BATON ROUGE – The Tigers resumed practice on Thanksgiving morning after the Legends Classic in Brooklyn for Monday’s first game on an opponent’s home court at the College of Charleston.
The game is set for 6 p.m. at TD Arena/John Kresse Court. There is no over-the-air television for the game but it will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network.
Friday after practice, LSU Coach Johnny Jones visited with the media and looked back on the team’s losses to Marquette and NC State at the Legends Classic.
Opening Statement…
“… Going into the Legends Classic, we were looking for a great opportunity against two basketball teams … and a chance to find out exactly where we are in this early part of the season. We went up in a great challenge against Marquette, a team that had a big setback earlier in the week. I thought it was a great opportunity for us. Unfortunately, we did not play well enough down the stretch. We got down 10 from the beginning of the game, and we had to fight an uphill battle. Then, in a great game in the end, we just couldn’t get enough plays down in the stretch to get a victory. More of the same happened against a very talented, experienced NC State team that we had an opportunity to go back up against from having a setback against them during the NCAA tournament a year ago. At the end of the game, we had an opportunity to put it into overtime. After fighting from a deficit and having a lead, we wound up putting them at the foul line with the clock stopped for them to score six unanswered points at the free throw line. It was a good lesson learned for us in this early part of the season. It gave us an opportunity to come back and work on some things. We are hopeful that we can make sure we can clean up as a basketball team as we move forward prior to conference play. I thought those two games we played were against similar conference-type competition, and it really good for our young basketball team to get that valuable experience early on.”
On comparison to the 2014 Paradise Jam …
“I thought the Virgin Islands trip was a good trip for us. The talent level was good there, but in terms of the teams that were there at the Legends Classic, the talent level was raised to a different level. Our guys went in and played inexperienced, which helped us learn some things there in the Virgin Islands, as well. I thought this trip was even better for us because it challenged us at a different level against teams that were like us and like other teams in our conference, in terms of size, strength, quickness and those things that we will match up and see in our conference.”
On biggest issue in the games…
“In the Marquette game, I thought their guards did a good job of taking advantage of some driving opportunities, broke us down defensively, got to the rim, scored some big buckets against us late. The same thing happened in the NC State game. Cat Barber only scored two or three baskets in the game, but he went to the free throw line 12 times. A lot of that was due to his ability to penetrate and get inside of the defense and make plays, as well.”
On the team missing Keith Hornsby…
“Keith is just a steady force for us. We missed his experience out there on the floor for us, the threat he would be on the offensive end of the floor—getting to the basket, making tough plays, allowing for flow in our offense. I think on the defensive end with his toughness, the sense of urgencies with which he plays, his rebounding ability, we missed that as well. Any time you have the experience like that, it’s tough. It’s unfortunately a very young team. We are starting three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. If you take Keith and put him in there with the experience he has, I think it helps us.”
On Ben Simmons‘ shooting…
“I want guys to allow the offense or defense to dictate what plays we make. Ben, the great part for him and what we’ve been able to do is flank him with really good shooters and guys who are able to make shots on the perimeter … He’s not one of those guys obsessed with scoring, but he’s obsessed with winning. Creating opportunities for his teammates and allowing them to do their job is the beauty of this team. As we continue to grow as a team and guys are doing their jobs, we are going to be really, really good. When you don’t force the action, you’ll put yourself in tough situations. Our guys don’t become spectators in the game. They know they have to become participants because now, he’s continued to play, make passes. They have to cut. That helps us when we are scoring because that opens up lanes for him because now people feel like they have to stay home. When you look at the stat numbers, this guy’s scoring; this guy’s doing this. When you stay home, then Ben has the ability to take advantage of what the defense allows.’
On talking to Ben Simmons about his shooting…
“…You want him to continue to stay aggressive in his nature and take shots. He’s spent countless hours in the gym working on his shot—be it perimeter, inside, various moves. He just needs to feel comfortable being able to apply that in the game as well.
For him, I’m comfortable with his ability to shoot. What you run into with a guy like that is that you can’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do on the floor because of his abilities. You can’t force him to take a shot because he can get to the rim. He can break you down and make passes, so he doesn’t have to settle. My biggest deal is what he is comfortable with. I think as the season progresses, and as we continue to play, he will become more comfortable in what he is doing offensively and his areas to take his shots and where his comfort zone is. He’s so comfortable with what we are doing offensively to where he may get 21 points and 20 rebounds when we are playing in one game. Then, they come in and sink the lane and close it up, and he wound up getting 10 assists. That’s a huge night.
…He can shoot it. We just finished practice a second ago, and in a 10-minute scrimmage he was 5-of-7 from the three. He doesn’t take them or shoot them in the game, but that’s what he brings. In that short time, he goes 5-of-7 from the three-point line and hits the transition in inside/outside plays, but you haven’t seen that in his game since we’ve been playing in the five games we’ve had early in the season.”
On the publicity affecting the team…
“The good thing is for us that we always teach and pride ourselves in is being a family unit and the togetherness and all of those things. That has allowed it to lend Ben (Simmons) to be who he is and our other guys to be who they are. It’s something they welcome and embrace. They are so excited to be connected and be around Ben. He, as well as Antonio Blakeney and those guys, he’s the guy on the floor telling them to shoot, take shots and get open when he’s making passes to them instead of those guys being upset because of his selfishness on the floor and trying to get some limelight. He actually puts it on them and gives those guys an opportunity to shine. If you’re jealous about Ben and you’re on this team, you have a problem.”