BATON ROUGE — LSU Coach Trent Johnson and the members of the 2009-10 men’s basketball team met with the media on Wednesday prior to the start of practice this weekend.
The LSU men open the 2009-10 season on Friday, Nov. 13 against Louisiana-Monroe and will host the first two rounds of the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 16 and 17 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Here are some of the comments from today’s media session:
LSU MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening Statement …
“I’m really, really excited about this upcoming year. Obviously, we had a very successful season last year, but we lost a lot of quality players and a lot of quality people. There are a lot of challenges for this basketball team moving forward. On paper, physically, are we as talented as some of the people we are going to play? I don’t know. On paper, are we as skilled or as experienced? I don’t know. We don’t play the game on paper. There are a lot of guys that are going to have an opportunity to step to the forefront, play and play well.
“I will start with Tasmin Mitchell first and foremost. Tasmin was a very, very good basketball player at the end of last year. He is a much better player now. He is very much improved and has worked extremely hard.
“Bo Spencer is the other returnee that played a lot of multiple minutes for us last year. Bo hasn’t had as productive of a spring or summer as he would have liked, but a lot of that has to do with the injury to his wrist. He does understand he is going to have to be better than he was last year in terms of running this basketball team and in terms of scoring, too.
“Those two are the guys that are coming back that have played multiple minutes. Then we have a nucleus of guys like Alex Farrer, who is a fifth-year guy, that I’m really looking forward to coaching this year. He is going to be asked to do a lot of things that he is capable of doing. I say ?capable of doing’ because we need to be careful when judging this basketball team off of what they are capable of doing and what their strengths and weaknesses are and not putting them in situations that they can’t be successful. There is no Marcus Thornton, Chris Johnson, Terry Martin, Garret Temple or Quintin Thornton‘s on this team. Besides what those guys brought to the table, they could all pass and catch the basketball with a level of efficiency. We are going to have to do a lot of things different on offense this season and maybe, sometimes, defensively too. Alex is a guy we are looking forward to stepping up.
“Then you have Storm Warren who probably works as hard as anyone on this basketball team with the exception of Tasmin Mitchell. Storm is going to be undersized in terms of length and playing the five and four for us, but in terms of his commitment to making himself the best basketball player he can be, he has done a very good job of that. I’m looking forward to him having a good year.
“Then you have the unknowns, outside of Chris Bass. The unknowns will be Dennis Harris who is a redshirt freshman with a skill set but hasn’t played college basketball. Then you have Garrett Green who has been around for a few years but hasn’t played in a year or a year and a half.
“Chris Bass is a guy that in a lot of situations, if we were more experienced at the two, would have an opportunity to start, but with Bo’s situation, Chris is going to have to back him up which I think will bode well for us down the line. Chris is a guy I’m looking forward to having a good year. He is good with the basketball and has gotten bigger and stronger.
“Then, you have the two freshmen, Aaron Dotson and Eddie Ludwig. In a perfect scenario, if our program was where it needed to be in terms of depth, roster and skill set, maybe one or two of these guys would be redshirt candidates, but they are going to have to improve at a very fast rate. All in all, that is the nucleus of our basketball team in terms of returners and scholarships.
“The walk-ons have a much different role than any other walk-ons. A lot of them are going to be required to play. Zach Kinsley has done a very good job for us. He’s gotten much bigger and is going to play the three, maybe the two at times. Then you have Daron Populist, Taylor Jacobsen and Chris Beattie.
“The last guy will be a big benefit to us at practice because he has played at this level. He is big and strong. He started at Ole Miss. His name is Malcolm White and he is going to have to sit a year, but he will help us out a lot in terms of Dennis, Garret Green and Storm going against him at practice.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Forward Tasmin Mitchell
On being the leader of the team…
“I’m just going to go out there and lead these guys and hope they follow behind me. I’m going to follow behind them. We just want to all get on the same page because they are young, and they’ll have to step up to the plate. One day I was in their position, and I had to step up fast. Coach Johnson got those guys, and he’s going to raise them up and let them know what they need to do.”
