WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

STARKVILLE - Head coach Chris Jans met the media on Monday to preview Wednesday's matchup at No. 2 Alabama.

2022-23 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
January 23, 2023 – Media Session

Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: How important is it to get off to a good start against Alabama with the offensive struggles we've seen so far?
CJ: "We've had some games where we've actually gotten off to a good start, and it certainly helps. I don't care what team you're coaching; I've always believed that it's more fun to play with the lead. It's kind of like in the academic world what we preach is 'Let's play with the lead academically. Let's not try to come from behind.'

"Certainly, you can win games in a variety of ways, but it's more comfortable and I think a little bit easier to get off to a great start and establish yourselves. To get that confidence and maybe take away some of the other team's confidence, especially at home. It's crucial for this team. When I watch the tape, we were down 16 obviously and got back to even a couple of times. We're able to overcome them and see what would happen if we got the lead. I don't feel any different after watching the tape. We played good enough, certainly had mistakes. To win the game, if you could match the execution and the intensity in the second half compared to the first half."

Q: What do you think is stopping the team from closing out some of these games here at the end?
CJ: "That's a great question. I was talking about that with a couple of my colleagues up there [in the office]. Again, it's a really good question. I hate this answer, but it's true: if I knew the quick fix, I would have done it already. I'm not sure why, and certainly that's my job to know that. We're deep diving and looking at everything that's offered to us from an analytical standpoint. We're trying to get feedback from everyone on our staff and getting their thoughts like we always do in a lot of different subject matters."

"I'm not used to that. I'm used to having a pretty tough-minded team, and a team that is cohesive and together. I'm not saying we're not, but those are the things and the ingredients that are required to win down the stretch. To have that mental toughness, to have that confidence, to stick together, to make some timely shots and to get some timely stops. I know why you've asked the question because we've had a lot of games where we weren't able to do that, and we've had a number of games that came down to the last few minutes of the game."

Q: Where have you seen Alabama making improvements and what makes them tougher to match up against the second time?
CJ: "Well, it's remarkable how good they are considering how young they are in the age of the portal, and everyone's staying old. They certainly have some experienced guys, but some of their best players are new to college basketball. It's very impressive with the transition that their staff has done with them to be productive right away. I think that probably has something to do with it."

"Those guys are getting experience, and they're growing fast because of their youth. They certainly did a good job early, but when I watch them now, they don't look like freshmen anymore. They look experienced, and they play with such confidence. They look to be a cohesive group from the tape you watch in terms of helping one another and being all in for their team. [They're] Not worried about who's getting the headlines or the attention, they just play to who they are. They know who they are, and they're very confident."

"They play fast, and they're all about a number of possessions. They've got a bunch of guys that are shooting the ball at a pretty good clip. Some of the guys that weren't earlier, guys that you maybe didn't have to guard from the three-point line are now making three's, which makes it even more difficult to defend them. They're playing different lineups. They're not playing just traditional lineups. They're playing some small ball lineups with five guys on the court that can all shoot the three, which is obviously a very difficult matchup."

Q: What has Tolu Smith been doing lately that he has not been the first two or three games of the SEC schedule??
CJ: "Obviously, I love Tolu, and I'm glad that he's with us. I love coaching him. He's just not being as efficient in my opinion as maybe he needs to be. He's getting some double doubles, and he's a rebounding monster. He's relentless on the backboards. He's one of the better rebounding offensive guys in the country and certainly in our league, which there are a lot of other guys that rebound the ball at a high level."

"Every year, teams figure out how to play against certain guys. I think that's going on a little bit with Tolu. There's so much film out there now, and he was around last year as well. He gets the ball, and he gets every coverage you can imagine. Every coverage you would think a coach could apply against him, they're doing that with him. It changes up game-to-game. Some games, he will see single coverage. Some games, it'll be an underneath monster or a trap. Some games, it'll be old school dig. There's a lot of different ways to do it. He's such a great kid, and he's such a hard worker. Certainly, the free throws that causes him to not be as efficient when he gets to the line. It's a known fact that he's struggled, especially in SEC play from the free throw line. It gets in his head a little bit, and I think it affects him on both ends of the floor. It's our job to try and make sure that it doesn't."

Q: How important is it going to be to limit Alabama's shooting from three?
CJ: "We've really struggled lately from that category. We were really good in the fall. Certainly, the level of competition makes a huge difference, but we're just not contesting at a high level. Our amount of uncontested three's is alarming. Guys make open shots, for the most part, across the country. We're giving up too many of them. It's not just the guy guarding the shooter, and that's the guy that kind of takes the blame publicly. It happens long before that that in the possession of why that person became open and was able to shoot a rhythm open three, which obviously is what we're trying to stay away from as much as possible."

"We're going to work the next few days to try and really hone in on fixing that because it's become a problem. We're getting beat soundly at the three-point line in terms of just old school data. The number of points the other teams are getting compared to the number of points we're getting. You can overcome that in a number of different ways, but it seems to become a running theme with this year's team in league play. We will have three, four or five makes, and the other teams are having 10, 11, or 12 makes. That's a lot to overcome."

WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

Players Mentioned

Tolu Smith III

Mississippi State University Athletics