Can't help but compare Aldridge, Thomas
By Mike McGraw | Daily Herald Staff 1/4/2008 12:25
As of this morning, it appears Portland had the better idea on draft night in 2006 when it traded Tyrus Thomas and Viktor Khryapa to the Bulls for LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Bulls had the second pick in that draft, while the Blazers chose fourth.
Aldridge is Portland's second-leading scorer at 18.1 points and leading rebounder with 7.3 per game. Thomas' numbers have improved only slightly since last season, with his points rising from 5.2 to 6.1 and his rebounds from 3.7 to 4.7.
"Sometimes when you make those comparisons of 'should have taken this guy, should you have taken that guy,' in the short term, those are unfair to make," Bulls coach Jim Boylan said. "You've got to give guys a good stretch of time, several years, and then you can make those judgments. Both guys are only in their second year.
"I would say probably Tyrus had a better first year than LaMarcus did. Now LaMarcus is coming on, and I'm sure Ty's going to do whatever he can to get himself back and get in the rotation and prove that he was the pick we should have taken."
Aldridge had a slow start against the Bulls on Thursday, missing his first 7 shots. The 6-foot-11 power forward didn't get his first points until the third quarter when Ben Wallace made an ill-advised double-team and left Aldridge alone under the basket for a dunk.
Aldridge finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds while hitting 6 of 17 shots.
The Bulls also passed on Portland's rising star, Brandon Roy (25 points, 11 rebounds), the No. 7 pick in that draft.
Thomas made only a brief appearance Thursday and has played a total of 12 minutes in the five games since Boylan took over as interim coach.
"We're going to try to get Tyrus going," Boylan said. "Right now we're in transition. So we've got to let things kind of settle down a little bit. But no one's lost faith in him."
Thomas has appeared to keep a good attitude during recent days. He's not much for cheering on the sideline but could be heard singing or rapping in the locker room following recent wins. Thomas had little to say on the topic before Thursday's contest.
"I'm good," he said. "Stuff happens."