The Basketball Interview … Landon Harrison
The Basketball Interview … Landon Harrison Always known for his competitive spirit, Helias 2018 guard Landon Harrison is becoming known this year as one of central Missouri’s premier players. He is averaging 27.5 points per game and has helped the…
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Continue ReadingThe Basketball Interview … Landon Harrison
Always known for his competitive spirit, Helias 2018 guard Landon Harrison is becoming known this year as one of central Missouri’s premier players.
He is averaging 27.5 points per game and has helped the Crusaders usher in a new brand of basketball. One year after reaching the Class 4 Final Four, Helias is off to a 10-1 start and are currently ranked fourth in the latest MBCA poll.
All the while replacing several key seniors and opting for a fast-paced, up-and-down game as head coach Josh Buffington works in a new crop of exciting young players.
Harrison’s work hasn’t gone un-noticed by college coaches either. He currently holds offers from Division II Lincoln and Missouri S&T. He has drawn strong interest from Columbia College, Maryville and Missouri Southern, and ha also heard from Missouri Baptist, Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois.
PrepHoops.com/Missouri recently caught up with Harrison and asked him about his game and the season.
PrepHoops — How would you describe your game to people who haven’t seen you play?
Landon — “For people who have not seen me play, I would describe to them that no matter how I am playing that night, I will never take plays off and consistently try to be a threat in every play.
“I think that on the offensive end I can do a little bit of everything. I love to get my teammates involved by making plays and creating open shots for them. I also can handle the ball and get in the lane and make plays to create for myself. This past summer I really worked on my jump shot and spent lots of time in the gym getting up lots of reps each day. That is a part of my game that has really improved. That has also helped me to be able to shoot the 3 better as well.
“My defense has improved since last year as well ,however I still have some work to do on certain rotations. But they are little things that are easily fixable and I will work on getting better at that every day.”
PrepHoops — Talk about your summer, what were some things that you were focused on?
Landon — “This last summer I was focused on improving each aspect of my game. Most importantly, I knew I had to work on my shot and developing a faster jump shot and 3-point shot. Day in and day out, I spent hours in the gym getting as many reps up as I could. I began to see a difference I was making more shots and it was getting quicker as well.
“However, I didn’t forget about the other parts of my game. I did ball handling drills and developed a routine ever day. I practiced lots of stationary ball handling. I knew this would help me because as a PG, you can never be good enough at handling the ball.
“I spent the summer playing with the Missouri Combat. It was a fun experience as we traveled to big tournaments around the STL – KC area and won a lot of games.”
PrepHoops — Tell us about your high school team this season, how would you assess your play as a team and individually?
Landon — “Before I can talk about the regular season, I would have to say that it all started this past summer in June, when we as a team, first played with each other. l’ll be honest, it was a rough start. We had no team chemistry and didn’t play the system very well. However, that changed quickly.
“When we started pre season workouts in late August, early September, I knew this group of guys had something special. And we knew it was going to be a different style and system that Helias basketball has had in the past.
“We lost six seniors last year that brought huge impact to our team. Two of them were bigs (6’5” and up). We knew from the beginning of the season that we were going to have to play fast this year! And we have used that to our advantage.
“I believe that has had a big impact on our success thus far. However, most importantly In my opinion, when we step on the floor against our opponent,
you can guarantee that we are going to play harder than them. We will get every loose ball, convert big plays, and make that extra pass when needed.
“These little things have led to our great start so far this season (10-1). Taking nothing away from last year, because we had a great season finishing third in the state in Class 4, but this is the most fun I’ve had in my high school basketball career yet, and the most fun group of guys I have played with.”
PrepHoops — Who is the team or player that you look forward to playing the rest of this season the most and why?
Landon — “The team that I look forward to playing the most is probably Jefferson City. It is a cross town rivalry game and has been for many years now, and it’s at our place this year. It’s always an exciting game because the stands are packed.
“The student sections are into the game, more than just a regular game. There is always a great amount of energy and enthusiasm in the building and it’s just a great atmosphere, which is what High school basketball is all about.”
PrepHoops — Who has been the biggest influence on your basketball career and tell us why?
Landon — “My dad has been the biggest influence on my basketball career. He has taught me everything. Ever since I first picked up a basketball at age 3, he has provided me with knowledge about the game. When I was little kid growing up, he bought me a pop- a-shot goal to shoot on inside our house. However, he told me I needed to shoot left handed.
“As a little kid, I didn’t really think anything of it, I listened to him and moved on. One day he came downstairs in our play room and was watching me shoot and he said, ‘good job Son, I’m impressed.’
“I could still shoot it right handed even though he made me shoot left. I was still right handed. This had an affect on me throughout my grade school years and entering high school. Teams began to think I was left handed because I got in the habit of going left so much in games. Well it took me awhile, but now I realize why my dad made me do that as I was growing up.
“I did it so much however, I was going left all the time in games. I’m good at going left but realized that I have to start going right more. So I have been doing that more as of today, and beginning to be able to go either way during games.
“My dad continues to teach me things and coach me on what I need to work on and provided me with not just knowledge about the game of basketball, but in all of life in general.”
PrepHoops — Who do you enjoy watching play basketball (NBA, college, whoever) and why? Have you been able to take anything they do well and implement it in your own game.
Landon — “I love watching Steph curry play. His all around game on the offensive end, is incredible. Many plays he makes I’m just like how did he just do that? He is so great at handling the ball and his shot is so quick that he can create for himself and others whenever he wants.
“I try to learn from him all the time by watching certain things he does and how he enjoys the game while he is doing so.”