On if he sees good indications from the young guys…
“Yes. They are really responding really well to Coach Johnson. They are working hard. Coach Johnson really emphasizes hard work and attention to detail, which is going to be a real key this year. They are responding well, practicing hard, going hard in the weight room and in the class room. Everything is going pretty good right now.”
On if he is leading by example…
“Coach Johnson and I agreed that I’m just going to lead by example. I’ve been playing ball here since I was six (years old). I lost a year and gained another, so that’s why I came back, but I came back to a wonderful coach. He taught me how to lead by example, and I just want to them to see my hard work in practice and follow behind me on and off the court.”
On working on his perimeter game during the offseason…
“I spent an ample amount of time on my perimeter game. I really did a lot of work on that. I was in and out of Houston, working out with John Lucas. He taught me a lot. It’s not that I didn’t know it. I just had to polish up on it because I played power forward last year for the team, but I’ve been working hard on that. Coach Johnson was telling me all over the summer, whether I was going to come back or not, what I needed to work on to be at the next level or if I came back to school. That’s what I really did over the summer ? work on my perimeter game.”
On working out at the NBA Draft camps…
“They helped tremendously. I learned a lot on how hard you need to work, what you need to do and how you need to respond. I did great at the draft tryouts, but I didn’t get the feedback or position of where I wanted to. I probably would’ve been drafted but would not have gotten the position that I wanted to, so I decided to come back to a great coach.”
Guard Bo Spencer
On getting ready for the season…
“I’m taking it day by day, getting ready. I’m really excited and looking forward to the season. It’s going to be really tough. We are going to work it out.”
On how much of last year’s success can be turned into confidence this season…
“We are trying to take it and use it as a huge confidence booster. We lost a lot of firepower that we had last year and defensive ability. We had Chris (Johnson) and Garrett (Temple). Marcus (Thornton) was the scorer, but we have Tasmin (Mitchell) and myself back, so we are going to try to take that and make it a huge confidence booster.”
On what Tasmin Mitchell brings to the table…
“He brings leadership. He has heart. He has experience from last year and the Final Four year. He comes back with a lot of scoring ability, and he’s stepping out to the three (position) this year, so it should be helping us out a lot.”
On his role this year…
“I’m still defining it. I’m going to have to make some plays and help lead this team way better than I did last year. Last year, I shot the three-ball pretty good. This year, I’m going to have to step up and make some more plays. Somebody has to fill the shoes of Marcus Thornton. I just need to come out, lead the team and the guys who we have that don’t have as much experience. I’m going to have to help them out a lot.”
Forward Storm Warren
On Tasmin Mitchell‘s leadership…
“Looking at the situation, Tasmin is the one with the most experience. I’m always open to learning anything or any suggestions that anyone may have who has put in the work. Anything he says that I need to do or anything that he says I need to work on, him or anybody on the coaching staff or my teammates, I’m going to try my best to get it done.”
On his interaction with Tasmin Mitchell and how his game can get better…
“Even when he wasn’t here, I called him anyway when he was out doing those workouts just for any suggestions or anything he thought I needed to do. Basically, I just asked him what were some of the things he had done to get to where he’s at because he is in the situation I want to get to. I’m trying to do that and then some so hopefully I can be in the same situation.”
Guard Alex Farrer
On his final season…
“It’s gone fast, but the whole time I’ve tried to enjoy it. Everyone has always told me not to let it pass me by and all this and that. Every step of the way I’ve tried to reflect and make the most of the situation, the Final Four, the SEC championship, and the whole nine yards. Even the struggles, I try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
On what he needs to do to stay on the floor consistently…
“I just need to shoot well, make the right pass, play great defense, be another leader on the court like Bo (Spencer), initiate the offense and do those certain things but don’t do anything that I’m not capable of doing.”