Lucas: Leading By Example

 
Michigan State are flying high, two last minute wins over Minnesota on Saturday and then bitter rivals Michigan on Tuesday have secured the Spartans an 8-0 start to the Big Ten, their best Conference start in their history. Ranked #5 in the power rankings, Michigan State has a real chance to claim a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and they have the talent to contend for a title that they were only one victory away from last year. Inside presence is the strength of this Spartan line-up with forwards Raymar Morgan, Draymond Green and Delvyn Roe averaging 19.7 rebounds per game between them. Durrell Summers also averages 5.0 rebounds per game; Michigan State has a +9.0 rebound differential against opposition this season, a huge advantage.

The key to it all is still the team’s playmaker Kalin Lucas. Lucas has made a name for himself during his three years in College Basketball, most notably last season when he quarterbacked his team to the NCAA final. He is averaging 15.6 points per game and 4.0 assists, not overwhelming statistics when compared to a player like Manny Harris of Michigan for example. However, the very qualities that are questioned in Harris are the qualities that can be considered Lucas’ strength. Lucas encapsulates the intangibles that any team could ask for from its star player and in the Spartans most recent close games, he demonstrated exactly what makes him an outstanding basketball player by hitting the crucial winning basket in the dying seconds in both matches. In many ways his performance against Michigan was the most impressive in spite of the fact that he registered just 12 points. He struggled through the first half, but came up with some big three-pointers in the second before hitting a mid-range jump shot with just 3.5 seconds left on the clock to give his team a 57-56 victory.

It is this leadership and desire to have the ball when the game is on the line that makes Lucas such a special player. He has already led the Spartans to once NCAA final and he is more than capable of leading them to another. Ty Lawson was undoubtedly the key cog in the dominant North Carolina line-up that triumphed in March Madness last year; with another year of experience under his belt, Lucas is more than capable of being that man for Michigan State in 2010.

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