Monsignor Martin League Player Spotlight Series: Lucas Suero
Western New York is an underrated basketball hotspot chockful of promising, talented recruits. The 2019-2020 Monsignor Martin League (Buffalo NY) was highly competitive and produced many memorable moments for both teams and individuals alike. This series will focus on the…
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Continue ReadingWestern New York is an underrated basketball hotspot chockful of promising, talented recruits. The 2019-2020 Monsignor Martin League (Buffalo NY) was highly competitive and produced many memorable moments for both teams and individuals alike. This series will focus on the individual members of the 2020-2021 Nichols Vikings.
Lucas Suero – F – Class of 2022
Lucas Suero’s Sophomore season saw him post averages of 6.4 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, 0.7 assists per game and 0.6 steals per game. He was a major part of Nichols’ gameplan last season. Often times, when Nichols fell stale on offense, a dump off to Suero in the post would net the Vikings two points or a trip to the free throw line. Impressively, he made over half of all of the shots he attempted in 2019-2020.
Suero’s most accomplished facet of his game is his rebounding. Among all current returning Vikings, he snagged the most total boards last season. Admirably, he finished second amongst all players in the 2019-2020 Monsignor Martin League in offensive rebounding, finishing with 71 total. Take into account the fact that he missed six games due to injury and it becomes clear that his tenacity on the glass is a critically important weapon.
One area that Suero can improve upon his his shot blocking. For such a physical player, he curiously only swatted two shots all season in 2019-2020. At 6’3”, he has plenty of size related to many of his Monsignor Martin League frontcourt peers. I feel that Suero can significantly improve on this front in 2020-2021 because he is simply too talented and hardworking to be a non-factor two seasons in a row.
Another area that Suero can elevate his play comes at the free throw line. Suero loves to throw his weight around on the block, and his rugged style of play led to many free throw attempts last season. Unfortunately for him and the Vikings, he only managed to convert 54% of his attempts. While the ball looks nice enough leaving his hands, oftentimes his arc is slightly flat. Look for Suero to make the necessary adjustments in order to improve from the stripe in 2020-2021.
Nichols will no doubt lean on Suero mightily this year. As good as he was on the glass, he will need to at least match, if not exceed, last year’s output to ensure the Vikings don’t slip in this area. I imagine Coach Mihalics will want to start Suero all season long at either frontcourt position, depending on matchups. Suero should challenge himself to be the team’s undisputed rebounding king of 2020-2021.
**All Stats Come From Maxpreps.com. All Analysis Is My Own.