Head coach Chris Jans talks Georgia, team sickness and regaining swagger

Mississippi State got a rare mid-week break this week and on Saturday, the Bulldogs face a critical road game at Georgia. No. 22 Mississippi State is 16-6 overall and 4-5 in the SEC following a two-game losing streak and Georgia is 16-7 and 4-6.

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

Q: How important was the break this week to get some guys healthy?
Jans: Yeah it is that time of the year. I can’t speak for all the coaches in the SEC but since the challenge changed from the Big 12 to the ACC, I know I like this format better. To have a seven-day stretch in the middle of the conference season, I would imagine most coaches and players look forward to it.

Certainly, it hasn’t been as enjoyable as maybe it could’ve been if we had played better in our two-game homestand going into it. But it’s been welcomed for a number of reasons. As you mentioned, bumps and bruises at this point in the season. If you are 100 percent healthy and you feel tip-top, you are very, very fortunate. It’s a long, grueling season and there’s a lot of mileage that is put on all the players. It becomes a tired game at times.

On top of that, I guess we’ve had the crud going through us a little bit in terms of the program, starting Saturday and Sunday and it has kind of bounced around a little bit. Fortunately, we’ve been able to manage that better than if we had a game to prepare for.

Q: Your thoughts on defending Georgia freshman big man Asa Newell?
Jans: Once you go deeper into the video, it is remarkable how mature he is as a basketball player. I don’t know him personally and didn’t watch him play on the circuit. So my familiarity with him is by reputation until this season and watching him recently the most. He just plays different out there than most freshmen do. He’s got a mature game. He’s obviously developed physically and mentally, and he is very skilled and very comfortable on the court.

He’s made a huge impact for their program and for their team. They’ve got a lot of good players like everybody does in this league. But it starts with him at the top.

Q: The last two seasons your team has gotten better in the second half of the SEC schedule. What’s got to happen for this team to do the same?
Jans: Yeah we’ve been there, done that. Haven’t really talked to the team about that. Contemplated that we should make that decision here shortly. The experience can’t teach it. It’s obviously helpful in a number of different situations and hopefully, it will be in this one. The coaching staff and some of the players have been through it. Unfortunately, just because that was the case in years’ past that we went on many runs in the second half to put ourselves in position doesn’t necessarily mean it is going to happen again.

You can’t just rely on that because our teams the last couple of years have done that. That will be the expectation, obviously, and each game is going to be huge the rest of the season. Like everyone we are focused on the next one. But we are in position now where we’ve got to win basketball games regardless of who we are playing, where we are playing. We’ve got to win basketball games and it starts Saturday.

Q: What was done this week to address the 3 point defensive issues?
Jans: We’ve done a deep dive going at some film review of some games prior because we had the time to try to pinpoint some things we were not doing or doing that has led to a large number of 3s in an efficient manner that they are shooting against us. We’re not going to overhaul what we do and unfortunately, it wasn’t just one thing that you could say hey, let’s do this different and everything will be rosey. It doesn’t work that way.

One time it not getting over to contest. One time was we didn’t guard the ball well. One time it an offensive rebound and a great opportunity for other teams to catch and shoot inside-out 3s. So there were different issues that we saw and we are tweaking certain actions that we guard to try to put our kids in better position and hopefully it will work.

Q: What can you do offensively to get guys like RJ Melendez, Claudell Harris and Riley Kugel going again?
Jans: Yeah we need those guys to play better. We can all play better. But the three you mentioned are guys that are capable scorers and have shown the ability here and elsewhere to be able to shoot and score the basketball. We need all three of them to do what they do best. I think it just starts with confidence. That’s the vibe, the feel that all players seek. We, the staff and everyone inside our walls, need to figure out ways to help them.

But I believe all three, in their own way, are mentally capable of understanding and not letting it take control of them and beating them down. I don’t see that happening. Off topic, when you go through what we did in our last game, as a coach you certainly have in your mind what the response should be in practice. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work the way you want it to. You do your best to figure out a message and a game plan for a day, for a week, for a season.

I’ve been pleasantly pleased that the response, thus far on the floor, Monday and Tuesday is what we wanted it to be. They’ve had a good approach. They’ve done what we’ve asked them to do. Hopefully, that will help us be a better basketball team going forward.

Q: You feel like that confidence has been a big thing for Josh Hubbard lately?
Jans: Like we’ve talked about before, players are human and not a video game. You don’t joystick the game. Most individuals, most teams, a large percentage of them anyway, have peaks and valleys in a season. When you are in a peak, everything feels good and is going in. It’s all good. Certainly, when you’re not in one of those, the world is ending in your basketball world, professional life that way.

Josh, in particular, people were disappointed in some of his splits in his shooting percentages. I was never concerned about it. I’ve got the ultimate faith in that young man and I know he’s put in and what he’s invested in his game and how much he loves the game. Certainly, he does have a different bounce in his step. It hasn’t been in wins the last couple of games. But I think he feels good about it and everyone around him feels good about it.

Q: What makes Georgia play so well on their home floor?
Jans: It is going to take us playing one of our best games. They have created a better home environment than in recent years because of the success they’ve had and how they are doing, especially at home. They had another lopsided win last night in the SEC, which are hard to come by. So they are playing with a lot of confidence, especially in their building.

They are not an over-complicated team. They just try to play fundamental, sound basketball. They are very physical on both ends of the floor, both out front and around the basket. We talked about Asa but they’ve got other guys that are rocked-up and have a physical approach to their game on the offensive end and the defensive end. Everything they do is physical. The way they screen, the way they rebound, the way they play offense.

We have to understand it is going to be a battle that way, from tip to finish. Certainly, our 3 point percentage has been talked about and we can’t be giving up 14, 15 or 16 threes unless they are taking 35-40 of them. It is one thing to give up that many if they are so committed to them and shooting so many of them. They are going to make some of them but that is not really their style. Not that they wouldn’t think looking at us they can get off more and make more. Who knows how that will unfold.

But this week is about us, about us getting better and tweaking here and there. Just getting our mental right, feeling good come Saturday when they tip the ball and having that confidence and swagger back.

Q: You mentioned the crud that is going through the team. Is that sickness?
Jans: Not feeling well, under the weather, if you will. When it happens on a team it is like a baton. It passes and hopefully stops. It hasn’t been anything major, major, but we’ve had some kids that had to miss practices this week because they didn’t feel well enough to go.