WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
November 06, 2024 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State men's basketball coach Chris Jans met with the media leading into Wednesday's practice.
2024-25 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – November 6, 2024
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: I know it's not always about who's in the starting five, but how did you feel about the first five you put out there the other night?
CJ: "Yeah, they had a good pop to them. I mean I would imagine at most places across the country when you get to open at home, and it's the first game that that should be the baseline for the guys that get to start and go through the starting lineups with 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: How has Cameron Matthews' development plan looked offensively? What more do you want to see from him, and how do you want to see him grow?
CJ: "He's committed to his individual improvement of, as you put it, 'his offensive game'. He's bought into extra time more than ever since at least I've worked with him going into our third season. He's spending hours in the gym with managers and GA's [graduate assistants] just working on his shot. That's probably the biggest improvement that he needs to make is having the capabilities of making an open catch-and-shoot three."
"Certainly, knocking down his free throws. We track all that stuff. 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 three's in practice, and I think hopefully his work will show up."
"I tell kids all the time that unfortunately in what we do and a lot of other industries, workplaces, etcetera, your work doesn't always show up on-time. You've got to stick with it. Eventually, you'll get there. So, hopefully that'll be the case with Cam is he'll be rewarded with the work that he's been putting in."
Q: Meant to ask the other night after the game, EJ Paymon and Adrian Myers weren't dressed out at the first game. Is the plan to redshirt them this season?
CJ: "It is. Right now, the plan is to redshirt both of those young men. Certainly, like you said, things could change. But, if we all had our druthers, that would be the case all year long."
Q: What did you think about Michael Nwoko and Jeremy Foumena's performances in the game off the bench?
CJ: "Just okay, you've got to lump Gai Chol in there as well. We got the three fives that are sophomores. Neither of them started in the first game. I can't imagine that our starting lineup won't fluctuate early in the season. I basically told our guys not to 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 fives in the starting lineup here soon."
"But, in terms of their overall performance, all of the things we're harping on them for them to help our team be the best version of itself, they've got to focus on the things that people don't see every day. Just running the court, setting solid screens and understanding when to sit in and demand the ball or 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 like we've been saying all year long, but I think they're going to get there. What's 'there' mean? There means different for everybody. Most importantly, it's getting there as what it means to me and our staff, rather than a fan or anyone else for that matter. So, I do think that eventually I don't know when, like I said earlier, the timing is what it is. But they're great kids. They work, they're coachable and they want to do right. When you have those kinds of intangibles, it usually happens."
Q: Georgia State opened up with a good win over Ball State. What have you seen so far?
CJ: "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. They've got a good team, and they're well-coached. So, the things that they [Georgia State] do best right now anyway are areas of concern for us. I'm sure they're watching the tape and thinking the same thing. 'Hey, we can exploit them on the glass. Our physicality, and our size should give them problems if we can get it into the game.'
"It's not a secret we're both honed in on each other's first game thus far, and that's what it says. So, hopefully it'll be good for us in that we're playing a team like that. We can show our guys that if we're not better at these areas that we were weak at in the first game, it'll be a long night for the home team."
"It's a perfect scenario, in my opinion, because of who we're 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'll find out on Friday evening. They're an older ball club, like most teams are. They're feeling good about themselves, and they're very physical."
Q: I know it's a small sample size with Josh Hubbard, but he had 26 points on 10 shots. Adding Claudell Harris Jr. and other offensive weapons, is that what you envisioned for the game to be able to come to Josh instead of having to shoot 30 shots a game?
CJ: "In a perfect world, yes. He did it on 13 shots. I know you're not talking on exact numbers, but Josh wasn't in my opinion a gunner last year. I don't remember him ever taking 30 shots in a game, but I understand what you're trying to talk about. He was the number one option on the perimeter, and everybody knew it. So, 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. We wanted to just spread the court more and just have more options at different positions alongside Josh. Even when Josh isn't in the game, we didn't want our scoring on the perimeter to come to a halt. He's been great about it. He wanted it, and he was all about it. It's something that we've talked about a lot this summer and fall is shot selection with everybody. But, in particular with him, of getting out of that mindset of, '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 understanding what's best for our team. We have other options. Certainly, when the shot clock is dwindling, that's another scenario. But, in the meat of a possession, he doesn't have to take a rushed one or a hotly contested one. Not saying that he won't do that at different times, but hopefully that he will continue to do that for him and for all of us as these games keep coming."
Q: What did you think of Kanye Clary's performance the other night?
CJ: "I thought it was pretty good. Things that will go unseen by the naked eye is he was checking out, and he was getting his body inside of bigger guys and trying to make space. He was pushing the ball and creating some tempo. He should've probably had three or four more assists. We had some drops around the basket that were easy layups that he created with his speed and his vision. A couple three's that I thought would normally go in, and I haven't talked about it with him yet, but I thought he got a little frustrated with it."
"Towards the end of the game, he got a little shot happy. He took one shot that I thought was just okay. From my perspective, I thought throughout the game, we only took two bad shots. If you shoot the ball 65 times, I'll take that ratio every single time and in every game the rest of my career. But, you got a glimpse of his dynamic ability to get into the lane and go by people and break defenses down."
"Defensively, he got after the ball pretty good. Like most players, he does it better when he's fresh. It's something that we've been harping on him about. Hopefully, he'll get in better game here shape shortly and be able to do it the whole time he's out there."
