Everything Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said at Monday's press conference

Ahead of their upcoming matchup with Georgia Tech, Mississippi State coach Chris Jans met with the media to discuss takeaways from the SMU loss, areas of growth, lineup decisions, and the team’s approach entering its first true road game.

Jans addressed consistency, urgency, player development, and injury updates while outlining what the Tigers must improve to get back in the win column.

Below is the full Q&A from his press conference.

On positive takeaways from loss to SMU...

Yeah, I'm still not happy about the results of Friday night's game, like I shared with the team and I shared with you guys, if I'm remembering correctly, that, you know, we had that game and we didn't make the plays in a timely fashion. We had a nine-point lead, I think seven and some change left, and we just didn't do what we needed to do to make sure that there was no comeback effort and we just had some just bad plays that turned into, you know, points for the other team. They scored seven points, you know, in two possessions and it really changed the mood in the arena and in our huddles, if I'm being honest, and when you have a team that, you know, isn't having the success maybe that they want, you know, that's what happens sometimes is you can be a little fragile that way and a bad play or a bad series of events can really change the mood and, you know, as the coach, I understand that and we've gotta, you know, our team needs to understand that and they can't, when we're in that position the next time, you know, it can't affect us in a negative way, but in terms of positives, I thought overall, you know, looking at the totality of the game, we played better.

We had better, longer spurts of playing the way we need to play. We had done enough things to put us in that position and the bottom line is it's about when the buzzer goes off, we all understand that, but we had played better. You know, turnovers, you know, that's been obviously an issue for us all year long and for whatever reason, it wasn't that game until the overtime where we had four in five minutes, we had three in 40 leading up to that point.

We had made our free throws in that game until, again, late in the game when they're magnified a little bit more and when you rewatch it, you know, wow, I mean, that's what you do, right, when it's an overtime game, you know, with this play or that play, but that's how sports work, so I thought we played a little better overall. We made some strides, but at the end of the day, we didn't get the win.

On upcoming foe Georgia Tech...

Yeah, they're very athletic, big, they've got a big lineup all the way across, but they're very athletic, especially at the four and the five. They got two young, athletic, just really good players, and you've got a game planned for them, but it's a fine line, because certainly you got other players that can hurt you as well, and at this point, the way I look at it is it doesn't matter who we're playing or where we're playing.

You know, we've got to play better, we've got to compete better, we've got to play the full 40. Everybody's got to carry their weight, if you will, and we've just got to figure out a way to play better longer and get a win.

On reaction to having four losses...

I mean, I guess my reaction to that is I coach with a sense of urgency all the time.

If it's June, July, August, September, October, November, if our record was seven and oh, I'd still coach with a sense of urgency. Is there more? I mean, I guess, but you know, that's the way we do things around here. It's the way we've done things since we've arrived.

We treat every game like the Super Bowl, and that hasn't changed since we arrived in terms of the time we spend in scouting and the urgency that we have with our players and our team on a daily basis, and you know, I'd be lying if I said to you, yeah, we're gonna coach with more urgency now, because that's what we do.

On another neutral site game...

Well, this will be our first true road game, if I'm not mistaken. The other three games away from home have been in neutral sites. But again, it's the same mindset for me.

It doesn't matter where this game's played. The game is gonna be played. It doesn't matter what the environment is or isn't.

You know, we've got to focus on our play, our compete level, playing to the best of our ability on Wednesday night, and that's where my focus is, and that's all I'm concerned with.

On Amier Ali...

Yeah, we got about four guys, you know, maybe five, that are all in a similar boat where they all know, you know, the expectation that we have for all of our players, but specifically for them where they're at right now and what specifically they need to bring to the table to ensure that they play more minutes, and it always starts with practice. That's your ticket into the game, and then reality of it is, whether it's right or wrong, I'm sure we're no different than a lot of other programs, but maybe not four or five guys.

They got one or two where, hey, get in the game and make sure you do this or make sure you do that and stay away from this if you wanna play more, and I've always said that, you know, for me, if you're moving the needle in the right direction and the momentum for our play and our team is going the right direction, then you're gonna get more minutes, and if it's not, then you're not, but, you know, Amir knows exactly what's going on and, I mean, he's an unbelievable kid and I love coaching him, and I think he's gonna have some great moments for us, and who knows what that'll look like, you know, as the marathon of college basketball continues, but he just, he didn't get off, he didn't play well in his minutes.

He just didn't play well. He didn't do all the things that we're working on and that he knows he needs to do, and he'd be the first to tell you that.

On Quincy Ballard...

Yeah, he's gotten, you know, I think he's probably shown consistency in terms of his productivity being a little better, you know, since when he first arrived till now. I thought he is one of the guys that has been more consistent.

He has produced a little bit more than he was, and certainly that's a great sign. And we've been coaching him hard, like all of our guys, but, you know, for us to be, you know, the team that we wanna be eventually, you know, he's gonna be a big part of that. And as you can see, he's got beautiful touch around the basket for as big and strong as he is.

He's, his agility, maybe it's a little bit more than what people expect him to be sometimes. Even me, once in a while, he made a move against SMU, going to his right, I'm like, wow. I mean, that was one of those plays, you know, not like, oh my God, but it was like, wow, that was pretty good.

And he's consistent with his work. He's consistent with his approach. He's getting better.

He's learning what we expect him to do. And our guys are learning how to get him the ball in spots where he can be productive. You know, he's not a guy you're gonna throw the ball to like a lot of guys play the back down game.

That's really not his deal. You know, we need to get that ball to him when he's got two feet in the paint, where he can turn over either shoulder, you know, and get a basket. And then, you know, he just started getting to the line, right, he hadn't been to the line much.

And, you know, that's on both of us. We got to get in a position where he can get to the line and not just for the free throw aspect of it, but just to get the foul game, you know, in our favor a little bit more as big as he is. But, you know, I'm happy that he's getting better and he's being more consistent and he's got to continue in that direction.

On Sergej Macura...

He still hasn't hit the floor. You know, he works with the trainer diligently.

He's got another meeting today with the team doctor and the trainer and just got questions and, you know, things that he's gotta ask him and, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, unfortunately, he's in the same boat he was last week.