STARKVILLE — Leader.
It’s a simple term that conveys a lot of responsibility.
Whether it is orchestrating body bumps or leading a team onto the court or making sure the basketball gets into the hands of the right player, Diamber Johnson enters her final season at Mississippi State confident she can handle all of those roles and more.
The 5-foot-7 senior point guard from Pontotoc believes she will be able to shoulder that burden because she has done it for the past two seasons.
As a sophomore, Johnson appeared in all 34 games (five starts) and played a complementary role in the Lady Bulldogs’ first run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
A year ago, Johnson started 28 of 30 games and emerged late in the season as potent a scoring threat as floor general.
This season, Johnson hopes to take her game to another level. Even though she is one of six seniors on an experienced squad that will look to replace Mary Kathryn Govero, Johnson will be called on to set the tone in just about every way.
“Coach put more pressure on me than she did MKat last year, even though MKat was a senior,” Johnson said. “This year, it doesn’t really have that much effect. I know what it is and I know what is there. That is my job title (leader) right now.”
Johnson showed she could handle that role last year. But her maturation — and that of the team — in the final months of the 2010-11 season provide optimism Johnson and MSU can climb higher than 11th, which is where they were picked in the Southeastern Conference preseason poll. Johnson led the team in scoring last season at 12.8 points per game, but she elevated her output to a little more than 17 ppg. in the final eight games. She had three games of 20 or more points in that stretch and helped the Lady Bulldogs split their final eight games. A highlight in that span was a 49-47 victory against Auburn University in the first round of the SEC tournament.
“At the end of the year Diamber was taking the ball to the rim and not worrying about getting hit,” MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said. “She was shooting more free throws. She took it on her back and said if I have the open shot and I am not going to worry about it if I miss. If you’re playing to win, you’re not worried about the repercussion of what is going to happen if I don’t do something. You’re going to go to do it and then take the result. If it is not what you want, you’re going to get right back up quicker, you’re not going to let anybody see you sweat, you’re going to work hard, you’re going to bow up and show toughness. When I will walk on the floor you will know I am confident and that I expect to win. … You will know I am a competitor and that I am playing to win. If she brings that to the table every day, this basketball team will get better.”
Johnson reflected on her progress Thursday at SEC Media Day in Hoover, Ala. She attributes her increased production to a return to the role she played at Pontotoc High School, where she scored 2,001 points and was an All-State performer. Johnson didn’t get to showcase those skills in her first two seasons at MSU. While trusted to lead the team at point guard, Johnson averaged 2.8 and 4.1 ppg. in her first two seasons. She spent a large amount of that time in a rotation with Govero and standouts Alexis Rack and Armelie Lumanu.
Johnson said she felt more comfortable as last season went on and embraced the responsibility of a larger scoring load. She also took the words of Fanning-Otis to heart and was more aggressive in attacking the basket.
“I am back doing to what I did to get here,” Johnson said. “It isn’t like the other two years when I was the distributor. I feel like it has evolved around me and I have the green light to do what I want and if I see something to go with it. I feel like I am playing like myself now.”
Johnson’s play has earned her the team’s Most Improved Player Award. While deserving, the award might not have accurately described Johnson’s worth to the team because she feels the skills she displayed, especially at the end of the season, always were there. The only thing missing was her ability to seize the moment and take control.
“I was finally doing what I could do,” Johnson said.
Johnson said some words of encouragement from Rack last season helped boost her confidence. She said Rack called her late in the season to congratulate her for her play against Auburn in the SEC tournament.
“She was like, ‘That was always in you, and that you should have been doing that,’ ” Johnson said “She was like, ‘Confidence takes you a long way.’ I guess I struggled with that, knowing I had so much, and I guess I bought into my other roles too much. I wasn’t looking for my shot. I just got back to what I should have been doing when I got here.”
Rack was so impressed she told Johnson she was going to return to Starkville to play her one-on-one. The words inspired Johnson to do even more and to help push the team back to the NCAA tournament after a 13-17 finish.
Johnson and the Lady Bulldogs will have their first chance to showcase the 2011-12 squad at 2 p.m. Sunday when they play host to the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith at Humphrey Coliseum. The team will play host to Jacksonville State at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 in its regular-season opener.
Johnson feels the team is capable of growing, but she catches herself because she said the same thing about the team last year. She said she hit the a wall last season and didn’t make a breakthrough until the final few months.
Individually, Johnson can say the same thing about her game. Just as the team’s mind-set changed, so did hers, and the results helped push the Lady Bulldogs to a .500 finish and gave it hope it could look to a leader for even better things this season.
“I am sure we will be better than we were last year,” Johnson said. “I have great aspirations for this team. I think we will end up like we have been and continue to grow and don’t wait too late, I think we will finish in the top half and be fighting to have postseason play.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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