Sef-a-LO-shaaaaaa

[TB#1]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs ... &cset=true

No longer lost in translation?
Latest performance a reminder to Bulls of Sefolosha's potential
By K.C. Johnson | Tribune staff reporter
9:15 PM CST, January 6, 2008

Two English-speaking reporters waited by Thabo Sefolosha's locker late Saturday as a foreign journalist interviewed the Swiss native in French.

The scene seemed fitting metaphorically. After all, Sefolosha has been waiting for an opportunity mostly because he had been playing a game foreign to what Bulls management expected from the second-year guard.

Gone were the reliable defensive versatility and improved offensive decision-making. You didn't need a translator to say Sefolosha struggled earlier this season

[tclg]

If he can develop some form of a jump shot he would be a great pairing to either gordon or hinrich. But moreso gordon

[coldfish]

Sefolosha being able to play would be a HUGE positive for the Bulls and last game was certainly positive for him.

That being said, he did that playing the 3. I seriously question if he has the footspeed and ballhandling to play a guard spot in the NBA. Hopefully I am wrong. I would at least like to see Sefolosha get some real minutes in the backcourt to prove me so.

[dougthonus]

That being said, he did that playing the 3. I seriously question if he has the footspeed and ballhandling to play a guard spot in the NBA. Hopefully I am wrong. I would at least like to see Sefolosha get some real minutes in the backcourt to prove me so.

I'm all for giving Sefolosha a chance, but I agree with you. I don't think he has the quickness to play the 1 or 2. Nor does he have the shot to keep good spacing on the floor if you play him there. I think he'd develop best as a 3, but we don't have room for him there.

With how bad Duhon is playing, I don't see any harm in playing him as a guard for 20 minutes a night though. He certainly can't do any worse than Duhon did.

[Cliff Levingston]

With how bad Duhon is playing, I don't see any harm in playing him as a guard for 20 minutes a night though. He certainly can't do any worse than Duhon did.

Bingo.

[#1TKfan]

im w/ you guys about his quickness. these quick quards are beating him off the dribble causing him to foul. i DO like how he covers his man off the ball though. those long arms helps.

i have been hard on sefo throughout this season. (and still, im not convinced) but i thought he played okay in the kings game. id like to him play more, along w/ the other kids. maybe the problem is sefo's confidence. cause im still trying to figure out how he "outplayed" brandon roy during workouts.

[Cliff Levingston]

Note: Sefolosha is one of the many reasons that Nocioni is expendable. We could give all of Noc's minutes to Thabo at the 3 and Tyrus at the 4 and be better for it by the end of the season... if not earlier.

[dougthonus]

I don't remember him outplaying Roy in any workouts.

At any rate, I think Sefolosha could be a quality player, but just as a SF. I've been saying that since halfway through his rookie year. He just doesn't seem quick enough to be a 1 or 2 and doesn't have enough range/consistency on his shot to space the floor from those positions.

[TeamMan]

As I said in previous posts, Thabo needs to be surrounded by offensive players. His strong points are his defense, handle and passing.

Thabo was used at SF and that appears to be his future in the NBA. And coming off the bench together with BG is perhaps the perfect situation for him because it allows the following posibile combinations:

SG - BG
PG - KirkH
SF - Thabo
PF - Noc/T2
C - Gray/Smith

and allows him to do what he does best. But if opens up questions (trade possibilities) with our SF situation, and if Thabo continues to perform, Pax may be open to a sign&trade for Deng if we could pick up a player like Kobe.

==================
Note: If Pax had been (is) able to pry Kobe away from the Lakers, the two of them together would have been (could be) an awesome SG/SF combination.

==================
One of the ironic outcomes of last year's draft is that Thabo made is reputation by shutting down Roy in a couple of pre-draft workouts.

It had the effect of making some people skeptical about Roy (who should have been a top-3 player) but didn't actually improve Thabo's stock that much.

And I have to wonder whether if Roy had better against Thabo, Pax wouldn't have taken him at #2 instead of trading down for T2.

[waffle]

I remember his bios and they all emphasized how darn quick he was. Maybe by european standards... (jk).

Being quick and being a good defender are heavily correlated, BUT, there are tons of examples of guys who are 1) quick and BAD defenders or 2) not that quick, but great positional defenders.

I think Thabo is pretty darn quick, but he always seems to get wrong footed when guarding smaller guards. I think if he could learn to use his length a little better he could guard some of the 2's out there effectively

[TeamMan]

...I don't remember him outplaying Roy in any workouts...

