Thurl Bailey

[meat tray]

I didn't start watching the Jazz until after Bailey left the Jazz. I always thought he was just another in the long line of perfectly average wings(Corbin, Benoit, Edwards, etc.), but I'm watching the '88 series against the Lakers and he looks good. He seems like he was a legitimate third option.

Was I underrating him? Did he just have a really good series? Why did we end up getting rid of him?

Any of you older fans provide a little insight on Big T?

[DelaneyRudd]

He was the teams 3rd option, but would have been a good 4th option on a championship quality team.

[StocktonShorts]

^^ Pretty much. He was a good 6th man. He played roughly the 3rd-most minutes on those teams despite coming off the bench.

[Xsy]

Big T is before my time. I just know him as that annoying guy who makes the screen smaller when he has something to say during games.

[kwill]

I watched almost every game Thurl Bailey played for the Jazz, he was not the sixth man until much later in his career. Big T was a very big small forward. His favorite shot was the turn around baseline jumper which was almost unstoppable. He was the teams third option for most of his career. His biggest weakness was guarding quick small forwards. I loved watching him play.

[3960HOOD]

Thurl was a good player he won a National Championship under Jimmy V and was a really good college player. I think he might've been one of the first tweeners in the league between Small Forward and Power Forward.

[StocktonShorts]

I watched almost every game Thurl Bailey played for the Jazz, he was not the sixth man until much later in his career.

Starting with his third season he came off the bench almost exclusively for the prime of his Jazz career.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... eth01.html

[Xsy]

Whenever I hear him introduced as "Big T, Thurl Bailey" I can't help but think "Big Teeth, Earl Bailey".

[kwill]

Happyprole

I know he came of the bench at the request of his coach but basketball was different back in my day. The sixth man was brought in to be a scorer, to give the team a lift. Big T came of the bench because Sloan asked him to, not because he was the sixth best player the Jazz had.

[StocktonShorts]

Happyprole

I know he came of the bench at the request of his coach but basketball was different back in my day. The sixth man was brought in to be a scorer, to give the team a lift. Big T came of the bench because Sloan asked him to, not because he was the sixth best player the Jazz had.

You'll get no argument from me on that. I think he was a sixth man in a similar role to AK, where he's probably the 3rd or 4th best player, but you want him leading the second unit.

[Soul Patch]

Happyprole

I know he came of the bench at the request of his coach but basketball was different back in my day. The sixth man was brought in to be a scorer, to give the team a lift. Big T came of the bench because Sloan asked him to, not because he was the sixth best player the Jazz had.

Classic Sloan.

[HolyToledo]

The Jazz drafted him fairly high and I thought he would have been a bust bc too skinny for PF and too slow for SF but he had a much better career than expected. He was a solid player and borderline allstar.

Just proves that if you emphasize your strenghts as a player while minimize your weaknesses than you can have a long career.