2008 Woodie Awards
MSU plays No. 1 Memphis today
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Sports
HOUSTON (AP) - Everyone knows about the freshman guard who does everything. It's Derrick Rose of Memphis, and the biggest question about his NBA future isn't whether he'll go, but whether he'll have an NCAA championship in tow when he does.
But there's another good one in this South Regional. His name is Kalin Lucas, the penetrating point guard for Michigan State, who will be trying to stop Rose - or at least neutralize him - when the fifth-seeded Spartans meet top-seeded Memphis on Friday.
"He was noticeable. He was very noticeable," Rose said of his memories of Lucas from their meetings in AAU games. "He didn't just pop into the limelight. He's been there."
The NCAA tournament ramps things up a bit, however, and when Lucas scored 19 points in Michigan State's second-round win over Pitt last week, this week's freshman-on-freshman guard matchup became an obvious story line for today's 9:57 p.m. game.
Pretty much everyone knows Rose, who is projected as a No. 1, 2 or 3 pick if he bolts college for the NBA after this season, as expected.
While Neitzel was jacking up 3s, Lucas was taking the ball to the rim, something he did with ease when he was in high school, an all-everything player in Michigan, but that took some refining once he got to the next level.
"Coming from high school, it was more getting into the lane and making a lot of layups and stuff like that," Lucas said. "In college, you have to adjust to 7-footers and big guys in the lanes."
The adjustment wasn't automatic. After starting five games at the beginning of the season, Izzo saw his freshman struggling, saw a lineup that was too young, not able to live up to the high expectations that follow the Spartans around as vividly as memories of Magic Johnson and Mateen Cleaves.
The coach urged his freshman to watch more film, analyze the rights and wrongs of his game more. Lucas got the starting job back in February and now has his team in the regional semifinals for the seventh time in Izzo's 13 years.
Though Rose demurs when asked about his future, conventional wisdom is he'll do like so many freshmen have of late and bail when this season's over for the Tigers, regardless of whether that's here or next week in San Antonio.
Lucas? He's almost certainly destined to stay.
Izzo calls him the fastest player he's ever coached.
Problem is, Izzo sees Memphis, with Rose, as a newer version of the Lakers when they had another famous Michigan State alum - Magic Johnson.
"As good as I've seen," Izzo says of Rose. "And he, too, maybe doesn't get as much credit. He's not scoring 25 points a game, because he's playing in a system where his job is to deliver the ball some, score the ball some. He's got great versatility, and I think that's what makes him a special player."
-The Associated Press
But there's another good one in this South Regional. His name is Kalin Lucas, the penetrating point guard for Michigan State, who will be trying to stop Rose - or at least neutralize him - when the fifth-seeded Spartans meet top-seeded Memphis on Friday.
"He was noticeable. He was very noticeable," Rose said of his memories of Lucas from their meetings in AAU games. "He didn't just pop into the limelight. He's been there."
The NCAA tournament ramps things up a bit, however, and when Lucas scored 19 points in Michigan State's second-round win over Pitt last week, this week's freshman-on-freshman guard matchup became an obvious story line for today's 9:57 p.m. game.
Pretty much everyone knows Rose, who is projected as a No. 1, 2 or 3 pick if he bolts college for the NBA after this season, as expected.
While Neitzel was jacking up 3s, Lucas was taking the ball to the rim, something he did with ease when he was in high school, an all-everything player in Michigan, but that took some refining once he got to the next level.
"Coming from high school, it was more getting into the lane and making a lot of layups and stuff like that," Lucas said. "In college, you have to adjust to 7-footers and big guys in the lanes."
The adjustment wasn't automatic. After starting five games at the beginning of the season, Izzo saw his freshman struggling, saw a lineup that was too young, not able to live up to the high expectations that follow the Spartans around as vividly as memories of Magic Johnson and Mateen Cleaves.
The coach urged his freshman to watch more film, analyze the rights and wrongs of his game more. Lucas got the starting job back in February and now has his team in the regional semifinals for the seventh time in Izzo's 13 years.
Though Rose demurs when asked about his future, conventional wisdom is he'll do like so many freshmen have of late and bail when this season's over for the Tigers, regardless of whether that's here or next week in San Antonio.
Lucas? He's almost certainly destined to stay.
Izzo calls him the fastest player he's ever coached.
Problem is, Izzo sees Memphis, with Rose, as a newer version of the Lakers when they had another famous Michigan State alum - Magic Johnson.
"As good as I've seen," Izzo says of Rose. "And he, too, maybe doesn't get as much credit. He's not scoring 25 points a game, because he's playing in a system where his job is to deliver the ball some, score the ball some. He's got great versatility, and I think that's what makes him a special player."
-The Associated Press
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