BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A mere two years after making an appearance in the Final Four, LSU was looking for a basketball coach.

John Brady guided the Tigers to the Southeastern Conference championship and a berth in the Final Four in 2006. During the middle of their Southeastern Conference schedule in 2008, Brady was dismissed.

Enter former Stanford coach Trent Johnson, who has the initial task of changing the perception of Tigers basketball.

‘‘The players have done a very, very good job of changing the culture and negativity surrounding the basketball program,’’ Johnson said Tuesday during LSU’s basketball media day. ‘‘It’s on us to have a viable product. Nineteen of 20 programs are carrying their weight at LSU. We’re not.’’

During the 2007-08 academic year, the men’s program was the only one that did not earn an NCAA tournament berth. LSU finished with a 13-18 record — its first losing mark in six seasons.

Johnson is taking over a veteran team, which has five seniors and two fourth-year juniors, and he said they’re making progress.

‘‘It’s not difficult for me,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m not changing. It’s difficult for them. I inherited a team at Stanford, so I’ve done this before. It’s a two-way street. The players see me every day and they have to know what to expect.’’

Johnson took the team out-of-town last weekend for six practices in three days at Louisiana College in Pineville. At that time, Johnson began to implement his style.

‘‘There are three aspects for which I have no patience for mistakes,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘That’s defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball. We have a long, long way to go.

‘‘The margin of error is very, very slim for this team. It’s important for this team to learn how to compete and play through adversity on each play.’’

Johnson said three players — Garrett Temple, Tasmin Mitchell and Chris Johnson — have locked up starting positions. Temple, who has been the point guard for most of his career, will shift to a wing position.

Mitchell, who missed nearly all of last season with a foot injury, and Johnson will play in the frontcourt. Temple and Mitchell were starters on the Final Four team as freshmen.

Johnson did not list Marcus Thornton, the team’s leading returning scorer, as a definite starter.

‘‘Marcus Thornton can’t play on only one end of the floor,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘He has to do a better job on the defensive end of the floor.’’

Johnson does not establish tangible goals for his teams. He simply wants his players to become great competitors.

‘‘I’m not big on goals,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘The key is for the players to have ownership and to buy into the team concept. ‘‘We’re going to play extremely hard. We’re going to be fundamentally sound. The bottom line is that we have to learn how to be competitive on a day-in, day-out basis.’’