Good Recruiting Article on Rivals

[Patrick Yates]

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=660781

This is a mailbag type of article but I think his points regarding Duke are spot on.

His point regarding Lance was very intriguing. As I think about it, Lance does seem like a high energy guy that was just a little too small this year. If he gets bigger, we could have a slightly smaller, yet more skilled and athletic, version of Hans.

This pleases Patrick

Patrick Yates

[Wander]

Lance Thomas will be more skilled than Hansbrough?

[greybeard]

Lance Thomas will be more skilled than Hansbrough?

Now that was funny! Much better than your incessant use of the "r" word.

"Scientists have recently confirmed that the galaxy [known as X] has moved one centimeter closer to the galaxy [known as Y], and yet there are still those who insist that there is no such thing as progress." KV, Sirens of Titan.

[Patrick Yates]

Hans can score and rebound, I will give you that. But do you want him dribbling, passing, or playing help defense?

His scoring and rebounding are not products of skill, merely hustle. He uses his body to create space (prediction to follow: a practice that will be somewhat curtailed next year when the league cracks down on offensive charging, cause the other teams are POed at what Hans gets away with) and then shoots a point blank lay-up or dunk. He similarly uses his body to create space for a rebound. Essentially he bullies smaller players. Against players his own size, he is far less efficient, especially on Defense. His aggression and power allow him to score, but his big games tend to come at the expense of his teammates -- see Georgetown. His shots are not pretty, they are point-blank. Does anyone think it takes a high degree of skill to hit all those lay ups and dunks. Hans gets into great position, but I do not put that under skills.

He cannot dribble, doesn't really seem to understand the concept of this whole "passing the ball to someone else" thing, and as long as his guy doesn't score, he is fine on D. He does not consistently help on D, and he never will.

LT had better be more skilled than Hans as far as passing, dribbling, playing help D, and mid range shooting next year, or he will not get off the bench. And in 2 years, recruited over baby. Will LT ever score like Hans, or have his rebounding numbers? Probably not, cause he may never get big enough, or be needed enough at Duke to produce those kinds of numbers. Hans has great numbers cause UNC feeds him the ball in a way that we have not seen at Duke since possibly Laetner. We didn't feed Elton or Boozer like Hans gets it. He is the focus of UNC's O similiar to Reddick his Sr year. That will not happen for LT at Duke, ever. That does not mean that LT will not have more of the basketball skills that K seems to prize over raw athleticism.

Patrick Yates

[Wander]

Now that was funny! Much better than your incessant use of the "r" word.


Haha. I've been cutting down.

[Wander]

Hans can score and rebound, I will give you that. But do you want him dribbling, passing, or playing help defense?

Well, scoring and rebounding are pretty important in basketball, last time I checked.

Are you really going to argue that Lance Thomas is more skilled than Hansbrough based on ballhandling and passing abilities? Wasn't Lance Thomas literally the last player with significant minutes in all of Division 1 to register an assist? (I'm not sure on this, and I wouldn't even know how to confirm it, but I've heard it somewhere before)

I agree Hansbrough's not a great help defender, and he's a bad shot blocker. And he's definately a really physical player and gets away with stuff at times. However, by suggesting that his numbers are entirely a result of physical play and getting fed the ball a lot, you're severly underestimating one of the best college basketball players in the country. I don't know how you define "skill" but I really don't see how you can suggest that Lance Thomas is going to be more skilled than Hansbrough by any reasonable definition of the word.

[CDu]

Well, scoring and rebounding are pretty important in basketball, last time I checked.

Are you really going to argue that Lance Thomas is more skilled than Hansbrough based on ballhandling and passing abilities? Wasn't Lance Thomas literally the last player with significant minutes in all of Division 1 to register an assist? (I'm not sure on this, and I wouldn't even know how to confirm it, but I've heard it somewhere before)

I agree Hansbrough's not a great help defender, and he's a bad shot blocker. And he's definately a really physical player and gets away with stuff at times. However, by suggesting that his numbers are entirely a result of physical play and getting fed the ball a lot, you're severly underestimating one of the best college basketball players in the country. I don't know how you define "skill" but I really don't see how you can suggest that Lance Thomas is going to be more skilled than Hansbrough by any reasonable definition of the word.

I agree. I like Thomas, and I hope he has a fantastic season and career with Duke. But at this point in their careers, Hansbrough is WAY more skilled than Thomas. Hansbrough is not a good dribbler/passer, but he's better at it than Thomas. And he's a better shooter, rebounder, and scorer than Thomas. Thomas is more athletic and surely a better shotblocker. But pretty much everywhere else I'd rate Hansbrough ahead.

And that shouldn't be taken as an insult to Lance: Hansbrough is one of the best players in all of college basketball. I'd argue it's kind of an insult to Hansbrough to say that Thomas is more skilled.

[Troublemaker]

I agree as well. First, a disclaimer. I realize that projecting a player's career based on his freshman season can lead to poor projections. That said, I see Lance as a career role player and not a star like Hansbrough. At just 6'8" and with his lack of weight/strength (which will improve, but only so much), Lance would need a great deal of explosiveness in his legs to be able to score with his back to the basket like Hansbrough (who is taller, bigger, and stronger and thus doesn't need hops). Lance just doesn't have that kind of leaping ability. The most important thing for Lance is to develop an excellent face up jumper, imo, because it would allow him to use his quickness to drive for scores. I also question his hands at this point (as well as his passing ability, with the 1:42 A:TO ratio), and it's easier to make a catch on the perimeter than inside where there's lots of traffic. I think if Lance is going to become more than a role player, it will have to be as a faceup forward, and very different from how Hansbrough plays.

[gw67]

When comparing Hansbrough and Thomas the statement was made that "Thomas is more athletic and surely a better shotblocker." You can't prove it by me. Thomas had 3 blocks in 463 minutes, whereas, Hansbrough had 17 blocks in 1136 minutes. Heck, Eric Hayes, a 6-3 guard for Maryland, who is not known for shotblocking, had 5 blocks in 791 minutes. I understand the desire to build up our players and knock down the Heels but Hansbrough is not only bigger and stronger but is a better player in nearly every aspect of the game, IMO.

gw67

[VaDukie]

I love Lance, I wished he played more, I think he has a bright future.

But he is not in Tyler's league. Period.

[ACCBBallFan]

I like Lance Thomas as a player especially his effort but he had amazingly few few assists this past season (I recall that total being zero well into the season) which leads me to doubt the remark about him being a better passer than Hansbrough.

Edit - I just looked it up and Lance ended with one assist in 33 games.