Article on Thomas

[bobcats3wallace]

This is from Hoopsworld and made me so irrate I figured I would see what you guys thought:

Tyrus Thomas, Forward, Charlotte Bobcats

Expectation: After re-signing with Charlotte last summer to a reported five-year $40 million deal, at the very least Thomas was expected to wrestle the Bobcats' starting power forward spot away from veteran Boris Diaw.


The Reality: While the Bobcats are still in the hunt to secure a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the team took a huge risk by allowing starting point guard Raymond Felton to walk in free agency and shipping center Tyson Chandler to Dallas. The continued development and maturity of Thomas was expected to ease the blow of the lost talent.

It hasn't happened.

Before suffering a knee injury back in January which will keep him on the shelf for eight weeks, Thomas was averaging fewer minutes than in the 2010 campaign and only registered one start for the struggling Bobcats. Thomas is freakishly athletic who finished in the league's top 10 in blocks per game in 2009, but it may be time to stop expecting him to become anything more than a strong interior defender.
Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?sto ... z1DrHXxrh0

There are so many things wrong with this assessment. First, is it really Thomas' fault that he could not wrestle the spot away from Diaw? I'm pretty damn sure that it was LB from the start saying Diaw was the starting PF. I would also have to say now, if Tyurs was healthy, I think he would have that starting spot. Second, How can he say the maturity of Thomas has not happened? He is having the best season of his career even with less minutes. Third, he makes it seem like Thomas is the reason for less minutes. NO, it was LB! LB did not know how to sue the young talent, as shown by Hendo now. Thomas was having the best season of his career, it was not him that caused him to sit on the bench it was the incompetance of our HC. Which is why he is gone. Lastly, I'll be willing to put money on the fact that Thomas IS the starting PF next season and that he DOES have very good success. I mean if you look at what he does when he is givien 25+ minutes it's incredible. This guy obviously is just going off of his Chicago days and knows little to nothing about the current state of the Bobcats and Tyrus Thomas.

Thoughts? Do you agree? I Just thought this was completley off base and ridiculous.

[JDuaneWayne]

I don't think this is completely off base, he has helped our team (mainly our 2nd unit), but he has been little more than a spark plug off the bench. Was it LB? I don't know, he didn't exactly log a lot of minutes under Silas. Do we miss him? Of course anytime Najera is seeing more than spot minutes it's not a good look.

The game has yet to slow down for Tyrus, he's one of those players he could benefit from a Summer with some old school player showing him to ropes, getting him back to fundamental basketball. This is the problem with AAU and up, coaches get freak athletes but fail to teach them the fundamentals. The guy could be a monster if he learned to run a good pick and roll, his jumper is better than advertised. I also feel Tyrus is one of those players who will get better once he slows down and let's the game come to him, or his athleticism diminishes a little to a point where he is forced to slow his game down. I would also like to see him develop some back to the basket game. Right now his game and Crash's game are so similar it's hard to have them on the floor at the same time. They both do almost the exact same things exceptionally (even help or weakside defense).

Is he worth what we paid him? No! Will he be worth it next year or the year after? Only time will tell. It's all speculation at this point on anyone's part.

[el-mago]

There are so many things wrong with this assessment. First, is it really Thomas' fault that he could not wrestle the spot away from Diaw? I'm pretty damn sure that it was LB from the start saying Diaw was the starting PF. I would also have to say now, if Tyurs was healthy, I think he would have that starting spot. Second, How can he say the maturity of Thomas has not happened?

Thoughts? Do you agree? I Just thought this was completley off base and ridiculous.

Are you kidding ? The fault is entirely on Thomas. He hasnt been able to bring his level up to someone like Boris Diaw and earn a starting spot. The coaches are simply playing the better and more reliable player which is Diaw. And this has abslutely nothing to do with LB's attitude regading rookies or young players, sorry but the comparison with Hendo is just irrelevant. Henderson is playing great right now and would have flourished under any coach IMO, he has defintely something special and is showing some real abilities to become a "player" in this league (let's not forget his development is still in the process). More generally, the "blaming LB for everything" type stuff has to stop. The old man has left for weeks now and there's been several losses lately including a pathetic one against the nets that reminded you how bad this team was and still is. You can put LB or Silas/Oakley's names over it yet it is still the same smokescreen. Plus Thomas's maturity hasn't evolved one bit, as far as i know before his injury he was still playing inconsistent and making the same dumb mistakes. We do miss his energy though.

[captaincrunk]

I like his contract personally. If he gets to be worth more than the 8 million he's owed in the last year, we'll be glad we signed him this year.

[bobcats3wallace]

Thomas is averaging better in nearly ever statistical catagory than Diaw and he plays 12 less minutes than Diaw. I mean what more does he have to do in the time he is given to be deserving of the starters role? Fact is, LB drastically limited his minutes. Once Silas came on board Thomas began getting closer to 30 minutes nearly every night. Coincidence? I think not. Thomas also averages close to 18 ppg and 10 rpg when he gets at least 30 minutes of play. Diaw gets 30 minutes nearly every night and only nets us 11 ppg and 5rpg. Fact of the matter is, Thomas is out producing Diaw. Only reason he is on the bench with Silas is because we need that energy from the bench. BUt he is still getting more minutes than Diaw, especially just before his injury. To say that he hasn't been able to bring his level up to Diaw is simply false. J ust look at what he has done, he has been ABOVE Diaw all season. If LB had given Thomas the minutes that Silas was giving him then not only would we had won more games, but Thomas would had been having a HECK of a year statistically. You also cannot dispell what he means to this defense with his shot blocking presence. I just cannot see how you can honestly think that he hasn't produced enough to be ahead of DIaw....

I also agree with Crunk. His contract is favorable. 8 million a year for a PF who blocks shots, is very athletic, and is still young? I mean quite honestly, if he could consistently get 30 a game he could easily reach 16 and 10 a night with a couple blocks. To me that is worth 8 million.

[JDuaneWayne]

Diaw = 4th offensive option in starting lineup
Tyrus = 1st offensive option off the bench

Major difference there, you can't use the argument of comparing per 36 minutes or per 48 when entirely different groups of players are on the floor. I'm not a Tyrus hater, but don't feel he is the end all be all...yet. He severely lack discipline and as stated before would do well to take this summer and get with an old school post player to try and take his game to the next level.