Rest-less rookie: Big man Landen Lucas leg-weary

Newcomer Landen Lucas waits to check in to the scrimmage on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at the Horejsi Center.

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KU Alumni Scrimmage

It’s easy to understand why Landen Lucas missed three floor shots and a pair of free throws during Wednesday’s Bill Self campers game in Horejsi Center.

The huge 6-foot-10, 244-pound Kansas University freshman center has been running on just a handful of hours of sleep all week.

He graduated from Portland (Ore.) Westview High on Monday, followed by an all-night graduation celebration, flew to his new college town Tuesday, then hustled to class and a doctor’s physical exam bright and early Wednesday.

Whew.

“It’s going to take a minute for me to catch my breath, to get my legs under me. That’ll all come. It was just nice getting out there and getting to play,” said Lucas, who grabbed four rebounds while guarding, and being guarded by, senior Jeff Withey, who scored 16 points with 15 rebounds in the Blue team’s 62-51 victory.

“He’s good, really big and long,” Lucas added of 7-footer Withey. “I’m just starting to figure him out now so hopefully in open gyms and stuff I can do little things. I’m trying to see exactly how I can do work against him, but I can see why he got all those blocks and stuff.”

Lucas, who averaged 19.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.8 assists per game his senior season at 18-7 Westview High, hopes to learn a lot from Withey in Withey’s final season at KU.

“The biggest adjustment for me will be the size difference. Everyone is big. Everyone is quick,” Lucas said. “Usually you can find a weakness in a big in high school. Everyone is good here. Getting adjusted to the tempo ... that will eventually come with just playing.”

Lucas received words of wisdom from his dad, Richard, a former standout at the University of Oregon, on Tuesday prior to leaving his hometown for KU.

“He said, ‘Rebound and do the things most people don’t want to do ... what they need from a big. If you do that, you’ll get playing time,’” Landen said. “I need to know my role. The gap is when Withey comes out and somebody needs to be anchor. Any way I can help and come in for him and try to hold it down in the paint, I’ll do it.”

Of finally being in college, Lucas said: “It’s a dream come true for every kid. This is just the start of everything. I’m ready to get started.”

KU’s Withey said he likes what he has seen from the newcomer.

“He’s a big guy. He ran the floor pretty well. It’ll be fun to play with him,” Withey said. “The coaches will get him ready to play.”

Former KU forward Julian Wright scored 13 points, while KU freshmen Perry Ellis and Andrew White had 10 and seven points respectively for the losing Red team. Ellis had four rebounds. Withey, Justin Wesley (12 points, six rebounds) and Travis Releford (10) scored in double figures for the winning Blue squad.

Also for the Blues, freshman Ben McLemore scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. He had the day’s signature play — a vicious one-handed dunk that came off his own miss.

“I followed my shot, saw an opening and dunked it,” McLemore said. “It was fun to play against Julian. Being in the NBA ... I’ve worked out with him sometimes. He shows you that hard work in the gym pays off.”

Minor bumps, bruises: KU freshmen Zach Peters and Jamari Traylor did not play because of minor injuries. Peters took an elbow to the head in a workout this week and was held out for precautionary reasons. Traylor has a knee bruise. Traylor coached the Red team, while KU senior Elijah Johnson, who is out until July 11 following offseason arthroscopic knee surgery, coached the Blues.

Highlights: Wright slam-dunked off a pinpoint pass from Ellis. ... Naadir Tharpe hit a deep two-pointer, just in front of the three-point line. ... Tharpe had a lob pass to Wesley for a slam. ... Ellis dunked off a lob from Aaron Miles. ... White hit a driving layup off a feed from Brady Morningstar.

Scoring: Red team: Julian Wright 13, Perry Ellis 10, Andrew White 7, Brady Morningstar 7, Aaron Miles 6, Niko Roberts 6, Evan Manning 3, Landen Lucas 2 (players were given credit for a made free throw on the first of two-shot fouls, accounting for Lucas’ two points).

Blue team: Jeff Withey 16, Justin Wesley 12, Travis Releford 10, Ben McLemore 8, Jeff Hawkins 8, Naadir Tharpe 7, Christian Garrett 2.

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ukanjhox 11 months, 2 weeks ago

How many for kid Self and kid Manning? I kid I kid. And boy! I'd have loved to see that 'highlight' of Naadir hitting a 2 point jump shot! That's pretty incredible.

memhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

It does show Manning with 3pts. No mention of Young Tyler, however. Maybe got confused and was playing on one of the camper's teams.

justinryman 11 months, 2 weeks ago

What's the big deal with the lack of sleep in college.

I didn't sleep and I'm alive to talk about it. Then again who didn't sleep?

Glad to see Mr. Hawkins in the box score along with Mr. Miles as well.

sniper60 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I did not sleep alot during my 12 years in the military..................but for different reasons of course!

This is going to be a fun team to watch this year!

rockchalk1990 11 months, 2 weeks ago

As I read that, I thought your sentence was going to finish "my 12 years in college"... That would have been quite an achievement!

dylans 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Stanford U. did a study recently. Athletes who get plenty of sleep average more points per game (I don't remember the exact amount). The athletes studied were both college and pro players. Students score better on exams also.

