Lance Thomas Interview

[Bob Green]

The Lance Thomas interview on GoDuke.com (linked on front page) is very encouraging. I was impressed with Lance's comments on confidence and how he is going to bring all his skills including leadership onto the court this year. A confident Lance Thomas could be a much improved Lance Thomas, which will be great for the team!

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

[mgtr]

I didn't see anything in the interview about weight training, but he looked stronger in the picture. Maybe it is just my wishful thinking.

[vango]

The Lance Thomas interview on GoDuke.com (linked on front page) is very encouraging. I was impressed with Lance's comments on confidence and how he is going to bring all his skills including leadership onto the court this year. A confident Lance Thomas could be a much improved Lance Thomas, which will be great for the team!

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

Couldn't agree more - very impressed with his attitude and his ambition. We'll need some kids to be assertive this year I think. I know Nelson and probably Paulus will be - but it will be interesting to watch and see who jumps on a leadership role and who wants the ball when we need a bucket....

[SilkyJ]

While I think Zou is a big X-factor for this team, Lance could be one too. He has the type of talent to develop into an all-acc player as soon as next year. Not saying its gonna happen, but he has the type of talent...

[dukelion]

All due respect to Lance but he was a MAJOR dissapointment last year.

He was a 4/5 star recruit and a McD's AA but really struggled last year and in the grand scheme of things really didn't provide much to the team.

A few months back I posted video links to his highschool days because I was shocked at how different he was playing at Duke.

In highschool Lance showed a very impressive mid range game and actually shot close to 40% from three!

Did he even attempt a triple last year? Did he even hit/attempt a shot outside of 10 feet?

The article was very encouraging especially where he mentions that he won't differ anymore. That clearly was his biggest problem as he simply didn't look for his offense last year and seemed to lack confidence........hopefully that changes this year.

Also love that he's seriously working on his game and trying to get to the NBA. Lance will most likely be a 4 year player at Duke and before it's all said and done he may be special.

[duketaylor]

I saw Lance play at the little gym at Benedictine HS here in Richmond two years ago. While he's high energy, his shot is flawed. He shot one FT where I saw a right-to-left rotation on the ball, looked like the ball actually moved laterally. Fundamental flaw that needs to be worked on. Lance can hit the mid-range shot but we saw little of it this past year. K had him down low almost all the time and with Singler and all the other 2's and 3's we have I don't expect much change.

[cato]

All due respect to Lance but he was a MAJOR dissapointment last year.


Out of curiosity, which part of your post do you think was respectful?

[ACCBBallFan]

While I think Zou is a big X-factor for this team, Lance could be one too. He has the type of talent to develop into an all-acc player as soon as next year. Not saying its gonna happen, but he has the type of talent...

All ACC is more than a stretch this year for Lance. Here's a reply I made on another board to a similar remark about Deon Thompson potentially being All-ACC this year.

I know it does not go by position and recipients from prior year are not automatic, but here is a starter set of competition, and this list does not even include Lawson:

All-ACC Team
First team
1 *Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (106), 318
2 Sean Singletary, Virginia (100), 312

Second team
3 Tyrese Rice, Boston College, 177

Third team
4 Brandon Costner, N.C. State, 94
5 Jack McClinton, Miami, 48

Honorable mention (20 or more points)
6 Ben McCauley, N.C. State, 36
7 James Mays, Clemson, 34
8 DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, 34
9 James Gist, Maryland, 28

-------------------------------

10 Tywon Lawson would get the nod before Deon, but I would think 3rd team or Honorable Mention may be in his reach, but each ACC team probably has a returning guy or new recruit they feel has just as good a shot as UNC fans feel Deon has.

First order of business is to win the ACC which would increase number of UNC recipients, but Ellington, Green and Ginyard are also competition for Deon.

NC State with a good finish might make a case for Gavin Grant.

Duke might have Singler or Henderson or maybe even Paulus.

GA Tech might have Dickey, Morrow, Jeremis Smith or Lewis Clinch.

Clemson might have KC Rivers or Booker or Hammonds.

