The LSU men’s basketball team has undergone many changes during the last year, but one small change is making the way for the future of the program.The Tigers switched benches from the northeast to the northwest side of the court at the beginning of the season.”It was something [LSU] coach [Trent] Johnson wanted to do when he came in,” said team spokesman Kent Lowe.Lowe said there are two major reasons for the change.LSU and visiting teams used to cross paths when they entered the court before the game and at halftime from the southwest and northeast portals, respectively.The change was made to prevent any disturbances between the teams.Johnson said he used the benches closer to the locker room at Stanford and Nevada to avoid crossing paths with the opposing team.The team will also have its locker room in the new practice facility in the northwest corner of the PMAC when it is completed. The team will then enter the court from the northwest portal.”It’s more a convenience issue than anything in the long run,” Lowe said. “We wanted to go ahead and do it because it’s going to happen, so why not do it when [Johnson] starts to coach.”Lowe said the change may have been a bigger deal 10 to 15 years ago when the visiting team got to choose which side of the court it wanted to begin the game.”When C.M. Newton was coaching Vanderbilt in the 1980s, he would always want his defense in front of him in the second half,” Lowe said. “But now they changed the rules to where you finish [with your offense] in front of your bench no matter what.”But the men’s team is not the only LSU team to sit on that side of the court.Former LSU men’s basketball coach Dale Brown had his team sit on the northwest side for the 1993-1994 season.”We did it so that the opposing team didn’t have to cross in front of your bench when they came out to warm up after halftime and before the game,” Brown said.But the team changed back the next year after an 11-16 record, which included a 9-7 home record. That season was the Tigers’ first non-winning season since 1981-82, when LSU finished 14-14.”It just didn’t seem natural after all those years being on the other side,” Brown said.The LSU women’s basketball team has sat on the northwest side dating back to 1982 when legendary coach Sue Gunter took over the program, according to Lowe.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]