WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
October 03, 2023 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State men's basketball head coach Chris Jans met with the media leading into the team's practice on Tuesday to discuss Maroon Madness at Columbus Air Force Base, Tolu Smith's leadership, compeition at point guard and much more.
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – October 3, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Was there a point late last season where you started to see a change with Shak [Shakeel Moore], or was it this offseason?
CJ: "Shak [Shakeel Moore] definitely had a couple better games like you mentioned down the stretch. He's made the biggest strides in the summer. Of all our players, he had the best summer of all of them. Just from the vibe he had every day, even just statistically for plus/minus and overall efficiency, he was by far our best player over the eight weeks of summer."
"Then, in the fall, he dipped a little bit, and we had a nice little sit-down. He's back to where he was. He rarely loses a sprint in practice. To me, that's a really good sign for someone that's committed and that's competing all the time. It's a benchmark for our whole team for where he's at, and how he's running in that regard. We're excited for him, and hopefully it will continue."
Q: What does it mean to you and the fanbase getting to expose your team to different areas of the state?
CJ: "First of all, I'm excited about Maroon Madness. It's around the corner at the end of the week [on Friday]. It will be a unique experience I think for all of us. I've been doing this for a long time, and it will be the first time for me personally to be on a military base for a basketball function. There's other programs who have played games in these types of settings, but I've never been a part of it. On a personal level, I'm looking forward to being a small part in the experience that we're having."
"What an awesome way for our program and our University to thank the military for what they do for us on a daily basis. I know there will be some people that are disappointed that it's not open to the public … We had to make that decision just for crowd control, etcetera [access to the military base]. I think it will be a really cool event, and we're excited to do it."
"Like you mentioned, we're trying to find ways to play in different areas of the state. We've been in Jackson, and we're going to go to Tupelo like you mentioned. We're going to play a road game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. We're doing the event over in Columbus this Friday. Certainly, that's something as a staff that we're trying to do just to make it easier for some people to watch the Bulldogs play and hopefully attract new fans along the way."
Q: Do you feel like added competition at the point guard will make the decision tougher?
CJ: "I hope so. I like when we have tough decisions to make on who we're playing. That means we have depth, and everybody does it a little different. For me, I cherish when I have teams that have competition all the way down the roster. I just think it breeds success. Nobody can relax. They know that people are scratching at their heels. It just makes for a more competitive practice on most days. You're set up for an injury, a foul issue or whatever is going to happen in that particular game or season. Ultimately, it's always going to [happen]. So, I just prefer it [to have more depth]."
"Definitely, we've increased the competition out front and other places along the roster. The good thing is basketball increasingly has become more positionless. So, playing two guards together who are primarily point guards, isn't really uncommon anymore. It's like signing a bunch of shortstops and farming them out [all over the field in baseball]. That's kind of how we feel about point guards as well. That's a hard position to play. If they've got the size and the toughness to move over and guard bigger guys, it makes us even better. We definitely have increased the competition, and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to see how it all comes out."
Q: What are your overall thoughts about the schedule?
CJ: "I'm excited for it. I think it's more challenging than last season's. We felt like we had a chance to be a good basketball team. At the end of the day, you've got to try [to schedule] as best you can. It's a lot of guess work to put your team in a position to have opportunities to have [NCAA NET] quad one and quad two games. That's what our research says that moves the needle more than anything else [with the NCAA Tournament selection committee]."
"So, you've got to be creative and try to find ways to create those quad [one or two] opportunities. If it's playing someone on a neutral floor rather than at home, which I know hurts a little bit with our fanbase wanting more quality home games. You've heard this from most coaches across the country, it's just very hard to do that at times. Scheduling is very difficult, and it's tedious. For whatever reason, it's hard to get teams to agree to pair up and play [on each other's home floors]. I do believe at the end of the day, that we're going to have a number of great opportunities in the fall to hopefully get some wins that will look good in March, if we're in that conversation."
Q: Do you see a sense of purpose in Tolu Smith coming into this season?
CJ: "He's such a hard worker. It's not as if, because it's his last go around, he's upped the ante for his work ethic because it's always been there. Talking to coaches that have coached him prior to me, that was the first thing that came out of their mouths. His work ethic, his love of the game and his dedication. He's in there [at the practice gym] to the point where we tell him that you need to get home and get off your feet. We're going to have plenty of practice opportunities, but he's a very dedicated student-athlete."
"We've had a couple conversations in passing like prior to practice or after practice. The other day, before we started official practice, I said to him, 'This is your last first day of basketball.' He was excited about it. At the same time, he didn't love hearing it as well. He's one of those type of guys that I believe will give it his best effort. Hopefully, he'll have one of the better season's that he has ever had, but I know for sure that anything that doesn't go well won't be for lack of dedication and want to. He's just a wonderful kid. Like you said, he's a leader of our team. He doesn't always do it as vocally as maybe we'd like to do it, but he definitely does it by example."