MD might have Vasquez or Osby

BC might have Oates

FSU might have Swann or Rich

VA Tech might have Deron Washington or A J Vassallo

UVA might have Diane

somebody may surface for Wake

Only freshman I listed is Singler but JJ Hickson, Lawal and there are more.

---------------------
I did not ralize until i relooked at the link that McRoberts had made the all Defensive team. With all 5 of them gone, Nelson and Mays seem to be queued up for making it this year.

Similarly, two All Frosh are gone, so Scheyer could move up in All ACC contention.

ALL-FRESHMAN Votes

Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech* 106

Brandan Wright, North Carolina* 106

Brandon Costner, NC State 95

Ty Lawson, North Carolina 64

Jon Scheyer, Duke 54

*unanimous

Honorable Mention (20 or more votes)

Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech 42

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland 37

ALL-DEFENSIVE Votes

Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech 96

Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland 65

Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech 59

D.J. Strawberry, Maryland 55

Josh McRoberts, Duke 46

Honorable Mention (20 or more votes)

Mario West, Georgia Tech 33

DeMarcus Nelson, Duke 25

James Mays, Clemson 24

Vernon Hamilton, Clemson 20

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Last year Lance Thomas began the season as a starter, so he must have shown more than a little in the early practices. In the early games, he showed a nice mid-range game which all but disappeared as the season went on, and of course his playing time dwindled mid year, mostly due to his foul problems and sub-par play. I think his confidence went from arrogant freshman (which is 90% a good thing) to timid freshman (which is 100% a bad thing).

Reading that he has worked on both his strengths and weaknesses (can you give me a big "duh" here please!) and that his confidence in his game has returned, I think we will see the Lance we all hoped to see last year. And the fact that he wants to tell the new frosh not to defer to him, Nelson, Paulus or anyone else is also a good thing, both in him showing leadership and in preventing this year's frosh from falling into the same hole he dug for himself.

[mapei]

Love the work on offense, love the aggressive attitude. Dude needs to work on defense, too, though - WAY too many fouls per minute last year.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Dude needs to work on defense, too, though - WAY too many fouls per minute last year.

LT suffered from Shav's syndrome last year. He walked onto the court with 3 fouls called on him during player introductions. That should stop now that he's a sophomore.

[bhd28]

It will be really big for Lance to increase his point production this year. I know there were a number of problems at the end of last year, but I thought our production from the '4' spot was a big part of it. Someone take a look and let us know how many points Lance and Dave combined for in our last 4 games (all losses). Those guys both add a lot, but their point production has to improve this year... a bunch.

[dukerev]

I've been saying on these board for a while that LT will be one of the big factors for Duke this year. His leadership will come out (no more deferring to upperclassmen) and I think he'll be one of those guys who makes the "normal" big improvement from freshman to sophomore. Good interview and I'm looking forward to LT showing his stuff this year.

By the way, I think the improvement LT will make will be what we were all thinking we would get if Patrick Patterson had come to Duke.

[thebur]

I agree with you DukeRev, I think that LT is going to make enough strides (as the interview alludes to) that he will be at least the player for us as a sophomore that patrick patterson will be as a freshman. PP may score more this year for UK, but he will be a primary threat. Duke's team is much more "loaded" in terms of talent, but I think LT will be an impact player. I think both he and BZ will be great contributors, but I think Lance's leadership and athleticism may give him an edge as our most dominant big this year.

Here's hoping they both step it up and we have 2 dominant bigs!

[Classof06]

I don't believe Lance had a great season last year, but I don't necessarily think he had a terrible season, either. He struggled the way many freshman do in a conference such as the ACC. When you look at the structure of our team last year (youth), the demanding role we were forced to ask of him as a result of that structure, combined with the unrealistic expectations that many Duke fans had for him coming in, it's easy to sit there and call LT's freshman year disappointing. I'm not sure that's fair. He went through the growing pains that he should have gone through and I think that will make him better down the road.

