Lamar Basketball Updates

Lamar's ball movement is flowing against St John's. (Photo courtesy of Lamar Yearbook)

The Lamar Texans basketball squad headed into the holidays with a 10-7 record, as they continue to fight a difficult and heavy-ranked schedule for the start of their season.

“Out of the first 11 games, seven of the teams are ranked in the top 15 in our area or state-ranked,” Coach Jerry Van Dusen said. “We lost three games, but they were really good opponents. One who were undefeated and the rest who are top 10 in our area.”

Overall, Coach Van Dusen had very high praise for the versatile, two-way play of PG Tamir Bynum and SF Myles Burns so far into the season. Tamir Bynum, who’s in his fourth year on the roster, brings valuable experience and orchestrates the high-paced offense, while Myles Burns continues to showcase his athleticism with explosive and momentum-changing defensive plays.  

“Tamir and Myles are our offensive leaders by far,” he said. “They’re both outstanding players. Tamir has been consistently producing on the roster for 4 years and defensively, Myles can be really special because he can truly guard all five positions. He’s made countless blocks at the rim this year.”

Outside of Bynum and Burns, the Lamar Texans have a young, energetic roster with high upside. The team is rallying behind the energy and the leadership of their core players.

“[Myles] makes great defensive plays, and the other guys play hard collectively and as a group,” Coach said. “One game it may be Dennis Sharp, like against Houston Christian, or Johnny Thomas against Atascocita. But it all just depends.

Lamar varsity player is looking to attack the rim. (Photo courtesy of Lamar Yearbook) 

Offensively, the Texans are taking cues from the Houston Rockets’ system and style. Coach Van Dusen is constantly looking to spread the floor and take a high volume of three-pointers while also using their athleticism to attack the paint at any given moment.

“We try to score early and we’re following the mode of the Rockets right now,” he said. “We’re either in the paint or taking the three. But in order to run [the Rockets system], we must make adjustments. For example, earlier this year when we played against Atascocita, who is ranked 14th in Texas, we played a 2-3 zone to slow them down because they couldn’t shoot. But overall, we’ll make adjustments when we have to.”

The offensive inspiration is observable on the court, as seen by Lamar’s style of play. But despite the Texans implementing the Houston Rockets’ “offense first, defense second” philosophy, Coach Van Dusen continues to emphasize the defense during practice and on the court.

“Defense wins you a lot of games when the plays aren’t working. We spent a lot of our time on defense because we rely on transition scoring. We like to get our transition game going because that fits our athleticism and what we try to do. We really take pride in our defense.”

Coach Van Dusen is also addressing late-game turnovers and building on the overall chemistry of his group.

“What hasn’t worked is that we didn’t handle the ball well against teams like Episcopal. We had turnovers in big key moments, he said. “We got to get better every day and play better together and learn from each other. It’s a young team outside of Tamir and Myles. Those young guys have to step up and get better.”

Although they are playing with attractive pace and fanatic athleticism, the Lamar Texans still have plenty of fundamental work to do to compete against top-tier squads. Their record hasn’t translated with where they really want to be, but as long as the Texans rally around the enthusiasm and leadership that Coach Van Dusen and his star players have brought to the team, then the second half of the season should be a thrilling and exciting ride.