BATON ROUGE – LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson met with the media on Tuesday prior to the team’s scrimmage in front of members of the Sixth Man basketball booster club.
The team scrimmaged for 20 minutes with the Purple team (made up of Ralston Turner, Anthony Hickey, Justin Hamilton, Johnny O’Bryant III, Andre Stringer and Andrew Del Piero) won, 37-34, over the Gold. Hickey had 13 points to lead the Purple with Stringer adding 11 and Ralston nine. Eddie Ludwig‘s seven led the Gold.
Coach Johnson coached the scrimmage and practice before the Sixth Man scrimmage barefoot as part of the Samaritan’s Feet, a program supported by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. For more information about the program go to: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/Coachjohnson/barefootforbarefeet.
The season opens on Nov. 12 at noon as LSU hosts Nicholls State in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Admission to the game, as part of a basketball-football doubleheader on the LSU campus, is free of charge.
Coach Johnson and Ralston Turner will travel to SEC Media Day Thursday in Birmingham.
Follow LSU Basketball on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.
Here are some of Coach Johnson’s comments to the media prior to the scrimmage:
Trent Johnson Press Conference
October 25, 2011
Head Coach Trent Johnson
Opening statement…
“It has been 10 practices and we have been competing at a high level. It has been physical to a very good degree. At times I don’t know how much we’re accomplishing, whether it is offensively or it’s defensively, but I do like their intensity. From an individual stand point, there has not been any one individual standing out offensively or defensively, which is a good thing. For us what is the most important thing — what we need to get accomplished in the next week — is being able to play through fatigue. It is just an excuse when you get tired; if you throw the ball away or not make the proper play, whether it is setting a screen, taking the right shot, or sprinting back on transition defense. We’ve just got to play through fatigue and we will have a good gauge in the middle of next week because we will have an opportunity to scrimmage ourselves and a scrimmage on Saturday. It should be interesting and we will be able to make some decisions.”
On the toughness of John Isaac…
“He plays extremely hard. It is very rare from my stand point to have an incoming freshman at his level of play. He is not intimidated and doesn’t shy away from contact. You look at every loose ball and rebound he is around it. The key for him is being able to understand to keep his hands off. There is a phrase that we use defensively — when you guard the ball, attack the ball, not the body. John is always up into your body. He is very physical, very moody and temperamental because this game is important to him. The guy he plays for is very moody and temperamental. I think he has a chance to be a very good defender and a very good basketball player.”
On importance of playing for LSU to John Isaac…
“From day one it has always been important for John to play for our program and represent this state. That’s one of the reasons he chose to come in early. Obviously the recruitment of him before his injury was very high with high level programs and high level people. It is very important to him.”
On John Isaac‘s Injury (Sat out last Tuesday’s practice)…
“He is fine. We have to watch him because John is one of those guys that will play through pain and has a high pain threshold. When he got hurt it was in the summer and we were watching him play in Augusta, Ga., with the Louisiana AAU traveling team. I remember sitting there with my assistant coach Donny Guerinoni and I said he hurt his knee and he needs to be taken out and he played the game and then tried to get up the next day and play. He had an ACL injury and that speaks volumes for how important the game is him and his pain threshold. He doesn’t like sitting or watching whether it is practice or the game.”
On sizing up the SEC…
“It is pretty much what I thought early on. From top to bottom it is talented, but it must be top heavy in terms of the caliber of players on paper. It is a long year and I say this every year, it is not where you are picked in preseason but it is where you end up at the end of the season. I’m going into my 14th year and I don’t think I have ever had a team picked to finish first or second. It is a journey, a struggle about survival and you need a break here and there. The teams that maximize their talents and play to the elite level are the ones that take care of the basketball, they defend and they rebound. When there is a struggle through the course of the year they stay together as a group. Our league is tough and it is talented. It should be a fun year”
On the freshmen (O’Bryant III, Hickey, Isaac) being able to work in…
“It speaks volumes as individuals but it also speaks volumes to this team in general that the upperclassman are being receptive to that and going back at them. They are not getting caught up in what I call petty jealousy and thinking about this being a team and this is what can make us become really good. There is a reason why these guys were recruited and there is a reason why they have a chance to be good basketball players and for us to have a good year.”
On Justin Hamilton…
“Justin is no different than anybody else. He is competing at a high level, working extremely hard , and they will know it sooner than later that for me it is about making plays, making winning basketball plays and taking care of the ball. I am in that mood now that I am looking for perfection in every single play and they don’t like to hear that all the time. Justin is doing a good job for us and will have a big impact for us. We only had one scrimmage and we will go up against ourselves (Tuesday) and then on Saturday. Nobody has really stood out. There are good days and bad days. We have to get to the point that regardless if it’s one individual, the whole group collectively has to become consistent with our play.”
On Jalen Courtney…
“Jalen is a very likeable young man. He is not just a good kid but he is a great kid. I’m looking forward to getting him on the floor. Last year was a struggle for him with some of the injuries and some of the things that didn’t go in his favor. As he knows he will have an opportunity to be on the floor and be productive. In terms of him as a kid and a person he is a good kid. He is very polite but behind closed doors he is a different person.”
On things Ralston Turner needs to improve on…
“He needs to become a better defender and making others better off the pass. He needs to be able to create his own shot off the bounce and off the dribble. He has his work in front of him and he understands that. He is working hard at getting that done.
“Last year he missed a month and there were coaches that thought he was worthy of being on the all-SEC freshman team. That all-SEC freshman team was extremely talented but that was last year. He has a great understanding on what he needs to work on and what he needs to do. He is going to have a great opportunity for us to go to him often offensively.”
On his leadership …
“He is quiet by nature, but he is very competitive. Ralston is one of those guys that when he speaks you listen.”
On the improvement of Andrew Del Piero…
“We as coaches have the luxury of seeing them every day … to see Andrew where he was at this time last year and to see him where he is now. I find myself constantly harping on him about him getting down on himself. He has improved so much. He had 13 rebounds in our first scrimmage. He is enjoying getting better and there is going to be certain times where he is going to be able to help us against certain people.”
On the play of Johnny O’Bryant III…
“Johnny is showing flashes of where you go, ‘wow’ but for him it is constantly understanding how hard he has to play, how hard he has to run and how hard he has to compete and he can’t take a possession off. Once he gets there he has a chance to be special. Until he gets there he is in a grind in the battle every day with Justin, Storm and Malcolm.”
On the conditioning…
“I am not big on guys lining up on the line and just running for a form of punishment. When we are running we are going to do what I call the quaker drill. They pass and catch and go three quarter court and pass or shoot.”
On the approach of the team…
“I like where we are at from a stand point of being physical and competing hard. We want to make sure that translates to the game. We always talk to them about this … Nobody you play dictates your approach to the game or how aggressive you are. Shaquille O’Neal isn’t going to dictate how I play the game. He is a better player and he is probably going to pound me. I am still going to be aggressive and I’m still going to try to do the things that we work on. That’s what I tell these guys consistently about. Nobody should dictate your approach on how you come out every day; no coach, no former player, no current player.”