The way I see it, if Lance can stay on the floor and out of foul trouble, his development will take care of itself. Defensively, he gives us a 6-7/6-8 versatile athlete that we haven't had since Luol left, and I suspect his offensive game is going to blossom from here on out. When that happens, Duke is going to be a problem. I think Lance, like the rest of his recruiting class, will come back ready and hungry. Watching the games last year, I'm in love this kid's enthusiasm, and that is one reason I believe he is attacking this offseason with a vengeance. Going to Houston and working out with Jon Lucas, alongside kids like Sean Williams, Glen Davis, and TJ Ford should show people that this kid is not playing any games. And that's music to my ears because Lance has the tools to be that good.

[whereinthehellami]

From the interview it sounds like Lance has been working on becoming more of a three which is where his future would be in the NBA but not where he will likely see alot of time at Duke.

I'm glad to hear that he has been working on increasing his confidence. The whole team from last year could use a boost in that department.

The one area that I hope Lance is working on is agility. I think he is very athletic but had lateral quickness issues and balance concerns (high center of mass). It seemed like whenever he tried to defend some outside the key he would run up to them and then into them for a ticky-tack foul.

[ACCBBallFan]

It will be really big for Lance to increase his point production this year. I know there were a number of problems at the end of last year, but I thought our production from the '4' spot was a big part of it. Someone take a look and let us know how many points Lance and Dave combined for in our last 4 games (all losses). Those guys both add a lot, but their point production has to improve this year... a bunch.

Yeh, I read somewhere recently that if Lance and McClure played one vs one, no one would score.

VCU: Lance 4, Dave 0
NCS: Lance 0, Dave 0
UNC Lance 2, Dave 0
MD: Lance 0, Dave 2

8 points in 4 games out of two players same as 1 each all four games.

Dave was never the same after he almost injured his knee in a play that physically turned out to not be as bad as it looked at first, but it apparently took its toll mentally.


I don't believe Lance had a great season last year, but I don't necessarily think he had a terrible season, either. He struggled the way many freshman do in a conference such as the ACC. When you look at the structure of our team last year (youth), the demanding role we were forced to ask of him as a result of that structure, combined with the unrealistic expectations that many Duke fans had for him coming in, it's easy to sit there and call LT's freshman year disappointing. I'm not sure that's fair. He went through the growing pains that he should have gone through and I think that will make him better down the road.

Countless articles about him while he could not decide between Duke and Rutgers contributed to unrealistically high expectations. It amazes me how people can criticize Lance and Josh so much when Duke came so very close to not having either one of them last year, but magically ended up with both. Imagine what last year would have been with no Lance and no Josh. I think Boateng had already decided to transfer before either of their fates were known. Maybe Boykin would have stayed but still a bad trade off, even before he got mono.

[GMR]

I sure would like to see Lance add about 15 pounds, most of which needs to be muscle. Same applies to Kyle Singler. We need more beef and muscle inside. I think Greg Monroe is in need also (in case he does select Duke). From the write-ups on the workouts and the photos, I don't see or hear of any substantial weight/muscle gain for either LT or Jon Scheyer, or Singler.

GMR

[greybeard]

Develop an economical catch and shot game:

1. Work on footwork and loading to shoot.

a. After coming from low to high to receive, practice turning either way while bringing the ball up to shooting position with the shielded hand. Translate, if turn to the left with back to the basket, bringing it up with my right hand outside and towards the back of my ear to meet my left hand over my head. KEY TO AVOID SPINNING, keep moving, non-pivot foot, in very, very tight. I would be proficient bringing the ball to shooting position turning either way, with my spring still loaded for lift and wrist shot with ball high.

b. An option to first way of loading: dip my right shoulder and bring the ball across to middle and low and then straight up; with ball held high, slight fake as to shoot (allows weight to settle), then lean back slightly and shoot, aka the Pearl (defender's hands rarely in middle of body, no need to jump, Earl never did). Footwork and bringing the ball up are essentials. In addition to the Pearl, a good guy to watch is Rip Hamilton.

2. Catching at and around the high post and shooting off the dribble.

a. one dribble pull up, concentrating on footwork and loading to shoot in one or two ways. Hamilton good model; Cazzy Russel, if can find film, maybe better.

c. Same as two, with a slight head/pump fake, step through and shoot. See Clyde Frazer.

3. Be real nice to the guys who handle the ball and encourage them to trust me enough to throw it to me early and often. Return it if things aren't right.

