Lucas

I don't believe I've ever seen a player with over 3 years of experience improve so dramatically and and so quickly during his 4th season. Lucas has gone from a lousy player with virtually no upside to a really good 5 who may be the key to our team this year. I just cannot recall it ever happening like this before, and 'before' for me is over 4 decades.

There is something to be said about improving through time on the court. After the OSU loss, the other 4 starters asked for Lucas. He wasn't great those first games but with regular playing time he made that discontinuous jump. He has also mentioned that he has used his time on the court to talk to the refs and get a better understanding of what they call or don't call. Whatever, what I love about college basketball is watching the light come on for a kid.

His rebounding has improved, his defense has improved, and the biggest improvement, IMHO, is his ability to finish at the rim.

It really is a great thing to be witnessing!

You wrote:

There is something to be said about improving through time on the court.

Do you feel that the same could be said for Diallo or Bragg? I wonder where their development would be at if they had been able to get more consistent time on the court and were allowed to play through mistakes. I feel (and as always, it's easy to analyze in hindsight) that yes, they'd be further along, but there might have been a few more losses along the way. With Lucas, you knew you what you were getting every night and this recent uptick he's been on has been icing on a very well-baked cake!

Would love to hear others' opinions as well.

It seems to me that unless someone has a great deal of savvy for pressure situations in their younger years, there is a need for maturity in order to avoid silly mistakes that seem to be so glaring, especially to HCBS. That's where Lucas has an edge. I can see where is would drive a coach crazy to see a guy get a turnover while throwing the ball in bounds like Diallo did, or to be easily stripped of the ball like Bragg, on at least one occasion. I know that nerves can cause dumbness to ooze out all over the place, but those are things fall somewhat in the realm of maturity, in my opinion. I had hoped that Lucas would rise up and show some good things this year, kind of like Whithey did his final year. Lucas has seemingly been slower out of the blocks, but I believe there are good days ahead.

I can happily say that I have been on the Lucas train since the beginning of the season. I saw the seeds of what we needed on this team. He had at least four things early on that convinced me he would be a solid 5 man. 1) he blocks out better than any other big man and he blocks out very well, 2) he sets screens as well as anyone we have had, even better than Cole Aldrich in my opinion. 3) he is smart, he is where he is supposed to be doing what he is supposed to be doing 4) he is strong and that is much needed in a 40 game season. I thought his most glaring weakness is his ability to finish around the rim. That is still there but not quite as glaring. His other weakness was his rim protection which has improved amazingly. I have said it before, this young man gets more with less than almost anyone I have seen at KU. Even today you would not look at his basic skills and give him much chance to have an impact. But when you watch him play those strengths come to the fore.

I still have not pushed the send button on my Lucas train ticket purchase. He is in the right spot the majority of the time. He can actually set a screen without the seemingly every game Traylor/Bragg moving screen call. He does get his share of redounds. However.....on his first two trips to the foul line I believe the majority of KU big men would have been finishing a three point play. He missed both shots from the floor. Not only that he was only 50% on both trips. Now besides Graham everyone stunk it up at the line yesterday too, but to me those were fairly easy missed shots that other bigs would have made. Plain and simple he is Rodman, but this is not the NBA. Big men, especially in HCBS offense have to make the bunnies, have to be able to finish, and finish so strong it takes the other teams will away(see Traylor dunk). He still IMHO makes life too easy on the opposing D. Constantly being able to double Ellis is a direct result of Lucas being on the floor.

I 100% am on board with porthawk. I firmly believe if Bragg and Diallo, but especially Bragg, were given more minutes we could easily be having a completely different discussion. A discussion about how Lucas is the best 7th or 8th man in the country. But I also believe both Bragg and Diallo play with a constant fear of being yanked. If HCBS had been forced (thankfully not) due to injury, I believe Bragg could,have been a Freshman of the year candidate.

RKCKJHK!!!

....that HCBS isn't in fact the ignorant rube some were alluding to a few weeks ago? You know, the guy who was an idiot for letting his starters run the show and tell HIM who they wanted in the post because he was probably busy posting his resume on Monster.com under the heading of "will take any NBA coaching job"?

I see 2 things that have happened in the past few weeks.
1.) somebody explained to our bigs that if you're 2 feet from the basket and CAN dunk, you SHOULD dunk as it's a higher percentage shot than putting it up off the glass....and it fires up the crowd a little. Who knows, maybe Danny Manning made a phone call to the team. Nevertheless, not only is Lucas finishing better, but Perry figured out that it's ok for him to dunk too.

2.) Lucas is playing better defense. He was always a decent player when it came to rebounding and setting screens. Lately, however, he's gotten more aggressive (and has kicked in a positive reinforcement cycle where he's playing harder, getting results, and being inspired to play harder). The added aggression is not only making him a better rim protector, but it's resulting in more rebounds.

Bottom line, I still think that this all goes back to what WE see vs. what HCBS and the staff see at practice.

I think that often when people like fans and media look at potential player of the year candidates they focus on offense. I think HCBS focuses more on defense. I would agree that if Diallo and Bragg had been given more minutes that the media and fans would have been saying they were great. I disagree that they would make the team better than what it is. I do not believe that even with more minutes Bragg would be significantly stronger and been able to stop Johnson from over powering him. I think he could put up respectable offensive numbers but may or may not make the team better. I think you would sacrifice some wins along the way trying to develop them and it may or may not pay off. I think it also sends a bad message to the other guys on the team when you start saying talent is more important than experience.