Head coach Stan Johnson is excited about LMU鈥檚 future
LOS ANGELES — LMU head coach Stan Johnson only asks for three things.
鈥淲e want to be selfless in everything we are doing. We want to be the most connected team in the country and we want to be relentless. Those are our three pillars,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f we do that, everything else will take care of itself.鈥�
This is only Johnson鈥檚 second season with the Lions, but the program is already on the right track. LMU was predicted to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference (WCC) before the 2020-21 season, but even with a new coaching staff and the unpredictability of the pandemic, the team exceeded expectations and finished third in the standings.
The 2021-22 campaign has potential to be even better. LMU returned a lot of solid pieces from last season’s roster, including all their starters. The only player missing who started in 10 or more games is Mattias Markusson. There are some strong teams in the WCC this season, but the Lions are expected to compete. They were predicted to finish fourth in the WCC men’s basketball preseason coach鈥檚 poll, just behind the three most established teams, Gonzaga, BYU and St. Mary鈥檚.
Guard/forward Dameane Douglas only played a handful of conference games last year before suffering a season-ending injury. Johnson said his return is a nice boost for the team because with him, junior forward Keli Leaupepe and fifth-year senior guard/forward Eli Scott, the Lions can count with a very versatile frontcourt. All three of those players are currently scoring in double digits.
Scott, a 2021-22 Senior CLASS Award candidate, leads the team with 17.0 points on 52.9% shooting, while also grabbing almost seven rebounds per game. He made a statement early in the season by registering three double doubles in the first nine games.
Not too far behind in scoring is redshirt senior guard Joe Quintana with 15.1 points per game. He has been impressing many people lately, including Coach Johnson.
鈥淭he way Joe has been playing, I think he is one of the best shooters in the country,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚 think we have a good balance in terms of our offense and our scoring. That鈥檚 been a strong point so far.鈥�
This roster knows how to be physical and finish at the rim. Johnson said he likes their shot selection and scoring ability. He also feels confident about his team’s versatility and depth.
The Lions dropped their home opener against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and are sitting on a 6-4 record since then. The other losses came from Grand Canyon, Florida State, and New Mexico State. Johnson gave credit to the opponents but said his team has to take responsibility and learn from mistakes.
LMU recently pulled off a 60-55 result over the University of Tulsa, but it was not exactly the prettiest victory. Johnson pointed out the 22 turnovers registered by his team and said that numbers like that were not going to turn into wins very often. That win took double doubles from Scott and Douglas.
Johnson is being realistic about his team’s strengths and weaknesses. While there are some things that could be improved, he also knows it鈥檚 only December.
鈥淭he big thing with our group right now is we have to put a full game together,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think in nine games we鈥檝e yet to have a game where I can say we played 40 minutes of LMU basketball. The beauty of that is that it means the best is yet to come.鈥�
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