KU’s Dedric Lawson worked hard for his 29 points vs. ISU: ‘They play pretty physical.’
Dedric Lawson can understand why Kansas’ guards sometimes hesitate before throwing him the basketball in the paint.
“Once the pass gets entered, guys (defenders) go after it no matter what,” junior power forward Lawson said after scoring 29 points on 13-of-17 shooting in KU’s 80-76 victory over Iowa State on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse. “They hit you or whatever, so most times the passer is scared to make the pass, scared to make the post entry just because they don’t know if I’m going to catch it, if the guy will knock me over or what may be.”
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Memphis native worked hard for his points Monday.
“They play pretty physical,” Lawson said of the Cyclones. Forward Michael Jacobson had 12 points, 11 rebounds and three fouls in 34 minutes and forward Cameron Lard two rebounds and five fouls in six minutes. “Once I’m trying to get position, they just push me out. When I’m trying to get position, they (refs) say, ‘Knock it off,’ things like that. (I’m) not talking bad about the refs, I’m just trying to fight for position.”
Lawson had four turnovers against ISU’s swarming defense while playing 38 minutes. KU had just 11 turnovers for the game compared to 24 in a loss to ISU in Ames, Iowa.
“It really is hard down there, posting and battling for 40 minutes,” Lawson said. “Usually you’re trying to battle and get position but the defender keeps pushing you. I told Devon (Dotson, eight assists, no turnovers, 38 minutes) at one point, ‘Just stop forcing it in, man, don’t force it. I’ll get away (from defenders).’
“They tried to drive it,” Lawson added of KU’s guards. “Marcus (Garrett, 16 points, 8-of-12 shooting) had great chances to do that. One time he threw it in and a guy jumped over my back. It’s pretty difficult the way they play me, so physical.”
KU coach Bill Self has been concerned about physical play down low.
“I don’t understand the rule, the emphasis,” Self said after the game. “They say you can’t put your knee up the guy’s butt when you are posting up. They rode him out the entire game. We didn’t get the call once. We tried to move him around a little more. The bottom line is he toughed it out.
“Anybody who knows Dedric knows his thighs are about as thick as his calves and he has really skinny legs. He doesn’t have the base when people push on him and it his hard for him to hold his position. They did a good job of pushing him off the block. He did a good job managing to maneuver out there.”
Self discussed the issue more on Tuesday’s Hawk Talk radio show.
“I feel bad for Dedric. I don’t know if anybody else does. He just gets the crap hammered out of him in there,” Self said. “Playing dead behind him, pushing out. You got a knee pushing on the butt, you got a forearm in the neck. It’s hard to establish post position, but a lot of that … people thought when we had Doke (Udoka Azubuike) we did that to everybody else, too, so I guess turnabout is fair play in some ways,” Self added with a laugh.
Agbaji nets eight points, five fouls
Self on freshman guard Ochai Agbaji, who scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds but fouled out in 16 minutes vs. Iowa State.
“I watched the tape today. I guess by the letter of the law he might have committed five fouls but by the way the game is usually called he probably committed two. He really didn’t get a chance to play the way he’s capable of playing. He had three touch fouls. I guess by the letter of the law they are probably fouls,” Self said.
Self liked the way Agbaji came back after committing three turnovers (and grabbing three boards) while playing just four minutes in Saturday’s loss at West Virginia.
“I kind of liked it. He showed me, ‘I’ll show you what aggressive is,’’’ Self said on Hawk Talk. “He was in attack mode (vs. ISU) right from the beginning. It felt like he belonged. I’m really pleased with what he did especially the first half (two threes, all of his eight points).”
“I think he could be an all-league type player eventually,” Self added of Agbaji.
ISU hit 12 threes; KU six
Kansas hit half as many threes as Iowa State on Monday night. KU made 6 of 14 and the Cyclones 12 of 30.
KU cashed two big ones late from beyond the arc.
Lagerald Vick knocked down a three-pointer with 2:11 left and the game tied, 69-69. Lawson hit a huge three that gave the Jayhawks a 77-72 margin with 23 ticks left.
“Dedric’s three was big. Lagerald’s was a tie game when he made it. It was a big shot,” Self said on Hawk Talk.
Vick opened the game 1 of 7 shooting. He made his last four shots and finished with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting (2 of 6 threes).
“You can tell him, ‘Keep shooting, stay aggressive.’ (But) I don’t think he remembers his last miss which is what all good players should be like,” Self said. “He has a good mindset shooting the ball.”
