BATON ROUGE — LSU men’s basketball head coach Trent Johnson addressed the media on Thursday afternoon, as his 23rd-ranked team gets set to host SEC Western Division opponent Auburn on Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tickets are available online at www.LSUtix.net for both the Auburn game and Tuesday’s matchup against Florida (tickets only $5).
HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening Statement…
“I know one thing. We need to start playing better. The first half was pretty ugly. I don’t want to take anything away from Arkansas, but we shot it quick at times and didn’t make good decisions and didn’t play well in the first half. We found a way to tin the game though, which was good. The last two games have been against teams that are in the bottom half of our league. Now we’re playing a very good basketball team that is very similar to Mississippi State in how they stretch you around the perimeter and are coming off a five- or six-game stretch in which they’ve played very well. We have to play better basketball.”
On what he told the team at halftime…
“Halftime was just a matter of us making some adjustments because we really put ourselves in a situation where we felt like we were back in the game. In think the key was, when it was 26-28, that we made a decision that we’re either going to the locker room, shower, get on the bus and go home or we’re going to come out and compete. At halftime, I think they felt like we had put ourselves in a situation where we could come out and compete and give ourselves a chance.”
On if there was a point in the game when he felt confident LSU was going to win…
“There wasn’t a sense of panic or a sense that we were playing well and were going to win. It was a sense of we were back competing at a high level and that, ultimately, we were going to need to make some plays to win the game.
“I don’t look at it during the course of the game as to whether we’re going to win. I think of it as we’re competing well and we’re doing well on this offensive possession or we’re executing this defensive possession. It’s a play-by-play type thing.”
On if he attributes not playing as well to the absence of PG Bo Spencer…
“That’s a good question. At the offensive end, yes, at the defensive end, no. We shot it quick, but we didn’t get back and cover all our shooters. (Arkansas G Rotnei) Clark got the same shots in the first half that he got late in the game, but they were contested. (PG Marcus) Forston, in a period of the first eight minutes of the second half, did whatever he wanted to then late there was some urgency. Offensively, you’re going to be out of rhythm because Bo’s been playing out front and he understands, without me having to give the signal call, what we’re running against certain types of defenses. Also, he puts a lot of pressure on our opponents because he can shoot the ball. That’s going to put you out of rhythm offensively, but defensively and rebounding-wise, that doesn’t affect it.”
On the next game…
“We’re playing with fire…but if you look at the last few games and who we’ve beaten and now we’re going to face an Auburn team that’s playing extremely well and has beaten some of the teams we’ve beaten. We’ve got to play better basketball.”
On if extending the bench is part of the improvement in the team…
“Yes, it is. For example, Terry (Martin) didn’t start in the second half and I believe in the past he would have shut it down, but last night he stayed in the game, focused on what was going on, came in the game at a crucial time and hit a big three, but more importantly did a heck of a job guarding Clark. Chris Bass played well. Alex (Farrer), though he played limited minutes, he was confident and he feels good. It’s just a matter of time before he starts to shoot the ball well. Quinton (Thornton) hasn’t played as well as we would have liked, but a lot of that has to do with his minutes and what Chris Johnson has been doing on the floor.”
LSU F TASMIN MITCHELL
On why he’s been rebounding better the past few games…
“I’ve just made a more assertive effort to crash the boards a little more than what I have been. I like to help my teammates out in anyway I can. That’s one of my strengths, rebounding, and I told myself I was going to try and get more rebounds.”
On if he ever lacked confidence in rebounding early in the season because of his ankle injury…
“No. After I got back, I didn’t worry about it anymore. IT felt like it was good enough to run on it and play on it so I didn’t worry about it. It wasn’t going to hold me back.”
On what was said at halftime…
“Well what was said at halftime…Coach said ‘If you don’t want to play we might as well get on the bus and go home.’ When he said that we knew we had to do something because we came out flat, not like the normal LSU basketball team we usually are.”
On if there is value in winning close games rather than blowouts…
“Like I always say, this is the second time we’re playing teams so they catch on to what you do. They also come out a little better prepared than they did the first time. Any obstacle a team throws at us the second time we’re going to try to overcome it. That’s what we’ve been doing. Whether we blowout a team or win in double overtime, a victory is still a victory and we’re still ahead.”
LSU G MARCUS THORNTON
On the team’s mindset coming out of halftime against Arkansas…
“We never gave up. We cut it down to six and had a shot to win the game in the second half. When you get down that big in the first half you have to just chip away at it, you can’t get it all back at one time. As a team, we stuck together and chipped at it and at the end everything worked out.”
On how teams are defending him…
“Teams try their best to clamp down on me now and I’m just taking that and running with it. If they clamp down on me, my teammates are open and I have confidence that they’ll make the most of it. They’ve been doing it all year, so if they decide they want to clamp down on me, my teammates can go off at any moment.”
LSU G CHRIS BASS
On his play against Arkansas…
“I just wanted to go out there and be a leader because Bo (Spencer) wasn’t able to play. I wanted to get everyone involved because we had great scorers on the floor like Marcus (Thornton) and Tasmin (Mitchell) and Chris (Johnson). I wanted to get the older guys the ball in a position where they could score and be as effective as I could be to try and help the team.
On what it’s been like playing as a freshman…
“I know my role. My role is to come in and be energetic on defense and try to be a leader whenever I get out there on the floor and get everybody involved. That’s my role and I’m just playing it.”
LSU C CHRIS JOHNSON
On why the games have been so close lately…
“They’ve been beating us on the offensive boards and we’ve been taking quick shots. We weren’t playing as a team. It came and bit us in the butt a little bit, but we stuck together and it worked out for us in the end. We came together and got some stops just doing what we’ve been doing and it worked for us.”
On if he sees value in winning close games…
“You never on later on down the stretch this year, we could be in the same situation and just knowing that we have trust in the team and we all can stick together will work out for us later on.”