Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics
WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
November 09, 2022 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State completes a busy three-game opening week stretch with matchups against Akron on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, before returning home versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff in pursuit of the program's 500th victory at Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday.
Head coach Chris Jans had the opportunity to meet with the media leading into Wednesday's practice.
2022-23 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
November 9, 2022 – Media Session
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Can you talk about the challenge of playing against Akron on Friday and then coming back in less than 48 hours to play against Arkansas–Pine Bluff on Sunday?
CJ: "Yeah, we talked about it a lot in the offseason that we had a very challenging schedule. It looks to be maybe even a little more challenging than we thought in July or August with the early season results. We had a little bit of that adversity on Monday, being down at half in a home opener. We played much better in the second half, but that's just a taste of it. We're going to have way bigger challenges, tougher leads to overcome, et cetera. We haven't faced any major foul issues yet, or anything of that nature. We're not having to play in someone else's barn yet, but we'll have to play away from the friendly confines [of Humphrey Coliseum] for the first time."
"I've got a lot of respect for Akron, they're very well coached. Obviously, [facing] another NCAA Tournament team from last year with a good core group of players back from that team. They're a program that at least right now, doesn't play a lot of guys. They rely on two guys to do the bulk of their scoring. Then, they only play seven or eight guys on normal nights. At least, that's what we've seen thus far or what we've heard."
"We'll have our hands full. They've got two kids, the one out front [Xavier] Castaneda and the big kid around the basket [Enrique] Freeman. They're both very accomplished and established players: Castaneda can shoot it, bounce it and just scores it in a variety of ways. Freeman is just a load. He is so skilled around the basket with the right and the left. He was the [MAC] defensive player of the year last year. It'll be a heck of a matchup for Tolu and the rest of our bigs around the basket on Friday night."
Q: What have you learned in the past, and what kind of knowledge can you learn about a team from being on the road especially this early in the season?
CJ: "I love going on the road, and I live being with our guys. It's just us, you get to know each other better. We're in a hotel, and we're having meetings. Obviously, it's just us. So, the normal people they'd talk to when practice is over aren't around."
"I just think that relationships are formed at a deeper level when we're around each other like that. We're eating more as a team, we're hanging out more as a squad and we're traveling with one another. I love just seeing where we're at."
"I've been around other programs and part of other programs where we normally have a lot of success on the road. I think that's probably the true test of how good your team is how well you play away from home. Most teams, at least most good teams, win the majority of their games at home, but the great teams are the ones that can go on the road and find ways to win and to overcome what the road brings. It's a heck of an early season test for us. I'll be anxious, just like you all, to see how we perform."
Q: We've seen an influx of donations to the Bulldog Initiative as of late. How important is NIL [Name, Image, Likeness] to building a program in the modern era of college basketball?
CJ: "I think it's been well-documented that the transfer portal along with NIL have transformed the landscape of college basketball and a lot of other sports as well. It's no different for us."
"I certainly appreciate all those folks that are willing and able to help move our program further along. It's a part of winning right now. It's a part of what every program across the country is trying to secure to [help] make the choices for these student athletes that they have to make just to have a better situation for our potential Bulldogs. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it right now, but I know there are a lot of people working behind the scenes to try and make that happen."
Q: What are your impressions of what Barstool has done, and how they're putting this event together?
CJ: "So far so good; they've been very communicative. They were out here a week or so ago and spent a few hours with our program doing different types of pregame interviews and videos … Our kids had lot of fun with it, and I had fun with it. They were professional. They were really good. Like I said, they'll have a lot of access to us once we land in Philadelphia. They're going to be around the night we get in and the next day when we're at shootaround … I think you're going to see quite a bit of that this weekend. Hopefully we have a decent crowd. None of the four schools are close in proximity to [Philadelphia] so we'll have to see how that has an effect."
Q: How satisfying was it to see Tolu Smith record a double-double in his first night out?
CJ: "He left some meat on the bone. He's got to make his free throws. That wasn't up to par. Knowing him the way I do even in this short of time period I've been around him, I know he'll be working on that. That will be something that bothers him."
"It's a luxury to have someone you can throw the ball to under the basket that can one back his man down and have an array of moves to get a bucket or get fouled. Or attract a double team and get the other team in rotation. We've really working since we've arrived with him on passing the ball out of the post in anticipation of people throwing different types of coverages at him. So, he'll be prepared for whatever the defense throws at him. We'll have to adjust every game to how they defend him."
Q: Being early in the season and after the first game, was there anything you watched on film that positively surprised you?
CJ: "Not really, we've got a pretty high standard of expectations for our team and certainly for our individuals. I don't think anyone exceeded what our expectation would be. As a team, I thought our defensive rebounding wasn't what it needed to be. I thought we did a decent job on the offensive end in terms of crashing, keeping the ball alive and giving ourselves some second and third chance opportunities. On the other end, we have to assignment correct with checking out, getting involved and having a gang rebounding mentality that is required if you want to be a good defensive rebounding team. It's something that will be addressed today [in practice], and we're going to work on it the next couple of days. We're not going to have that size advantage each and every night like we had against [Texas A&M] Corpus Christi. Our kids need to understand that. We have to be, like I said, assignment correct and do a better job on the backboards."
Head coach Chris Jans had the opportunity to meet with the media leading into Wednesday's practice.
