Head coach Chris Jans talks Georgia Tech, Amier Ali and Quincy Ballard

After another disappointing setback last Friday against SMU, Mississippi State returns to the road Wednesday at Georgia Tech. The Bulldogs and Jackets meet up as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge and tipoff is set for 8:15 p.m. on the ACC Network.

On Monday, head coach Chris Jans met with the media to discuss that matchup among other topics:

Q: Obviously you were not happy with the end result. But were there any positives you took away from the SMU loss?
Jans: Still not happy about the results of Friday night’s game. I shared with the team and shared with you guys, if I am remembering correctly, we had that game and we didn’t make the plays in a timely fashion. We had a nine-point lead with seven (minutes) and some change left and we just didn’t do what we needed to do to make sure there was no comeback effort. We just had some bad plays that turned into points for the other team. They scored seven points on two possessions that really changed the mood in the arena and in our huddles.

The other team, even maybe having the success that they want, that’s what happens sometimes. You can be a little fragile that way. A bad play or a bad series of events can really change the mood. As a coach, I understand that. Our team needs to understand that when we are in that position the next time, it can’t affect us in a negative way.

But in terms of positives, I thought overall looking at the totality of the game, we played better. We had better and longer spurts of playing the way we need to play. We had done enough things to put us in that position. But the bottom line is when that buzzer goes off and we all understand that. But we had played better. Turnovers have been an issue for us all year long for whatever reason. It wasn’t in that game until the overtime where we had four in five minutes. We had three in 40 minutes leading up to that point.

We had made our free throws up until late in the game when it is magnified a little more. When you rewatch it that’s what you do when it is an overtime game. This play or that play but that’s how sports works. I thought we played a little better overall and made some strides but at the end of the day we didn’t get the win.

Q: What are your impressions of Georgia Tech?
Jans: They are very athletic and they have a big lineup all the way across. They are very athletic, especially at the four and the five. They’ve got two young, athletic and very good players. We got to gameplan for them but it is a fine line because there’s other players that can hurt you, as well.

At this point, the way I look at it, it doesn’t matter who we are playing and where we are playing. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to compete better. We’ve got to play the complete 40 (minutes). Everybody has to carry their weight and figure out a way to play better longer and get a win.

Q: With your team do you see a sense of urgency to get back in the win column?
Jans: I guess my reaction to that is I coach with a sense of urgency all the time whether it’s June, July, August, September, October or November. If our record was 7-0 I would still coach with a sense of urgency. Is there more? I guess. But that’s the way we do things around here and the way we’ve done them since we’ve arrived. We treat every game like the Super Bowl and that hasn’t changed since we’ve arrived in terms of the time we spend in scouting and the urgency we have with our team and our players on a daily basis. I’d be lying if I said yeah, we are going to coach with more urgency because that’s what we do.

Q: Being your first true road game, how do you see your team reacting to that at Georgia Tech?
Jans: This will be our first true road game if I am not mistaken. The other three games away from home have been neutral sites. But again it is the same mindset for me. It doesn’t matter where this game is played. It doesn’t matter what the environment is or isn’t. We got to focus on our play, our compete level, playing the best of our ability on Wednesday night. That is where our focus is and where my concern is.

Q: Amier Ali had the good game against New Orleans and then didn’t play much against SMU. What are you looking for with him from a consistency standpoint?
Jans: We got about four guys, maybe five, that are all in a similar boat where they all know the expectations that we have for all of our players but specifically for them and where they are at right now and what specifically they need to bring to the table to ensure that they play more minutes. It always starts with practice as we take that into the game. Then the reality of it is, whether it is right or wrong, I’m sure we’re not different from a lot of programs but maybe not four or five guys and they’ve got one or two where get in the game and make sure you do this or do that, and stay away from this if you want to play more.

I’ve always said for me, if you are moving the needle in the right direction and the momentum for our play and our team is going in the right direction, then you got to get more minutes. If it’s not then you are not. But Amier knows exactly what is going on. He is an unbelievable kid. I love coaching him and I think he is going to have some great moments for us and who knows what that is going to look like as the marathon of college basketball continues. But he just didn’t play well in his minutes. He just didn’t play well. He didn’t do all the things that we are working on. He knows what he needs to do and he will be the first to tell you that.

Q: How can Quincy Ballard build on his most recent performance?
Jans: I think he’s probably shown consistency in terms of his productivity being a little better. When he first arrived until now, I thought he was one of the guys that has been more consistent and has produced a little more than he was. Certainly, that’s a great sign. We’ve been coaching him hard like all of our guys. But for us to be the team we want to be eventually, he’s going to be a big part of that.

As you can see, he’s got a beautiful touch around the basket for as big and strong as he is. His agility is more than what people expected at times, even to me once in a while. He made a move against SMU moving to his right and I was like ‘wow’. That was one of those plays and that was pretty good. He is consistent with his work. He is consistent with his approach. He is getting better, he’s learning what we expect him to do.

Our guys are learning where to get him the ball where he can be productive. He’s not a guy you are going to throw the ball to like a lot of guys that play the back-down game. That’s not really his deal. We need to get that ball to him when he’s got two feet in the paint where he can turn around his shoulder and get a basket. He just started getting to the line and he hadn’t been getting to the line as much. That’s on both of us. We got to get him in position and get him to the line, not just for the free throw aspect of it but to get the foul game in our favor a little bit more as big as he is. I am happy he is getting better and getting more consistent. He’s got to continue in that direction.

Q: Any update on Sergej Macura?
Jans: He still hasn’t hit the floor. He works with the trainer diligently. He’s got another meeting today with the team doctor and trainer. Just got questions and things he needs to ask them. Unfortunately, he is in the same boat he was in last week.