Thursday, January 10, 2013
Deadspin: He Could Always Steal
(deadspin.com)
Kenny Lofton’s remarkable baseball career started in earnest just days after the basketball team returned from Kansas City. “After the Final Four,” he says, “I was missing baseball a little bit.” The itch developed the summer before, when his teammates staged a series of coaches-versus-player softball games. Lofton patrolled center field, insisting that his right and left fielders play shallow because he could cover the outfield turf from foul pole to foul pole. “He caught pretty much every ball and he was throwing coaches out at third and home plate,” Mason says. “This guy was so serious.”
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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) posted on January 11, 2013 at 10:26 AM # hit 0 | hit 0i remember lofton the basketball player - nice rotation guy, blinding speed, very good defense, could hit from outside and adequately run an offense. here's some stats.
years g min fgm fga fg% 3pm 3pa 3pt% ftm fta ft% reb ast stl blk pts85-86 27 6.8 1.0 2.2 .450 --- --- ---- 0.4 1.0 .462 0.5 2.4 0.7 0.1 2.4
86-87 30 26.2 1.9 5.0 .389 1.0 2.9 .356 1.5 2.0 .754 2.0 6.4 1.8 0.3 6.4
87-88 38 15.2 1.8 3.4 .534 0.6 1.5 .397 0.4 0.7 .538 1.2 4.7 1.6 0.1 4.7
88-89 33 22.9 1.9 4.9 .385 1.0 2.7 .367 0.8 1.1 .694 1.8 5.5 2.0 0.1 5.5
total 128 17.9 1.7 3.9 .433 0.7 1.8 .370 0.8 1.2 .651 1.4 4.8 1.6 0.1 4.8
based solely on numbers, i may have underrated him in my memory as a playmaker
Sorry, I should have said they balked at getting Rohde, instead wanting a pitcher in return (I forget who).
But I think you over-rated him as somebody who could hit from the outside. I am assuming a guy that fast would get to the rim a lot for lay-ups, and his steals are good (which also can support break-away aly-ups), and his shooting percentage was not so good.
I actually remembered Lofton as being a better player than that; I would have guessed he was close to double digits in points. He stood out for a rotation player even before he made MLB because he was a smart, interesting player to watch. I hate Arizona with a passion but he was one of my favorite of the million guards Lute collected in his career.
Per 48 minutes, he averaged about 12 points, 12 assists, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds in 88-89. That's pretty good.
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