Nokona 11 months, 2 weeks ago

It's important not to confuse correlation with cause-and-effect, although in this case, getting enough sleep may actually be the cause of better performance.

The MSN homepage frequently has headlines about studies that show a correlation and then imply cause-and-effect while offering no proof.

GoHawkYourself 11 months, 2 weeks ago

How is this not basic common knowledge, your body runs off getting enough sleep. Your brain, your strength, your immune system, your cardiovascular system, none of these things work properly if you're not getting enough sleep. If performance is based on your body working properly then yes, I'd venture to say that getting enough sleep has a cause-and-effect relationship with better performance.

SaltLakeHawk 11 months, 1 week ago

95% of criminals have tattoos. Therefore, tattoos cause people to commit crimes.

I see this mistake in logic every single day, especially in the news.

Strikewso 11 months, 2 weeks ago

It's still just incredible how much of a stud Withey has become.

jhawk7782 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Really?
How does he compare to former Jayhawks who played at his position? NBA?

I just don't know how to judge Withey. He has made huge strides but his offensive skills aren't that great. Not much of a vertical leap, not explosive.

I hope you are right. I would love to see him make that next big step. Good guy, hard worker...we'll see.

VaJay 11 months, 2 weeks ago

So you're a glass half full kinda guy huh?

jhawk7782 11 months, 1 week ago

I want every Jayhawk to be successful. The guys who stick around for 3 or 4 years always seem to make considerable jumps in their play from one year to the next.

But hat doesn't necessarily

SaltLakeHawk 11 months, 1 week ago

I'd venture to say that Withey was our most valuable player in the tournament this year.

Even more valuable than T-Rob, and that's no slight against T-Rob. Withey's clutch defense got us to the national championship game.

konkeyDong 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Well, Withey may not be able to step his scoring up much, and he may not make it in the NBA, but being the best shot blocker in the country and the key reason we had the best 2pt fg defense in the NCAA last year, I'll say yeah, he's become a stud. If he can get his scoring and rebounding averages into double digits for his senior campaign, he'll be giving us all we need for another deep tourney run.

huggybearhawk 11 months, 1 week ago

Withey is already predicted a late first rounder next year. I surmise he'll go even higher than that. http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft/results/players?id=19763&;slug=jeff-withey&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fdraft%2fresults%2fplayers%3fid%3d19763%26_slug_%3djeff-withey

konkeyDong 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Withey should also be helped when the NBA finals are over and Cole gets back to town. Right now he's kind of without a big man mentor.

OakvilleJHawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Not scoring but blocking shots and being a big obstacle up the middle worked pretty well for Ostertag for 12 NBA seasons!!

JHawk06 11 months, 2 weeks ago

jkilgore 11 months, 2 weeks ago

You beat me to it. As he is right now, he's a future multi-millionaire. If he can improve his offensive game, and he probably will, the sky is the limit. Athletic, jumping, quick off the feet, coachable players don't come around that often.

jhawk7782 11 months, 1 week ago

Worked for 'Big Mo' Paul Mokeski also

drgnslayr 11 months, 2 weeks ago

And to think he really has only played one year at D1 where he was actually racking up minutes. Essentially, his experience is that of a sophomore who played big minutes as a freshman.

I hope he goes to dancing school this summer. Get those big feet working to his advantage.

Look at what the guy does right:

shot blocker
decent rebounder
good hands
good FT%
good FG%
decent speed

Give the guy some footwork and he will make it to the next level.

jaybate 11 months, 2 weeks ago

"Jeff Withey and the New Bigs, or Will an Enforcer Please Step Forward"

Can Jeff get better, stronger and more skilled?

He will have to step out from behind TRob's protection.

But it seems very likely that he will, assuming he avoids major injury.

Remember, he was trying to support TRob last season, not beat him out. He was trying to stay on the floor, not take it over.

He has taken some big violence and kept coming; that is hugely important; that means if he has the getting better gene, then he can continue to improve despite the awful pounding he will be given this year.

Add 15 pounds and he is the gold standard in D1.

Add 25 in the L and he is a 15 year guy in the NBA--a part time starter, and part time backup.

Offensively, Jeff just needs one back to the basket move into the paint. With that, he can destroy most college centers by going which ever way they take away, baseline to iron, or sky hook in the paint. Or vice versa. With these two moves and a good pair of goggles, Jabbar basically rewrote the record book shy of Wilt.

I'm not sure a sky hook is feasible in XTReme Muscle Ball, even if Jeff can learn it, because a hook requires such steadiness and XTReme fouling would seem to preclude that. Still, it seems worth a try with Jeff's good touch. Like Jabbar, who could also shoot FTs, if Jeff can get one hard-t0-guard, turn-to-the-paint move, then he will always force another team to sag on him, and he will always be going to the foul line, and he will always be putting the opposing team's center in foul trouble with ten minutes to go. Period.

Since Jeff will not likely ever be able to muscle, any more than Jabbar ever could, Jeff will have to learn to cheap shot the way Jabbar did to counter all the abuse he will have to take.

