BATON ROUGE — LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson and selected players met with the media Tuesday afternoon following the team’s two-hour practice for the first of a set of November Tuesday media sessions.
The team is preparing for the season opener set for Saturday Nov. 15 against Jackson State at 1 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets are on sale for just $1 at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net. The event is part of “Tipoff Weekend” and also the first ever men’s basketball-football doubleheader ever scheduled for the Maravich Center and Tiger Stadium. LSU plays Troy that night in football at 7 p.m.
Here are some of the quotes from the media session from Coach Trent Johnson and players Garrett Temple and Tasmin Mitchell:
LSU Basketball Post-practice Interviews
November 4, 2008
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
On the scrimmage Sunday…
“We’re making progress. It’s like I told them prior to practice. I thought one of the areas we needed to address going into the year was transition defense, and that was good on Sunday. We gave up one transition layup. For the most part, I thought our overall defensive intensity was good, and I think they are starting to understand the value of that side of the ball. Offensively, we played good in spurts. I think the kids are receptive, and I think they understand that the system does work. They’re going to get shots if they execute and play within the system and play together. Again, Tulane was a basketball team that beat us last year, and I thought we did a very good job of getting that handled and corrected.”
On PG Bo Spencer‘s progress…
“He had seven assists and no turnovers. He’s probably shown as much improvement from where he was last year to where he is now than any player on this team. He still has a long way to go, but he’s done a good job for this basketball team. He’s done a very good job.”
On freshman guard Chris Bass…
“Bo (Spencer) has sort of separated himself at this point, and a lot of that has to do with the experience factor. A lot of that has to do with Chris (Bass) being an individual who is used to playing one way, and that’s fast. Chris is going to be fine. He’s done a good job. He’s had a very good week. He knocked down a couple of threes during the scrimmage. Both kids, combined, had 11 assists and one turnover, so we’re getting some decent production out of those two right now.”
On if Bass can retake the point guard job from Spencer…
“I don’t want to get caught up in a race about who’s starting. We need to have 13 guys ready to contribute, and that’s the most important thing. Our margin of error is pretty slim. Garrett Green hasn’t been out there yet, and that’s huge for us. We had foul trouble in the post. Alex Farrer couldn’t go on Sunday. He’s favoring his knee a little bit. Today, Garrett Temple went down with a little back bruise, so we need everybody. It’s a long year. The key to all this and going back to Chris and Bo both, point guard is the toughest position, the most demanding position to play on this basketball team because of the multiple reads you have on the offensive end and then, defensively, the point of attack is going to be predicated on keeping people out of the lane.”
On if he’s pleased with the progress from their first scrimmage to their second…
“We’ve made progress. We have a ways to go. It’s all relative to who you play. The first time we scrimmaged against ourselves. Sunday, we scrimmaged against a team that won a number of games last year. I know what good basketball looks like. I know what good teams look like. The ultimate goal for us as a group and for me as a head coach is to make sure that we continue to improve because we have a long way to go in that department.”
On how much he demands out of his players…
“I demand a lot out of everybody, but more importantly, the thing I like about this team is that they are receptive to those demands that we are putting on them. They want to be good, so my job and responsibility is to challenge them, motivate them and give them something to be successful with in terms of whether it’s defense and offense. Is that demanding? I guess so, but I think that’s what any college athlete wants, and I know this is what this basketball team needs. Opposed to any one individual, it’s a group thing, a team thing. Like I tell all the teams that I’ve been affiliated with, I want it to be my fault if we aren’t having success. I don’t want it to be their fault because of lack of effort or because they didn’t buy into what we wanted or didn’t listen. I want it to be my fault because I feel very strongly and confident about that. If it’s my fault, it’s because the other team is better. We’re going to be prepared.”
On Garrett Temple‘s transition from the ?three’…
“He’s playing guard. He’s fine. He understands the game. He has a high basketball IQ, and he takes a load off everybody else just in terms of his basketball IQ and knowledge. He’s playing guard. You talk about Bo or Chris. When you have a guy who has played as many minutes and has played out front like Garrett Temple and you’ve got him right there on the wing, it’s a comfort zone. Then, you have another guy on the other wing like Marcus Thornton who took a charge in the scrimmage, had four steals, rotated well defensively, which is encouraging besides the amount of points he had, there are some workable parts there.”
On if Tasmin Mitchell is rusty coming off the injury…
“He looked pretty good the other day, but to answer that question and be very truthful about it, he got in foul trouble early. There’s some rust there, but he’ll work through it.”
On the season-opener competing with LSU football on the same day…
“In reference to people coming out, I think people are going to come out and watch when you play well, represent the school well, play hard and do the right things. From a sports fan’s standpoint, and I’m a sports fan, it’s a good chance to watch a basketball game and a football game for your institution or school or if you’re a Baton Rouge native. That’s a pretty good deal, not to mention the fact that our women play the next day. I know what I’ll be doing. I’ll finish my work. I’ll go watch some video and get ready for the next game, and then, I’m probably going to go watch as much football as I can depending on how well we play.”
LSU GUARD GARRETT TEMPLE
On the improvements made between the first scrimmage and the second scrimmage…
“I saw a lot of progress. Defensively, we didn’t play as well against each other. Maybe that was because we knew which plays we were running. Offensively, we played OK in the Purple and Gold scrimmage, but when we went to Tulane, we got out on them quick, and defensively, I think we gave up only one transition basket, which is probably the most important thing we are trying to accomplish. That’s something we didn’t do well at all last year, and to only give up one transition basket to a team that beat us last year is a big positive for us. There were a lot of positive changes between the two scrimmages.”
On playing the same day as an LSU football game…
“We were talking to a lot of football fans at the game last week, and people wanted to take pictures, get season tickets and get the schedule, so they seemed pretty excited about it. It’s going to be homecoming. A lot of people will be tailgating. Hopefully, they’ll come to our game, and then go to the football game against Troy.”
LSU FORWARD TASMIN MITCHELL
On his role in the offense…
“My role is going to be exactly what Coach Johnson says it’s going to be. He’s going to utilize me to my strengths. He wants me to post up and face the basket. He wants to me to be on the perimeter. He can utilize me in a number of ways, and I think that’s what he’s going to do.”
On what he learned last year sitting out…
“We need team chemistry to win. We need to play as one, and we need to play like Coach Johnson says. We need to play good defense. Defense wins championships. We were lacking on the defensive side and team chemistry and camaraderie.”