The strange saga of Leo Lyons

This post is admittedly way overdue. By now you've heard all about how Leo Lyons has been considering leaving school early to go to the NBA Draft. When I first heard this my reaction was to simply say "screw him." No player has played more inconsistently with less passion and focus over the past three seasons then Leo. If he hates being in Columbia so much so that he's stupid enough to leave school early when he obviously has ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE of getting drafted then let him go. 

But there's that other part of me that just can't ignore the potential. And after seeing the way he performed over the final four regular season games when he averaged 21.5 points and 12.8 rebounds (including that dazzling 27/18 performance against OSU) I think the potential is even greater than any of us realized. 

Everyone always knew that Leo was pretty talented but I always envisioned him as a guy that could possibly be a fringe All-Big 12 selection with an outside shot of getting drafted if everything fell into place. But that's not the case. Leo's legit. I know his best games came against teams that were relatively undersized and weak inside (when he finally went up against some legit bruisers against Nebraska he disappeared) but he showed me more than enough to convince me that he could easily be 1st Team All-Big 12 and get drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. 

I have been notoriously hard on Leo in the past but when he puts it all together he is a thrill to watch. I've been trying to think of an appropriate NBA comparison and I think the best I could come up with would be a more athletic Derrick Coleman with less range (unfortunately he also has Coleman's questionable character and lackadaisical demeanor). 

Leo's a brilliant offensive player. His mid-range jump shot is as good as I've ever seen. He's also a very good ball handler for a guy his size. There were times toward the end of the season where he caught the ball out on the wing and while he was setting his defender up for a drive to the rim you knew he was going to beat him and either score or get fouled. He was unstoppable. 

And here's what really reminds me of Coleman; Leo's offensive basketball IQ is off the charts. I remember writing earlier this season that Leo might be the dumbest player to ever play at Mizzou. Dumb was the wrong word to use. In his career Leo has been a permanent occupant of coach's doghouse (Quin's and Anderson's). He's forgotten to put his jersey on underneath his warmup before a game and was therefore unable to check in when Snyder called his name, he was involved in Athenagate, etc. But when he's on the floor and his team has the ball? Leo knows what to do. He doesn't take bad shots, breaks defenders down, is an excellent passer and knows where to go to keep the floor properly spaced. Despite all of Coleman's off-court issues you always heard analysts and coaches talk about how DC would make a great coach someday. Leo might be the same way. His problems arise with his lack of focus and physicality but not his understanding of the game.

So for next season Leo remains an X-factor. If we get "Good Leo" back then he and DeMarre Carroll would give Mizzou one of the best front courts in the conference. But if he comes back and conducts himself in the same manner that he has the past three years then he's a cancer to the team and we'd be better off without him. 

I tend to think that his coming back would benefit the team and would certainly benefit him. The infamous class of '04 has made up a huge percentage of the nucleus of each Tiger team from the past four seasons. With them gone there is going to be a changing of the guard in terms of leadership that already started taking place following Athenagate. Keon, Tiller, Mateo and DeMarre are now the leaders of this program and that's a good thing. You can question their talents but all four of those guys have proven that they care about the team. If Leo wants to continue to toil in underachievement then I have a feeling he's going to be an outsider. 

There is the question of Leo's motives for considering turning pro. There have been rumors that his family is going through a lot of financial struggles and need his support. Even though he wouldn't get drafted he could still go overseas and make a very good living. But if Leo would just commit to coming back and focusing for one damn season, 5 months, 32 games, then the Lyons family's financial issues would disintegrate because Leo would be a millionaire.

One thing we know for sure; the talent's there.