WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
December 05, 2023 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Head coach Chris Jans met with the media on Tuesday leading into practice to preview Saturday's matchup with Tulane at the Holiday Hoopsgving.
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – December 5, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: How does the last two or three games differ from the Hall of Fame tip-off? Is there one or two things when you go back and watch film that you can put your finger on?
CJ: "Well, I haven't went back and watched the tapes of those particular games you mentioned [Northwestern and Washington State], but the thing that jumps out at me the most is our turnover percentage. It's become an Achilles Heel for us in a lot of the games. Certainly against Southern, it was the main reason why we lost the game. We certainly could've done better in a lot of other areas, but that was the one area that seems to continue to haunt us the most if you look at some of the analytics out there. We're poor at it. We've been poor at it for the majority of the year. Then, especially down the stretch when you've got someone down 10-11 points, you've got to finish. There's no time to make up as the game clock dwindles away, and we had some costly ones. We had some that were elevated for us. Main reason again is just decision making, just lack of focus at times and it's something we've got to get better out."
Q: In the past when the team has had struggles, who are the vocal leaders that you've seen step up on the team and help turn things around?
CJ: "As far as since Sunday afternoon, that remains to be seen. With finals, like most teams across the country, we have a big gap in games to let them deservingly so focus on their books and take care of their academics. We took yesterday off. That was always the plan, especially with that much time between games just like I said to do what they're supposed to be spending their time on right now. We'll reconvene this afternoon, and we'll see. We have a big meeting obviously to try to set the tone and figure out how we go from riding high, feeling really good about ourselves and being excited to losing two in a row."
Q: Do you think the upcoming game against a quality opponent like Tulane from a resume standpoint could spark the team?
CJ: "I have a lot of thoughts about that. Some I'll share, some I won't. One thought is, it doesn't directly answer your question, I think some people – coaches, players, fans, administrators, when you lose a game, you just assume that you're going to win the next one. That's not how it works. There's a price to pay, and there's a lot that goes into winning. It was a big upset [against Southern on Sunday]. If you pay attention to college basketball, they happen I wouldn't say nightly, but in November and December they happen quite often. Certainly, multiple in every week if you really pay attention to each and every score. That's not to try to diminish or make us feel better. You don't want it to happen to you. You don't want it to happen to your team and our program, but it does. It goes to show you how hard winning is. People sometimes like to take it for granted, and I understand that. But it's hard. These other coaches and these other players are doing the same things we're doing in preparation for winning games. They're trying to put their best foot forward, and it's tough sometimes."
"In terms of resumes and things like that, it's way too early to be talking about that. There's a lot of games yet to be played. I know I said that this will stay with us all year long [the Southern loss], and it will. Just like a good win will stay with you all year long, but it's not going to define us. This game is not going to keep us out of the NCAA Tournament or have anything to do with where we end up in the SEC conference race. So, that's one of the things I'm going to talk to the team about today. In our whole program, I'm not happy, you're not happy, nobody's happy. Our fanbase is not happy, and I get that, I understand that. But in my opinion, this will have little to do with if we go to the NCAA Tournament. Or if we're in the NCAA Tournament, what our seed will be."
"It's certainly not a positive, I understand that. I'm not trying to pooh-pooh it and make it less than it is, but at the same time we've got a lot of games left. If you look at our schedule, you mention Tulane. Then, you've got Murray State, and then you've got North Texas who's got good numbers. Then, you've got Rutgers away from home. Then, you get into the SEC. If you look down that schedule with who we've been paired up with [playing twice], we have so many opportunities the rest of the season to get right, and hopefully have a resume that people are talking about when there's enough games under your belt where it actually means something."
Q: Tulane has a high-powered offense with five players averaging in double figures, what are going to be some of the keys especially on the defensive end to being able to possible beat them?
CJ: "They've got a good basketball team, Coach Hunter is very respected. I've never coached against him, but certainly know who he is and respect his work. They're a unique team. They've got a lot of medium-sized guys with real strong athletic builds. They don't have a ton of 6-10, 6-11 guys running around, but they're highly effective in how they play."
"They play a unique system [on defense]. Again, we're going to see 39 minutes plus of zone. We've had more zone this year than I remember in the past years at this point in the season, but that's just how it's played out. You can look at it two ways. 'Oh gosh, we've got to play against zone again.' Or, you can look at all the reps we've had that hopefully we can learn and grow from it and be better from it."
"It's going to be a tall task, they're a good team. They play a lot of five out. They really play fast, and they score early [in the shot clock]. They're known as a three-point shooting team, but really their strength this year is their two-point field goal percentage, and their ability to score fast. They play that zone, which you know can be tough to play against. So, we'll have our hands full for sure."
Q: You made a change to the starting lineup for the first time during the Southern game, how much tinkering do you think there will be with the starting five until Tolu Smith comes back?
CJ: "It remains to be seen, I don't know. That's not really something that I've thought about. Certainly, I get the starting lineups are more important to some than others, and especially to some players, it's a really big deal. To me, it's more 'Are you in there when it's hard?' Right, or 'Are you on the floor when the games are turning one way or another?' Especially when it's a close game late. That to me is way more valuable. It shows your worth, and it shows how we feel about you. But with the starting lineup, certainly, I've had teams where we switch it often. I've had teams where it sticks pretty much the same. So, we'll see how it unfolds."
