BATON ROUGE — LSU Coach Trent Johnson and members of the LSU basketball team met with the media on Monday prior to Wednesday’s 1:30 p.m. game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with Louisiana-Lafayette.
The 10-1 Tigers are coming off a 64-52 win over Washington State on Saturday to run the Tigers current home winning streak to 13 games dating back to last year. Tickets are the game are available starting at $11 at LSUsports.net and beginning at noon on Wednesday at the upper ticket windows of the Maravich Center.
Here are some excerpts from Monday’s media session:
LSU Basketball Media Session
December 29, 2008
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“I guess I should start out by saying that Louisiana-Lafayette is probably as impressive of a team being 4-6 (record) as you want to see. They are very long, very athletic and have a very talented team. It’s just a matter of time before, in my opinion, they start hitting on all cylinders. I’ve been watching a lot of video tape. I was very impressed. Although they got beat, I was very impressed with how they matched up against Alabama. Like I said, for being 4-6, this is a very impressive group. They play Tennessee tonight, and the outcome of that game will be very interesting.”
On knowing that Louisiana-Lafayette has a lot of upside to them…
“It’s been my experience with teams like this that sooner or later they are going to start hitting on all cylinders. This reminds me quite frankly, if you look at this team on tape, it probably looks similar to the way we looked at times last year. They’ve got some high-caliber players. They’ve got some high-caliber players who transferred from major programs. It’s just a matter of time, but in terms of trust, I know this. If we don’t come out with our same mental approach, don’t defend with a sense of urgency, don’t rebound the basketball, take care of it, and don’t mature like I mentioned this to them before practice today. We showed some maturity coming off a hard-fought loss against a very good basketball team (Texas A&M) and found a way to win although we didn’t play well the previous game. Now we’re coming off a hard-fought win against a very good basketball team (Washington State). Can we show the maturity to come out and continue to do the things and get better at what we’re doing and be mentally prepared and focused because this is a team (Louisiana-Lafayette) that if we don’t, we will be in trouble.”
On Bo Spencer getting beat off the dribble a bit against Washington State…
“Bo is banged up, and he was tired. I thought it was evident that when I got him out and got him rested, he came back in and had great energy. In addition, the guy he was playing against is a pretty good basketball player. The concern part of it is, because I’ve grown to understand that Bo has a certain level of toughness to him, was he just taking a possession or two off? That’s what I’ll have to learn to reevaluate and learn to trust because you can’t have that. I believe it was the first two. The guy he was playing against was a pretty good basketball player in Rochestie and that he was tired. Chris (Bass) came in and did a pretty good job.”
On if Spencer is getting close to being 100 percent…
“I don’t know. I’m not a doctor, but I know this. He (Spencer) can’t do pushups. He can’t lift upper body and all the things in the weight room that the kids are doing as it relates to his upper body. We have to really look at his range of motion. I think Bo and Marcus are going to have to play through this whole year with nagging pain ? Bo’s shoulder and Marcus’ toe. Garrett Temple had experience at that. I’m not so sure that these two at this level of play have been in that situation. Again, for me, it’s not something I pay a lot of attention to. Bo comes out and practices, and he tells me he’s OK. The trainers give him the OK, so I expect him to go full speed and play through some things, but it’s something we’ll have to watch.”
On the importance of the Washington State victory…
“For me, it’s a win. It really is. I say that because it’s not my first rodeo. I’ve been involved with teams that have had some success, but I’m so happy for this group because it’s a quality win against a very good team, and they had some confidence where they had to get extended and play well. In terms of how big a win that is down the line or throughout the course of the year, that remains to be seen in how we continue to play.
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Forward Garrett Temple
On Saturday’s win…
“We treat every game the same, but this game was a nationally-televised game against a formidable opponent in Washington State because of the rankings they had and coming in as a defensive team, being the best defensive field-goal percentage team in the nation. Their defensive ranking actually overshadowed ours, so playing that Washington State team that was picked to be in the top half of their conference in the Pac-10 and to be down by seven and come back and win that game on national TV ? it’s a great feeling. It gives this team a lot of confidence and just shows that we are a team to be reckoned with. We do have the guys who can win big games, and that’s just another obstacle that we’ve overcome. We need to look forward to Louisiana-Lafayette and not have a setback.”
On what to expect against Louisiana-Lafayette…
“They are a very athletic team and a very big team. They have two guards that are about six feet (tall), but everyone else is 6’6 and above. They can really offensive rebound. They use their athleticism to their advantage. We are just going to have to execute and guard them and make them work for their shots because they like to take quick shots. We need to get back to being dominant on the boards because we didn’t do that against Washington State like we should have. We need to play LSU basketball, and we’re really worried about what we do more so than what they do.”
Forward Tasmin Mitchell
On the momentum they have going forward…
“Our momentum is going to be great. It was a big win against one of the best defensive teams in the nation. We’re going to try to keep the same momentum going into the UL-Lafayette game. We need to keep our intensity up, play defense like we should and try to come out with a victory.”
On the play of the LSU reserve players…
“I think our bench plays a major role because sometimes we (the starters) get in foul trouble and things like that. The intangibles really count more than putting points on the board or getting rebounds. You can have one rebound, but it could be that big rebound. You could have one steal, but it could be that one big steal that causes us to win the game. Everything counts whether you’re a starter or coming off the bench.”