Head coach Chris Jans talks Oklahoma, Cam Matthews and Shawn Jones

No. 21 Mississippi State goes back on the road Saturday and so far this year, the Bulldogs have encountered success in SEC road games with a 4-2 mark. On Saturday Mississippi State (19-7 overall, 7-6 in the SEC) travels to Oklahoma (16-10, 3-10) for a noon tip-off on the SEC Network.

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

Q: Against Texas A&M, we saw RJ Melendez handle the ball more. Was that just part of the gameplan or the way it worked out in certain situations?
Jans: Most of our guys when they get a defensive rebound, they’ve got the license to push the basketball. Our fives get the rebound we prefer they outlet it to whoever is manning the point guard position. But there’s times when we are trying to push the pace and it will be after a made basket. Cameron Matthews is so good at getting the ball out of the net in a timely fashion and trying to find the point guard. But sometimes he will outlet it to the first person he sees. It gets me a little nervous at times because we’re not as organized as I’d like to be.

But it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. I think it just happened to be a result of (Melendez) being the nearest to the inbounder and on a couple of defensive rebounds, he took the opportunity to push the basketball.

Q: Shawn Jones has been good in spurts lately. What do you feel like he does to help the team?
Jans: In a game we keep track of checks. It is evaluated post-game and they have opportunities to check someone when the ball is shot on the defensive end. I don’t have it in front of me but I would venture to say he is in the Top 2 or 3 in percentage of check-outs. Some have more opportunities than others but he is so reliable that way. He doesn’t necessarily rebound the ball at the highest level but what he does do is make sure somebody on the other team isn’t getting the basketball.

Defensively, I think he’s been better the past two games than he was all year long. He’s always had the ability to use his length and motor to disrupt the other team either on the ball or in the passing lanes. But I think he’s made a concerted effort to be better in terms of not giving up angles in guarding the basketball, just be more square on the ball and it is showing up.

I’ve always said this about Shawn. Most games, not all but most, he just somehow finds a way to be on the floor at the end of the game. He has earned a lot of trust from our staff because we know what we’re getting. He understands time and score.

He was very visibly upset when he missed a couple of 3s in the A&M game. I remember a couple of our guys really coming to his side in one of those later huddles just encouraging him. I didn’t encourage him 1 on 1 but I talked to the team about not letting a missed shot or turnover affect their mindset in what we were trying to do, which was obviously win the basketball game at that point. When he took the corner 3 away from our bench, I think there was just over two minutes left and we were close having to milk this thing out with the lead that we have.

I don’t know if it got caught on camera or not but I had a dumbfounded look on my face when he shot that ball. But I was so happy for him when it went through the net, just noticing a bounce in his step and the bench was happy for him, too.

Q: You mentioned earlier this season that this group may not be as good defensively as your previous teams. But it seems they are still getting steals at a high rate?
Jans: I talked to the radio guys before the game like I always do and even the TV broadcasters during the shoot around. What I told them was I think we are a better defensive team than our numbers. I know the numbers and records says who you are and I get all that. But just from my perspective and experience, that doesn’t mean you can’t get great stops when you need them. It doesn’t mean you don’t have faith and confidence in what we are doing on that end of the floor just because our efficiency per some kind of calculation says this is where we rank.

That is what I was trying to explain to them. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in these guys because they kept working at it. Our staff has done a tremendous job of tweaking small things here and there to try to shore up some deficiencies that we’ve shown. One thing we don’t ever talk about and I don’t really talk about it with the team, is our steal percentage is very, very high. At the same time, a concern for us going into the season because of lack of size was protecting the rim.

And our block percentage has to be as high as it’s ever been. We don’t have maybe some girth that we had in the past. But we’ve got multiple guys that have learned to use the shield technique without being able to take charges. I think it has paid off for us in the way we defend with the early help and rotation and getting those steals, and having guys to protect the rim better than they have in the past. It has helped us. Our two-point field goal percentage is really, really good. The one that is being maligned, and rightfully so, is the 3 point percentage. We will see but I believe as the season progresses that will come back down.

