Hoopsworld Rates Thomas As Highest To Breakout

[boogydown]

With NBA veterans beginning their pre-season preparation over these next few weeks, here are five players in the Eastern Conference who could be preparing to have their breakout seasons in the NBA and their stat lines from 2007-08:

Tyrus Thomas: 6.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks, 18 minutes

One of the great tragedies of the Bulls dysfunctional nightmare last season was the wasted year of development of forward Tyrus Thomas. One of the most physically gifted players in the NBA, if anyone had the right to demand more playing time, it was Thomas.

Why? Because Thomas played more than 34 minutes in only seven games last season. And in those seven games, six of which were against playoff teams, these were his numbers:

19.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 59% FG shooting. Those are All-Star numbers.

The Bulls record in those games? 5-2.

With Chicago showing him no love, the Bulls got what they deserved. Thomas did not. For a player who would be the first at the morning practice, only to find the lights off and no one home in the Berto Center, the Bulls new staff and their newly demonstrated commitment to player development is a gift from above. Thomas has made a significant commitment to his offseason improvement, as well.

With an improved jump shot, more versatility around the basket and a new outlook and energy, expect more minutes, more big numbers and more production from Thomas - and more wins for the Bulls.

[jStuNNa]

Great! This is almost as bad as having him on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

[nomorezorro]

this is just great reporting right here

-sample size: 7 games
-selection: games where he played well enough to earn 34 minutes (which is, by the way, a completely arbitrary cutoff point)

HOLY CRAP HE DID WELL IN THOSE GAMES THEREFORE HE'D BE AN ALL-STAR IF HE JUST PLAYED MORE QED

[kyrv]

this is just great reporting right here

-sample size: 7 games
-selection: games where he played well enough to earn 34 minutes (which is, by the way, a completely arbitrary cutoff point)

HOLY CRAP HE DID WELL IN THOSE GAMES THEREFORE HE'D BE AN ALL-STAR IF HE JUST PLAYED MORE QED

That would be a great point if they had actually said that.

And Skiles and Boylan apologize for the size of the sample.

In fact, throwing out all the numbers, the fact that this sample size is so low is a grim reminder of the frustrations of last season.

Then again, Tyrus thread, might be a good time for me to exit. ;p

[fleet]

link? oyy

[dougthonus]

I think you could argue the "he plays well when he plays more vs he plays more because he plays well" thing until you're blue in the face. There are reasons to believe either argument, though I don't think Tyrus could pull off their numbers if he averaged 34 minutes a game (or particularly close to it).

[nomorezorro]

That would be a great point if they had actually said that.

And Skiles and Boylan apologize for the size of the sample.

In fact, throwing out all the numbers, the fact that this sample size is so low is a grim reminder of the frustrations of last season.

Then again, Tyrus thread, might be a good time for me to exit. ;p

they said he was likely to break out b/c he had great numbers in games where he played well, well above his average number of minutes. the only reason he got well over his average number of minutes was because he was playing better than he did on average. compare his numbers in those seven games to his season averages projected over 37 mpg (his average in those 7 games):

19.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 59% FG shooting
14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 42% FG shooting

nobody's field goal percentage goes up 17% as a result of more playing time, and it's very unlikely that his scoring and rebound rates would increase because he played more too. not to mention that it completely ignores negative statistics (tyrus averaged 4 fouls and 2.3 turnovers in those 7 games). i think tyrus might be able to turn it around next year, but saying "hey look at this small biased sample he just needs more playing time" is both lazy and inaccurate

edit: oh and the 5-2 record can be explained by the fact that they have a guy who is usually a pretty limited producer putting up 20 points. while i guess it's good that he's not getting the numbers in those games at the expense of the team, which can happen sometimes, it's still not really all that surprising.

[Chewie]

Well, if Hoopsworld says so....

[bullzman23]

Remember when GMs selected Curry to be the guy who would most likely have a breakout season? Let's hope we have different results.

[dougthonus]

They're only poopsworld when they say something we don't like.

[Ben]

I root hard for Tyrus, but since I dismiss everything else from Poopsworld I'm gonna dismiss this as well. It doesn't seem to represent any new analysis, just a "lite" version of the pro-Tyrus arguments that one sees here from time to time.

Of course I do hope that he breaks out.

[Hold That]

Reminds me of when Eddy Curry was rated every single year when he was with the Bulls as the player who would likely break out this season..

Man I hope it's true about Tyrus, we really need him to contribute this season.

[jStuNNa]

They're only poopsworld when they say something we don't like.

