Wally Szczerbiak versus Kenny Thomas or why can't Kenny play small forward?

Woofer · 01-13-2002, 09:34 PM

Not an expert. I don't watch much of them on TV but from browsing nba.com their height and weight are almost identical. From reading the game recaps, Wally is playing the two mostly and sometimes three, and they explicitly talk about his height advantage against the two guards. Is Wally just incredibly fast laterally or just fast enough or does it not matter in Minnesota's defensive scheme? Just wondering why we can't use Kenny as a three if Wally can do it.

Raven Lunatic · 01-13-2002, 09:36 PM

I don't want to see Kenny at the 3 because I don't think he is fast enough on the perimeter to guard the quicker 3's (Marion, SAR, even Wally) and he certainly doesn't have the range or consistency on his outside shot to play there. Of course, lately, neither does Walt Williams, which is really starting to piss me off.

SteveFrancis3 · 01-13-2002, 09:50 PM

I still think KT CAN play SF, and would still like to see MoTay, KT and Griffin all starting next year, but KT would never be nearly as effective as Wally is there. The main differences like RR said is their speed and the vast differences in their range/accuracy. KT is on sometimes and able to hit 18 footers, but for the most part he is usually very hesitant to take them, and often hesitates then misses. Wally was already good before and has improved big time this season. He is turning into a scoring machine with his sharpshooting skills.

KT on 3's this year: 0-10 .000
Szczerbiak on 3's this year: 38-80 .475

And in overall fg% Szczerbiak is shooting 52%!
Amazing for a SG/SF. He's just as accurate on his outside shots as Cato, who is also .52%, is on dunks

JayZ750 · 01-13-2002, 10:02 PM

But couldn't we have KT, Griffin and some center on the floor at the same time given the benefit of Griffin's outside touch. Despite the fact that I often cringe when KT takes a guarded 18 footer, he makes some of them, and has an amazing ability to get it to the rack everytime with his spin move. Who cares if he's labeled a 3 or a 4, with Griffin also on the floor?

Raven Lunatic · 01-13-2002, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JayZ750
But couldn't we have KT, Griffin and some center on the floor at the same time given the benefit of Griffin's outside touch. Despite the fact that I often cringe when KT takes a guarded 18 footer, he makes some of them, and has an amazing ability to get it to the rack everytime with his spin move. Who cares if he's labeled a 3 or a 4, with Griffin also on the floor?

Assuming KT didn't shoot too much from the outside, I would have no problem with him playing the SF position for the Rockets with Griffin on the floor. I just worry that KT will play like our current SF plays in our system, which is to mostly float around the outside and shoot open jump shots.

SteveFrancis3 · 01-13-2002, 10:06 PM

Yes, I agree JayZ. A lot of times too much emphasis is put into the label on positions. I think Griffin, KT and MoTaylor with Francis and Mobley would be great. They don't necessarily need to be labeled the SF or C, and they would work well together, while KT does the inside scoring & with a little from Mo, Griffin takes care of the shot-blocking, and Mo and Griffin take care of the outside shooting.

Bay Rock · 01-14-2002, 01:18 AM

I actually think that KT is the best SF prospect that we have on this team.

He has very good lateral quickness, quicker than either Rice or Walt, and has better dribble drive penetration moves. Once he becomes consistent in knocking down the open jump shot that he routinely gets from the elbow, he will be a complete player.

I personally do not believe that a SF has to be a good 3 pt. shooter.

Marion shoots very few 3s, while getting most of his points around the lane. The same is true for SAR and Corliss Williamson.

I too hope to see KT, MoTay and Eddie play alot of minutes together next year.

DCkid · 01-14-2002, 08:44 AM

I would like to see those three guys on the front line too. Nearly all of the 7 foot centers in the NBA have little to no offensive game, so I think the notion that you need a 7 foot center to guard another 7 footer is no longer true. And with the way our guards rebound, it should offset the lack of rebounding we get from our front line. However, I'm not 100% sure the Rockets shouldn't look to sign a small forward this offseason or get one in the draft (Dunleavy if he comes out, or an attempt at signing Lewis). My ideal small forward is a guy who can hit the shot from deep from the wing, and Kenny can't do that. Plus, I think Kenny's main strength right now is that he has a quickness advantage over just about any PF in the league, and he's not going to have that same advantage at SF. But I do think it could work out. The Rockets could vary the roles for each of those three players depending on the team they are playing.