BATON ROUGE — LSU Coach Trent Johnson and players Bo Spencer and Chris Johnson met with members of the media after Monday’s practice in preparation for Thursday’s opening night of the LSU Invitational.
The Invitational is a two-weekend, five-team, four-game round robin event that begins Thursday with two games ? Troy vs. Centenary at 4:30 and LSU against Alcorn State at 7 p.m. Friday there are two games that do not involve LSU: Troy-Alcorn State at 1:30 p.m. and Centenary-Northwestern State at 4 p.m. LSU and Northwestern State conclude the first weekend of play Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets on nights LSU play start at $5 and are available at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net. Friday’s doubleheader will have free admission. Doors will open one hour prior to the first tipoff. The event continues with a second weekend of games on Nov. 28, 29 and 30.
Here are some of the comments from the media session:
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“We had a very competitive, very intense practice. That’s good. I was disappointed, and I know they were probably more so than I in terms of our lack of energy in the Jackson State game, but considering it was our first game and expectations on their behalf, it’s probably something you would expect at this time of year. For me, it’s something that I really don’t dwell on in terms of the expectations as opposed to us playing the game the right way and competing. It’s like I told them. We went over against Tulane and New Orleans and played them in game-like conditions plus two 10-minute quarters and competed really hard. All of a sudden, we come back over here and turn the lights on. It’s got to be a habit to where you compete regardless of who’s in the stands. Today was good. Tomorrow has to be better, and Wednesday has to be better. Thursday, hopefully there is some carry over because I do believe this basketball team will play like they practice, and hopefully, they understand that now. Alcorn State is a very competitive, very quick team, and if they’re anything like their coach, Larry Smith, I know the type of player he was, so we’ll have to be ready to play because they will be very competitive.”
On allowing eight offensive rebounds to Jackson State in the first half…
“We had some breakdowns. It wasn’t as much effort as it was intensity, and that’s a fine line for the untrained eye. Tasmin (Mitchell) for example gave up two offensive rebounds. Now, he’s as intense and as much a warrior as we have on this team, and he just broke down, but then, I look at the tape. Well, the guy that he’s guarding is quicker and more of a perimeter player. When I talk about intensity with this group, I’m talking about from start to finish. I’m talking about when there is a timeout, the things that they have shown me in two or three weeks or a month like sprinting off the floor. When things got a little down there like when Marcus Thornton got in foul trouble because he was out of position, those things started to compound, and they lost their intensity. They’ve got to sustain that, and whoever is on the court has to compete, but it wasn’t because of lack of effort.”
On Bo Spencer running the team in the first game…
“I thought he did a decent job. Like I mentioned right after the game, that didn’t surprise me. What surprised me is that he had three turnovers, and he had some crucial turnovers, two of them where he left his feet in a four-point game. In terms of his ability to shoot the ball, I told Bo that because of the way this offense is geared, inside-out, and Marcus can score, Tasmin can score, we’re going to throw the ball to Chris (Johnson), he needs to be patient. He’s going to have opportunities to knock down an open shot, but in terms of running the team, I thought he did a decent job. So much is magnified because he hit two or three big threes. So much was magnified from Marcus’ standpoint because he was 1-for-8. I told him that he’s going to be 1-for-8 a lot because good teams aren’t going to let him score, but the thing that bothers me is that defensively he was out of position and gambled. Those are the kind of things that I dwell on as opposed to the offense.”
On Bo Spencer having no assists against Jackson State…
“That wasn’t a problem. We got good shots. We probably took six bad shots, but we got the ball where we needed to get it. Guys just didn’t make plays. It wasn’t like they weren’t distributing the ball and playing together, but again, what you have to understand is that it is so early. There’s a new system.”
On what he liked from the first game…
“The fans. We had a good turnout for a 1 p.m. game. I thought that was a really good turnout. No question.”
On if players get into it when fans get pumped up…
“Any kid does. Any student-athlete does. I just think that’s just part of it. However, the good teams and the good players, it does not matter who’s in that stands. It’s about learning how to compete. It’s comical to me. People will ask me, ?Coach, did you feel the excitement of the crowd?’ My goodness. I feel the wrath of that guy scoring on us right now. I can feel that, but I can’t feel who’s in the stands.”
On Garrett Temple struggling to get it going offensively…
“I’m not worried about Garrett Temple, not at all. Everything is new. He’s got a new position. There is some rust there in terms of the new position. The ball is not in his hands as much. I’m not worried about that. For us to be successful, we’ve got to bring it with a lot of intensity defensively and rebounding and not have any breakdowns. We’ve got to bring it everyday.”
LSU POINT GUARD BO SPENCER
On giving up eight offensive rebounds in the first half to Jackson State…
“Coach watched the film and he came in saying how we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds and how we all have to crash the boards on the defensive end. We can’t come out sluggish like we did against Jackson State. We have to come out on top of our game. We have to come out like we’re holding grudges and be able to compete.”
On if he expected to have this big of a role at this point in his career…
“When I was recruited by Coach Brady, they told me that I was going to play behind Garrett (Temple) and be the backup. When Coach Johnson came in, he put Garrett at the three position. It was a surprise, but then again, it really wasn’t a surprise because Garrett is really comfortable at the three. I was able to come in and contribute. I was comfortable with doing it. I expected myself to do things like that, and I just came out and played. When Coach Johnson came here, he told me I was going to have my opportunities, so I came in, and I expected that he was going to put me in a position to play the point and maybe start.”
LSU CENTER CHRIS JOHNSON
On giving up eight offensive rebounds in the first half to Jackson State…
“Jackson State had eight offensive rebounds in the first half. That just means we have to step it up. We went through rebound drills today, and we’re just trying to get better each day at practice.”
On the team not panicking after early foul troubles…
“Coach Johnson preaches that we need all 13 guys. We need everybody. If one guy is in foul trouble, someone else needs to step up. Marcus (Thornton) was struggling, especially with the fouls, and the shots weren’t falling, so someone had to step up and help the team, and that’s what happened.”