2theadvocate.com | Sports | New-look Tigers, Johnson make debuts today

By RANDY ROSETTA
Advocate sportswriter
Published: Nov 14, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Readiness is a difficult concept to grasp because it’s so different for everyone.

For first-year LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson, the need to be ready doesn’t really mean much even though he’s starting a new season at a new school.

For the Tigers’ Tasmin Mitchell, on the other hand, getting ready to step back on the floor in a competitive setting for the first time in almost a year is a major milestone.

For five LSU seniors, there is some nostalgia as they ready for their final season.

Ready or not, the Tigers launch the 2008-09 season today at 1 p.m. when Jackson State visits the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Today marks Johnson’s debut, just the third for an LSU men’s basketball coach since 1972. He is also the first black coach of a men’s sport at LSU.

More importantly to Johnson, he is the man handpicked by the LSU administration to revive the Tigers after two years of mediocrity or worse — 13-18 last season and 30-33 since former coach John Brady guided the Tigers to the 2006 Final Four.

None of that strikes a major chord with Johnson, whose no-nonsense, all-business approach has effectively camouflaged whatever emotions he feels about his new endeavor.

Johnson has downplayed his debut, instead focusing on a team that returns those five seniors, plus Mitchell and another fourth-year junior, guard Alex Farrer.

All nine veterans on LSU’s roster started at least one game last year. Garrett Temple, Marcus Thornton and Chris Johnson started every game when they were healthy and Farrer joined the first unit midway through the season.

The Tigers will have a new look — how much on how seamlessly they embrace Trent Johnson’s insistence to defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball.

“I demand a lot out of everybody, but more importantly, the thing I like about this team is that they are receptive to those demands that we are putting on them,” Johnson said.

“They want to be good, so my job and responsibility is to challenge them, motivate them and give them something to be successful with in terms of whether it’s defense or offense. Is that demanding? I guess so, but I think that’s what any college athlete wants, and I know this is what this basketball team needs.”

Thornton is back after averaging 19.6 points a game, second in the SEC, and connecting on 90 3-point field goals as a junior. The lanky 6-foot-11, 210-pound Chris Johnson has gone from a relatively unknown player as a sophomore to one of the SEC’s top rebounders and shot blockers last season. Both are projected as second-round picks in the 2009 NBA Draft.

But the most talented Tiger is Mitchell, who has been regarded as one of the top players in the Southeastern Conference since he stepped on campus in 2005. He has started every game he has played in (72) with career averages of 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds.

The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Denham Springs native missed the final 28 games last year with shin and ankle injuries that required two surgeries to repair.

“I’m very excited about being back and I want to be somebody my team can count on,” Mitchell said. “We’re all getting a fresh start with Coach J and I think we’re going to have a great year because of how he treats us. He’s more concerned about us as people than basketball players and that’s created some real nice chemistry.”

Mitchell, Thornton and Chris Jonson will be the heart of whatever LSU does on offense, which Trent Johnson describes as more structured than what the Tigers ran under Brady.

The new coach has been pleased with the progress on that end of the floor.

“What’s been better than I’ve expected was their grasp of the offense,” he said. “They see that they can get shots if they play together and share the ball and execute.”

Regardless of how well LSU executes with the ball, there will be an expectation of excellence on the defensive end.

In Johnson’s final season at Stanford in 2007-08, the Cardinal allowed only 61.6 points a game, ranked second in the Pac-10 in field-goal defense (39.6 percent) and second in rebound margin (plus 7.8). Stanford led the Pac-10 with 25.9 defensive rebounds a game.

“With Coach Johnson, we’re going to play defense well and we’re going to hit the boards,” said Temple, who will shift from point guard to a wing. “Those are the thing we’ve emphasized since practice started.”

There has also been an emphasis on looking ahead instead of dwelling on the past.

Despite LSU’s struggles last season and a new coach, the Tigers are projected as a contender in the West Division this season. Media that covers the league and SEC coaches both peg LSU to battle Alabama for the top spot in the West.

“We learned a lot of lessons from last year, and we need to build on it,” Temple said. “We didn’t have a good season last year, but now it’s over. We’ve got a whole new team, a new vision and a new coaching staff, and anything can happen.

“In the first game of the season, we’ve got a clean slate, so we’re not really worried about last year as much as just playing this one game. No matter who we play, we’re going to come out and play hard.”

JACKSON STATE AT LSU

WHEN: 1 p.m. today.

WHERE: Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

RADIO: WYPY-FM 100.7.

TV: None.

2007-08 RECORDS: Jackson State 14-20, LSU 13-18.

LAST MEETING/SERIES: LSU won 72-53 on Dec. 12, 1998 and leads the series 2-1.

TICKETS/PROMOTIONS: Remaining seats are available for $1 at the upper PMAC ticket window (opens at 11:30 a.m.) or Online at www.LSUsports.net.

UP NEXT: Alcorn State at LSU, 7 p.m. Thursday.

Probable lineups

Jackson State

Starters

F Garrison Johnson 6-4 Jr.

C Jeremy Caldwell 6-8 Sr.

F Grant Maxey 6-6 Jr.

G Darrion Griffin 6-4 Sr.

G Rod Melvin 6-1 Fr.

Reserves

G De’Suan Dixon 6-4 So.

G Phillip Williams 6-1 Fr.

G Chris Hyche 6-5 So.

LSU

Starters

F Tasmin Mitchell 6-7 Jr.

F Chris Johnson 6-11 Sr.

G Marcus Thornton 6-4 Sr.

G Garrett Temple 6-6 Sr.

G Bo Spencer 6-1 So.

Reserves

G Terry Martin 6-6 Sr.

G Alex Farrer 6-5 Jr.

F Quintin Thornton 6-9 Sr.


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