BATON ROUGE — With Alabama coming to town on Sunday, LSU head coach Trent Johnson along with guard Marcus Thornton and forward Tasmin Mitchell spoke to the media.
Men’s Basketball Media Session
February 6, 2009
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“We had a good hour of practice this morning. We took Thursday off, so we came back at 7 a.m., and we’ll practice tomorrow at 9 a.m. The game is at noon, so we are trying to get their bodies acclimated to getting up early. Again, Alabama is a basketball team that was the preseason favorite to win the SEC West. I thought they really handled us physically. We are all aware that Senario Hillman had an exceptional basketball game with 24 points and in terms of them beating us. Ronald Steele was obviously injured at the time and playing with a bad heel, so the nucleus of guys who have played well for them ? and I thought they played well last night against Vanderbilt ? are still in tact. We are going to have to do a better job physically on the glass than we did against Georgia. I thought Georgia really physically hounded us even though we outrebounded them.
“We’ve got some guys that are starting to get healthy. Quintin Thornton injured his shoulder again, but I think he’s going to be OK. We held him out. We are in pretty good shape from that point.”
On the changes that have been made with Alabama since LSU first played them…
“My take on all of it is that kids are very resilient. They’ve had maybe a week and a half or two weeks to adjust to that. The second thing is that they are talented and skilled. JaMychal Green is probably as good a freshman as there is in this league, let alone the country. If you look at Justin Knox and Alonzo Gee, a senior who has been around, they are in a similar type situation as our basketball team was last year. Again, I was not here, but I do believe this basketball team started to play well and play better. Kids are resilient, and now, there are a lot more guys on that team that are given more opportunities. There is a talent level and a skill level that you have to be prepared for, and for me, we are more concerned about us, making sure that we do the necessary things and making sure that we are ready to play at all times.”
On Alabama not being the ideal matchup for LSU…
“I don’t think there is an ideal matchup from any SEC teams. I like everybody else to be 5’11 and not very good! They are a basketball team that is explosive, and they cause some problems for us just like we cause problems for them, but it’s the same old story for us. We felt like we were in a situation up there where if we would have done a few things well, like taking care of the ball being one and defend better at crucial times, we would have had some success. We didn’t do those things, and that needs to be attributed to Alabama.”
On Marcus Thornton evolving in the offense…
“It’s a combination of a couple of things, but his comfort zone in the offense, much like this whole basketball team, came early. They saw where if they played together, set screens, made the right pass and made good decisions, then we were going to be able to score. Their roles sort of developed over the course of the year. Marcus (Thornton) is a guy that as well as he can score without the ball and with the ball off the dribble, he’s cutting harder. He’s understanding certain adjustments over the course of the game. He’s understanding how people are being physical with him, but he still has to play through things. He gets knocked down; he’s got to get back up and those sorts of things. He’s understanding the structure, which is the bottom line. When you have his capability to score, much like Tasmin (Mitchell), I give those guys freedom. Good players, when good teams take away your sets, take away what you want to do and all of your options, those are the guys that need to be able to go off on their own or make a pass or a play off the dribble. He has that capability, but his understanding of taking good shots now is much improved from the start of the year to now. His understanding of how to use screens and how to come off of screens is much improved. His level of toughness in terms of understanding that he has to be mentally tough when people start getting up and after him is much improved.”
Men’s Basketball Media Session
February 6, 2009
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Marcus Thornton
On his shooting percentage being higher than in the past…
“Basically, I give credit to the offense that we are running. If you run the offense right, you get easy looks at the basket. Tasmin and I are just taking advantage of it. Coach Johnson was quoted in the paper as saying that he’s given us a green light, and we are just doing what we can to help win games.”
On the difference in LSU’s offensive sets this year…
“Coach Johnson tries to get in our heads the importance of setting screens. You set screens for each other, and you’re bound to get open at any time. We come together as a team, and we’re playing good team offense and good team defense. On the offensive end, you execute the plays the right way, and you get a good shot. So far, we’ve been doing that, and we’re going to try and keep it up for the rest of our season.”
On the first meeting with Alabama…
“That first game has been in our heads since we lost it. We knew we were so close, and we couldn’t get over the hump. Now, we are going into every game like it’s our last. Alabama is a bit wounded. They lost Ronald Steele, who was a big part of their team. They are just coming off a loss, and they are going to try to beat us again. We are going to do our best to not let that happen.”
Forward Tasmin Mitchell
On his shooting percentage being higher than in the past…
“I applaud the offense because that’s what we get most of our points off of. We get everything off our offense. Coach Johnson has given us a green light. We don’t want to abuse that. He put the confidence in us, and confidence is the key to having successful players for a coach.”
On the importance of screens…
“Screening is the main key to our offense, putting a body on somebody to get the other man open because that will also free up the man that’s screening. Coach Johnson is always emphasizing the screens, and that’s just how our offense is. We are also more poised in our offense. We aren’t rushing to take a shot. Coach has a counter for everything. It’s just about buying into the system.”
On Alabama…
“They are just coming off a loss to Vanderbilt, so they are going to be hungry. Don’t take anything away from Alabama because they have great players. Some teams go through coaching changes in the middle of the season that are a spur of the moment. I think they may have lost a few, but they are still playing with a lot of confidence. We are going to try to approach them like we approach any other team.”