BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson met with the media on Monday in the regularly scheduled media session prior to the team’s trip to Athens to face the University of Georgia Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
The game is set for 8 p.m. EST (7 p.m. Baton Rouge time) on the affiliates of the SEC Network and broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger).
Here are some of Coach Johnson’s comments:
Opening Statement …
“Georgia is very skilled and very talented, and they’re playing well. Trey Thompkins is special. Obviously (Travis) Leslie is as explosive an athlete as there is in our league. The guy that’s made the difference for them has been (Gerald) Robinson, he’s come in and given them really great guard play, but we’re obviously looking forward to the challenge.”
On Storm Warren‘s big game against Vanderbilt …
“I thought for the most part he was in a rhythm. His Achilles is going to nag him and bother him for the rest of the year. It has gotten better, but for the most part I thought he was in a good rhythm. In the previous three or four games when we threw the ball to him in the post he has made bad decisions. For the most part I thought he was in a good rhythm and I thought Chris Bass did a really good job of getting the ball to him in positions where he could score.”
On if he thinks the team has gotten respectable again, which was a goal he stated at the beginning of the season …
“No. Anytime you’re in the bottom half of your league that’s not respectable. From a standpoint of the positives I think there are a lot of young guys that got some experience at this level of play.”
On Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox …
“I’ve been very fortunate and very blessed to be around some really good players and some really good coaches. The feelings, whatever Mark’s sentiments were, are a two-way street. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Mark’s a very good basketball coach. When you see what’s going on at Georgia and what happened at Nevada after I left, it speaks volumes to the type of person he is. There’s a relationship there and a friendship there that’s pretty special, but also when the (ball) gets thrown up we’re two very competitive and intense individuals. He’s done a much better job with his team than I have with mine this year.”
On the record this year …
“Nobody wants to talk about it because we still have games to play, but it is what it is. I try to find the positive light in whatever it is. Your win-loss record is your win-loss record, it’s who you are. There are some guys that had to get some baptism under fire and things haven’t gone as well as they would’ve liked and how we would’ve liked, but we still have some games to play. Somehow we have to finish this thing with a good feeling of ourselves.”
On if Storm Warren and Ralston Turner‘s injuries made a difference in the season …
“I’m not going to sit up here and ‘what-if’ that. It is an excuse. Yes, Storm (Warren) was one of your best players going into the year, and yes Ralston developed to where he is your best player, but there were still guys on scholarship that had opportunities to play. I keep going back to our overall competitiveness. Those are the things that have disturbed me up until this point. No, they haven’t quit and they’ve been working hard up until this point, but the bottom line is there is a different level of toughness and competitiveness to where we can establish respect. That’s a little different than X’s and O’s.”
On seeding in the SEC tournament …
“You are going to have to play a good basketball team regardless of who it is. There’s been some parity in this league with some teams that have been pretty special. Who would want to play Mississippi State, as talented as they are? Who would want to play Ole Miss or Arkansas? Then obviously there is Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Vanderbilt. Auburn’s a team that is competitive in every game. Seeding at this time of year is one of the things you can throw out the window.”