We all seem to agree that PF is the big hole we must fill for the future. At 6'8", 260 lbs., can Thomas do the job? Remember, we drafted him before we had any idea we could get Steve Francis. Is Thomas's game too SF-ish and perimeter-oriented to mesh with Francis? Can Thomas set the picks, muscle for the post position, fire the passes to cutters, and grab the boards necessary to complement Francis's game? Can he bang with the big boys? Does he have the strength? Does he have the fire? What has he shown he can do in the NBA? What has he shown he CANNOT do? And what do we need to see from him that we haven't seen yet? (Rudy is notoriously slow at bringing along big men -- look at how few minutes he let Othella play in his first two seasons -- so the next two months should be a welcome opportunity to teach Kenny some lessons the hard way and see what he can do.)
Will, Coming out of college the only real knocks on Kenny Thomas was the level of competition he faced in the WAC and his lack of intensity on some occasions. He supposedly has all the tools and is a good rebounder and offensive threat in the post. He was supposedly a decent passer for a big man as well. All that was in addition to his perimeter play. So far he has done well and if he can develop like Othella did he will definitely be our PF of the future. The big question is his work ethic. If it is like Othella's the Rockets have a gem.
If that's the case, Ratliff and these other supposedly available PFs might not be wise acquisitions. The Rockets really have three fairly good prospects in the post (Thomas, Hamilton, and Cato). We're already seriously committed to Cato with all that money we gave him, so if we got a Ratliff at 7 mil. a year or another high priced PF, Thomas would probably not have much of a future with this team. Imagine if these guys did have Othella-like work ethics, we could be looking pretty good in a couple of years. I hope they don't start hanging out with Stanley Roberts! [This message has been edited by oakdogg (edited December 14, 1999).]
Kenny's real height is 6'6.5". I have been impressed with Kenny's game so far. Kenny definitely has got skills, especially on the offensive end. It will be very interesting to see how his game develops this year with Big Sexy out. His size is the big question in my mind on whether he can be a solid fixture on the Rockets. Taller offensive 4s should give him trouble on D, but his range on his J should make up for some of this. I don't see him becoming an all star with an around game. If the Rocks get a lottery pick and take the best available player, I would not be surprised if they took a 4 with all start potential. Not all of our starters are destined to be all stars, so Kenny may stick.
Can Kenny Thomas be our power forward? I think he has the skills. He's a little undersized, but so is Barkley and Dennis Rodman. Neither of them had any difficulty with the rebounds, and at least one of them didn't have any trouble on defense. I don't think the real issue with a guy like Thomas is his size (he played center in college and did well). As everyone else already knows, it's really the intangibles that often make the difference. Does Kenny Thomas have what is needed to be a quality power forward in the NBA from that standpoint? Who knows? I sure hope that he does. I think now is the time to find out. I don't think I'm in favor of going out and making a trade this year (unless it's one that we'd be absolute idiots not to make). As far as anything meaningful, this season is done for. Why not see what we have in our young guys? I'm not suggesting that we tank the season -- that doesn't seem to be wise from the standpoint of developing our young talent -- but I do think we should play some guys who wouldn't get to see a lot of playing time this season if things were going well. Let Kenny Thomas play against some of the better power forwards in the league. See if he shows signs of being a quality power forward. He'll struggle, no doubt. If Anderson, Mobley, Francis, Drew, Cato, Rogers, and Thomas are going to be part of the Rockets long term plans, then I say that they need time playing together. If they struggle, they struggle. It would be much better to get that out of the way this season and begin next year with some guys who are used to each other.
