Head coach Chris Jans: "I love this team"

Another SEC Saturday, another SEC Top 20 matchup for Mississippi State. After dropping another heart-breaking loss to Alabama, the 14th-ranked Bulldogs (16-5 overall, 4-4 in the SEC) jump right back into the fire on Saturday and welcome No. 20 Missouri (16-4 overall, 5-2 in the SEC) to Humphrey Coliseum for a noon tipoff on the SEC Network.

On Friday, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans met with the media to discuss the matchup with Missouri among other topics:

Q: You talked about how hurt the locker room was after the Alabama game, how has the team been since then?
Jans: I’ve said it before. Kids recover quicker than the coaches. Everywhere I’ve ever been, that’s been the case and it’s a good thing. People talk about short memories in our sport and a lot of sports, for that matter. During a game you make a bad or miss a shot, you get to the next play. It is a phrase that most coaches use across all sports and we’re no different that way.

I expected them when we met yesterday to be in decent spirits and they were. Even in the locker room, Cam Matthews was talking about sticking together while I was sharing my comments and getting ready for Saturday and what a great opportunity and challenge it will be. He was sharing the message I would want him to share and they were good. Certainly, we talked about the Alabama game and what we needed to do to learn from that particular game and use it going forward. All of our energy and focus is obviously on Missouri.

Q: You face another good 3 point shooting team on Saturday in Missouri. How do you make adjustments to slow that down after allowing so many 3 pointers to Alabama and Kentucky?
Jans: First of all, Alabama and Kentucky are good 3 point shooting teams. Some nights it becomes contagious. (Chris) Youngblood came in from South Florida as a reputation as a shooter and his numbers, if you look at them at face value, you wouldn’t expect him to shoot the percentage he currently does at 30%.

But as I look back at the game, he hit his first one. Most guys that I’ve coached, when they hit that first one and you get that bounce in your step. I thought that, unfortunately for us, was a really good play for them and it proved to be. I know he missed three but I don’t even remember him missing a shot, even after watching film. He hit some bombs and they were beyond the NBA 3. Kudos to him for getting in that groove and his teammates finding him.

But I’m not into they just made shots. That is the default that a lot of people go through even though in reality there is some of that going on. But we’ve got to obviously do better. You’ve heard me say this too many times but it’s the truth. It normally comes back to what we did at the point of attack earlier in the possession, either a failed ball-screen coverage where we get behind the play and have to over help and we get too much distance between the guy we are defending when he catches the ball.

Some of our urgency to close out and contest shots without fouling, which we didn’t in the last game. Something that has become somewhat of an issue for us is fouling jumpshooters. I don’t know if I’ve had a team that’s fouling more jumpshooters on a consistent basis than this team. It is a fine line. You want them to contest but don’t foul. It is easy to say when you are sitting over there on the sideline but doing it on the floor is another matter to have that much discipline to do what the coach wants to bother and contest but at the same time don’t touch the shooter.

Our players have to be better, understanding how we are guarding. We’ve got to be better at the point of attack and then we’ve got to continue to search for ways to put them in better position. But it is definitely something we talk about and we’re focused on to try to get better as the season unfolds.

Q: What sticks out to you about Missouri on film?
Jans: Coach (Dennis) Gates has done a tremendous job since he’s arrived. I am sure they were very motivated and hungry once the season was complete last year, as you could imagine, to get it right with their recruiting and then certainly with their play. It’s been impressive with what they’ve done. They’ve got a gaudy record and they are 5-2 in the SEC on steroids. Their only losses are at Auburn and at Texas. So they are in great position and playing with a ton of confidence.

I guess what sticks out to me on video is just how hard they play. They play so hard and have the confidence to play so hard because they play so many guys. They play 10 guys on a consistent basis double-figure minutes. You don’t see that often. Then they’ve got three more that play eight minutes, five minutes, three minutes. There’s some games they play that I wouldn’t be surprised if they play 11, 12 or 13 guys. They shuffle them in and out. I am sure their mantra is don’t hold anything back. You got subs coming so you know you’re not going to play 35 minutes and that’s a great luxury to have, especially given the style they play with.

They are as good as anyone in the league at turning you over in a league that has a bunch of teams that do it well. They are just relentless with their denial of passes and their contesting of ball reversals. Then once you catch it they don’t give you any room. They’re constantly trying to frustrate you, speed you up, get you to throw errant passes, tipped balls. So your ability to pass and catch the ball against them is tested. You hear me talk about we are our best when we ignite offense from our defense and that’s where they are best at, too, when they start turning you over and get out in numbers and score in transition.