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – October 3, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Was there a point late last season where you started to see a change with Shak [Shakeel Moore], or was it this offseason?
CJ: "Shak [Shakeel Moore] definitely had a couple better games like you mentioned down the stretch. He's made the biggest strides in the summer. Of all our players, he had the best summer of all of them. Just from the vibe he had every day, even just statistically for plus/minus and overall efficiency, he was by far our best player over the eight weeks of summer."
"Then, in the fall, he dipped a little bit, and we had a nice little sit-down. He's back to where he was. He rarely loses a sprint in practice. To me, that's a really good sign for someone that's committed and that's competing all the time. It's a benchmark for our whole team for where he's at, and how he's running in that regard. We're excited for him, and hopefully it will continue."
Q: What does it mean to you and the fanbase getting to expose your team to different areas of the state?
CJ: "First of all, I'm excited about Maroon Madness. It's around the corner at the end of the week [on Friday]. It will be a unique experience I think for all of us. I've been doing this for a long time, and it will be the first time for me personally to be on a military base for a basketball function. There's other programs who have played games in these types of settings, but I've never been a part of it. On a personal level, I'm looking forward to being a small part in the experience that we're having."
"What an awesome way for our program and our University to thank the military for what they do for us on a daily basis. I know there will be some people that are disappointed that it's not open to the public … We had to make that decision just for crowd control, etcetera [access to the military base]. I think it will be a really cool event, and we're excited to do it."
"Like you mentioned, we're trying to find ways to play in different areas of the state. We've been in Jackson, and we're going to go to Tupelo like you mentioned. We're going to play a road game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg. We're doing the event over in Columbus this Friday. Certainly, that's something as a staff that we're trying to do just to make it easier for some people to watch the Bulldogs play and hopefully attract new fans along the way."
Q: Do you feel like added competition at the point guard will make the decision tougher?
CJ: "I hope so. I like when we have tough decisions to make on who we're playing. That means we have depth, and everybody does it a little different. For me, I cherish when I have teams that have competition all the way down the roster. I just think it breeds success. Nobody can relax. They know that people are scratching at their heels. It just makes for a more competitive practice on most days. You're set up for an injury, a foul issue or whatever is going to happen in that particular game or season. Ultimately, it's always going to [happen]. So, I just prefer it [to have more depth]."
"Definitely, we've increased the competition out front and other places along the roster. The good thing is basketball increasingly has become more positionless. So, playing two guards together who are primarily point guards, isn't really uncommon anymore. It's like signing a bunch of shortstops and farming them out [all over the field in baseball]. That's kind of how we feel about point guards as well. That's a hard position to play. If they've got the size and the toughness to move over and guard bigger guys, it makes us even better. We definitely have increased the competition, and I'm looking forward to the next few weeks to see how it all comes out."
Q: What are your overall thoughts about the schedule?
CJ: "I'm excited for it. I think it's more challenging than last season's. We felt like we had a chance to be a good basketball team. At the end of the day, you've got to try [to schedule] as best you can. It's a lot of guess work to put your team in a position to have opportunities to have [NCAA NET] quad one and quad two games. That's what our research says that moves the needle more than anything else [with the NCAA Tournament selection committee]."
"So, you've got to be creative and try to find ways to create those quad [one or two] opportunities. If it's playing someone on a neutral floor rather than at home, which I know hurts a little bit with our fanbase wanting more quality home games. You've heard this from most coaches across the country, it's just very hard to do that at times. Scheduling is very difficult, and it's tedious. For whatever reason, it's hard to get teams to agree to pair up and play [on each other's home floors]. I do believe at the end of the day, that we're going to have a number of great opportunities in the fall to hopefully get some wins that will look good in March, if we're in that conversation."
Q: Do you see a sense of purpose in Tolu Smith coming into this season?
CJ: "He's such a hard worker. It's not as if, because it's his last go around, he's upped the ante for his work ethic because it's always been there. Talking to coaches that have coached him prior to me, that was the first thing that came out of their mouths. His work ethic, his love of the game and his dedication. He's in there [at the practice gym] to the point where we tell him that you need to get home and get off your feet. We're going to have plenty of practice opportunities, but he's a very dedicated student-athlete."
"We've had a couple conversations in passing like prior to practice or after practice. The other day, before we started official practice, I said to him, 'This is your last first day of basketball.' He was excited about it. At the same time, he didn't love hearing it as well. He's one of those type of guys that I believe will give it his best effort. Hopefully, he'll have one of the better season's that he has ever had, but I know for sure that anything that doesn't go well won't be for lack of dedication and want to. He's just a wonderful kid. Like you said, he's a leader of our team. He doesn't always do it as vocally as maybe we'd like to do it, but he definitely does it by example."
Players Mentioned
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