BATON ROUGE — Coach Trent Johnson and selected LSU men’s basketball players met with the media Tuesday afternoon after a two-hour practice as they looked ahead to the season opener with Jackson State Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game is part of a basketball-football doubleheader as LSU will face Troy in the nightcap at Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m. in a game rescheduled from September because of Hurricane Gustav.
Tickets for the basketball game are just $1 as part of “Tipoff Weekend” on the campus. Tickets are on sale at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net. The ticket windows on game day at the PMAC will open at 11:30 a.m.
Here are some of the comments from Tuesday’s media session:
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
On if he feels the team is where he wants to be…
“No, we want to be perfect right now, and we’re not perfect. We’re better. We are better than we were the first day of practice, but no, we aren’t where we need to be. That doesn’t matter. In four days, we need to be ready to play and compete at a high level.”
On if he’s curious to see how his players will react in a real game…
“I think I have a pretty good feel on whom I can trust and whom I can’t trust. We’ve had two scrimmages in game-like conditions versus Tulane and New Orleans, and the video tape tells the truth, so I have a pretty good feel. Always when the lights come on, I think we as coaches are concerned about game slippage, but for the most part, we as a staff and I as a head coach have a pretty good feel as to what to expect.”
On PG Bo Spencer…
“Bo (Spencer) has been doing a good job. He’s probably improved as a player as much as anybody on our team since I’ve been here. He has a ways to go, but he’s doing a good job. He’s running the team. He’s making good decisions, and defensively Sunday, he did a very good job, but again, he, like everybody else on this group has a ways to go.”
On what has surprised him from both a positive and negative standpoint in the scrimmages…
“What’s been better than I’ve expected was their grasp of the offense. It’s very structured as opposed to how their used to playing and how they play, but I think initially like most kids when there is a coaching change, they have some question marks, and they see it works. They see that they can get shots if they play together and share the ball and execute. That’s been a surprise. From a negative standpoint, we’re starting to rear our ugliness when things get tough a little bit. We’re starting to get negative toward one another. I didn’t expect that this soon, but that’s correctable, and what I mean by that is we don’t need guys to be criticizing one another. We need guys to stay positive with each other, and that’s shown up here at times. This is a really sensitive group, and like I said, you have to have thick skin to compete in this game and to compete at a high level. That has nothing to do with playing for me or playing for us. You have to have thick skin because things are going to get tough. This level of play is not for everybody, but they’ll be fine. I didn’t expect it this soon, but we’ll be fine. That’s not a negative. It’s just reality as far as I look at it.”
On his opinion on the extension of the three-point line…
“I think for the most part you are going to have more bad shots in terms of how I look at it. How’s it going to affect the game? I think from a positive standpoint, it’s going to open up the lane. There will be better spacing, but as it was before, kids were shooting where the line is now, so with the line moving backward, kids are going to start shooting NBA threes so to speak. It depends on what you do offensively and what your system is. I think in general there will be more bad shots taken or kids will take more bad shots, but from a positive standpoint, I think it will open up the lane, and there will be better spacing.”
On if the screening has gotten better since the Intrasquad scrimmage…
“Yes, and in fairness to them, I think we are all aware of this. When you scrimmage against yourselves, you know what’s coming, so you have a tendency to cheat defensively. When we went into our first game, I think they were alarmed at how open they were in some of the screening angles and when they set good screens that how effective things were. For the most part, it’s all based off when you play good people and good players, you’re going to have to stay in the half court. You’re going to have to screen and make the proper pass. We’ve cleaned that up, and it’s gotten better. We’ve improved in certain areas.”
On if his guys will be surprised Saturday with the way he wants them to do things…
“No. If they are, I haven’t done my job. I don’t think they’ll be surprised.”
LSU FORWARD GARRETT TEMPLE
On how important it is to not try to erase what happened last year…
“It’s a whole new season. The only way we look at last year is to build on it. We learned a lot of lessons from last year, and we need to build on it. We didn’t have a good season last year, but now it’s over. We’ve got a whole new team, a new vision and a new coaching staff, and anything can happen. In the first game of the season, we’ve got a clean slate, so we’re not really worried about last year as much as just playing this one game. No matter who we play, we’re going to come out and play hard.”
On how it will be playing under Coach Johnson…
“I’ve learned that he’s a guy that loves defense and rebounding and if you can carry the ball. He feels that if we do what we’re taught to do on offense, it will take care of itself, but the thing we need to focus on is defense. He’s going to have our backs with the referees. If they don’t give us a call, he’s going to get on them. He always tells us that he’s going to be the person talking to the referees, so we just need to play our game. He’s going to have our backs. We’ll see come the first game how he reacts, but I think we have a pretty good take on what he’s going to be doing during the game.”
LSU FORWARD TASMIN MITCHELL
On what’s different about preparing for the season opener this year as opposed to in past years…
“Really, nothing is different. A game is always just a game. We’re mentally prepared for the game. We’ve just got a different way we get ready for the game with a different coaching staff. Me, I prepare mentally for every game the same way from my freshman year when we went to the Final Four to my senior year this season.”
On if there are different emotions going into this season opener than last year…
“There are always going to be emotions because we have to win. It’s always emotional for me, and the team feels the same way. Everybody is going to be emotionally ready to play come this Saturday.”
LSU CENTER CHRIS JOHNSON
On if he feels he’s going to have a breakout season…
“It’s good to know that people see what I can do, but I really don’t see that. I’m just a piece of the puzzle. The way I see it is that I want to help contribute to the team in any way that I can. As far as blocking shots and doing what ever coach needs me to do, I’m going to do it.”
On how satisfying it is to know that he’s going to be a big piece to the puzzle…
“It’s good. In my freshman year, I sat on the bench, but it was a good year watching Tyrus (Thomas) and Glen (Davis) and a good experience going to the Final Four. In my sophomore year, I struggled. Last year, I got to contribute, but I’ve just been patient, and it feels good to say that it’s my turn to be able to contribute. I don’t regret anything.”
LSU POINT GUARD CHRIS BASS
On how important it was to have guys like Garrett Temple to learn what college ball is like…
“It’s big. Garrett (Temple) has helped me early on with most of the plays, so I think it’s a great experience to have him there. He’s played point guard for the last three years, and to have him help me with plays and how defenses come at you is good for me.”
On if he feels there is a lot of weight on him since Coach Johnson regards the point guard position as critical…
“No because every coach I’ve played for had the same philosophy as Coach Johnson. You have to be the coach on the floor. I just look at that as another challenge, and I’ll have to run the team.”