The transition has been seamless for new LSU basketball coach Johnny Jones, whose Tigers are off to a 4-0 start after a 75-50 rout of Mississippi Valley State on Saturday.
With an admittedly undersized bunch, Jones has turned to junior forward Shavon Coleman to provide a spark in the paint and shoulder some of the load usually placed on 6-foot-9 sophomore forward Johnny O’Bryant III.
Coming off the bench, Coleman is the leading Tiger scorer, chipping in 17.3 points per game, and is tied with O’Bryant with a team-leading eight rebounds per game.
“Coming off the bench or starting, it doesn’t matter,” Coleman said. “I’m just coming in to try and help my team win the game.”
Sophomore guard Anthony Hickey has paced the Tigers on the perimeter with six assists and four steals per game, both team highs.
The Hopkinsville, Ky., native started the season on a sour note. He was suspended for an exhibition win against Arkansas-Monticello and was held out of the starting lineup again Saturday for what Jones termed “not taking care of his business.”
“We just wanted to get his attention and make sure he understands that he’s got to take care of his business on and off the floor to be rewarded,” Jones said. “It worked really effectively with him.”
Hickey’s punishment seemed to affect the Tigers in the early going Saturday as they started 0-for-6 from the field and had four turnovers at the first official timeout.
Junior guard Andre Stringer and Coleman then stepped in to help the Tigers shoot a blistering 69 percent in the second half — where the lead grew to as much as 30.
“People were getting to the right spots, making good passes, squaring up and then shooting, just like how we practice every day,” said freshman forward Shane Hammink. “We knocked them down.”
Senior center Andrew Del Piero played a career-high 15 minutes in the win against the Delta Devils, punctuated by a first-half dunk that brought the PMAC crowd of 6,237 to its feet.
Del Piero chipped in a career-best eight points and showed markedly improved conditioning and footwork, causing Jones to praise his 7-foot-3 former walk-on.
“These new coaches that came in had a lot of faith in me and confidence in me, and because of that, I have confidence in myself,” Del Piero said. “My teammates having confidence in me has also helped pull me through.”