Who knows. Just schmoozing on a summer afternoon. But, however he goes about it, I think that Lance needs to get what is easy on offense. He is going to have to expend a lot of energy on defense and the boards. Duke is way too thin inside.

[JasonEvans]

From the interview it sounds like Lance has been working on becoming more of a three which is where his future would be in the NBA but not where he will likely see alot of time at Duke.


Playing the "4" at Duke is a lot like playing the "3" in the NBA because we play our forwards on the outside so much on offense and expect our big men to be able to move around on defense a great deal.

-Jason "I'd love for Lance to be a legit NBA prospect soon... that would be a very good thing for Duke" Evans

[jaimedun34]

We didn't recruit Mr. Lance Thomas to bulk up and play with his back to the basket, so I think working on his ball handling and shot is a positive. Physically he is a perfect 4 for our system. Skill wise he still needs some polish.

[JBDuke]

Anyone else see a lot of Antonio Lang in Lance Thomas? I'd love to see him advance to that level - starter, defensive stalwart, opportunistic scorer, filling the lane on the break....

[greybeard]

Anyone else see a lot of Antonio Lang in Lance Thomas? I'd love to see him advance to that level - starter, defensive stalwart, opportunistic scorer, filling the lane on the break....

You mean they're not the same guy?

[greybeard]

1. Alex English

2. Bobby Dandridge

3. Jack Sikma

4. ?

[JBDuke]

1. Alex English

2. Bobby Dandridge

3. Jack Sikma

4. ?

What about Luol Deng? I love Lu's game. Now, Lu's skills were pretty advanced when he walked on campus, so Lance has a lot of work to do, but they seem to have many of the same physical tools. If Lance is looking for someone to watch films of, I would think Luol would be a good choice.

[mapei]

Luol also has the advantage of possibly being someone that Lance has heard of.

[VaDukie]

Luol also has the advantage of possibly being someone that Lance has heard of.

Post of the day.

[greybeard]

Deng has a unique and extraordinary physical makeup. The makeup informs his game to a considerable degree. I am talking about deceptive strength, ungodly reach, and who knows what else. Very difficult to replicate his style without his assets.

You might say that English had extraordinaryily long arms too. True. But there was much in the style of his play that was not dependent on that and that was pure genius in its simplicity and effectiveness.

Choose better.

[greybeard]

Deng starts on the exterior, ie, that is where most of his catches occur. Our guy Lang, oops, Lance, is going to be playing inside, and making catches coming up top and then facing up. English had that type of game but was terrific as a back to the basket catcher. If memory serves though, he would turn and face, to then begin his scoring. Dandridge's game was a mixture, he did catch on the exterior a lot, but also with his back to the basket in extended post play. Turned and faced alot then.

Sikma, though a center, had the most unusual turn-and-hoot game of all time. Anybody remember what was so unusual?

[JBDuke]

Deng starts on the exterior, ie, that is where most of his catches occur. Our guy Lang, oops, Lance, is going to be playing inside, and making catches coming up top and then facing up. English had that type of game but was terrific as a back to the basket catcher. If memory serves though, he would turn and face, to then begin his scoring. Dandridge's game was a mixture, he did catch on the exterior a lot, but also with his back to the basket in extended post play. Turned and faced alot then.

Sikma, though a center, had the most unusual turn-and-hoot game of all time. Anybody remember what was so unusual?

In the NBA, Luol starts on the perimeter. For Duke, he was our PF. He had an uncanny knack for rebounding, aided greatly by his freakishly long arms. He got lots of stickbacks on offensive boards. He would drift out a little and shoot the mid-range jumper, or even the 3 pointer as well.

I think Lance could work towards being this kind of player. We wouldn't run a lot of plays for him, but he'd get a few points off boards or on the break and he could hit a medium range jumper and board strongly.

[greybeard]

In the NBA, Luol starts on the perimeter. For Duke, he was our PF. He had an uncanny knack for rebounding, aided greatly by his freakishly long arms. He got lots of stickbacks on offensive boards. He would drift out a little and shoot the mid-range jumper, or even the 3 pointer as well.

I think Lance could work towards being this kind of player. We wouldn't run a lot of plays for him, but he'd get a few points off boards or on the break and he could hit a medium range jumper and board strongly.

