AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 28
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
On Gani Lawal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spoke Tuesday with Gani Lawal for today’s story and afterwards asked him a little about how he has been playing.
While Tech is clearly having problems, it’s worth nothing that he is having a pretty strong individual season. Lawal is 11th in scoring in the ACC at 15.6 points per game, first in rebounding 10.4 ppg and first in field-goal percentage (.556). He has had double-doubles in five of Tech’s six ACC games, and 12 total. If he keeps his averages, he would become, as best I could tell, only the ninth player in Tech history to average a double-double for the season but just the third since 1972 (Alvin Jones, 2001, Malcom Mackey, 1991 and 1993, Rich Yunkus, 1969-1971, Jim Caldwell, 1963-1965, Dave Denton, 1958, Lenny Cohen, 1957, Dick Lenholt, 1955, Pete Silas, 1953).
One thing he mentioned was his diet. Last year, he said, he had “high school ways.”
Said Lawal, “I’m just trying to be more mindful of what I eat. I try to stay away from fried foods, try to get in more meals, I try to get a lot of fluids in me - a lot of water, Gatorade, stay away from sodas.
“Just doing basic housecleaning things. I’m not sitting up here acting like I’m a health freak, Dr. Atkins, but I just decided to do basic housecleaning things.”
I asked what he’d given up. He said he cut back sharply on one of his favorite foods, chicken wings. He said he’d eat them every day if he were allowed, but he has limited himself. He said he drinks a half-gallon to a gallon of water every day.
As a result, he said, “I feel a lot better. A lot of times, your wind gets back faster. I can definitely tell a difference. I can’t put it into words, but I can just tell you I feel better out there.”
Lawal’s minutes tell that story. Even though he started 25 games last year, he averaged 17.3 minutes per game and his high was 27. This year, his average is 30.9 mpg, ninth in the league.
How would you rate how Lawal has done this season?