Q: We take Cam Matthews for granted sometimes with his steals. You ever had a guy like that who can guard the post defensively and also playing some point guard?
Jans: Fortunately, I have and I love those players. I’ve had a couple of guys like that and they are fun to coach. They got a Swiss-Army knife skill set. I don’t ever get tired talking about Cam. The thing I love about Cam the most is his No. 1 priority are his teammates, this program and winning. Certainly, he doesn’t like it when he misses a free throw or a certain turnover. Nobody does.

He just doesn’t seem to let it affect him much and he stays pretty locked in. Having faith and trust in someone on the floor that is basically a extension of you. You know he is talking to his guys, get their minds right and keep them organized. Even when the ball is in play, he knows our system inside and out, offensively and defensively. He can play any position that we have. Normally that is reserved for your point guard. But leadership and organization can come from anybody and he’s earned tons of respect from his teammates because of his competitive spirit, his stature, how he plays with that fire and passion.

Don’t get me wrong. Some of you have seen it and we’ve had our moments. And that’s okay. When you play for a coach that coaches the way we do, you are going to have it. But it’s always out respect and I don’t want to think about it. But it’s not going to be as much fun when he’s not around.

Q: What are your early impressions of Oklahoma?
Jans: Yeah they were 13-0 going into the SEC and for whatever reason, they haven’t won as many games as they obviously liked. But from the film, you wouldn’t know it. If you just watch the film and not look at that record, you would think they were in the middle of it all. They play really, really hard. They’ve got good players. They’ve got a freshman in (Jeremiah) Fears out front that will be in the conversation for freshman of the year in the SEC. Then the (Jalon) Moore kid and they’ve got a nice duo going with different sizes and positions.

They shoot the heck out of the basketball. They shoot the ball very, very well from 3, which obviously like I just said has been an issue for us. They are No. 1, if I am not mistaken, in free-throw percentage in our league. So defending them and not fouling them will be a huge deal. Like I said, you wouldn’t know it on film. They’re competing at a high level. They’ve lost some really tough close games. Like all of us, they are fighting coming down the stretch for every inch, for every ball, for every opportunity. I know they will be prepared and ready for Saturday, and I know they will give us everything that we want.

Q: Any reason why this team has fared well on the road this season?
Jans: No but I’m glad that we are. It’s been critical for us to win away from home. We’ve had some great wins away from The Hump. Any coach will tell you it is probably the truest sign of who you are as a basketball team in terms of your toughness and character. To do it away from the confines when you have more distractions than you normally do. I love going on the road. I love being tested and challenged that way. Certainly when you’ve had the results that we’ve had, for the most part, it makes you feel really good internally about the makeup of our basketball team.

But at the same time you got to try to do it again. You got to try to replicate the things that put you in position to win those games. But there’s no reason that we leave here tomorrow and get ready for that early tip on Saturday that they don’t have a great mindset.

Q: Where have you seen Josh Hubbard grow the most in his offensive game?
Jans: Having 25 points (against Texas A&M) on 10 shots is about as efficient as you can be from an offensive standpoint and then adding the assists to turnovers and the steals. I thought it was one of the most complete games that he’s played since he’s been here. He’s had the big scoring nights and had stretches, but from where I sit and watching the tape, he was more engaged, defensively, off the ball. That’s probably one of my biggest things is off the ball he will relax a little bit and not be in the right spot and take his foot off the gas.

It is easy for me to say. I’m not playing 35-36 minutes where you would obviously have the tendency to maybe relax a little bit. I’m not on the floor but I understand how that works. But he was just on it with his attention and his body, being in the right spots and getting his hands on basketballs and turning them into offense for us. Part of the plan was to draw them in and we did it many, many times. We felt like addressing the corners were an area where we could throw the ball to and get them in rotation that way.

If you remember, he would drive in one direction and all of a sudden, throw back to someone else in the deep corner when we needed a shot or try to drive the ball from there and make something happen. He was efficient and I thought he followed the gameplan. Hopefully that will continue for him.