Mississippi State's Cameren Paul, Achor Achor and Tee Bartlett gearing up for season opener

There’s a lot of new faces and names on this year’s Mississippi State basketball roster. Earlier this week the media had the opportunity to speak with all of those newcomers.

On Wednesday, that included freshmen Cameron Paul and Tee Bartlett along with former Kansas State transfer Achor Achor:

Q: Tee, after getting here late in the summer, how is the conditioning process going and when do you expect to get on the court?
Bartlett: When I first got here I knew it was going to be a hard time because I was a little behind. But me losing about 30 pounds already since August 22nd, I feel like they’re pushing me to be out there more. Coach is always telling me how much they need me and want me to play. So I keep getting in way better shape and I feel like I’m getting in better shape. So you will see me out there, for sure.

Q: Tee, how much did playing with Overtime Elite prepare you for college basketball?
Bartlett: It prepared me great. The coaches over there, everybody is bought in to try to get everybody to the next level. It was more like a family over there how they did it. So I appreciate them for that.

Q: Achor, how do you feel like the scrimmage against Houston went for you and the team?
Achor: I feel, personally, it was going against a defense like that. We had a couple of turnovers simply because we don’t see a lot of that in our practices against that. I think there is a lot of good to take away from the game. We can take that to the next few days of practice, correct our mistakes and get ready for the game (on Wednesday).

Q: Cameren, what was it like to have your first college experience against a team like Houston?
Paul: It was exciting because like Achor said, we don’t get to see that every day in practice. Like he said again, we take the good from that because they are a very competitive team, one of the best teams we can learn from something like that. But it was fun for me to be with my teammates and cheer them on, and play when I got the opportunity to play.

Q: Seems like this freshmen class may be asked to contribute this season and more than previous classes?
Achor: I think we’re going to need everybody to contribute to this team, personally. They are a really good freshmen class, as you all know. Personally, I think a lot of them are ahead of themselves and for the SEC, come in and contribute. It’s a matter of having confidence within themselves. It’s always going to be physical so it’s about stepping up to the plate.
Bartlett: Yeah, I feel that, too. The freshmen, we’re in the gym every day and I see them grind in the weight room after work. It shows how bad they really want it and I want it bad, too. So I feel like we’re all on the same page. I feel like we’re going to be really good.

Q: Along those lines, Cameren, how do you feel the freshmen have settled in here since arriving on campus?
Paul: We’ve done a wonderful job. We’re still growing, of course. But taking hard coaching and this is probably the hardest we’ve worked in our lives. That is really good for us to continue to grind and everybody is seeing us in our growth. So we want to do what we have to do to get better.

Q: Achor, having played in two other college programs, how does Mississippi State and Coach Jans’ style compare?
Achor: I compare it a lot to my junior college coach – Donnie Tyndell (former USM coach). A coach that has won at a lot of places before, very intense and they strive on defense. I love it, though. Coach is hard and he coaches everybody hard and he doesn’t let you slack off. So I like that and I appreciate that. It pushes everybody so they can get better.

Q: Achor, what were Jans’ thoughts on the way this team played defense against Houston and how good of a defensive team can this team be?
Achor: Defensively in the half court, I think it was fine. Houston has a really good team that pushes the ball down, not in transition necessarily. (Jans) kind of emphasized to us that it’s not really going to be the first shot that is going to affect us. It is the shot after the first shot. They were a team that’s going to get a bunch of rebounds and that’s their emphasis, go get rebounds, play hard, crash hard.

How good (defensively) is our team going to be? I think the sky is the limit with this team. We didn’t get the job done all the way against Houston but they are the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the nation. When you take them to the wire like that, there’s a lot of positives to take away from it, in my opinion.

Q: Tee with all the new faces, how’s the competition been in practice?
Bartlett: The competition has been good. I’m not used to going up against older guys like that, like 22, 23 years old, especially Quincy (Ballard). But it’s getting me better, just going against him every day and it shows me what SEC basketball is going to be like every game. So I feel like I have to prove myself every day against him and he really keeps pushing me to the max.

Q: Tee, off the court, how different is the lifestyle here for you?
Bartlett: It’s very different (laughing). But to be honest, I came here to go to the league. I came here to get right. So my mindset and my focus is so much on getting my body right that I don’t really have time to explore outside and stuff like that. I’m always in the gym at night and in the morning. So it is what it is.

Q: Even though he is a sophomore but came in with you guys, what have you seen from Sergej Macura so far?
Paul: I ain’t gonna lie. With Sergej, he learned the system real quick. He took in everything, real quick learner. He can take hard coaching from Jans. I think he’s been really good with just how early he came in and picked up everything.
Achor: I definitely agree. As we all know, European basketball is known for their high IQ basketball. So I feel like a lot of the principals, he might not have been used to them but he adapted to it real easily. Even though he came in late, he adapted to the culture that was shown to us by Shawn (Jones), Josh (Hubbard) and Gai (Chol). Unfortunately, Gai can’t play right now but (Macura) embraced that culture right away. He looks like he’s having fun, too.