They just pressure you. If you take the ball out of bounds they slide side out. It doesn’t matter. They’re always messing with you. They’re always trying to find a way to turn you over. Then offensively, they’ve got great confidence. They’re shooting the 3 at 38, 39% clip in the SEC and they’ve got one of the best shooters in the country in Caleb Grill and he is in one of those zones we all see shooters get in. He’s been defended some plays that you couldn’t defend any better but it didn’t matter. He still made the shot. Guarding the 3 point line will be a big key for us.

Q: Against Kentucky and Alabama, how can the team improve on those late-game situations?
Jans: Well, first of all I think experience is the best teacher you have in those types of situations at this point, 21 games into the season plus others. It’s just great teaching moments. You try to break it down to them what we did well, what we didn’t, so we can learn the next time we’re in those situations. At this point, to try to replicate all the scenarios that could happen in the last minute or two of a game, it is hard to do when you are not practicing as long as you would in the fall.

Talking about it and showing them what we need to be doing is what we continue to try to do. In the end it’s not a video game. The clock is moving, the players are moving and you got to make a play. The last play of the game, I didn’t see it live because of the angle where we were trying to tie it up. If you watch their bench and the clock is going down, they are over there signaling (to foul). Obviously, I was wanting to try to avoid getting fouled. I wanted to be able to get as clean of look as possible. I felt like our percentage to tie the game was to get a 3 point look than it was to play, get fouled, make one and try to tip it out. That percentage isn’t as high as getting a clean look.

For whatever reason, they didn’t get the signal in quick enough and we were going to have a chance to get the shot off. Then the handoff did not go as smooth as we wanted. But they made some tough shots down the stretch. But we’re going to be in more close games. We’ve won some, we’ve lost some. Certainly, you want to win every one of them and that’s always the goal. Hopefully that experience will help us next time.

Q: What have you seen from a leadership standpoint from older guys like Cam Matthews and KeShawn Murphy?
Jans: If they weren’t hurting, the word would not be disappointing but I would have been surprised. I love this team and I’ve told them that time and time again. I believe in this team, I have confidence in this team. I know how they work. I know what they’re made of. I feel, see and sense their comradery in one another. It is a fun team to be around. They’ve got a competitive mindset and certainly, they get tired of me because we’re always wanting more.

It’s always we can get better and this or that and the other. As a player that can be a drag at times. We try to get them to understand it is in their best interest, long-term, and certainly for ours collectively right now. They’ve just got a good vibe amongst them. You mentioned the leadership and I talked about Cam speaking up in the locker room and it was a pretty somber situation. It sure makes coming to practice every day and having a bounce in my step knowing what I’m about to walk into and knowing they will have the right frame of mind to work and get better and to meet the next challenge.

Q: With Dellquan Warren playing the other night, was that a matter of him maturing or needing another body out there?
Jans: I would say a combination of both. I think I may have mentioned it after the game. We knew Alabama plays a high-possession game than most and we felt like we wanted to be fresher down the stretch. So we were committed to playing Dellquan at least a run or two in the first half and see how it unfolded. It wasn’t a forced situation because of the foul situation. Even though if we weren’t planning on it, we would have had to regardless because of that.

He’s definitely getting better and better. I love Dellquan Warren. He knows that, our staff knows that. I am a big fan of his since he’s arrived. He’s about us. I love his game and his future and I would love for him to play more minutes and I know he would, too. We will see how it unfolds.

Q: You announced earlier this week that Kanye Clary will not play the rest of the season. Have you looked into the medical redshirt situation moving forward?
Jans: That’s something that is discussed at the end of the season.

Q: Josh Hubbard went out for a little bit against Alabama and came back locked in the rest of the way. How did you see that from him?’
Jans: I don’t know if mad is the right word. He just had a great energy to him. I thought he moved like he had an extra bounce to his step. But he had done that in practice two days leading up to this game. His jumpshot had a little more pop in it than maybe the previous couple of weeks. Certainly, when he went down that was a rough moment. RJ (Melendez) had just went down and then (Hubbard) went down and I’m like, okay, this isn’t really happening.

When you get that word from the trainer and they go do what they got to do and evaluate it and give you the nod they are available, that’s a pretty comforting feeling. Like I said after the game, disappointed his individual night was in a loss. If you win that game that is talked about in some circles for a long time. I know how bad Josh wants to win. Hopefully this won’t be the first time. We will have plenty more opportunities for him and for us.