I don't think that I watched much ball the year Deng was at Duke. I definitely can see what you are saying re the similarity in roles. I also see a bigger offensive role that Lance might carve out for himself. I really like the way he moves. There is a balance and rhythm to it, even while it is fast. He covers ground exceedingly well. Can be a great receiver of the ball in the interior of the defense. Ninety percent of the rest is footwork and developing a diversity in bringing the ball into shooting position.

Duke will need interior scoring. I think that Lance can provide it proactively with a catch and shoot game.

I also think that it couldl come from the wealth of exterior players of decent size that Duke has who can catch it on the move somewhat interior to the defense and shot with a mixture of sometimes penetrating all the way to the basket, and somtimes shooting midrange off the catch or one dribble, as we saw alot last year from VT and Va. That has not been K's style, which in the past has depended much more on guys running off screens for the three ball.

Just an old gym rat's musings: in my mind's eye, DeMarcus, Scheyer, Smith, Henderson, Marty, and maybe even McClure if K let's him off the hook some on defense, might really hurt some people with that kind of show. Then, if you have Lance and the new guy hurting people inside out so to speak, and Z having lot's of space low, could be pretty interesting.

Oh, Paulus hopefully is healthy and hurting people in all kinds of ways, and is the general on the floor leading quite a tight bunch of elite warriers into battle. Works for me.

[Classof06]

In the NBA, Luol starts on the perimeter. For Duke, he was our PF. He had an uncanny knack for rebounding, aided greatly by his freakishly long arms. He got lots of stickbacks on offensive boards. He would drift out a little and shoot the mid-range jumper, or even the 3 pointer as well.

I think Lance could work towards being this kind of player. We wouldn't run a lot of plays for him, but he'd get a few points off boards or on the break and he could hit a medium range jumper and board strongly.

I guess you could consider Luol our PF that year, but only because he was the 2nd tallest starter. Luol is one of those players that illustrates why Duke doesn't define their players by position.

I also don't agree with the Luol comparison to Lance. I'll acknowledge that we've probably only seen 20% of what Lance can do offensively, but for now, I don't see it. Luol spent much more time on the perimeter than Lance will ever have to and was just more fluid altogether. Luol could create his own shot off the dribble, get to the rack, or pop the 3 (something he doesn't really do in the NBA). Lance has the mid-range but I wouldn't want to see him hoisting up 3s or routinely catching the ball outside 17-18 feet. I like the Antonio Lang comparison much, much more.

I think Henderson is the more apt comparison, and Luol is who came to my mind when I first saw Gerald play and heard he was coming to Duke. What's interesting about that is it makes you wonder whether K will put Gerald at the 4 and Singler at the 5 with Paulus, Nelson and Scheyer. Size-wise, that's eerily similar to the '04 lineup of Duhon, Ewing, Redick, Deng, and Shelden. I'm not saying that we're going to the Final Four, but that '04 lineup was both versatile and successful in terms of matchups (you can't get to the Final Four if you're not). I guess you could say '04 had more froncourt depth with Horvath and Shav, but nothing to write home about as UCONN showed us all.

[The Gordog]

Dave was never the same after he almost injured his knee in a play that physically turned out to not be as bad as it looked at first, but it apparently took its toll mentally.


What do you mean, "almost". It was not an ACL tear or anything season ending, but it was hyperextended.

[ACCBBallFan]

What do you mean, "almost". It was not an ACL tear or anything season ending, but it was hyperextended.

You are right, Gordog. My choice of word "almost" could have been better chosen or placed elsewhere in the sentence. Point is, at the time everybody thought is was going to be even worse than hyper extended.

Though it might not have been as bad physically as it could have been, it definitely affected Dave's play the rest of last year, possiby more mentally and naturally tentative than the actual physical damage,

[whereinthehellami]

I've blown my knee out multiple times and have had 4 knee surgeries (two ACL replacements) on my right knee. I finally got the message and haven't touched a basketball in over 5 years. Its hard to get confidence back in a part of your body that has failed you, especially if you blow it out (very scary). The last time I blew it out, I was afraid to look at it as I was sure that there was a compound fracture, the EMTs had to cut the brace away from my knee. I feel for Dave and was amazed at how his play was last year before tweaking a knee that had already had work done on it. Dave was all over the court and seemed to always be around the ball. He was a different player after tweaking his knee and it brought back alot of memories of long rehabilitation roads and tentative movements. If he gets his confidence back and his knee is actually okay, he will start. Thats alot of ifs though. I know I'll be rooting for Dave.

