Thornton is a very inefficient shooter

[clipocketurs]

A lot of posters seem to think he is really good just because he averaged 16.8 points.

But his eFG% was .456, which is really bad.

OKC had the lowest team eFG% in the league at .471.

On the other hand, Gordon was a very efficient shooter with a eFG% of .529.

[mj_shoefanatic]

He's just mad streaky.

[Hooch20]

Thornton has a really nice jumper when he just catches and shoots. The problem is when he catches and jab steps a few times and then shoots an off balance fade away. I also hate his damn turn around fade away. He needs to be broken of these bad habits this off season. Next year anytime he takes a dumb shot like this he should get yanked.

[StaticFlow]

His shooting wasn't all that bad his rookie year, it just seems like he didn't have the touch this year. At the 14th pick, we got really good value out of him. He was turning the corner towards the end of the season before he got injured. Let's see how he does this coming year before passing any judgment. If he doesn't pan out as starter, he'll make a great 6th man.

[madmaxmedia]

He's fine for who he is, and where he got drafted.

Few of us expect him to be an All-Star or anything. I think he can start on a good team with other primary scorers, as he plays hard and plays with energy. He's a good complementary scorer IMO (off double teams, putbacks, transition).

So I'm fine with him as our starting SF, given we have Gordon and soon Griffin that are (or will be) better scorers.

[ClipperEric]

You have to look at the types of shots that Thornton takes. Remember that he was on a terrible team that was short-handed the entire season. There were many nights where we suited up only 8 players. Thornton and Gordon had to run the show for a long period of the season, often with no other scorers around them. It takes its toll.

Add on the fact that the offense sucked and never had any kind of fluid motion. Quite often Thornton was stuck with the ball at the end of the shot clock. Yes he took a lot of turn-around jumpers, but what were his options?

You are right that he is streaky, but I think its all related to his energy level. Not that he's lazy, sometimes he just runs out of gas and all of his shots are off.

Al is great around the basket, taking it to the hole and lots of rebound dunks.

He is far from a great defender but again that's related to energy level and also poor team defense.

Al Thornton is not Kobe Bryant, but as a 3rd scorer on a team I think he'd be great. Remember that he was the 14th pick and makes less than $2mil per year. Quite a bargain.

[madmaxmedia]

Yeah, even Gordon started running out of gas late (in terms of offense). He was too predictable and teams were drawing a lot of charges on him.

[mkwest]

I personally think that he would be best as a 6th man. Especially if he doesn't improve in his weaker areas. Right before he got hurt, he was showing the player that he can be and that would be beneficial to the team. The question is, can he keep that up? The jab stepping, ball stopping gets old. He needs to be more decisive. I love when he's attacking the basket and I know the coaches do as well. Al knows that he's more effective when he is in attack mode, but he has yet to show consistency in that area.

I don't know if the 3 position will have some added depth before the season begins, but I (if I were the coach) would let Al know that there are no guarantees to start. A defensive glue guy would be the ideal starter at small forward, unfortunately we don't have that. So I would also consider putting Novak out there (if he is re-signed/matched). He doesn't play defense and is pretty much super one dimensional, but he spreads the floor and is a dangerous threat any time he is left open.

[scratch21]

i love AL but his defense is not avg.

[clipocketurs]

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809LAC.HTM



Thornton's off court +/- of -5.7 is the worst on the team.
The Clippers play best when he's on the bench.