Homework And Prepping For The Vols
March 14, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Assistant coach James Miller discusses the scouting process for State’s Friday SEC Tournament quarterfinal game against top-seeded Tennessee.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In the coaching world, homework is required. And sometimes, you even have to study for a test you may never take. Fortunately for Mississippi State men's basketball assistant coach James Miller, his recent efforts won't go to waste.
Miller has been the Bulldogs' lead scout for their Friday Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded Tennessee. Thursday's 70-60 MSU win over LSU ensured all that Miller's scouting efforts will now be fully utilized.
But how does all this work? How was Miller able to balance his coaching duties for a must-win game against LSU along with scouting duties for Tennessee?
Following the Bulldogs' Thursday win over the Tigers, HailState.com caught up with Miller for a quick Q&A to find out. What follows is the transcript of that conversation, slightly edited for clarity:
Question: How does it work in tournament settings like these where you have to prepare for a game you might not even play?
Miller: Well thankfully, we played LSU a couple of weeks ago so familiarity – as far as my prep and what I had to be involved with in the prep – being as it was only a couple of weeks ago made things a lot easier. But we haven't played Tennessee for two months now. So, just been trying to catch up with them and what they're doing differently from the first time and what they're doing well. It's unique because you're worried about LSU knowing you have to beat LSU. Obviously, it was a huge game for us. At the same time, we have to be able to hit the ground running if we were fortunate enough to win the game. With that being said, now we're on to Tennessee and I think we'll be ready [on Friday].
Question: You mentioned it having been two months since you last saw Tennessee. Whether it's them or another opponent, how much can teams evolve over a two-month period?
Miller: I think most teams do. I think the one thing about Tennessee that's a little bit helpful in prep is a majority of the time, they do what they do. They don't really differentiate from their core and foundation and who they are as a program. Sure, they run some different plays and different players are playing well versus the first time we played them, but for the most part, they're pretty standard in what they do.
Question: Do you take more from when we played against Tennessee the first time, or do your efforts become more of a collection of what you've seen the Vols do against different opponents over the last couple of months?
Miller: You take some of what they did well versus us and what we did well versus them from the first game for sure, but at the same time, again we've both evolved. Different guys are playing well and different things are working, etcetera. So, we'll apply some of the things that worked well for us that still apply to what they're doing, but there'll be some tweaks and changes from the first game.
Question: Without giving away any game plan secrets, what makes Tennessee so dangerous?
Miller: Well, they have the best player in the league in Dalton Knecht who averages right at 25 points per game. He can get 40 any given night. He's an elite offensive player. Then Zakai Zeigler, their starting point guard, is arguably one of the best defenders if not the best defender in the league. He's a pest on defense and is kind of the head of their snake. Then they have really seasoned vets all around those guys. They're very, very solid. They don't hurt themselves in anything they do. So, it's a challenge because you have to play pretty close to mistake-free basketball in order to stick around with them.
Question: Last thing here. After the LSU win what does the rest of Thursday look like for you up to Friday's game? Lots of coffee and no sleep?
Miller: Yeah, that's pretty much been the case the last few days. We'll get back to the hotel [after Thursday's game] and start Tennessee prep [with the team] showing video and going over the scouting report. We'll give [our team] a couple of hours of down time, then have a walkthrough at Vanderbilt [on Thursday night]. Then some more video and some more prep. It's pretty fast and furious for the 24 hours [leading up to Friday's game].