[greybeard]

I've blown my knee out multiple times and have had 4 knee surgeries (two ACL replacements) on my right knee. I finally got the message and haven't touched a basketball in over 5 years. Its hard to get confidence back in a part of your body that has failed you, especially if you blow it out (very scary). The last time I blew it out, I was afraid to look at it as I was sure that there was a compound fracture, the EMTs had to cut the brace away from my knee. I feel for Dave and was amazed at how his play was last year before tweaking a knee that had already had work done on it. Dave was all over the court and seemed to always be around the ball. He was a different player after tweaking his knee and it brought back alot of memories of long rehabilitation roads and tentative movements. If he gets his confidence back and his knee is actually okay, he will start. Thats alot of ifs though. I know I'll be rooting for Dave.

Some pieces of writing sing. This does to anyone who has had this kind of loss, hopefully to those who haven't also.

If you haven't already, you really need to read the author's preface to "Taking It To the Hoop," an autobiographical piece by a gym rat who could not walk away. The preface captures the lure better than anything I've read or heard. The author is a famous NY Times Sports Reporter whose written several books on and with star basketball players. Nope, I don't remember so good no more, sorry.

[whereinthehellami]

Basketball has always been a way for me to get away from everything. Something about the sound of the ball on the court, the rim, and the sweet swish of the net. Indoors, outdoors it didn't matter. With friends, strangers but mostly by myself, basketball was always a place I could go to get it "right". Towards the end of my playing days, after the surgeries and the long rehabilitations I would still go the courts and tell myself that i would just shoot FTs but that invariably led to a couple of quick J's and then I was sucked back into the beauty of the game. I still remember the day I put the ball down on the court and walked away vowing to never touch a ball again. It was a beatiful summer night, where the colors of the sky and the night air was just right, the court at the park was calling me. After shooting for awhile, my knee just went numb, I couldn't feel it at all, it was like it wasn't there at all. I couldn't feel any support or anything. I just limped off the court, put the ball down on the edge of the court, and walked away from the basket that begged for one more shot. I miss playing but I really miss just shooting around. Just thinking about not being able to play is tough and its been about 5 years now. Its cathardic to write about it on a message board. I guess some of you might understand that pull and its something I don't talk about much cause most people probably wouldn't understand how tough its been.

[greybeard]

Basketball has always been a way for me to get away from everything. Something about the sound of the ball on the court, the rim, and the sweet swish of the net. Indoors, outdoors it didn't matter. With friends, strangers but mostly by myself, basketball was always a place I could go to get it "right". Towards the end of my playing days, after the surgeries and the long rehabilitations I would still go the courts and tell myself that i would just shoot FTs but that invariably led to a couple of quick J's and then I was sucked back into the beauty of the game. I still remember the day I put the ball down on the court and walked away vowing to never touch a ball again. It was a beatiful summer night, where the colors of the sky and the night air was just right, the court at the park was calling me. After shooting for awhile, my knee just went numb, I couldn't feel it at all, it was like it wasn't there at all. I couldn't feel any support or anything. I just limped off the court, put the ball down on the edge of the court, and walked away from the basket that begged for one more shot. I miss playing but I really miss just shooting around. Just thinking about not being able to play is tough and its been about 5 years now. Its cathardic to write about it on a message board. I guess some of you might understand that pull and its something I don't talk about much cause most people probably wouldn't understand how tough its been.

"The preface captures the lure better than anything I've read or heard." Until just now.

[mgtr]

I agree. While the specifics are just right in regard to basketball, the sense of the post can relate to any love one is forced by circumstances to abandon. Unfortunately, there are many who do not realize that it is time, maybe even past time, to stop. Props to one who did know when, and also wrote about it beautifully.