How do you guy like Al Thorton so far?

Unsung · Post #1 » by **Unsung** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:11 am

As a Clippers fans, and I am the minority due note he is a great guy but didn't play well for the Clippers. I hope he continue to play well for you guys, seem you guys hit a surprise jackpot. Maybe I was wrong in my assessment that Thorton suck. You guys are actually becoming a very fun team to watch.

Congrats on this pickup.

I pray we get LeBron, such a slim chance of it happening though.

Hopefully Joe Johnson will be a Clippers next year.

DaRealHibachi · Post #2 » by **DaRealHibachi** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:48 am

AT is awesome...

Most of us (well, I did) here thought he was a shotjacking, non D playing and selfish player... He was beastin it last night... Great shot selection, great D on Melo (who shot 7-20), amazing hustle...

I hope he keeps it up... We could really use him at (starting) SF in the future with this team...

MJG · Post #3 » by **MJG** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 1:45 pm

I'm holding back. I'm just wary of someone who spent years building a reputation as a defensive net negative, then on his first night after a trade, looks like a DPOY candidate. A good chunk of defense is mental, and I want to see him continue this even after the high of the trade wears off. If he can keep that up though, or even just say 80% of that - maybe he just needed a change of scenery for some reason? - then he was a complete steal and someone I'd be more than happy to have as our starting SF next year and beyond.

SumTingWong · Post #4 » by **SumTingWong** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:02 pm

Al Thornton, in the course of last nights game, proved beyond moral certainty that he is not merely the best defensive player on our team but the best defensive player under 6' 11 1/4" that the league has seen in 13 1/2 years.

How we managed to acquire him, given the meager assets at our disposal, is beyond me but I am making a burnt offering of glistening fat and animal bones to the basketball gods in thanks for this boon.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #5 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 5:04 pm

He played the most amazing man defense I have ever seen from a forward on this team. Great hustle, great energy and really nice moves on offense.

Granted that he might look like crap for the rest of the season but if he can keep up this energy then we got a major steal.

Joe_Wiz · Post #6 » by **Joe_Wiz** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:13 pm

So far, so good. Let's see if he keeps it up.

mohammed10 · Post #7 » by **mohammed10** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:17 pm

Pump the brakes, fellas...it's only one game.

I'd like to see if he can put up this kind of performance over a 4-5 game stretch..if so (and I sure hope so as well), then we can christen him the second coming of Scottie Pippen

ErikChowbay023 · Post #8 » by **ErikChowbay023** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:23 am

"There's been a knock on me that I don't play any defense so I just tried to come out and play defense the best that I could," Thornton said. "I just tried to get up in him and make him frustrated. Once Carmelo gets into a groove and gets his shot going he's very hard to guard. I just tried to get in him and frustrate him a little bit and make him shoot off balance shots."

Thornton was just happy to get 32 minutes after being limited to a little-used reserve role with the Los Angeles Clippers. As he spoke to reporters after the game, two huge boxes filled with his Clippers warm-ups and uniforms sat in front of his locker room stall. Asked what he planned to do with his old stuff, Thornton joked, "I'm probably going to burn it up."

As he walked into the shower and Howard walked out, Singleton said to Howard, "That boy is country strong. We're going to have to call him 'Jethro.' "

BruceO · Post #9 » by **BruceO** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:14 pm

there's a game i was trying to find which i swear had caron in it but apparently it was jamison where he was keeping the clippers single-handedly in the game and it was his rookie season. The rest of the games against the wiz have been mediocre either due to minutes, touches or inconsistency.
Either way, my thought on watching the likes of lebron james, jeff green, before jeff green watching danny granger, watching carmelo destroy our defenses led me to believe that a SF who has enough size the SG cant switch off on him without being destroyed were successful in the league. I followed him pre draft when they were talking about his hand and shooting mechanics and had him listed alongside nick young, stuckey as players we should go for within our range.

So now i'm kinda glad we have him. Because of his draft range I'm sure the staffs awareness goes as far as pre draft. Because cassell played with him i'm also confident there's awareness to how he is as a teammate and how good he actually is. I like thornton and i'm confident he'll do well. I was really tired of having undersized players. If you looked at championship teams there were certain trends to how those teams were built. Atleast one 6 11' PF like duncan, gasol, garnett, rasheed who could also pass and block shots ( that's why i think blatche has a chance to take us farther than Jamison. A SG with a high TS% and a SF with size. It's about time we start getting these prototypes who are athletic enough, have the right size and toughness.

