Head coach Chris Jans talks Ole Miss, Josh Hubbard and 3 point defense

There’s a lot of history between Mississippi State and Ole Miss on the basketball hardwood. But on Saturday there will be more history made in this rivalry. For the first time ever, both teams meet as Top 25 teams.

State (14-3 overall, 2-2 in the SEC) is ranked No. 15 nationally by the Associated Press while Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0) is ranked No. 21. On Thursday, head coach Chris Jans discussed the matchup with the Rebels among other topics:

Q: How important is home-court advantage in this rivalry?
Jans: My experience in this particular rivalry is that it is a big advantage, just like it is in other rivalries I have been involved in. But our crowd was amazing last time we played (at home) last Saturday. We had a chance and obviously, we didn’t get it done. I would imagine we will have a similar or better environment considering how both teams are doing and given that Ole Miss is coming in with an undefeated SEC record. We will need every person and everybody we can get to create that buzz we are looking for.

Q: What are you seeing on film that is causing issues with the team’s 3 point defense?
Jans: Yeah it jumps off the page at you. Kentucky is very well known for their 3 point marksmen. Jaxson Robinson is a heck of a player, hadn’t been shooting at that clip. He was shooting 29% for the year and then he gets 7 of 10. That happens every night all over college basketball. It wasn’t as if we were playing him as a 29% 3 point shooter. That wasn’t the case at all. We knew historically what kind of shooter he was.

And then (Ansley) Almonor was the same thing in that particular game against Kentucky. Those two made 10 (three pointers) together out of 14, if I am not mistaken. SO there’s a big chunk of it and again, he hadn’t been shooting the ball with great volume but historically prior coming to Kentucky, we treated them that way.

I know it sounds boring and cliche, but overall it just goes back to guarding the ball and getting broke down at the point of attack. In the Auburn game that was probably the most disappointing thing. I just didn’t feel we were very prideful on the ball and you could attribute it to a lot of things. We had some distractions heading into the game. Obviously, the crowd was a distraction. Riley (Kugel) was a game-time decision, literally a game-time decision that he made.

And this isn’t an excuse but obviously, (Johni) Broome not playing did not hurt them in this particular game. But I don’t know what it did for the psych of our guys like, not that they think anything is going to be easy on the road in this league especially a team of that caliber. But from where I sat, it couldn’t have started any worse. I think it was one of the earliest timeouts I’ve ever called and then we had to call another one in the first half because of the run and the crowd and the way we were playing. We just never got our feet underneath us in that particular game.

The 3 point shooting, again, we just weren’t great on the ball. We had some breakdowns off the ball. We had some game-plan issues that didn’t get into the game, which is disappointing at this point. We spent a lot of time on that and it doesn’t get into the game. It was hard and frustrating for all of us, including the players. And reviewing the film, hats off to Auburn. They had a lot of shot-makers and they have multiple guys shooting in the 40s beyond the arc. It is contagious for the offensive team. When it gets going, everybody wants to be part of it. It is contagious both ways, unfortunately, because it was contagious on the other end. We lost our confidence and just couldn’t find our way beyond the arc.

Q: How do you feel Shawn Jones has come along on the defensive end?
Jans: His game has matured and his understanding of the scheme is obviously really, really good given his experience and time here. He’s rounded into form to understanding where his niche is at and how to play and how to be valuable for us even though it may not all show up in the stat sheet. Just the little things like getting an offensive rebound or driving into the paint and knowing there’s trees in the SEC and not throwing up a bad shot. Those things don’t show up.

Being in the right spot, defensively, checking his man out. He is the best check-out guy we got. He’s not the best rebounding guy we got but he allows other people to get the rebound because he is so assignment-correct in checking his own man out. Knowing the way people are defending him, he can get a rhythm 3 off most possessions, if needed. The shots he is taking are mostly uncontested and in rhythm. He’s been working on it and hopefully he will be knocking some down.