2022-23 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
November 9, 2022 – Media Session
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Can you talk about the challenge of playing against Akron on Friday and then coming back in less than 48 hours to play against Arkansas–Pine Bluff on Sunday?
CJ: "Yeah, we talked about it a lot in the offseason that we had a very challenging schedule. It looks to be maybe even a little more challenging than we thought in July or August with the early season results. We had a little bit of that adversity on Monday, being down at half in a home opener. We played much better in the second half, but that's just a taste of it. We're going to have way bigger challenges, tougher leads to overcome, et cetera. We haven't faced any major foul issues yet, or anything of that nature. We're not having to play in someone else's barn yet, but we'll have to play away from the friendly confines [of Humphrey Coliseum] for the first time."
"I've got a lot of respect for Akron, they're very well coached. Obviously, [facing] another NCAA Tournament team from last year with a good core group of players back from that team. They're a program that at least right now, doesn't play a lot of guys. They rely on two guys to do the bulk of their scoring. Then, they only play seven or eight guys on normal nights. At least, that's what we've seen thus far or what we've heard."
"We'll have our hands full. They've got two kids, the one out front [Xavier] Castaneda and the big kid around the basket [Enrique] Freeman. They're both very accomplished and established players: Castaneda can shoot it, bounce it and just scores it in a variety of ways. Freeman is just a load. He is so skilled around the basket with the right and the left. He was the [MAC] defensive player of the year last year. It'll be a heck of a matchup for Tolu and the rest of our bigs around the basket on Friday night."
Q: What have you learned in the past, and what kind of knowledge can you learn about a team from being on the road especially this early in the season?
CJ: "I love going on the road, and I live being with our guys. It's just us, you get to know each other better. We're in a hotel, and we're having meetings. Obviously, it's just us. So, the normal people they'd talk to when practice is over aren't around."
"I just think that relationships are formed at a deeper level when we're around each other like that. We're eating more as a team, we're hanging out more as a squad and we're traveling with one another. I love just seeing where we're at."
"I've been around other programs and part of other programs where we normally have a lot of success on the road. I think that's probably the true test of how good your team is how well you play away from home. Most teams, at least most good teams, win the majority of their games at home, but the great teams are the ones that can go on the road and find ways to win and to overcome what the road brings. It's a heck of an early season test for us. I'll be anxious, just like you all, to see how we perform."
Q: We've seen an influx of donations to the Bulldog Initiative as of late. How important is NIL [Name, Image, Likeness] to building a program in the modern era of college basketball?
CJ: "I think it's been well-documented that the transfer portal along with NIL have transformed the landscape of college basketball and a lot of other sports as well. It's no different for us."
"I certainly appreciate all those folks that are willing and able to help move our program further along. It's a part of winning right now. It's a part of what every program across the country is trying to secure to [help] make the choices for these student athletes that they have to make just to have a better situation for our potential Bulldogs. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it right now, but I know there are a lot of people working behind the scenes to try and make that happen."
Q: What are your impressions of what Barstool has done, and how they're putting this event together?
CJ: "So far so good; they've been very communicative. They were out here a week or so ago and spent a few hours with our program doing different types of pregame interviews and videos … Our kids had lot of fun with it, and I had fun with it. They were professional. They were really good. Like I said, they'll have a lot of access to us once we land in Philadelphia. They're going to be around the night we get in and the next day when we're at shootaround … I think you're going to see quite a bit of that this weekend. Hopefully we have a decent crowd. None of the four schools are close in proximity to [Philadelphia] so we'll have to see how that has an effect."
Q: How satisfying was it to see Tolu Smith record a double-double in his first night out?
CJ: "He left some meat on the bone. He's got to make his free throws. That wasn't up to par. Knowing him the way I do even in this short of time period I've been around him, I know he'll be working on that. That will be something that bothers him."
"It's a luxury to have someone you can throw the ball to under the basket that can one back his man down and have an array of moves to get a bucket or get fouled. Or attract a double team and get the other team in rotation. We've really working since we've arrived with him on passing the ball out of the post in anticipation of people throwing different types of coverages at him. So, he'll be prepared for whatever the defense throws at him. We'll have to adjust every game to how they defend him."
Q: Being early in the season and after the first game, was there anything you watched on film that positively surprised you?
CJ: "Not really, we've got a pretty high standard of expectations for our team and certainly for our individuals. I don't think anyone exceeded what our expectation would be. As a team, I thought our defensive rebounding wasn't what it needed to be. I thought we did a decent job on the offensive end in terms of crashing, keeping the ball alive and giving ourselves some second and third chance opportunities. On the other end, we have to assignment correct with checking out, getting involved and having a gang rebounding mentality that is required if you want to be a good defensive rebounding team. It's something that will be addressed today [in practice], and we're going to work on it the next couple of days. We're not going to have that size advantage each and every night like we had against [Texas A&M] Corpus Christi. Our kids need to understand that. We have to be, like I said, assignment correct and do a better job on the backboards."
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballJosh Hubbard - "I'm Back"
Friday, April 17
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans & Players SEC Tournament Postgame vs. Auburn - 3/11/26
Thursday, March 12
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans Media Session - 3/9/26
Monday, March 09
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Josh Hubbard & Ja'Borri McGhee Postgame Press Conference vs. Georgia - 3/7/26
Sunday, March 08