GopherHole.com Player Spotlight: Brent Lawson

Best Game: at Indiana on February 18th. While it wasn’t Brent’s highest scoring game of the season, the Gopher road victory over the Hoosiers was certainly his most memorable. With the Gophers trailing 71-68 with 17 seconds left, Brent slashed down the left side of the lane, caught a pass, and laid it in with his left hand while drawing a foul. He then buried the ensuing free throw to tie the game. Brent finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds and shot 2 for 3 from the field while playing 15 minutes.

Game to Forget: vs Purdue on February 21st. Ignoring some games early in the season when he wasn’t getting many (or any) minutes, Brent’s roughest game probably came right after his best game. In the Gophers’ horrible 18-point loss to the Boilers, Brent had a very quiet game. He went scoreless in 16 minutes, missing all 3 of his shot attempts from the field. He also grabbed just one rebound and got shut out on the rest of the stat sheet.

Positive Number: 7. That’s the number of turnovers Brent had in 282 minutes of playing time. That equates to just one per 40 minutes. Granted, Brent didn’t handle the ball a ton when he was on the court, but for a guy getting his first taste of significant playing time, that’s pretty impressive. And it’s not like Brent didn’t have any opportunities to commit turnovers, as he finished with a 2.7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Not too shabby.

Negative Number: 18. That’s the number of games where Brent attempted just one (or none) shot from the field. That was fine early in the season when he wasn’t getting many minutes, but 6 of those came in games where he played double-digit minutes and was needed to fill in for the departed Moe Hargrow. I would certainly never accuse Brent of taking a bad shot, but he did pass up some good ones on occasion.

Development Priority #1: Ball-Handling. This one shot to the top of the list the day Adam Boone got injured. With Aaron Robinson and Rico Tucker being the only two healthy guys at the point and neither having a ton of experience, the Gophers are likely going to need their shooting guards to help out with bringing the ball up the court. And with Brent Lawson in line to get a lot of minutes at the ‘2’, much of that responsibility will fall in his lap. Brent’s a very solid passer with the ball in his hands, but he has little experience dribbling the ball against pressure defense. He’s going to need to get it in a hurry.

Development Priority #2: Confidence. As a transfer walk-on two years ago, Brent played just 53 minutes all season. And most of those were in mop-up duty. When Moe Hargrow left last season, Brent became part of the primary rotation. But while he did a solid job in that role, at times he appeared to still feel like a walk-on. By that I mean that he was out there more to just be a 5th body and not make mistakes than he was to make an impact. As a 5th-year senior now, Brent needs to realize that he belongs out there and that he can be a solid contributor at the Big 10 level. As one of the team’s better shooters, he shouldn’t pass up open looks, and he also shouldn’t pass up chances to take the ball to the basket.

Ideal Stat Line: 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steals. When most fans think of Brent Lawson, they don’t really think of him as a key player, but last season’s stats give a different picture. Due to the absence of Moe Hargrow, Brent played double-digit minutes in each of the last 14 games. Against Iowa, he played 25 minutes. While he didn’t score a lot, he became a key part of the rotation. Now with the injury to Adam Boone, he’s going to become even more key. We still need to see what positions guys will settle into, but it’s quite possible that Brent will be playing 20+ minutes this season. And he’s going to need to produce in those minutes. Expecting Brent to be a double-digit scorer is probably stretching it, but he’ll get there some nights. He should also be a strong contributor in other areas due to his strength, intelligence, and passing ability.