I Love The RealGM Bulls Board But...

[dougthonus]

-1 for saying Thabo would "suck" as a guard.

I've said since early last year I think he's a SF, and I still do. I hope he proves me wrong and has potential as a guard. I think he's great at playing passing lanes, but he can't stay in front of guards on the perimeter, and he doesn't stretch the floor well enough as a shooter to play a guard spot.

Maybe I'll be proved wrong in the long term on both issues, or maybe the bulls will develop schemes that allow us to use his strengths at guard and stop those deficiencies from hurting us.

[DuckIII]

I am very happy with Thabo's play right now and I was one of the guys high up on the "Thabo Sucks" bandwagon.

My only reply to this comment is:
Ben Wallace

Hey now, I wanted Wallace to ride pine too within a few weeks into this season and it was a major point in my advocating that Skiles be terminated. I just gave Wallace a clean slate when Skiles got fired and said I wouldn't continue to condemn him based on past performances unless or until he reverted to his pre-Boylan form. And he reverted as of the Knicks game, so I'm back to wanting his minutes reduced in favor or Noah.

Granted, I wasn't way ahead of the curve like you and doug who were calling him out as a terd last season. (Plus I still think he had a decent year last season, so there ).

[coldfish]

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Hey now, I wanted Wallace to ride pine too within a few weeks into this season and it was a major point in my advocating that Skiles be terminated. I just gave Wallace a clean slate when Skiles got fired and said I wouldn't continue to condemn him based on past performances unless or until he reverted to his pre-Boylan form. And he reverted as of the Knicks game, so I'm back to wanting his minutes reduced in favor or Noah.

Granted, I wasn't way ahead of the curve like you and doug who were calling him out as a terd last season. (Plus I still think he had a decent year last season, so there ).

Well, I'll give you Thabo, and I'll one up this conversation.

For the first time in his career, Thabo is getting consistent minutes. You can't tell me that his practice habits got exponentially better in the last 15 days. His improved play is a direct result of regular playing time.

That's something that you pointed out this summer and you look like you were dead on about. If anything Doug deserves credit on that and can use this as direct evidence to support his arguments with Neusch over playing time development versus practice.

I still have concerns about Thabo's foot speed and handle, but he doesn't look like a lost puppy right now and his steals are nice to see.

[dougthonus]

Granted, I wasn't way ahead of the curve like you and doug who were calling him out as a terd last season. (Plus I still think he had a decent year last season, so there ).

In the end, when looking at Wallace last year I'd say this: He's not in the top 4-5 reasons we lost in the playoffs, so does any other part of it really matter much?

[DuckIII]

-1 for saying Thabo would "suck" as a guard.

I've said since early last year I think he's a SF, and I still do. I hope he proves me wrong and has potential as a guard. I think he's great at playing passing lanes, but he can't stay in front of guards on the perimeter, and he doesn't stretch the floor well enough as a shooter to play a guard spot.

Maybe I'll be proved wrong in the long term on both issues, or maybe the bulls will develop schemes that allow us to use his strengths at guard and stop those deficiencies from hurting us.

I think he's a small forward too. But I also think he's a guard. You don't think he played like a guard last night? You're talking about "potential" here. You didn't see a guard's skill set out there such as to suggest that he has the "potential" to be guard?

As I keep saying, ignore his shooting since we all know he isn't going to shoot like that consistently. Looking at the rest of his game, he sure looked like a guard to me.

(And as I've detailed in the Thabo/Phoenix thread, I pretty strong disagree with the notion that he can't stay in front of guards on the perimeter.)

[NLK]

To NLK:

I still remember throwing my remote and breaking it when Thabo made that perfect assist to Kidd lol. (snipped quote)
If Thabo comes through, he solves a huge problem with this team and makes it so much stronger.

on the remote breaking incident. Don't feel bad. I broke a pair of new headphones after that 2nd game. They were $50 headphones by Sony.
I agree with that last statement. But it was something we've all had hoped to happen at the start of the season. Who knows he might get it "crunk" and we snap out of this abysmal play.

Thabo sucks as a guard and needs to play SF.

OMFG, Doug this was something I had going through my mind a bit last year and when Deng went out, this year. Las night , to me was more evident. He's 6'6" or 6' 7" and he's biting on Wade's hesitant pump fakes (after he's picked up up his dribble). All he has to do is just put a hand in the offenders' (offensive player) face. But NO, he jumps into him. I just don't understand it, he's already got a height advantage. Just play him straight up. My thought is Thabo is just not quick enough to guard the 2s of the NBA, but might have a better chance at defending the 3s. I know he had that one really good game last year vs. the Pistons in Early April. His long arms can cause some problems and I think he might be a bit more agile and quicker than some of the 3s out there. Hell, I remember Iggy falling for Thabo's head fake on Friday night.

Right now, I'm still apathetic. I've already resigned to the fact this is a bad team. It'll take the Bench to really start playing beyond "well" to right the ship. I think once the bench gets it going, I think it'll help the starters improve their play. I said in another thread, this week was very important. And I meant it for morale reasons. They have to at least split to feel like they're not out of the playoff race. Hey, if they win Friday and Saturday night, I'm sure the guys will feel pretty good. It'll be their first 3 game winning streak (something the Knicks achieved before we have. Where's newskool at with this information?). And with said streak, you'll see a bunch of closet Bulls fans pop out of no where (as stated by Doug in the other post, this on & off/flip flop relationship ).

