BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team opens its 2014-15 season with a Saturday matinee game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against Gardner-Webb.
The game, the first of Coach Johnny Jones‘ third year at the helm of the LSU program, is set to tip off just after Noon (12:02 p.m.) and the game will be televised on the SECN+ digital platform available on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Lyn Rollins and former Tiger player Rogers Washington will have the call.
The game will also be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (listed below) with Patrick Wright and Ricky Blanton on the call along with host Kevin Ford.
Tickets are available online at http://www.lsutix.net/ and will be on sale on game day beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center. The LSU Lady Tigers will also play Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
LSU is coming off a 20-win season, advancing to post-season play for the first time since 2009. Coach Jones enters the season with 39 wins in his first two seasons at LSU, the most by any LSU coach in their first two years at the helm of the program.
The Tigers return starters Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin, both sophomores, who had strong freshman campaigns that earned them All-league recognition in the Southeastern Conference. The pair on Thursday was part of the Coaches pre-season teams announced with Mickey on the first team and Martin on the second team.
In LSU’s 71-47 exhibition win over Morehouse College on Nov. 7, Martin had 22 points and Mickey had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks in the contest.
Gardner-Webb won 18 games a year ago under first-year coach Tim Craft. The game is a part of LSU’s upcoming Paradise Jam trip as teams are allowed a mainland game against a team from the other side of the tournament bracket as part of the exempted tournament games. It will have no effect on the tournament proper which begins in the Virgin Islands on Nov. 21.
The Tigers are expected to go with the same lineup that it started in the exhibition with juniors Josh Gray and Keith Hornsby at guard with Martin and Mickey at forwards and seven-footer Elbert Robinson III at center.
LSU opens with five games in the first 10 days of the season as they will host Texas Tech on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. as part of the ESPN Tipoff Marathon before departing the next morning for the Paradise Jam which will see LSU play three games in four days (Nov. 21-24).
Follow updates on the LSU game at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball. Also follow the Tigers on Instagram @LSUBasketball.
LSU Sports Radio Network Affiliates
The game will air in Baton Rouge on WTGE 100.7 FM The Tiger. Other affiliates scheduled to carry the game include: KSYL-AM (Alexandria); WBOX-FM (Bogalusa), KFNV-FM (Ferriday); KJIN-AM (Houma) KJNA-FM (Jena); KLWB (Lafayette); KXZZ-AM (Lake Charles); KJAE-FM (Leesville); KMLB-AM (Monroe); KFRA-AM (Morgan City); KWLV-FM (Natchitoches); WWL-AM/FM (New Orleans); KWKH-AM (Shreveport); KTJZ-FM (Tallulah); WFCG-FM (Tylertown, Miss.); KVPI-AM (Ville Platte).
Coach Jones met with the media on Thursday afternoon prior to the Gardner-Webb game and here were some of his comments:
HEAD COACH JOHNNY JONES
Opening Statement …
“We look forward to starting the season on Saturday at noon against Gardner-Webb. Prior to that, I thought we had a big day in Tiger basketball (Wednesday) with the signing of Ben Simmons. We are excited to welcome his family to our Tiger family. We are excited because it’s been over a year since his commitment but to finally get his signature on the first day of signing was certainly a big relief, and we are excited about it. We look forward to the services that he will be able to provide and impact that he will make on our basketball team next year. This season is upon us, and I thought the guys have done a tremendous job of working hard this off season in preparing … We have done a great job in terms of guys getting better, attention to detail and making some strides. At the same time, we understand that we have a long way to go, and we are certainly a work in progress. We are excited to get started, and these games certainly count. Our guys are itching for their opportunity.”
On Ben Simmons honoring his commitment…
“It (his 13-month commitment) not only says a lot about Ben, but I think it says a lot about his family … When they felt that this was the right fit; they made that decision, and they stood by that. They had a lot of opportunities. I’m sure a lot of people were pushing and twisting, trying to maybe see if there was any way that they could get them to open their recruitment back up, and they never wavered. I think that says a lot about him and the type of person that we are getting.”