He has a chance to be a good two way player. His defensive ability will make it easier to not have to create schemes because of lack of proper personnel

Mr. Grundle · Post #10 » by **Mr. Grundle** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:21 pm

Thornton has done well so far, but I don't like his game at all. I'd never watched him play before, but after 3 games it's painfully obvious the guy has tunnel vision once he gets the ball in his hands. He's either going to shoot it or try and take it to the rack. He either cannot or will not create for his teammates. He does not look fluid working within an offensive set. Doesn't appear to have any feel for the game. If his shot is not falling he's a liability out there. He's the anti Mike Miller. Could be related to Nick Young though.

Spence · Post #11 » by **Spence** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:24 pm

Mr. Grundle wrote: Could be related to Nick Young though.

He's Nick Young -- but taller, with more aggression and ambition. In other words, not a great player, but a helluva lot better than Nick Young and probably worthy of a decent spot in the rotation. I assume he'll be starting now.

Liverbird · Post #12 » by **Liverbird** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:36 pm

I think it's fair to say that he lives up to his reputation as a black hole on offense while his defensive and rebounding was underrated. He just needs to refine his offensive game to become a solid starter and contributor to a good team.

Post #13 » by **Ruzious** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:41 pm

Mr. Grundle wrote:Thornton has done well so far, but I don't like his game at all. I'd never watched him play before, but after 3 games it's painfully obvious the guy has tunnel vision once he gets the ball in his hands. He's either going to shoot it or try and take it to the rack. He either cannot or will not create for his teammates. He does not look fluid working within an offensive set. Doesn't appear to have any feel for the game. If his shot is not falling he's a liability out there. He's the anti Mike Miller. Could be related to Nick Young though.

As long as he takes it to the rack, he's not a liability, imo. I thought the officials last night were less than generous on his drives. He got hacked on at least 2 occasions with no call.

Dat2U · Post #14 » by **Dat2U** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:57 pm

Spence wrote:
Mr. Grundle wrote: Could be related to Nick Young though.

He's Nick Young -- but taller, with more aggression and ambition. In other words, not a great player, but a helluva lot better than Nick Young and probably worthy of a decent spot in the rotation. I assume he'll be starting now.

Sounds about right. As long as he makes no more than 2.8 million, I don't have a problem with him.

He's sorta like instant offense off the bench. He's not necessarily an efficient scorer, but he gets the shots up.

Saqs · Post #15 » by **Saqs** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:01 pm

He looks like a newborn deer driving to the cup at times but he's a high energy guy that works hard on both ends of the floor. Potential to be really good if he can refine some of his offensive mechanics.

Mr. Grundle · Post #16 » by **Mr. Grundle** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:02 pm

Ruzious wrote:As long as he takes it to the rack, he's not a liability, imo. I thought the officials last night were less than generous on his drives. He got hacked on at least 2 occasions with no call.

I dunno, he doesn't look like a real good finisher around the rim to me. Reminded me of Dom McGuire when he used to try and take it to the hole. Hopefully he'll continue to be aggressive and start getting calls instead of getting blocked or stripped.

queridiculo · Post #17 » by **queridiculo** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:02 pm

I'm surprised that so many have already settled into calling him a black hole. The guy is a scorer, and he isn't shy to take a shot when he has an open look.

So far I haven't really seen him take too many bad shots. He's pulled the trigger when he had a look, and he attacked the basket coming of the dribble wiht regularity. I don't have a problem with it as long as he doesn't fall in love with his jumper a la Butler, when it isn't falling.

Donkey McDonkerton · Post #18 » by **Donkey McDonkerton** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:56 pm

I have a nick name for him...instead of AT... we call him @

verbal8 · Post #19 » by **verbal8** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 5:59 pm

Donkey McDonkerton wrote:I have a nick name for him...instead of AT... we call him @

That reminds me of when Prince wanted to be known by a symbol.

Donkey McDonkerton · Post #20 » by **Donkey McDonkerton** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 6:02 pm

verbal8 wrote:
Donkey McDonkerton wrote:I have a nick name for him...instead of AT... we call him @

That reminds me of when Prince wanted to be known by a symbol.

yep