First-year LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson knows his program has to change a losing culture after finishing with a 13-18 record last season.But he said at media day Tuesday the burden isn’t on his shoulders.”It’s not difficult for me — it’s difficult for [the players],” Johnson said. “I’m not going to budge and change up how I feel and our staff and our philosophy. They’re the ones that are going to have to understand.”Despite last season’s 6-10 conference record, media members picked LSU on Monday to finish second in the Southeastern Conference Western Division. Alabama is projected to finish No. 1.Johnson said his team’s margin of error is slim this season.”We need to prove that we’re worthy of whatever preseason expectations or whatever preseason rankings are out there,” Johnson said. “We have a long way to go.”Some Tigers also picked up individual accolades. Senior guard Marcus Thornton and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell were named to the preseason All-SEC second team.One of the team’s biggest issues is injuries. Three players missed games because of injuries last season, and Mitchell missed a majority of the season with a stress fracture in his left shin.Johnson said he has to be careful with his players because of lingering injury effects.”One thing I will not do for any guy that plays for me — I will not play them in pain,” he said.Johnson said Mitchell is “extremely” healthy  and will be one of the Tigers’ “go-to guys” this season.Mitchell said he’s adapted to Johnson’s style of coaching.”The way the program was going, we needed somebody to step in and say ‘Hey, we’re going to do this like this,'” Mitchell said. “Coach Johnson is all about business. He jokes sometimes, but he’s all about business.”Johnson said senior center Chris Johnson is ready for a “decent” year if he stays healthy.Chris Johnson broke a bone in his right hand against Tulane and missed seven games. He averaged 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season.”The ball is going to go in and out,” Trent Johnson said. “Our system is one that is predicated on post players having a lot of success.”Trent Johnson said sophomore forward Garrett Green is dealing with lower back problems and will have an MRI next week.”I’ve had a string of bad luck with big kids and back injuries,” he said. “I have to be careful with Garrett.”Trent Johnson said he would start senior Garrett Temple at small forward, Mitchell at power forward and Chris Johnson at center if the Tigers played today.He said he would rotate Thornton, senior guard Terry Martin and junior guard Alex Farrer at shooting guard, and sophomore Bo Spencer and freshman Chris Bass at point guard.Trent Johnson said Thornton, the SEC’s second-leading scorer last season with 19.6 points per game, needs to work more on defense to become a better player.”He has no choice,” Johnson said. “I know everybody’s aware of Marcus’ offensive capabilities. But for us to be good, for him to be the best player he can be, he, Terry Martin and Alex Farrer all have to be better defensively.”Thornton said being stronger defensively shouldn’t be a problem.”[Coach] prides himself on defense,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge, but everybody has to adjust to it.”Trent Johnson said his team also needs to focus on limiting opponents’ opportunities in transition.”I told them, ‘You guys lost 18 games last year. But if you were committed to that one facet of the game, you probably would’ve won four or five more games.'”LSU holds a public scrimmage at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 and opens the season Nov. 15 against Jackson State in the PMAC.—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]