team like she was a point guard. She’s stepped up beyond my wildest dreams and exceeded my expectations.”
On this year’s schedule …
“We don’t leave the state of Louisiana until Jan. 3. That should tell you we have a young team. We’re also playing some really good teams here though. There are six teams (at home) that made the NCAA Tournament last year. Middle Tennessee has got a nice team that did not make the NCAA’s. Florida State, Nebraska, Tennessee, we have a good home schedule that I’m excited about, but we have an early schedule that will allow this young team to grow.”
On if he’s ever had a team that lost several players …
“You’d think at my age you would have faced everything but nothing like this. But at the same time I didn’t think I’d be as excited and pumped up about going to practice every day. I love coaching this team. They want to learn and they’re doing a heck of a job.”
G Allison Hightower
On how she has improved for her team…
“I’m just trying to step out of my comfort zone and become vocal on the court.”
On the best asset that the team has…
“We have a lot of different combinations we can play and a lot of variety. We have players that can step out and shoot. Last year, we did not have a lot of big time shooters. This season everyone is capable of shooting from the outside.”
On your leadership role for the team…
“This year I’m looking more to shoot and become more of a defensive player. The coaches stay on me about being vocal on the court because I’m quiet so I’m working hard on that.”
On expectations for this season…
“We are young but that has nothing to do with it. We come out hard at practice every single day. The coaches are constantly coming after us and working for improvement. The coaches see a lot of potential in this team.”
On the new players…
“All of them work hard on the court and off the court. Conditioning is really important and they see that and work hard. Everyday we need to continue to get better and get that spot.”
F Kristen Morris
On the new team…
“I think when we left Vancouver we threw that young team out the way. I think we have grown tremendously since then. They have learned the system and the game very well. I think we have more to go but they are in the perfect position to be a great team.”
On playing in Canada…
“You can never tell how a team will be until you get on the court and play together. During the summer we scrimmaged against each other, but it’s different when you add another defense besides ourselves. We saw how we worked together, who likes what and how we meshed together.”
On her expectations for the team …
“I expect nothing but the best. I have seen the potential that we all have and everyone has the mindset to work hard and get better. We want to continue the legacy, so I think the best is what we are going to bring.”
On improvement she has made for the team…
“I have tried to become more of a vocal leader. I have improved my defense. Our defense here at LSU is like bread and butter and we want it to work together. That’s what I want — to get better and my teammates will follow.”
G Andrea Kelly
On her expectations for the season…
“We just want to go into every game playing hard, taking it game-by-game and doing our best.”
On how practice is going so far…
“It’s going great. We see improvement everyday. The things that we are working on we see improvement and we look forward to getting better each and every practice.
On the team’s chemistry…
“Just that fact that we are getting better at every practice builds team chemistry. We are gelling as a team and learning more about each other.”
On goals for the season…
“We want to have a great season and go out there playing each game harder than the one we played before.”