‘Lew’ can do: Young center blossoming
BY DON WILLIAMS l AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
In its 83-76 conquest of Baylor on Saturday, Texas Tech had an array of notable contributions. Stellar floor play from John Roberson. Scoring punch from Alan Voskuil. Ten rebounds and lots of tenacity from Michael Prince.
Yet, in the postgame news conference, the most asked-about player was Robert Lewandowski.
The freshman center didn’t score as many points as Roberson and Voskuil, who co-led the team with 18 apiece. He didn’t have as many rebounds as Prince, nor did his stat line reveal anything quite as glowing as Roberson’s 9-to-1 ratio of assists to turnovers.
But Tech coach Pat Knight didn’t disagree that Lewandowski deserved recognition for his 15-point performance that came on 7-of-8 shooting.
“Unbelievable,’’ Knight said. “I didn’t think he was going to be this good this fast. I really thought he was going be a really good role player. I was just going to throw him into the fire this year and let him learn. He is becoming a player, and he’s only a freshman.’’
The “really good role player’’ has scored in double digits five games in a row, a stretch in which he’s averaging 14.2 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Baylor center Kevin Rogers had a good game of his own, scoring 17 points and pulling nine rebounds, but Rogers said Lewandowski had his respect.
“He’s very strong, and he really attacks the rim,’’ Rogers said. “He plays within himself, which is the best thing for him. If he continues to work, he’ll be a great player.’’
Knight said the last part is almost taken for granted. He’s found the big freshman to be a self-starter and dedicated when it comes to working on his game. The 6-foot-10 Lewandowski discovered a resource in 6-foot-8 Steve Downing, Tech’s senior associate athletic director who starred for Bob Knight at Indiana before being a Boston Celtics first-round pick in 1973.
Pat Knight said Downing has been a mentor and sounding board for Lewandowski and helps him with the finer points of post play.
Roberson and Voskuil said the team’s perimeter scoring helps unclog things down low for Lewandowski, who’s then able to make the most of one-on-one situations.
“He’s so big and so good using his body, usually it’s two points every time,’’ Roberson said.
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Nice to see the guys playing well. Wreck ‘em Tech!
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We haven’t seen a big man like him since Andy Ellis. I have been impressed with Robert. He is someone we can build around and looks like Pat found a real gem. Great game Robert!
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I could tell this guy was going to be good the first time I saw him. They can build around him for the future. Don’t know how he got away from the state of Kansas but he was a great pick-up.
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Tech hasn’t had a kid like this in MANY years. Ellis was good, but not a LEW! Next year could be special. Play this one out guys!
WRECK’EM!!!
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Way to go Raiders! Great game. It would be nice to see the big guys get the ball more often down low. Lewandowski is doing well, but it sure would be great to see Roberts get more active on the offensive end. For a starter and only scoring 2-4 pts a game just isn’t cutting it. Great on defense and great shot blocking but weak on the offensive end. For a young man with his arm span and height. He should be a scoring terror. Still needs to put on weight.
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I like seeing the improved play of Lew. The future looks a bit brighter knowing the middle will be well covered. With his improvement and the improved controlled play at guard, the area needing improvement is probably the forward position. If Singletary can become more consistent, we should have part of the equation solved. I do wonder why he is not playing as much. He seemed to be really coming around early in conference play, but his minutes have gone down lately, thus his lower stat line. Whatever the issue, I hope Pk and Mike get it settled. He could really be a key for us as well in the future. I just think he has such a huge upside that I would like to see him starting to take agvantage of his athleticism. As for Lew, just keep improving and we will have our new version of Harold Hudgens (real old school).
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Way to go LEW! That goes for the entire team and the coaching staff. All of you were outstanding!
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Congratulations Robert, on a fineyear so far. Your former Overland Park neighbors, now in Katy, Tx. enjoy getting the opportunity to see you continue to develope.
Go Lew!
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