Ray Glier

If you want to see what Tyrus Thomas sees, take a ladder out to that hoop in the driveway and climb to the next-to-last step. There is his view. This is where Thomas plays alone on some possessions.

No wonder the LSU forward flushes lobs with ease. No wonder he can be a steel cage around the rim.

The red-shirt freshman is 6-foot-9, and his leaping ability has become legendary. Teammates routinely watch him rise to the top corner of the box on the backboard. Opponents routinely see the length of his arm above the rim.

Thomas can jump and block shots, but then he did something that was really unfair against Texas in the regional championship game: He stepped away from the basket, and he handled the ball. He sank 12-foot jump shots on the baseline.

The kid was adding zeros on to his NBA contract with each jump shot in the first 10 minutes of the second half against the Longhorns.

In the first three games of the tournament, it was spin moves to get within five feet or stickbacks or thunder dunks. Then Thomas showed off the jumper when Texas’ Brad Buckman backed off to stop the drive.

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Glen Davis might be more fun to have on your NBA team, but of the two childhood friends, Thomas will get more money off the bounce when he turns pro, which ought to be soon.

The jump shots against Texas just confirmed it. 

In early February he was nothing close to this. Florida’s Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Chris Richard bullied him in Gainesville, and Thomas had two points and got in foul trouble.

LSU coach John Brady ridiculed NBA scouts for chasing Thomas, and I thought Brady had a point. Thomas got shoved out of the lane and when he shoved back he was whistled for the fouls.

He was up and down like a March thermometer. Then he hurt his ankle and missed four games, which included the Southeastern Conference tournament. Brady wanted Thomas healthy for the NCAAs, so he held him out of the SEC Tournament and it was a key move.

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“My constituents,” Brady said, “want some NCAA wins.”

Thomas has helped deliver those wins. He did not score much in the first three games of the NCAAs, but he discouraged a lot of offense from Iona, Texas A&M and Duke.

Officially, Thomas had 11 blocks in those three games. Unofficially, he turned those three teams, and Texas, into jump shooters, not drivers. Duke’s Shelden Williams, with 23 points, had success, but nobody else got traction in the lane.

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