Head coach Chris Jans talks Georgia State, tinkering with lineups and perimeter weapons

Mississippi State continues its season-opening homestand Friday as the Bulldogs host Georgia State in a 6:30 p.m. tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum. Mississippi State opened the season Monday with a 95-60 win over West Georgia while Georgia State made its season debut Monday with a 71-66 win over Ball State.

Last season the Panthers finished 14-17 overall and posted an 8-10 mark in the Sun Belt Conference. On Wednesday, Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans met with the media to discuss Georgia State along with other topics:

Q: What were your thoughts on the starting lineup you had Monday?
Jans: Yeah they had a good pop to them. I would imagine most places across the country when you get to open at home and it’s the first game, that should be the baseline for the guys that get to start and go through the starting lineups and all the pageantry that comes with that. To have the type of student crowd we had to energize yourself, I would’ve been extremely disappointed if we didn’t start off with some energy to us.

Q: With Cameron Matthews, has their been a developmental plan for his offensive game?
Jans: He’s committed to individual improvement to his offensive game. He’s bought into extra time more than ever, at least since I’ve been coaching him going into his third season (with me). He’s spent hours in the gym with managers and graduate assistants just working on his shot. That’s probably the biggest improvement he needs to make, having the capabilities of making an open and catch-and-shoot 3.

Then certainly knocking down his free throws and we track all of that. His free throws have been really, really good. I think we were all surprised when he missed the first two the other night. He’s been making some 3s in practice and hopefully, his work will show up. I tell kids all the time that unfortunately in what we do and other industries, work places, etc., your work doesn’t always show up on time. You got to stick with it and eventually it will get there. Hopefully that will be the case with Cam and he will get rewarded with the work he’s put in.

Q: Things can always change in a long season but is the plan to redshirt Eric Paymon and Adrian Myers this season?
Jans: It is. Right now the plan is to redshirt both of those young men. Certainly as you said, things could change. But if we have our druthers that will be the case all year long.

Q: What did you think about the performances of Michael Nwoko and Jeremy Foumena in the opener?
Jans: Just okay. We had Gai Chol in there, as well, and we have the three 5s that are all sophomores and none of them started the first game. I can’t imagine that our starting lineup won’t fluctuate early in the season. I basically told our guys to not be surprised before the first game for us to tinker with the starting lineup early in the season for a plethora of different reasons. So I think you’ll see some true 5s in the starting lineup here soon.

But in terms of their overall performance and all the things we are harping on them, for them to help our team be the best version of itself, we got to focus on things that people don’t see every day. Like running the court, setting solid screens, and understanding when to sit in and demand the ball, when to seal.

Obviously, rebounding is a big deal for this particular team. That’s already been discovered. Between the two of them, in 26 minutes they had one defensive rebound. That’s just not going to be good enough. They’re a work in progress and like we’ve been saying all year long, I think they’re going to get there. What’s there mean? I think that’s different for everybody. More importantly, getting there and what that means to me and our staff rather than a fan or anyone else for that matter.

I don’t know when. Like I said earlier, timing is what it is. But they are great kids and they work and they are coachable and they want to do right. When you have those kind of intangibles it usually happens.

Q: What have you seen from Georgia State so far?
Jans: It’s going to be a step up in weight class, for sure. They looked very good in their opening home win against Ball State. We know Ball State and they’ve got a good team and are well-coached. The things they do best, right now anyway, are areas of concern for us. So I’m sure they are watching the tape and saying the same thing. Hey, we can exploit them on the glass. Our physicality and size should give them problems if we can get it into the game.

It’s no secret we’re both honed in on each other’s first game so far and that’s what it says. Hopefully it will be good for us in that we are playing a team like that and we can show our guys if we are not better in these areas we were weak at in the first game, it will be a long night for the home team. So it’s a perfect scenario, in my opinion, because of who we are playing to see if we can get better in a short period of time. I’m not sure we’re going to get better at it. But how much better, we will find out Friday evening.

But they’re an older ballclub like most teams are. They’re feeling good about themselves and they’re very physical.

Q: Josh Hubbard had 26 points on just 13 shots in the opener. In a perfect world, is that the kind of pressure you want to take off of him now that you have other offensive weapons in the backcourt?
Jans: In a perfect world, yes. He did it on 13 shots. I know you are not talking exact numbers but I wouldn’t call him a gunner last year and I don’t remember him taking 30 shots in a game last season. But I understand what you’re trying to talk about and he was the No. 1 option on the perimeter and everyone knew it (last year). Because of that, he had to take some iffy shots at times. He had to search to go on a run at times.

We definitely wanted to take that pressure off of him and spread the court more, just have more options at different options alongside Josh and even when Josh is not in the game, we didn’t want our scoring on the perimeter to come to a halt. But he’s been great about it. He wanted it and he was all about it. It’s something we talk about a lot this summer and fall, and that was shot selection for everybody, in particular with him. Just getting out of that mindset that this might be the best shot we’re going to get even though it’s a tough shot.

Last year I was more than fine with it because that was our best chance, at times. But he showed his growth, mentally, of what’s best for our team and that we have other options. Certainly when the shotclock is dwindling, that’s another scenario. But in the meat of a possession, he doesn’t have to take a rushed one or a highly-contested one. Not saying he won’t do that at different times but hopefully that will continue for him and for all of us as the games keep coming.

Q: What did you think of Kanye Clary‘s performance the other night?
Jans: I thought it was pretty good. Things that will go unseen by the naked eye, he was checking out and getting his body inside of bigger guys and trying to make space. He was pushing the ball, creating some tempo. He probably should’ve had three or four more assists. We had a couple of drops around the basket that were easy layups that he created with his speed and his vision. A couple of 3s that would normally go in.

I haven’t talked to him about it yet but I thought he got a little frustrated with it. Then toward the end of the game he got a little shot happy. He took one shot that I thought was just okay. From my perspective throughout the game, we only took two bad shots. Shoot the ball 65 times I will take that ratio every time in every game the rest of my career. You got a glimpse of his dynamic ability to get in the lane and go by people and break defenses down.

Then defensively, he got after the ball pretty good. Like most players, he does better when he’s fresh and it’s something we’ve been harping on him about. Hopefully he will get in better game shape shortly and be able to do it the whole time he is out there.

Q: You talked in the offseason of playing faster this year. Did your guys look comfortable doing that in the opener?
Jans: Yeah we’ve been practicing that way for quite some time. I’ve always argued that tempo is misleading with tempo and possessions per game. Because of you’re doing a good job, defensively, and the other team is having a hard time getting a shot off, the game will be a lower-possession game. So I don’t really care what our adjusted tempo is. But if you want to break it down to see who’s really playing fast, offensively, look at time of possession for their offensive possessions. Then compare that to your defensive possessions.

I want to be a team that has a big gap. I want our team to play fast and get good shots, put good pressure on the defense and score early when we can. But at the other end, if we don’t turn them over, I want them to go all the way to the end of the shotclock and work for open looks. The difference in length of possession offensively and defensively is way more important to me than when people talk about what our pace is compared to across the country because it just doesn’t make sense to me at all.