BATON ROUGE — LSU Coach Trent Johnson and players freshman Storm Warren (the SEC Freshman of the Week) and senior Garrett Temple met with the media Tuesday as part of the media session prior to the second weekend of the LSU Invitational.
The Tigers meet Centenary at 7 p.m. on Friday and Troy at 6 p.m. Sunday. Here are some of the comments from Tuesday’s session:
LSU Men’s Basketball Post-practice Interviews November 25, 2008
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
On his thoughts after three games…
“We’ve improved our intensity I think because we all know the hardest thing for kids in general to do is compete at a high level when they have a feeling that they are bigger, stronger, quicker and better. One of the things I talk constantly about is respecting competition and being ready to play regardless of who we play, where we play and when we play. For the most part, the improvement from the Jackson State game, in terms of being able to sustain our intensity level, not our effort, is a plus. The good thing about it is we are giving some guys an opportunity to play and get some experience who are new to this level of play. The majority of these guys are new to the system and new to the voice. That has been good and something I think we needed. Probably from the standpoint that we had a lot of guys on this basketball team that academically, as I mentioned earlier in the year when there were questions addressing our schedule, the need to be here. This is a big two or three weeks for them in the classroom, which is a bigger worry to me as opposed to anything else.
“We’re getting better. Do we need to take care of it a little bit better? Yes, no question. We have 49 assists but 43 turnovers. Chris Bass has 11 assists. He’s got 5 turnovers. I told him and as hard as I am on him, he’s probably got five turnovers, and three of them are just him probably making really bad decisions. As a coach, you get caught up in that as opposed to what he’s doing really well, which is he’s leading this team in assists as a freshman. We need to take care of the ball a little better, and our rebounding differential is at +13. We need to really improve on that. A lot of that stems from long shots, long rebounds and quickness to the ball and things of that nature, which usually happens when you play against smaller teams regardless of the level of play or the skill level. They shoot it deep, there’s going to be a long rebound, and you have a bigger, stronger individual, but he may not be a quicker individual and has a tendency not to react to the ball as well. We definitely need to get that cleaned up.”
On if he recognized players playing different roles…
“It’s still early. For me, and I think a lot of people will have to get used to it, I don’t care who starts and that kind of thing. Bo Spencer‘s and Chris Bass‘ role is going to be to run the team more naturally because they have the ball in their hands, but that does not mean that when people start to sag down on Tasmin Mitchell or Marcus Thornton or whoever it may be scoring it, they’re going to be required or have to make an open shot. Is Chris Johnson going to be a guy that we go to constantly in and out? Well, yes we are, but that doesn’t mean his role is going to be one where he is our post scorer. This system is setup offensively where guys are going to have opportunities to score when other guys aren’t scoring or when a lot of attention is being paid to a guy like Marcus. The only role I’m concerned about is that we come out and compete at a high level and that defensively, we eliminate some of our breakdowns, rebound the ball and that we support each other and take care of the basketball. Those are roles I want, and we don’t necessarily have one guy leading this team when things get tough, but we have 13 guys staying engaged and 13 guys being involved in the game and being accountable because that is so important with this group coming off the year they had last year. Each game we progress into this thing, they’re going to get tested. They are getting tested right now. After only three games, people are starting to tell them how good they are. Well, how good are we? It’s three games into the year. Their ability to come out and focus on practice like they did prior to going into Alcorn State and Northwestern State is so important.”
On how he will keep Thanksgiving from being a distraction…
“It’s interesting for me. This is one thing I talked to them about. They have a lot to be thankful for. It’s Thanksgiving. They have a basketball scholarship to LSU. They’re healthy. They’re getting to play a game and get a great education. There a lot of people in this world who don’t have that opportunity, so there is a lot to be thankful for. We’ll practice a 9 a.m. in the morning, and hopefully, if things go well, we’ll be done by noon. Then, we’ll have a team meeting after we lift weights, and they’ll go with their families. Again, we all have a lot to be thankful for. I know how fortunate and blessed I am. I’ve never taken that for granted.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
FORWARD GARRETT TEMPLE
On if it was a sense of relief to see Marcus Thornton get hot in the third game…
“Yes. We knew because in practice he (Marcus Thornton) is still scoring the ball, and he can still shoot it. He just had a couple of games where they didn’t fall for him. I don’t know if it was a sense of relief because we knew it was going to come. Maybe if it was the 10th or 11th game, it might have been a relief, but the third game, we just knew it was going to come. We’re happy about his defense. His offense is going to come because he’s so talented on that side of the court, but he’s playing great defense as well.”
On if he had any concern about changing positions after he struggled in the first game…
“Getting that first game out the way helped me. Seniors have first-game jitters just like freshmen do coming in. Getting it out the way was good for me, being at the three position for the first time. I’m loving my position and liking this team. I’m ready to have a great year.”
FORWARD STORM WARREN
On if he is surprised he’s been able to contribute so quickly…
“Yes, I was surprised when I received the information about me being the SEC Freshman Player of the Week. Basically, it just comes from me being prepared and trying my best to be ready. I have great teammates in Garrett Temple, Tasmin Mitchell and the rest of the seniors. When I first got here, my first question to them was basically, ?What’s the difference between high school and college ball?’ They told me it’s a really big difference, and you’ve got to step up. At anytime, everybody is just as good as you are. You have to bring it 100 percent, everyday, all day, which I do anyway. I just keep my head on, stay focused, and I’m just blessed to have the ability to be on this team, play my role and do what I’m supposed to do. It’s worked out for the best so far.”
On what position he played in high school…
“I played the three, four and five (positions). I played with my back to the basket because mostly in high school, I had a really big advantage over just about everyone I played. I was just as quick as everyone, could play defense on just about anyone and I was just about one of the strongest people in high school, so it wasn’t that tough on me.”