They went head-to-head for the Bulls and for the T-Wolves.

Afterwards Pax decided to trade-up for Thabo, and the T-Wolves decided to trade-down (Roy) for Foye.

[Cliff Levingston]

I remember his bios and they all emphasized how darn quick he was. Maybe by european standards... (jk).

Maybe so, but (Cliff Levingston thinks) he also mostly played the 3 before coming to the NBA. Even in the NBA he's quick for the 3 spot, and that's the position he should be playing most to maximize his skills. Too bad we've got a severe log jam at the position.

[molepharmer]

I think he's quick enough to guard the twos. Remember he did give Wade and Kobe some trouble when he was guarding them last year. I'm not so sure that many of the SFs aren't as quick or even quicker than many of the SGs anyway. He just needs more opportunities.

[DuckIII]

Note: Sefolosha is one of the many reasons that Nocioni is expendable. We could give all of Noc's minutes to Thabo at the 3 and Tyrus at the 4 and be better for it by the end of the season... if not earlier.

I absolutely agree. Hence my repetitious posts about the desirability of packaging Nocioni and Duhon for a reserve 2/3 by the trade deadline even if it means "losing" the trade.

[Ralphb07]

If Du keeps playing like he is and Boylan does indeed starts getting him in for a little bit here amd there, you could definitely see Sef play the SG which woul be good.

His offense doesnt worry me cuz thats not why he would be in. It would be for better longer defender and rebounder, good in the open court and his passing.

I think with his size and handle, he needs to drive to the rim and if its not there kick it out.

First we need to get him back with his confidence which hopefully last game helped

[coldfish]

I think he's quick enough to guard the twos. Remember he did give Wade and Kobe some trouble when he was guarding them last year. I'm not so sure that many of the SFs aren't as quick or even quicker than many of the SGs anyway. He just needs more opportunities.

I'll give Skiles a lot of credit for this.

Sefolosha was not explicitly guarding Wade in a traditional 1 on 1 sense. The Bulls were using a layered zone against Wade. Out by the 3 point line, he was let go. In the midrange, Sefolosha picked him up and tried to contest pull up jumpers. If Wade got by him, the big men cut to and under Wade.

It was a very intelligent scheme tailored to Wade's skills. Sefolosha had an important, but limited responsibility in that scheme. Essentially, he was only guarding Wade from 8 to 18 feet on the court.

If you try that on a guy who can shoot from the outside, it wouldn't work. If Sefolosha guards a guy all the way out to the 3 point line, he gets beat off the dribble and the guy would have space to maneuver once he got past Thabo.

[Ralphb07]

Yeah pax needs to make a trade with Du and Noc, it would free us up a lot. By making that Trade Sef could be Deng back up getting about 15mins, and it would give Tyrus mins at the 4. Noc's really logjams this lineup

[#1TKfan]

I don't remember him outplaying Roy in any workouts.

At any rate, I think Sefolosha could be a quality player, but just as a SF. I've been saying that since halfway through his rookie year. He just doesn't seem quick enough to be a 1 or 2 and doesn't have enough range/consistency on his shot to space the floor from those positions.

They went head-to-head for the Bulls and for the T-Wolves.

Afterwards Pax decided to trade-up for Thabo, and the T-Wolves decided to trade-down (Roy) for Foye.

thats right teamman. it was because of thabos play that pax decided to go w/ thabo. so obviously something is there, because we all know what roy is made of. thats why im saying, MAYBE it thabos confidence thats holding him back, doug.

[suckfish]

It's a mixture of confidence and basketball skill that is holding him back. Sure he can't shoot, that's not to say he can't attack the basket or penetrate the defense well, because he can. He is just timid and tentative out there.

[#1TKfan]

It's a mixture of confidence and basketball skill that is holding him back. Sure he can't shoot, that's not to say he can't attack the basket or penetrate the defense well, because he can. He is just timid and tentative out there.

i agree. thats why my head spins when i see posts like these.

Cliff Levingston wrote:
Note: Sefolosha is one of the many reasons that Nocioni is expendable. We could give all of Noc's minutes to Thabo at the 3 and Tyrus at the 4 and be better for it by the end of the season... if not earlier.

I absolutely agree. Hence my repetitious posts about the desirability of packaging Nocioni and Duhon for a reserve 2/3 by the trade deadline even if it means "losing" the trade.

but you know what, ( i cant believe im saying this because its thabo) these ideas do make sense. i just need to see more of thabo to be absolutely sure.