Jim Larranaga says Chaz Lanier is 'special,' but Rick Barnes believes he's just getting started
NEW YORK — Jim Larranaga had seen Chaz Lanier before. Last December, at home at the Watsco Center in Miami, the Hurricane head coach saw Lanier scored 12 points on four 3-pointers in North Florida’s 95-55 loss on the road.
But that was then. This is now.
“He was great last year,” Larranaga said Tuesday night, “but he’s with this group around him, he’s really special.”
This group is No. 1 Tennessee, off to a 9-0 start to the season and atop the rankings behind Lanier’s firepower. On Tuesday it was a game-high 22 points on 4-for-7 shooting from three in a 75-62 win over Miami in the Jimmy V. Classic at Madison Square Garden.
“He went 8-for-15 (from the field), but he might have gone 10-for-15 on another night,” Larranaga said. “He’s going to be special.”
Chaz Lanier averaging a team-high 19.1 points through nine games
Lanier has been just that through nine games. He’s averaging a team-high 19.1 points per game, shooting 48.6% from the 3-point line and 48.0% from the field in 28.1 minutes per game.
He had 26 against Syracuse last week and 51 in two games in The Bahamas in November, when he went a combined 13-for-2s from three against Virginia and Baylor in the Baha Mar Championship. He had another 19 at Louisville in the second game of the season.
The evolution that Larranaga described is an evolution that Rick Barnes wants to see to continue. But that’s up to Lanier.
“Chaz has got to get himself involved,” Barnes said. “We’re going to run some things for him, but he’s going to have to work with more force coming off. When he gives the ball up, he can’t stand.
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“He’s going to have to learn to screen, move without the ball, and it’s on him to do it. Because we’ve talked about it now for six months, seven months.”
Rick Barnes: ‘You have to give him an A+ for what he’s done up to this point’
That’s what his teammates keep looking for as the conversation continues. But Barnes said there’s still too much standing around from Lanier, allowing himself to be draped by defenders.
“They can’t get the window to get (the ball) to him,” Barnes said, “so it’s a matter of him understanding. But to his defense, this is all new to him.”
This level of play is new, this level of attention on defense, this level of everything.
“I mean, he’s never dealt with what he’s dealing with right now,” Barnes said, “and you have to give him an A+ for what he’s done up to this point. But for him to go where I know he wants to go, if he’ll do what I think he will do, he will continue to add to his game. Which he’s going have to, because people aren’t just going let him stand and catch the ball and shoot it.”
There’s no reason the believe that growth won’t continue. It’s exactly what Larranaga saw Tuesday night.
“Guys like Chaz keep working,” Larranaga said, “get better, get stronger, get smarter. And last year, he was the No. 1 most efficient player in the country. Now he goes to a team that he’s surrounded by other terrific players.”
There’s still a whole other level of terrific he can reach.
“It’s just something that is exciting,” Barnes said, “because he can get so much better.”
