In my opinion, Kenny Thomas has been the biggest, pleasant surprise for the Rockets this season. I have yet to see another PF able to stop him off the dribble. Yet, the Rockets rarely give him the ball anymore. He only had six shots against the Clippers. They were using him more at the beginning of the season and were doing well. It at least gives the Rockets a post player with SOME offensive skills. Plus, Kenny is not shooting the three nearly as much as he used to, which is a very good thing. He's been shooting the midrange jumper very well. He has a FG% of .478. That's pretty impressive because he doesn't get to take too many easy shots. He has to work hard for his buckets. I think Kenny could easily be a 15ppg player if they would give him the ball more. ...and what's with Willis? Why can't he catch the ball?
I think he's a little better in the non-traditional post type situation where he can sort of slash around. It seems to me that when he gets the ball in a Hakeem-like set post situation he tends to get his shot blocked quite a bit. I think Kenny is most effective when he sort of drives into a post-up from about 15 feet out.
Yep, KT indeed has been a wonderful surprise, I agree with the others about how KT thrives facing the hoop. He's my Rockets MVP for the first month of Rocketball!
I agree that we could be utilizing KT a little more. With his working inside, if he misses the shot, he is getting a few whistles and gets to the line. When Kevin Willis was with us before, I use to accuse him of being Roberto Duran's big brother. I love his hustle and his work ethis but, he can't catch a cold.
I agree. When I said give it to him in the post I meant have him post up just to receive the pass. And then when he catches it he usually does his facing the basket routine. Posting up allows him to receive the ball closer to the basket. He's most effective when he doesn't have to put the ball on the ground but a couple of times.
We all hoped that Willis would rub off on Cato a bit; unfortunately, it was Cato that rubbed off on Willis!
Give it up. Willis had a nice little run. Cato will be the starter the whole season, barrig injury. Because we will play much better with him in the lineup by the time the All-Star break arrives.
