Sutton knows importance of point guard; Lucas fills the bill
By Berry Tramel
Published: March 30, 2004
This article originally appeared in the March 21, 2004 edition of The Oklahoman
The point guard be it motormouth Doug Gottlieb or sharpshooter Brooks Thompson or Ron Brewer from long-gone Arkansas days is Sutton's conscience while the clock moves. Despite a game's many stoppages, sometimes the sport flows enough that Sutton can't command move by move.
That's where the point guard comes in. Slow it down. Speed it up. Run motion. Clear out. Penetrate. Get four other quality but headstrong players to go where they're supposed to go.
And if the point guard can play a little, too, it never hurts.
Which brings us to Oklahoma State's John Lucas and the NCAA regional showdown against Memphis today at Kemper Arena. The Cowboys are a win away from the Sweet 16, and Lucas is the prime reason why.
Lucas is more than the Big 12 Player of the Year. He's the best point guard of the 14-year Sutton era at OSU. Few teams make it this deep into March without a master conductor. Memphis included. Senior Antonio Burks is a match for Lucas. Burks is the Conference USA Player of the Year, and his stats are strikingly similar to Lucas'.
Points: Lucas 15.4, Burks 15.8. Assists-to-turnover ratio: Lucas 2.61, Burks 2.33. Field-goal percentage: Lucas 46.7, Burks 47.4. 3-point percentage: Lucas 41.2, Burks 40.6. Look no further for clues why OSU is 28-3 and the favorite to make the Final Four, or why Memphis is a viable threat to spoil the Cowboys' charmed season. Point-guard play is paramount.
"I think it's the most valuable position on the court, said Sean Sutton, an old OSU point guard himself.
Check the last five NCAA title teams. All had point guards ranging from solid to spectacular. Syracuse's Gerry McNamara, Maryland's Steve Blake, Duke's Jason Williams, Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves and UConn's Khalid El-Amin.
The OSU-Texas series this season was prime ammunition for the pointguard debate. Both teams have excellent players, but UT has more of them. Yet OSU went 3-0 vs. the Longhorns because it had a point guard and Texas didn't.
The only OSU season Eddie Sutton found himself in such a pickle, 1996-97, he suffered his worst season in Stillwater, 17-15. That's the year the Cowboys rotated a shooting guard (Marlon Dorsey), a power forward (Chianti Roberts) and a football player (R.W. McQuarters) at point guard.
"We learned a hard lesson, Sean Sutton said.
Decision-making is the primary demand of a point guard.
But the best point guards can score, too, like a leadoff hitter who can hit home runs. Enter Lucas.
His game management is above reproach; Sutton has spent a career blowing his stack at point guards, but rarely does Lucas trigger Sutton's now-famous scowl. Plus, the little guy can stick the ball in the basket. Since Big 12 play started in January, Lucas is OSU's top scorer.
What Cowboy point guard has ever played better? Thompson was a shooter deluxe and a feisty competitor. Gottlieb was a passer extraordinaire and knew the game. Andre Owens played bulldog defense. Victor Williams was clutch. In Sutton's first two OSU seasons, Sean Sutton, Corey Williams and Darwyn Alexander formed a three-headed pointguard monster that combined could do it all.
But Lucas shoots better than all but Thompson. His basketball savvy approaches Gottlieb's. His beat-the-clock knack is as good as Williams'.
Truth is, the only point guard who can approach the complete package of Lucas is Maurice Baker, who in 2000-01 was a whale of a ballplayer. Injuries wrecked his senior year, but as a junior Baker was sensational. That was the plane-crash season, and most everything was naturally overshadowed by the tragedy. Plus, Baker didn't have a great supporting cast. But he was a heck of a point guard.
Yet Lucas surpasses him. Point guards are like quarterbacks; you judge them by victories as much as anything else.
"If this team wins tomorrow, Sean Sutton said Saturday, "you gotta put him at the top.
A win won't come easy, with Antonio Burks on the court for Memphis. But it's going to be even tougher on Memphis. John Lucas will see to that.