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – December 5, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: How does the last two or three games differ from the Hall of Fame tip-off? Is there one or two things when you go back and watch film that you can put your finger on?
CJ: "Well, I haven't went back and watched the tapes of those particular games you mentioned [Northwestern and Washington State], but the thing that jumps out at me the most is our turnover percentage. It's become an Achilles Heel for us in a lot of the games. Certainly against Southern, it was the main reason why we lost the game. We certainly could've done better in a lot of other areas, but that was the one area that seems to continue to haunt us the most if you look at some of the analytics out there. We're poor at it. We've been poor at it for the majority of the year. Then, especially down the stretch when you've got someone down 10-11 points, you've got to finish. There's no time to make up as the game clock dwindles away, and we had some costly ones. We had some that were elevated for us. Main reason again is just decision making, just lack of focus at times and it's something we've got to get better out."
Q: In the past when the team has had struggles, who are the vocal leaders that you've seen step up on the team and help turn things around?
CJ: "As far as since Sunday afternoon, that remains to be seen. With finals, like most teams across the country, we have a big gap in games to let them deservingly so focus on their books and take care of their academics. We took yesterday off. That was always the plan, especially with that much time between games just like I said to do what they're supposed to be spending their time on right now. We'll reconvene this afternoon, and we'll see. We have a big meeting obviously to try to set the tone and figure out how we go from riding high, feeling really good about ourselves and being excited to losing two in a row."
Q: Do you think the upcoming game against a quality opponent like Tulane from a resume standpoint could spark the team?
CJ: "I have a lot of thoughts about that. Some I'll share, some I won't. One thought is, it doesn't directly answer your question, I think some people – coaches, players, fans, administrators, when you lose a game, you just assume that you're going to win the next one. That's not how it works. There's a price to pay, and there's a lot that goes into winning. It was a big upset [against Southern on Sunday]. If you pay attention to college basketball, they happen I wouldn't say nightly, but in November and December they happen quite often. Certainly, multiple in every week if you really pay attention to each and every score. That's not to try to diminish or make us feel better. You don't want it to happen to you. You don't want it to happen to your team and our program, but it does. It goes to show you how hard winning is. People sometimes like to take it for granted, and I understand that. But it's hard. These other coaches and these other players are doing the same things we're doing in preparation for winning games. They're trying to put their best foot forward, and it's tough sometimes."
"In terms of resumes and things like that, it's way too early to be talking about that. There's a lot of games yet to be played. I know I said that this will stay with us all year long [the Southern loss], and it will. Just like a good win will stay with you all year long, but it's not going to define us. This game is not going to keep us out of the NCAA Tournament or have anything to do with where we end up in the SEC conference race. So, that's one of the things I'm going to talk to the team about today. In our whole program, I'm not happy, you're not happy, nobody's happy. Our fanbase is not happy, and I get that, I understand that. But in my opinion, this will have little to do with if we go to the NCAA Tournament. Or if we're in the NCAA Tournament, what our seed will be."
"It's certainly not a positive, I understand that. I'm not trying to pooh-pooh it and make it less than it is, but at the same time we've got a lot of games left. If you look at our schedule, you mention Tulane. Then, you've got Murray State, and then you've got North Texas who's got good numbers. Then, you've got Rutgers away from home. Then, you get into the SEC. If you look down that schedule with who we've been paired up with [playing twice], we have so many opportunities the rest of the season to get right, and hopefully have a resume that people are talking about when there's enough games under your belt where it actually means something."
Q: Tulane has a high-powered offense with five players averaging in double figures, what are going to be some of the keys especially on the defensive end to being able to possible beat them?
CJ: "They've got a good basketball team, Coach Hunter is very respected. I've never coached against him, but certainly know who he is and respect his work. They're a unique team. They've got a lot of medium-sized guys with real strong athletic builds. They don't have a ton of 6-10, 6-11 guys running around, but they're highly effective in how they play."
"They play a unique system [on defense]. Again, we're going to see 39 minutes plus of zone. We've had more zone this year than I remember in the past years at this point in the season, but that's just how it's played out. You can look at it two ways. 'Oh gosh, we've got to play against zone again.' Or, you can look at all the reps we've had that hopefully we can learn and grow from it and be better from it."
"It's going to be a tall task, they're a good team. They play a lot of five out. They really play fast, and they score early [in the shot clock]. They're known as a three-point shooting team, but really their strength this year is their two-point field goal percentage, and their ability to score fast. They play that zone, which you know can be tough to play against. So, we'll have our hands full for sure."
Q: You made a change to the starting lineup for the first time during the Southern game, how much tinkering do you think there will be with the starting five until Tolu Smith comes back?
CJ: "It remains to be seen, I don't know. That's not really something that I've thought about. Certainly, I get the starting lineups are more important to some than others, and especially to some players, it's a really big deal. To me, it's more 'Are you in there when it's hard?' Right, or 'Are you on the floor when the games are turning one way or another?' Especially when it's a close game late. That to me is way more valuable. It shows your worth, and it shows how we feel about you. But with the starting lineup, certainly, I've had teams where we switch it often. I've had teams where it sticks pretty much the same. So, we'll see how it unfolds."
Players Mentioned
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/ 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