March 2, 2009
Audio: Listen to the entire teleconference at SECsports.com
Vanderbilt basketball head coach Kevin Stallings and LSU head coach Trent Johnson fielded questions about their matchup Wednesday with the national media during Monday’s SEC Teleconference. Find out what each coach had to say about the matchup.
Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt head coach
Opening comments:
LSU has obviously proven themselves to be the best team in our league. It may have happened since I’ve been in the league, but I don’t recall somebody winning 13 consecutive league games. That’s an incredible accomplishment. So, your hat certainly has to go off to LSU’s coaching staff and their players.
We understand that we have a tremendously difficult challenge in front of us, but we certainly felt better about how we played Saturday night than we had earlier in the week. Hopefully, we can continue that good play throughout this week and next when the conference tournament comes.
You beat the best and lost to the worst teams in the SEC East division in a span of days. Is it as simple as home versus road games?
I would like to think not. I would like to think there are some other things. I hope it’s not home and road, but again I don’t have all the answers. If I did we wouldn’t be that inconsistent. I was certainly proud of the way we responded to our performance at Georgia and how we played against South Carolina. I thought it was one of the better games if not the best one we’ve played, certainly offensively, all season long. So, it was really nice to see us to come back and respond that way.
How do you carry that over to the game with LSU?
I think you’re dealing with a different challenge, because LSU might have three or more of the very best defenders in the league. They’re an outstanding defensive team. If you look at their stat sheet in the league, and I don’t recall ever seeing this, every one of their numbers is better than their opponents’ with the exception that they have three more turnovers than their opponents do. Their shooting, their field-goal percentage, their 3-point percentage, free-throw percentage, their blocks, their steals, everything is better… their assist totals. They really are having a dominant year other than just what’s happening in their final scores. They are really dominating people both offensively and defensively. It’s very impressive.
Who were the three LSU defenders you were referring to?
I’d rather keep that to myself because I’m not coaching his (Trent Johnson) team, but by my eyes I think they have at least three of the best defenders in the league. I would certainly include Garrett Temple in that group. He may be the best perimeter defender in all of college basketball.
How much do you think Marcus Thornton has improved, particularly as of late?
I thought he was outstanding last year. I think he’s gotten better. His shot selection has probably improved. He’s a terrific scorer. I think he’s playing with a great deal more purpose and effort defensively. He’s creating shots for other people, and creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. He’s much more of a complete player than he was a year ago. A year ago he was an outstanding scorer. This year he’s an outstanding player all around in my opinion.
How do the wealth of experienced players for LSU affect their game?
I think probably the best example that I could give you is one that you probably saw unfold on Saturday. They get down by 10 in the second half to Kentucky, and they just stay calm and poised and played possession by possession to come back and win the game. Not many teams over the course of time have gone to Rupp Arena (Kentucky’s home gym) and go from having a lead to losing a lead and getting down by 10 points and then living to tell about it with a victory. They just remained very calm and poised and did what they had to do. I think that’s where you see their experience come out. Obviously Temple and Tasmin Mitchell have been around for a long time. Chris Johnson and Thornton are older guys. They were unfazed and they just kept playing and got it done.
Trent Johnson, LSU head coach
Opening comments:
Obviously we’re pretty excited about our victory versus Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. But also, we’re well aware of moving on to our next game that we’ll be playing a Vanderbilt team that is extremely talented and very young. When you look at their roster, from A.J. Ogilvy to Jermaine Beal, Jeffery Taylor, Brad Tinsley, Lance Goulbourne, they’re a combination of a lot of freshmen and sophomores and a junior who are playing really well right now. They’re going to be a team to be reckoned with in the future.
So, we need to be ready to play. Obviously Wednesday is the last game here for our seniors, but more importantly I think they understand that all that we’ve accomplished at this point means nothing. We need to be ready to be ready to play the next basketball game.
How much has Thornton improved this season, and what did you think of him early on?
Marcus has improved a lot, and the credit needs to go Marcus. Early on we knew Marcus was a kid who was very talented, excuse me, a man who was very talented and could score the basketball. But, I don’t think he’s gotten enough credit as you’ve heard me say on numerous occasions for his ability to make others better, and rebound the ball and defending. So, the biggest compliment I can give Marcus is the compliment I could give any player is that Marcus made a comment two months ago give or take a day or two that he wanted to be playing in March and late February in meaningful games. So, that speaks volumes to his commitment to want to win and be a complete basketball player. I think it’s provable without question that he’s as good as any player in this league.
Does he lose confidence when he misses shots in games?
For me and for him or for any player, Marcus knows he’s going to get shots… The bottom line for him is to just make sure he takes good shots within the rhythm of the offense. When he takes a bad one or two he’s been good at acknowledging it saying, “Coach, that’s my fault and we’re moving on.” He’s not a guy who lacks confidence, and I think it speaks volumes to him because he has some guys around him who are also good players and are also going to get him the ball in situations for him to score. I haven’t been around a scorer to answer your question at that level like Marcus like the Jodie Meeks (Kentucky guard) of the world and so on and so forth who lose confidence.