BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson met with the media Monday afternoon to preview Wednesday night’s game with Mississippi State at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.
The game will tip at 8 p.m. and will be televised on CSS and CST. The game will also be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 The Tiger) in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers are 10-17 and 2-10 in the SEC, while State, coming off a win at home over Ole Miss, is 16-14 and 6-6 in the league. Mississippi State rallied for a 58-57 win over LSU in the first meeting in Baton Rouge.
Here are some of Coach Johnson’s comments:
Opening Statement …
“Looking at the tape from Mississippi State from last time, we had opportunities. It was a game where we were real tentative in the last four possessions in terms of guys not being aggressive and stepping up to try and take a shot or make an open shot. I think we’ve progressed from that standpoint to where now guys are trying to play through and are not very tentative, they’re looking to try and make plays. Starkville is a tough place to play, we all know that. What makes it even tougher is this is a very dangerous basketball team in terms of their overall talent and skill level. I think they’re trying to put themselves in a situation where they get momentum going down the stretch. There are two teams in the West that are very dangerous and nobody would want to play come tournament time, and Mississippi State is one of them. I just hope that we can build off what happened (Sunday), and what I mean by that is when we were down 40-25 we could have caved in against a very talented, skilled, and experienced team but we found a way to fight back. I though Ralston (Turner) was better than advertised. He made a lot of crucial shots and crucial plays to keep us in the game. We just have to keep plugging away, but in five out of the last six we’ve played pretty well we just haven’t won.
“From a health standpoint we’re pretty good right now. Their morale seems to be pretty good from the guys I saw walking in and out. (Sunday) afternoon obviously there were some guys dejected and down, but for the most part I don’t try to talk to them or not to bother them until the next day. All indications of Malcolm (White), Ralston and Andre (Stringer) are they seem to be as upbeat as possible.”
On if the game plan is to double team Renardo Sidney …
“Does he warrant a double team? Yes and no. You have to pick your poison because they shoot it so well from the perimeter. You take Renardo Sidney out of the equation; they’ve always been a three-point oriented team. Sometimes you’re going to give them a different look, but the bottom line is we need to make sure we take away his left shoulder and hold our ground as good as possible and force him to shoot it two or three feet off the block. Here the first game we just played him one-on-one and he didn’t put up big numbers, but he was in position to beat us. The score and the tempo were to our liking. I think up there we’re going to have to double and sometimes we’re going to have to get in zone. Then at the offensive end we’re going to have to run a lot of isolations and force him to guard, and if they go to a zone we have to knock down open shots.”
On how hard it is for the players to be motivated in these final games …
“It shouldn’t be hard at all. We’re trying to get better. We’re not very good and we’re trying to compete, play and get better. The motivation stuff I’m telling you I struggle with that. These guys know we aren’t playing for the SEC tournament, we’re not playing for March Madness, we’re not playing for all that, we’re playing the game and respecting the game because we’re playing at a high level. The only thing that’s important is today if you practice and tomorrow if you play a game. When you start talking about motivation and that kind of stuff this is what college athletics and sports has gotten to, it’s taken away from the art of competing and understanding that you’re fortunate and blessed to be in a situation where you can play. That’s what comes out of my mouth since day one, so the guys that have to be motivated from my standpoint don’t see eye to eye and don’t get along very well. That has nothing to do with winning and losing that has something to do with your approach to the game and you’re respecting competition.”
On Daron Populist as a spark off the bench …
“I thought Pop did a good job. He’s got a calmness to him and I thought it was a good matchup for him. Daron makes good decisions and I was hoping he could knock down a shot or two. Then on our side Ralston (Turner) was playing really well so when you can get it in the front court Pop can help us little bit because Chris (Bass) had made some bad decisions and then he got overextended defensively, so I said let’s try Daron. One thing you have to give him credit for is he does the best he can, just like this whole team. He does the best he can in certain situations to help us.”
On the positives he saw from the Florida game …
“Well I thought our overall aggressiveness and them just believing they could get over the hump. I thought there was a period where we went man-zone we went after it pretty good against a very solid and good basketball team. There are certain calls that going down the stretch that didn’t go our way and usually that deflates us, but they still came back out and competed. It has to do with guy’s ability or inability to finish plays. Just their ability to say OK let’s just fight through this thing. There was a period in the first half and second half that (Florida) tried to put the hammer down and we just held our ground.”
On Matt Derenbecker this season …
“He’s not shy and he doesn’t lack confidence or competitiveness. I think he was shocked at the speed of the game and the adjustment he had to make, but he’s got a bright future. The thing I appreciate about him is there is some genuine honesty to him. He hasn’t backed away.”
On the competitiveness of the team …
“It’s been very inconsistent. When I say competitive, let’s make no bones about it. They work hard and they try, but 10-17 is what it is. There have already been three or four games where we haven’t been competitive, but it’s not like the guys haven’t been competing. What’s so hard for people in general to understand is when you’re bigger, stronger and faster it’s hard to go up and face that music time and time again. There’s going to be a time where we’re bigger, stronger and faster and the tables will turn. These guys haven’t backed away from a challenge and continually trying to get back out there. There’s still a lot to play for and a lot can happen.”