Hawks fan with some Q's about Thabo

[Hawk Eye]

Hey guys, I was hoping you could give me a little insight about Thabo..

So the main reason we picked him up is because we were in desperate need of some wing defense. Carroll was our only guy who we could count on for some D. So here are my questions.

1. Can you describe Thabos D? Does he play consistent defense night in and night out? What should we expect from him this season?

2. I know Thabo was horrendous from the 3 last season but a couple years ago his 3 point % was really good. When did his shot start slipping away? Do you guys think he will ever get his shot back? Do you think the Hawks got Thabo on a good contract? 3 years/12,000,000.

Any insight and information on Thabo would be helpful. Just looking at what to expect from the guy before the seaskn kicks off. Thanks!

[retrospect05]

Thabo never recovered after the 12-13 playoffs when Westbrook got hurt. Watching him last year he's lost alot of his lateral speed and athleticism. His shot has become so slow and clunky. The Thunder defense was noticeably bad at times last year and i put it down to the decline of Sefalosha and and the further decline of Perkins.

At the end of the day he's terrible on the fast break, cant shoot the 3, i cant see why any team would want him playing extended minutes.

[ThunderCeltic]

Yeah's stock has gone WAY down. His offense is as bad as Perk's, if not worse.

Do you think Thabo will be a starter in Atlanta?

[Hawk Eye]

Yeah's stock has gone WAY down. His offense is as bad as Perk's, if not worse.

Do you think Thabo will be a starter in Atlanta?

Not unless he gets his shot back. Our starting 5 on opening night will be

PG: Teague
SG: Korver
SF: Carroll
PF: Milsap
C: Horford

Carroll has really improved and progressed so Thabo will need his shot back if he expects to start for us later mid season. I think the hope for us Hawks fans was that Thabo would get his shot back but from what I'm hearing there is no hope. Really we only went out and got him for his ability to play D. Can he at least still do that effectively?

[ThunderCeltic]

I was really surprised anyone would take a gamble on Thabo. Just glad he's not in OKC anymore.

[Podirk]

I believe Thabos 3 pt shot was below avg coming into OKC (from Chi), he did have that good year (possibly 2 decent) but last year was atrocious.

Other offense notes...on fast breaks he does not pass, don't know if he is confident in himself or not confident in his fast break passing.
He would pass the ball in a lot, while some mistakes were made he was used a lot in the offense to get the ball to Durant in spots KD likes. Possessions would take a few more seconds if say Westbrook was playing SG and trying to get KD the ball.

His defense is a lot like his 3 pt game except a notch higher. He was ok, got really good, and is probably just good now.

He suffers from that lingering foot injury, fascitus? (not gonna google the spelling) and he has missed games the last few years due to that.

Overall : I would have been ticked had OKC gave him that contract (and possibly any contract) but OKC has younguns they need to get mins. Hopefully he will be what Atl brought him in for.

[wizkid27]

He's a defensive specialist that found a bit of a shot for a couple of years. No more shot now, and as his athleticism has fallen off, he's lost most of his top tier defense. He is still a solid defender, to the level that he could guard top-level offensive players for short stretches. But long gone are the days where you can throw him on Kobe and suffocate the crap out of him for long periods of time.

I think he is probably worth 2m/yr in the right situation. The 4m/yr he got is a bit much, especially when you factor in that he probably won't be as good as he is now in another couple of years.

[bondom34]

I'd agree with wizkid. He's a solid defender who prior to last year was outstanding on defense, but I think age is starting to show as I wouldn't trust him against the top tier offensive threats anymore. As well, he put up a few years of solid shooting where he was a key player but just completely fell off last season entirely. Personally I felt it was best he moved on and wish him luck.

[Kizz Fastfists]

His defense was solid last year until he got hurt. Then he rushed back for the playoffs and looked old and slow. I'm assuming he was still playing hurt. His shot is terrible, but you didn't sign him expecting offense. He should still have a few more years of good defense in him, although playing aside Westbrook and with Perkins leading them vocally it made Thabo look better than he is. Compared to Korver he will look great on defense.

He'll be a solid player off the bench for Atlanta unless he really did suddenly lose his quickness and you are getting the playoff version of Thabo. He's going into his age 30 season so I expect the first two years to be solid, but the last might be rough for an all D no O guy in decline. It's hard to mess up too bad on a 3yr and $12M contract. If you expect more than good D and 35% from 3, all assisted standing in the corner, than you might want to tamper your expectations, but at the price he'll be a solid wing for 20-25 min a night.

[greenandgold]

Thabo's advanced stats on defense are still terrific. Last year his DRPM ranked 6th among shooting guards (a little behind truly elite defenders like Iguodala, Tony Allen and Danny Green at the SG position).

Thabo's very long, very lengthy. Stick a guy that long at shooting guard and you can't help improving your defense. He doesn't have the cat-like reflexes he used to have but he's still solid.

Offense, of course, is really bad. Maybe unplayable.

[Envelopes]

Who knows with shooting though, it could always come back. If he starts shooting the 3 in the high 30's again then he is great at 4 mill, otherwise he won't see the court much.

He is still above average on D just not what he use to be.