Q: For the first time ever State and Ole Miss meet each other with both being ranked. How beneficial is it for this state for both teams to play at a high level?
Jans: I wasn’t aware of it until about a minute before I walked in. Our SID made us aware that is the situation and it surprises me. I would have never guessed that or thought that. I kind of amazes me to be honest with you, all the times that they’ve played and how many years it goes back for that not to happen. It is what it is. It is cool. It is great for the state. Hopefully the environment will be off the charts and it always is. But maybe even a little more now because of that opportunity for both programs. It will be here soon enough.

Q: Having to handle the ball so much, do you think that is taking away some of Josh Hubbard‘s offensive game?
Jans: I don’t like to speak for my guys and obviously, I talk to Josh on a daily basis. But we don’t go real deep but I don’t know. People start circling his name every single time and he is getting the best defender and the league is full of high-level athletes and defenders and coaches and gameplanning. With more and more games under his belt, people understand where his sweet spots are and try to make it as difficult as they can on him.

For us with his improved vision and progression and reads as a ball handler, we are asking him to do more that way and that has been a positive. He leads the league in assists/turnovers, especially given the fact that teams are gameplanning for him and when he comes off the ball screen, there’s usually two off the ball for an extended period whereas that is not the case with our other guys. So he has a little more pressure on him, which is maybe one of the reasons why his assists are up that way because of having to give the ball a little bit more.

But the one thig with Josh is, I don’t think I’ve ever believed in a player more in my entire career and I’ve coached some great players. My confidence in that young man is through the roof. I can’t speak for them but I imagine our staff and our locker room feels the same way because of what’s inside Josh and how he goes about his business. It’s just a great reminder that these kids are human. They’re not machines, they’re not robots. But I go back to what I said. I wouldn’t want anyone else out there fulfilling that role for our program than Josh Hubbard.

Q: What are your impressions of Ole Miss?
Jans: Coach (Chris) Beard and his staff have done a tremendous job of putting together a tough-minded, connected team on both ends of the floor. They are a much better defensive team this year than they were last year. They are more physical. They play a unique style in that, for the most part, do a lot of switching on the ball and off the ball with all the positions. They get the five involved (in switching) because they have so many pieces on the floor that are similar in size.

I think they have a lot of confidence in their guards and they like their bigs to keep the guards in check. You don’t see that very often, which causes you to do more offensive gameplanning than maybe you normally would, which takes time involved. So it is a good approach for them.

Then on the offensive end they’ve got six guys that average between nine point something and 13 point something. What a luxury to have that much balance and not having to rely on one guy on any given night. They are old-school that way, too. They run more of the motion offense that you don’t see very often anymore. South Carolina does some of it. too, in our league but it seems more spread out, dribble drive, ball screens. So another area you got to tweak what you do because of how they play on both ends of the floor.

Q: With Kanye Clary being out and the rules being different for redshirting in basketball, could he get this year back if he doesn’t return and get a medical redshirt?
Jans: That’s not on my watch and I don’t have anything to do with that. So I really don’t know anything about that right now.

Q: You mentioned last week about getting Kentucky after a loss. Now you get Ole Miss coming off a big win. Does that get the attention of your players more heading into Saturday?
Jans: I hope so. I don’t know if it matters in this game because of the obvious and the proximity in this state. I don’t know if it matters but certainly you would think all of their senses would be on high alert and their concentration and focus in the film room and on the court when we are with them will be at its highest because of the rivalry. But more importantly, it is an SEC game against a 4-0 team in our league. So everything lines up to where you would think we would get the best effort in leading up to the game. Once the ball is tipped I imagine you would see two teams really competing at a high level.

Q: When you look back at when you started at this program, what has been the key to building this program?
Jans: Right now in the middle of the season, that is not something I ponder. More maybe an offseason question and even then, I don’t know. We just try to work every day and keep our nose to the grindstone and try to make the program better in all areas. Hopefully we will continue to do that.