NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The LSU men’s basketball team continues its search for a Southeastern Conference victory here Saturday against nationally-ranked Vanderbilt at fabled Memorial Gymnasium.
The game is the first of two on the SEC Network Saturday and will tip at 12:47 p.m. (WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge). The game will be available on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger) and in the GeauxZone at LSUsports.net.
The Tigers, 9-15 and 0-10 in the league, will be facing its fourth straight team in the top two in their respective divisions having met Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas prior to facing Vandy which is No. 22 in the AP poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. The Commodores are 18-5 overall and 7-2 in the SEC East and coming off a strong 80-71 win at home versus Tennessee on Tuesday night.
It appears LSU may be limited as Coach Trent Johnson discussed in Thursday’s media session concerning the status of Bo Spencer, who sprained his left ankle (not the one sprained in November) late in the first half of Wednesday’s loss at Arkansas, and Storm Warren, who is bothered by a hamstring problem.
“There is a level of mental frustration, but I think physically we are pretty beat up and pretty tired,” said Johnson. “Injury-wise, I don’t know if Bo Spencer will be able to (practice Friday). (Trainer) Shawn Eddy has told me it was a light ankle sprain. Bo has had his share of ankle problems since I’ve been here. Storm is going to have to go day-to-day. Hamstrings are very delicate. His whole game is predicated off his legs.”
If either player can’t go, it throws more playing time on people like walk-on point guard Daron Populist and forwards Garrett Green and Dennis Harris.
Vanderbilt had leads of 27 points twice against Tennessee with Jeffery Taylor getting 26 points and Jermaine Beal 20.
“Vandy was a team going into the year that I knew was going to be extremely good,” said Johnson. “They have very good balance in their classes in terms of the caliber of player and caliber of people that are seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen. They are very physical much like Arkansas and Kentucky. It seems like everyone we are playing is playing probably as good as they have been all year.”
Senior guard Tasmin Mitchell will be looking to move up the scoring chart again on Saturday after becoming the all-time leader in career minutes played at LSU on Wednesday. Mitchell stands at 1,881 points, seventh all-time at LSU, and needs just 16 points to move into sixth place Kenny Higgs (1974-78), who finished with 1,896 points. The Denham Springs native is 119 points shy of becoming just the third LSU player to score 2,000 career points.
The Tigers will have a much needed week off after this game and will return to action at home on Saturday, Feb. 20, against Ole Miss in a 3 p.m. contest.
Trent Johnson meets with the Media
February 11, 2010
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening statement …
“There is a level of mental frustration, but I think physically we are pretty beat up and pretty tired. Going into the game, we had to hold Storm (Warren) out of practice. He is laboring. His quickness to the ball isn’t there. Aaron (Dotson) is Aaron. I think Tasmin (Mitchell) has really hit a wall, so to speak. That’s to be expected with all teams this time of the year. I don’t want to take away anything from Arkansas. I knew how they were going to be going in, and obviously, I don’t think we competed at the level we needed to. That’s no secret, but I look out there and see some guys trying to make a concentrated effort to get things done, and then I see some guys just physically not able to get there. One of the things we did prior to the game, we didn’t have a shoot around the day of the game.
“Injury-wise, I don’t know if Bo Spencer will be able to (go to Vanderbilt) tomorrow. Shawn Eddy has told me it was a light ankle sprain. Bo has had his share of ankle problems since I’ve been here. Storm is going to have to go day-to-day. Hamstrings are very delicate. His whole game is predicated off his legs.
“Vandy was a team going into the year that I knew was going to be extremely good. They have very good balance in their classes in terms of the caliber of player and caliber of people that are seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen. They are very physical much like Arkansas and Kentucky. It seems like everyone we are playing is playing probably as good as they have all year.”
On Bo’s ankle injury and Bo playing in the Vanderbilt game …
“I don’t know if it’s a high or low ankle sprain, and Shawn said we would look at it tomorrow to see if he could go. Bo has always been a guy that it takes two or three days to get back to play at the level we need him to play. We will see.”
On what he said to the guys in the locker room after the Arkansas game …
“I dwell on the subtle points–the thing that’s the most glaring. If you are referring to the Arkansas game, I told them we didn’t compete or play as hard as we needed to in order to be in a game of that magnitude on the road. When you are nine or ten games into a slide, even when you win and don’t play well, I’m very subtle in scrutinizing or criticizing the team immediately after unless it’s something that’s glaring without watching the video tape. I look at lack of effort or if there was a breakdown here or there. After that game, I just said, ‘We didn’t compete as hard as we needed to for us to be in this game.’ They all know that. Whether it was 15, 20 or 30 points, we didn’t compete like we were capable of.”
On if the past two teams have handled LSU and why …
“The last two games we’ve been handled. It’s more of the physical to start, and then it becomes mental. The physicality of Kentucky and their quickness, and Arkansas out front with the guards making it tough. Then, it becomes mental. I have to shield the ball with my off hand and take care of all the things we talked about in practice. All the things you do. When you are playing against a better player or a stronger athlete, that’s just part of it. It’s the physical, and then it becomes the mental.”
On if playing at Vanderbilt will present communication problems …
“For us, we use the cards. If you are taking the ball out and going the other way you use your ones right there. In terms of communication, at least there will be better eye contact as opposed to if you were on the side like you usually are, and the kid doesn’t look over. Now, I can tell Chris and Bo what plays we are running, and they can see the card and relay to the other guys. When you are running the other way, they can still see you with the hand signal. It’s uncomfortable from the standpoint when you like to have constant communication. Some coaches like to have constant communication with their guys. To me, it just varies. That’s why I utilize the cards and have always been an advocate of it. Regardless of what your bench situation is like, the crowd can get so loud kids can’t hear you. Your point guard can hear you and have eye contact with you, but your four and five can’t. In this situation it’s going to be a handful because we have a lot of guys that are inexperienced and are having a hard time picking up plays now when someone is putting on pressure up front. Now, it’s going to interesting to see how it happens, but at point, Chris and Bo should be fine.”