No, they're pretty much poopsworld all the time

[Leimas Sharnes]

The way I see it his biggest issues with playing big minutes are other guys playing because they are better than him, foul trouble, no offense to speak of when he and Joakim were out there together, and his lack of strength hurting the way he wants to play the game.

P.S.- Tyrus please don't fall in love with the jump shot

[Clint Eastwood]

to those who say that he only got more time when he played well i say you yourselves likely play very little competitive basketball. anyone who plays with any regularity knows that the more you play, the better you feel and play. so much of the difference between good players and bad or average players is mental. feeling that you are a part of the team and a major part is good for your mental game. granted, super strong mental players ala jordan, kobe rise to the top regardless. however, so much of players games is situational. i would argue there are many players who could have had completely different careers if put in a different situation. if pippen never played with jordan, he would have likely had more of a career like battier or bowen. jordan pushed him competitively to be greater than he likely would have been. but he had the physical tools.

my point is that i think if TT is given consistant minutes without looking over his shoulder, he will become a 17pt, 10rb, 3 assist, 2 block, 1.5 steal 50% fg player.

[BOBBA LUI]

P.S.- Tyrus please don't fall in love with the jump shot

I emailed Thomas the other day in regards to this concern. I titled it MJ's Legacy.

Hey Tyrus,

I wanted to send some love to you site and make a comment. It's a real clean and sharp looking page. Anyways, I see you're gonna get some SERIOUS minutes this year…finally. I hope you can show Chicago more frames to that highlight real of mid-air poetry they like to air on ESPN Top 10's. Mr. Jordan made that list I believe, more than once too…a night. His Airness was not loved because of his jumper, that came later. What solidified MJ in history was his ability to absorb contact and finish a play. Double/triple teamed at the basket, it didn't matter, because he would Bull right through them, ESPECIALLY those Detroit bullies and ALL their Jordan Rules.

What I'm really trying to lead to here is my opinion. I have faith in your ability to become a devastating finisher in this league. But developing your jumpshot is not priority #1. This is a man's league with Lambiere's, Oakley's, Artest's and the like. For your health and longevity, I want to insist that you hit those weights. You wouldn't expect it from looking at Jordan, but his iron rod strength was his secret. To this day I've never seen anyone make an under the basket reverse lay up look so effortless in traffic. Kobe likes to bite just like the 2nd 3peat Mike, whenever he posts up around the perimeter and backs his defender down. Mamba gets them into his sweet spot, and one turn around fade away jump shot later, 2 points like practice.

You're about 21 now, so those bones of yours should be solidifying in place. Teams pay men good money to baracade that lane for a reason.

To be remembered is simply giving National audiences your in game highlights regularly.
Keep up the good work.
You've got love on the RealGM Bulls boards…and plenty of haters too

Bob from Chicago

I hope he took some of it into consideration.

[Hangtime84]

LOL @ plenty of haters too haha

[Leto]

Let's hope Poopsworld is right. Last year, he never really got a chance to get going. He got some time early in the season but made some bad mistakes and got yanked. I remember one game, I forget who we were playing, but he just looked lost offensively and turned the ball over like 3 times in about as many minutes and I screamed at the TV for Skiles to get him out of there. Scottie was right when he said he's got all the tools but he just doesn't know how to play yet. The good thing is I think he's on the verge. All the reports point to him working very hard on his game. I think he just needs PT to learn how to play. Hopefully, VDN will let him play through his mistakes. If I recall, Shawn Kemp wasn't any different.

[JeremyB0001]

nobody's field goal percentage goes up 17% as a result of more playing time, and it's very unlikely that his scoring and rebound rates would increase because he played more too. not to mention that it completely ignores negative statistics (tyrus averaged 4 fouls and 2.3 turnovers in those 7 games).

All your arguments are legitimate. The problem is that a similar trend appears when you look at Tyrus' starter v. sub splits (for instance, a 10% disparity in FG%) and in those games Tyrus' minutes were the largely the result of starting, not the result of him simply "having it" that night. It's solid evidence that Tyrus did in fact play better with with consistent minutes.

[nomorezorro]

sample size etc

also when he was kept in the starting lineup it was because he was playing well and he was yanked when he was playing poorly so that's going to effect that too.

i'm not gonna lie i think the starter thing is probably more likely a more accurate judge of his potential just because since he's the starter he knows he's not gonna be pulled after 2 minutes and can play more freely. but you can't say definitively that tyrus is better with more minutes because there's simply not enough evidence to say anything definitively