[dougthonus]

I think he's a small forward too. But I also think he's a guard. You don't think he played like a guard last night? You're talking about "potential" here. You didn't see a guard's skill set out there such as to suggest that he has the "potential" to be guard?

Thabo has guard skills, but he doesn't have a guard's quickness or shooting touch. It's not like a SF skillset is radically different from a SG skillset.

[Magilla_Gorilla]

He's 6'6" or 6' 7" and he's biting on Wade's hesitant pump fakes (after he's picked up up his dribble). All he has to do is just put a hand in the offenders' (offensive player) face. But NO, he jumps into him. I just don't understand it, he's already got a height advantage. Just play him straight up.

Every player in the NBA bites on that pump fake - its one of the quickest in the league - thats one more reason DWade shoots so many damn free throws..

[Red Larrivee]

Good post, and I agree. You can't let good streaks and bad streaks get in your way of a true opinion of a player. I can admit Sefolosha is playing well these past 2 games, but my opinion on him is still the same right now as it was before, that is, unless I see this type of play from him year round.

[cark]

I'd also point out that frequently, you don't have people changing their opinion. You have 2 groups of people on every player (those who love them and those who don't). When the player does well those who love them post a lot, and when he doesn't the other group chimes in. It gives the impression of a giant flip flop when often it's just different people posting.

Saved me the trouble, and said it much better than I could've.

[NLK]

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Every player in the NBA bites on that pump fake - its one of the quickest in the league - thats one more reason DWade shoots so many damn free throws..

I suppose MG. But I'm just thinking with Wade being shorter and when he tries to do that pump fake move, he's crouching down (not hidden dragon). If Thabo just goes straight at him, just put your hand up. If he makes the shot, so be it. Find something else to do to minimize his impact (like involving his teammates, defensively).

[Wingy]

-= original quote snipped =-
I suppose MG. But I'm just thinking with Wade being shorter and when he tries to do that pump fake move, he's crouching down (not hidden dragon). If Thabo just goes straight at him, just put your hand up. If he makes the shot, so be it. Find something else to do to minimize his impact (like involving his teammates, defensively).

Yeah, but he's guarding a dribbler/penetrator where you should be crouching down to defend. If Wade were a post player, then he'd be straight up and able to use his length. He's not though, so if he plays him more 'up', then Wade's gonna blow right by him everytime. He's in a catch22 that the whole league deal's with....it's Wade, he's one of the best players in the game...future Chicago Bull FA signing....err, not.

[Rerisen]

Thabo does have size advantages as a guard even if he doesn't have quickness or athletic ones. And it helps us from a team size perspective to get that better rebounder and defender in there. As a SF, I think any defensive ability he would have from length would be quickly negated. I can't see him even beginning to guard someone like Melo, LeBron, Caron, etc. Even Tayshaun, if he can back down and get the best of Deng, might tear up Thabo.

He was drafted for need at Shooting Guard and that is really where there are minutes and a hole that can be expanded if he is capable. If all he can do is be a backup SF and a very mediocre one at that, I don't see any special relevance in him being here. He would just be a body to fill a bench position, but nothing very productive toward helping the team win that I could see. He needs to succeed at the 2, to prevent this team from needing to make radical moves in the backcourt.

[Mr. Tibbs]

to be fair i don't think people were going absolutely crazy about thabo last night. They were complimenting him on a good game..not "crowning" him as one person called it.

I hate ben wallace and want him off the team. When he plays well though I'll acknowledge it. That's not flip flopping.

That being said still a good post.

[theagent]

not really because I've been critical of the Bulls the whole season. The ENTIRE team. You know why?????? Because none of them are consistent. We have a losing record so having a good game for an individual player or 2 means nothing. And even if they improved their record they would not stand a chance of getting to the Conference Finals.

[bigjad66]

not really because I've been critical of the Bulls the whole season. The ENTIRE team. You know why?????? Because none of them are consistent. We have a losing record so having a good game for an individual player or 2 means nothing. And even if they improved their record they would not stand a chance of getting to the Conference Finals.

I think as an organization, the bulls need to decide if they are happy being a playoff team or a contender. Real GM posters realize that our owner is quite content with a packed united center regardless of how the team plays. We as fans have to step up and not show up if we really want a better team on the floor. Fans for teams like the Grizz cant do this, but we can. If they truly want to be a contender, they need to make some moves in order to achieve this. Its almost useless to speculate on trades because we have no idea what the chatter is between league execs. Odd are that if a trade happens, we will have little to no notice as has been the case most of the time. Where is Tek when we need him lol.

[DanTown8587]

I think the main problem is when this team is healthy, the players play with a bunch of different guys and different minutes. I mean Tyrus Thomas is getting DNP-CD one night, three nights later he gets 14-9. I am not saying Tyrus needs to be getting more minutes, but I think a lot of Bulls need consistent minutes.