Better conditioning produces faster start for Southern Miss post player

By Daimon Eklund
American Sports Writer

Late in the University of Southern Mississippi's win against LSU, Jasper Johnson noticed the Tiger defenders were a little slow getting down the court.

So Johnson drew upon the area of his game he's probably practiced more than anything the past few months.

"I thought they were kind of lagging on D, and I just reverted back to those line drills," Johnson said. "Just sprinted hard as I could to get down there."

The sprint left Johnson all alone behind LSU's defense, and he got a easy layup. It was part of his career-high 27 points in the 88-84 overtime win in Biloxi.

Johnson, who has been heavier than his coaches would like for most of his three seasons at Southern Miss, has become well acquainted with line drills, in which he and his teammates have to run from one baseline to the free-throw line and back, then to the half-court line and back, then to the other free-throw line and finally the length of the court in a set time.

Johnson's performance in the practice drills, however, didn't prepare his coach for the down-court sprint.

"I was shocked," Eustachy said. "He hadn't done that in practice. He dug his own grave; now we know what he can do. And that was on a sore ankle, supposedly."

<a href='http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041223/SPORTS/412230306/1006' target='_blank'>AMERICAN: Conditioning making a difference for Johnson</a>