On if there is a different feel to this season…
“It’s certainly the unknown. We know that we are a very talented team, and congratulations to Jordan Mickey who has been picked to the preseason first team All-SEC Coaches’ Poll and Jarell Martin on the second team. I think it says a lot about our team and the respect that the coaches in this league have for our guys and what they’ve done in terms of working extremely hard to improve and the progress that they have made, and that says a lot. We are excited about that. I think with the recruitment of the guys that we have and guys not only returning, but the guys who have been added to this team …, it gives you a certain level of excitement because of the number of different lineups that we can go with. Again, we are young in some spots, but these guys are eager, excited about getting out there and playing, and I think they have an opportunity to have an edge. Again, you will be without Johnny O’Bryant III for the first time in two years. It will certainly be different, but we look forward to that challenge.“
On the effects he has seen from the added length of the team during exhibition games…
“One of the things we didn’t do a great job of was rebounding the basketball, and that is something we have really had to address since then … It was just a matter of attention to detail with that. But I think we have an opportunity to get deflections, we can do a lot of switching defensively, creating some deflections and those kind of things. Length helps us in that area because before we were a little bit small, a little bit tougher, but I think we can trap as well and create some problems for our opponents. I think defensively we can do a variety of things, which this would add to because of our quickness, the size and strength of our guys now.”
On Elbert Robinson III …
“I think anytime you get a guy with that type of size out of high school you have to be patient with him and understand that there is a process that you really have to go through. You have to understand out on the front end, and we have to make sure that we put him in a position to be successful. The only way that he is going to get better is make sure that he’s in the contest, and he’s done that in practice. I thought the minutes that he played in the game the other night were valuable, and I thought they were positive minutes for him.”
Team’s Chemistry in the exhibition and how well they are meshing…
“I like the way we played in the second half, I thought our guys did a good job of sharing the ball, I thought our guys came out in the first half a little antsy. I thought the second half, we did an excellent job of really trying to play together and sharing the basketball and playing with a little more sense of urgency. I have watched them since they have been on campus and I think they have done a tremendous job of trying to be around each other. I think that is where it really starts. The family atmosphere and environment that they are in and they enjoy each other’s company and they also enjoy competing against each other every day. I think when you have that you have a chance to have something special and I think these guys understand that. “
When asked about how teams will defend Jordan Mickey…
“I think teams will certainly pay more attention to Jordan. Last year he had the freedom of having Johnny O’Bryant down in the post and when teams double teamed, Jordan had the ability to catch in traffic and finish … and for this year it will certainly be different. I don’t know what teams will be able to take away from him. It will be interesting to see what adjustments our opponents will make. I think with Jarrell, who is continuing to improve, it will make it difficult for people to try and defend us in certain ways because we have guys that can score from each position. “
Improvement of Tim Quarterman…
“I think he is going to be a really impactful player this year. We are going to be able to use him in several positions like the 1, 2 and 3 for us. He has gotten bigger and a little stronger as well and his role has changed. I thought last year was a really valuable learning experience for him and this year I think he has tried to show some leadership and with his size, it gives us an opportunity to play several ways. Tim can score the basketball, which was something he did not do at a good rate last year and we think that can probably improve this year.”
When asked if Aaron Epps was able to practice this week…
“He was able to give us some minutes in practice and we are a little cautious about bringing him along (Monday, Tuesday). We were off (Wednesday), so we will see how long he can go (Thursday) in practice, but we did curtail his practices this week.
When asked about Keith Hornsby‘s transfer and the chemistry coming in…
“I think you have to be real careful with transfers and a lot of times when guys transfer it could be depending on what that reason was but Keith has been perfect for us. He has been a really good teammate. He’s been great both on and off the floor. He’s worked extremely hard; no one has outworked him. His transition in and being able to play this year has been great and it is going to be a learning experience for him as well. He has a great motor, plays extremely hard … He plays with an edge about him and we are really excited to have him here.”