But even if Jeff cannot develop that turn-to-the-paint move, that opens up a baseline move, Bill Russell did okay rebounding, defending, and picking up garbage. :-)

Tim Duncan is another guy Jeff should be studying very closely.

Duncan seems the other way to go. Duncan has developed a face up game over the years from slightly farther out.

jkilgore 11 months, 2 weeks ago

When I was in high school 34 years ago, we landed a coach from Illinois that had our post players emulate Jack Sikma's reverse pivot. As well as he can jump, why not?

Basketball Post Play the reverse pivot 1 by jrice81

jaybate 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Great recall. I forgot about Sikma. That was a slick move he had.

jaybate 11 months, 2 weeks ago

It all depends on what Jeff can learn to do the most naturally.

But if he learns either a sky hook, or can emulate Duncan's face up shooting, watch out!

Skinny guys like Jabbar and Duncan prove that with one or the other of those kinds of moves, they are going to be around a long time and cause a lot of head aches for other teams.

Add this savant like blocking ability of Jeff's, and he could be the biggest sleeper of this season.

If he develops the right move for this season, we could be looking at a Number One.

But if he stands pat, he is going to take such a terrible beating without Thomas' protective shield that this season could seem like a bit of a let down, even if he plays well.

I will never forget what Thomas went through last season. It was even worse than what was done to Cole.

The Morri took some punishment, but with the two of them looking out for each other's back and willing to do anything to protect his brother, and having Thomas waiting in the wings to punish any abusers, The Morri got off a little easier than Cole and Thomas did when they played.

Depth in the paint capable of delivering a blow is crucial to keeping Jeff from being a punching bag this season.

We have depth now, but do we have effective depth? Depth that can deliver a blow and take a blow in conference warfare on a Saturday and then again on a Monday?

Zach catching an elbow and having to rest is not promising. Gots to have a hard head for D1 now a days. People that talk about Zach playing football need to remember he was primarily a pass catcher. Blocking tight ends are tough guys. Pass catching tight ends are usually pussies at heart, just bigger versions of the wide outs who are rabbits running from everything. What was Zach? Does he really like contact, or does he just like to deliver a blow on guys 20 pounds smaller? We need a big that can dish it out and take it, not just dish it out.

Landon talking about feeling his way along, about fatigue and lack of sleep, also isn't promising. He talks about Withey like Withey is the Giant and Landon is Jack looking up the bean stock.

Inference: Landon and Zach appear likely to be going to need a full year to mature into D1 bigs able to take and deliver the violence of D1 ball.

Jamari? Sitting out with a bruised knee? D1 is full of guys playing with knees that need surgery.

I get the feeling there could be quite a few post games until February, where the topic of discussion is going to be bigs needing to man-up.

Tough luck, Jeff. Be prepared for some brutality, while the new guys find their killer instincts and corresponding muscles...if they do at all this season.

Will an enforcer please step forward?

nashhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Jaybate and his novels are back!

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

"Ae we talking about practice? Practice?" AI

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Maybe it's not just Lucas that needs some more sleep? (See thread above.)

phogphan2000 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Sounds like a great way to get started for the newcomers. Have to love Wesley getting after it and letting the young guys know they have their work cut out for them. Not too read too far into things but nice to see Withey putting up some points. Also sounds like maybe McLemore is going to help Self put an athletic team on the floor which is nice. Between EJ, BMac, TRel, Ellis and Withey it will be tough for most teams to match that size and quickness. I take it KYo is off playing with the Puerto Rican team.

I was just thinking how Self is going to have to modify the offense some from last year's TT and TRob show. I'd love to see more cuts from the wings, particularly with some screens from a guy like Ellis that is big and can hit the mid-range jumper. Lot of fun pieces to work with, I hope Self enjoys putting together some plays that highlight these guys' skill sets.

billikenhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

I have no doubt Self will!

KU62 11 months, 1 week ago

On the other hand, we need to have newbies getting position and learning how and when to provide help defense a whole lot more than we need some highlight reel fodder. If you want highlights, buy an Xbox. If you prefer winning basketball, root for taking away the position an opponent wants to occupy and holding that position. Nothing takes away more of the enemy highlights than forcing them to do it differently than they want to.

willie_fu_fu 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Glad they have the games over seas this summer. This team will need some extra time to gel.

nuleafjhawk 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Highlights: Wright slam-dunked off a pinpoint pass from Ellis. ... Naadir Tharpe hit a deep two-pointer, just in front of the three-point line. ...

Good for Naadir ! I had to laugh though, I've never heard a shot described as a "deep two-pointer". I hope he can hit some "short three pointers" too.

illuminatironin 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Is there anywhere we can put faces with the names of the new players?

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

hey'll probably update the roster after they do team pix this summer. When does KYo get back from PR? Are all the others on campus?

dagger108 11 months, 2 weeks ago

Answering own question - Recalling that we're still filling out this class.

illuminatironin 11 months, 2 weeks ago

On another note I was driving through Atlanta the other day and saw a Missouri billboard that read "proud to be SEC". I threw up in my mouth a little bit.