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We continue our season preview coverage with Long Beach State JR SG/SF Jordan Roberts. The 49ers only won 15 games last year but 2 of those wins were away from home against teams who made the NCAA tourney (Iona in Las Vegas and UC-Irvine on the road). You may not have seen him much in the past but if you have some free time in November he will be staying out west to play on national TV in the Wooden Legacy. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jordan about having a brutal non-conference schedule and spending Thanksgiving in Anaheim.
You grew up in California: what made you choose Long Beach State? It was really close to home and I felt that it was part of a conference in which I could make a big impact.
You play for Coach Dan Monson: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? Accountability: I needed a coach to be hard on me so that I could get the best out of my ability.
You played in 31 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? Defense. I knew that playing good defense would get me onto the court even while I was still maturing as a freshman and learning the offense.
Last year you were top-10 in the conference in ORB%: what is the key to being a good rebounder? You need to have the attitude to go get the rebound: it is simply about whether you want it or not.
In the 2019 Big West tourney quarterfinals you scored 18 PTS including a jumper in the final second to clinch a 2-PT win over Hawaii: how were you able to overcome an 18-PT deficit, and where does that shot rank among the highlights of your career so far? It was potentially the last game for our 7 seniors so we wanted to give it all we got. I think that shot was my highlight so far.
Your brutal non-conference schedule includes games against UCLA/Stanford/St. Mary’s/Arizona/Providence/USC/Florida: how are you preparing to survive such a gauntlet? We are prepared to go to war. We schedule those kind of games to prepare us for the rest of the season.
You will also be participating in the Wooden Legacy: how excited are you to spend Thanksgiving in California? Really excited. We have traveled to Florida/Las Vegas the past 2 years so we should have a lot of our fans there this November.
You will open up that event with Providence and might have to beat Wake Forest/Arizona to win it all: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? Probably Arizona: they always have a lot of talent and have some good new guys coming in this year.
You mentioned all of the seniors you had on the roster last year: how will you try to replace all of that experience/leadership? We cannot replace their experience but will have a new mindset with a lot of new guys who are ready to go.
What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Winning a Big West championship: that is the main team goal. I do not have many personal goals other than just wanting to help our team win.