Lance Thomas Interview

[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.