| KC_Connection |
03-07-2016 12:59 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chiefs Pantalones
(Post 12117196)
By the way, If what Landen Lucas has become for KU doesn't get every big in the country wanting to come to Lawrence to play for Self, then you're crazy kids. Can't comprehend what has happened with him. Awesome job by Self and his staff to get him to this.
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Quote:
Landen Lucas, 6'10" junior forward, Kansas
For the first two months of the season, four of Kansas's five starting positions were solidified. Coach Bill Self, however, had a hard time deciding who the fifth should be. He rotated four different players through the position, and he even inserted little-used 6'9" freshman Cheick Diallo into the lineup for a game at Oklahoma State on Jan. 19. The result was a disastrous 86–67 loss.
After returning to Lawrence, an exasperated Self met with the four other starters and asked who they should join them. Their answer was unanimous: They wanted Lucas. "They all felt that Landen understood everything we were trying to do," Self says. "So that's when I decided to start him."
It's also when Kansas started winning again. The Jayhawks have lost just once with Lucas in the starting lineup. His size and rebounding ability have been a major boon, but mostly it's the way he thinks about the game that has made a difference. "We're a much smarter team when he's in there because he's as bright a player as we have," Self says. "He's not a naturally gifted scorer, but he understands how to use angles, how to set a fade screen late in the clock to get a guy a shot. He just knows how to play."
Lucas has needed to rely heavily on his beautiful mind to overcome some of his physical limitations. The native of Portland, Ore., spent his senior season of high school playing for Findlay Prep, the renowned basketball factory in Las Vegas. Yet, Lucas did not make any recruiting service's top-100 lists in his class. The only reason Kansas recruited him is because its top big man target, Kaleb Tarczewski, opted for Arizona. Lucas was so raw as a freshman that Self convinced him to redshirt so he could develop his strength.
Lucas averaged just 4.9 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman, but he became an increasingly effective player last season. He was promoted to starter late in the regular season when the team's center, Cliff Alexander, was declared ineligible and Lucas played well down the stretch. Lucas grabbed a total of 19 rebounds in Kansas's two NCAA tournament games.
Because of his offensive limitations, Self was reluctant to make Lucas a starter from Day 1 this season, but that changed after his meeting with the players following the pratfall at Oklahoma State. Lucas's coming out party occurred on Feb. 9, when he had 16 rebounds, nine points and four blocks in a pivotal 75–65 win over West Virginia. Afterwards, Self called him the best player in the game. Lucas is averaging a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game conference play, and it is fitting that this once-unheralded recruit is now playing ahead of the team's two ballyhooed freshmen forwards, Diallo and Carlton Bragg.
"Even though he wasn't as highly recruited as some other guys, I think Landen always had high expectations for himself," Self says. "He knows his role. He needs to be our best post defender so we don't have to trap. He has to be our best rebounder at both ends. He has to do the dirty work so [senior forward] Perry [Ellis] doesn't have to, because that's not naturally Perry's personality. And he has to give us an element of toughness."
In other words, he has to hold everything together. The public and the media may not always understand the value Lucas brings, but his teammates sure do. That is the Glue Guy's ultimate reward.
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