Nate Latsch Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Missouri sophomore Matt Lawrence (Lafayette) made seven of 11 3-point attempts and scored 27 points in the Tigers' season opening win. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...B1?OpenDocument Not bad for a kid who got little recruiting attention. I watched some of Mizzou's second exhibition game and Lawrence's jumper was amazing. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Yeah, he had to go D1 on an academic scholarship. I guess D1 CALIBER PLAYERS DO GET OVERLOOKED! They play at 3 today vs Army on FSM Midwest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Nate, how did he compare to Dustin coming out of high school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Majerus Magic Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 When I watched them play, I thought they were pretty different. In high school DM was forced to play down low while Lawrence was able to roam the arc with Landon Shipley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Lawrence could roam because they had Kreinkamp to play pf and Bannister and Leitner and briefly Hawkins. DM played wing in AAU though and should've done it more on E'ville if they'd just played Terrence Williams more. Williams has a ton of division 1 offers. Anyone know if will Brad will offer. He's had a reputation for grabbing projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 "had to go D1 on academic scholarship" That isn't true. He could have gone to many quality D1 schools on a full athletic scholarship but was given the choice to attend a BCS school if he was willing to accept an academic scholarship of equal value. It was a win-win situtation for him and Mizzou. But to act like Mizzou found a "diamond in the rough" that nobody else wanted just isn't right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted November 11, 2006 Author Share Posted November 11, 2006 Lawrence didn't have to go to a Division I school on an academic scholarship. He chose to, but when other recruits didn't make it, he was rewarded with a scholarship before his freshman year. As a junior at Lafayette, the Lancers had some big men who allowed Lawrence to play more away from the basket and I thought he had a good season. As a senior, after Paul Banister and Jared Kreienkamp graduated, Lawrence had to play more inside and I thought he didn't have as good of a season. (And point guard Landon Shipley had a great year.) Dustin Maguire was never in a position in high school to really play away from the basket. When Maguire transferred to Edwardsville, it looked like he might get to play more on the perimeter, but it didn't really work out that way. I saw Lawrence play a lot more in high school than I did Maguire. I think I first saw Lawrence play as an eighth grader on the Gators summer-league team. Lawrence improved a lot between his sophomore and junior seasons, and also got a couple inches taller. If I had to choose between recruiting Lawrence or Maguire, I would have chosen Lawrence. I like Lawrence's shot more — Maguire has that kind of funky release — and Lawrence has a couple inches on Maguire. After his junior season, I said I didn't know if Lawrence would be a mid-major type D-1 player, but I was obviously wrong about that. Credit Quin Snyder for seeing something special in the kid — Quin told Lawrence he reminded him of himself — and taking a chance on him. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I agree with just about everything you said but I'm not really sure what chance Quin was taking with Matt as his initial offer was for an academic scholarship. If he hadn't worked out its not like he would have lost one of his 13 (less during the probation years) athletic schollys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Good game by Lawrence but lets not call him Larry Bird yet. At best I'd call Matt Lawrence a Troy Robertson, who also had a couple 27 point games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfunk Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 Where exactly did anyone compare him with Larry Bird (or any great player, for that matter)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 I really like Matt, but he's just been held scoreless in the first half and Anderson had to pull him because he just wasnt effective because he couldnt get open. It did open the middle for Grimes though. Hopefully Maguire can have the same kind of impact for Ian, so the defense cant sag on him. Lawrence's size makes him an excellent post feeder. Though Dustin was the higher rated recruit,Matt appears to be the better player, but that maybe that Anderson brought him along while Quin didnt know what he was doing as far as player development. I'll wait til this time next year to guage whether Dustin can grow and adjust. Nice to see a lot of local guys at the local universities though. Both schools have multiple local starters who are doing well. Here's to Liddell, Lisch, Meyer, Grimes, and Lawrence averaging double figures. All are pretty safe bets except Luke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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