2024-25 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – November 6, 2024
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: I know it's not always about who's in the starting five, but how did you feel about the first five you put out there the other night?
CJ: "Yeah, they had a good pop to them. I mean I would imagine at most places across the country when you get to open at home, and it's the first game that that should be the baseline for the guys that get to start and go through the starting lineups with 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: How has Cameron Matthews' development plan looked offensively? What more do you want to see from him, and how do you want to see him grow?
CJ: "He's committed to his individual improvement of, as you put it, 'his offensive game'. He's bought into extra time more than ever since at least I've worked with him going into our third season. He's spending hours in the gym with managers and GA's [graduate assistants] just working on his shot. That's probably the biggest improvement that he needs to make is having the capabilities of making an open catch-and-shoot three."
"Certainly, knocking down his free throws. We track all that stuff. 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 three's in practice, and I think hopefully his work will show up."
"I tell kids all the time that unfortunately in what we do and a lot of other industries, workplaces, etcetera, your work doesn't always show up on-time. You've got to stick with it. Eventually, you'll get there. So, hopefully that'll be the case with Cam is he'll be rewarded with the work that he's been putting in."
Q: Meant to ask the other night after the game, EJ Paymon and Adrian Myers weren't dressed out at the first game. Is the plan to redshirt them this season?
CJ: "It is. Right now, the plan is to redshirt both of those young men. Certainly, like you said, things could change. But, if we all had our druthers, that would be the case all year long."
Q: What did you think about Michael Nwoko and Jeremy Foumena's performances in the game off the bench?
CJ: "Just okay, you've got to lump Gai Chol in there as well. We got the three fives that are sophomores. Neither of them started in the first game. I can't imagine that our starting lineup won't fluctuate early in the season. I basically told our guys not to 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 fives in the starting lineup here soon."
"But, in terms of their overall performance, all of the things we're harping on them for them to help our team be the best version of itself, they've got to focus on the things that people don't see every day. Just running the court, setting solid screens and understanding when to sit in and demand the ball or 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 like we've been saying all year long, but I think they're going to get there. What's 'there' mean? There means different for everybody. Most importantly, it's getting there as what it means to me and our staff, rather than a fan or anyone else for that matter. So, I do think that eventually I don't know when, like I said earlier, the timing is what it is. But they're great kids. They work, they're coachable and they want to do right. When you have those kinds of intangibles, it usually happens."
Q: Georgia State opened up with a good win over Ball State. What have you seen so far?
CJ: "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. They've got a good team, and they're well-coached. So, the things that they [Georgia State] do best right now anyway are areas of concern for us. I'm sure they're watching the tape and thinking the same thing. 'Hey, we can exploit them on the glass. Our physicality, and our size should give them problems if we can get it into the game.'
"It's not a secret we're both honed in on each other's first game thus far, and that's what it says. So, hopefully it'll be good for us in that we're playing a team like that. We can show our guys that if we're not better at these areas that we were weak at in the first game, it'll be a long night for the home team."
"It's a perfect scenario, in my opinion, because of who we're 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'll find out on Friday evening. They're an older ball club, like most teams are. They're feeling good about themselves, and they're very physical."
Q: I know it's a small sample size with Josh Hubbard, but he had 26 points on 10 shots. Adding Claudell Harris Jr. and other offensive weapons, is that what you envisioned for the game to be able to come to Josh instead of having to shoot 30 shots a game?
CJ: "In a perfect world, yes. He did it on 13 shots. I know you're not talking on exact numbers, but Josh wasn't in my opinion a gunner last year. I don't remember him ever taking 30 shots in a game, but I understand what you're trying to talk about. He was the number one option on the perimeter, and everybody knew it. So, 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. We wanted to just spread the court more and just have more options at different positions alongside Josh. Even when Josh isn't in the game, we didn't want our scoring on the perimeter to come to a halt. He's been great about it. He wanted it, and he was all about it. It's something that we've talked about a lot this summer and fall is shot selection with everybody. But, in particular with him, of getting out of that mindset of, '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 understanding what's best for our team. We have other options. Certainly, when the shot clock is dwindling, that's another scenario. But, in the meat of a possession, he doesn't have to take a rushed one or a hotly contested one. Not saying that he won't do that at different times, but hopefully that he will continue to do that for him and for all of us as these games keep coming."
Q: What did you think of Kanye Clary's performance the other night?
CJ: "I thought it was pretty good. Things that will go unseen by the naked eye is he was checking out, and he was getting his body inside of bigger guys and trying to make space. He was pushing the ball and creating some tempo. He should've probably had three or four more assists. We had some drops around the basket that were easy layups that he created with his speed and his vision. A couple three's that I thought would normally go in, and I haven't talked about it with him yet, but I thought he got a little frustrated with it."
"Towards the end of the game, he got a little shot happy. He took one shot that I thought was just okay. From my perspective, I thought throughout the game, we only took two bad shots. If you shoot the ball 65 times, I'll take that ratio every single time and in every game the rest of my career. But, you got a glimpse of his dynamic ability to get into the lane and go by people and break defenses down."
"Defensively, he got after the ball pretty good. Like most players, he does it better when he's fresh. It's something that we've been harping on him about. Hopefully, he'll get in better game here shape shortly and be able to do it the whole time he's out there."
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