I agree. I haven't heard it mentioned, but I think Moochie has improved over the last couple of weeks. He had a bad game against the sixers, but otherthan that he's been hitting his shot, not making as many dumb passes, has been getting more assists, and has been making some incredible finishes when he gets inside amongst the big men. I think with Mooch playing good, he's exactly what a bench player should be: A SPARKPLUG! The kind of guy that come in and make some great plays to pump the rest of the team up. Maybe he's starting to relax after getting that ridiculous contract.
Hmmm, 9 out of 10 of Hakeem's shots in his prime were spin moves that ended up in a fade-away shot. I guess he didn't have an inside game either, eh Seriously though, if you can score from the post position (KT can), then you have an inside game.
If it was up the various memebers of this board we would have but 2 players on our team. Mobley is a ball hog. Moochie is a ball hog. KT is a ball hog. Walt sucks. Rice sucks. Cato sucks. (well this one i agree with) T-mo sucks. Mo-T sucks. It seems like Francis and Griffin are the only players on this team that can do no wrong. Everyone else SUCKS!
wow, my first "controversial" post and quite a response. I'm sorry if I ruffled anyone's feathers(that includes you Kenny ). My venting got the best of me. Go Rocks!
I agree with you 100% idrock. We have similar names too... Anyway, I am sick of KT looking to become the NBA's leading scorer. He has no semblance of passing out of a double or triple team. I was pissed when Willis would hog the ball, now that he's not playing much, KT has taken it upon himself to hog the ball.
It seems like when the team isn't doing well everyone loves to point fingers and lay blame. The fact is that during the off season Kenny Thomas, worked on developing his body, his moves to the basket etc. The plays for Thomas going to the hole, are good plays since he's quicker than most of the guys guarding him. Yes, he should pass when the help defense comes, but if his teammates would move without the ball better, and position themselves better that's one thing that might help, and also some of his teammates can't catch all that well. Also keep in mind KT is a young player and still learning. At least KT has worked on his conditioning and strength, knows when he has an advantage of his defender, and doesn't settle for an outside shot all the time. At least KT drives to the basket. I would rather see that kind of aggressiveness, even if he doesn't score, than when some other players dribble out most of the shot clock and then end up taking a worse shot from the outside.
This is what I expected to see.... In wins, he scores less, gets fewer rebounds, yet MORE assists with a higher FG%. In losses, sure his numbers look better on the surface (higher PPG and RPG), but his assists numbers drop in half. And I would assume the higher assists in wins means there are even more passes off his passes. Undeniably, KT is a cancer to this team when he plays selfishly. Does he help us win games? Yes, but he probably helps us lose just as much. But Hakeem actually got the ball in the post. It would seem to me that one of the defining characteristics of a post-up game is getting the ball in the post. On most of KT's plays, he is not in the post, or he is posted very far away. Why even have an inside game? I always thought it was because the post player, by catching the ball relatively close to the basket in a post position, is able to see the court well and can therefore create great passing lanes when a double team is demanded. This is why the Rockets were not successful with Hakeem until he learned to trust his teammates and take advantage of the double teams. What's described above is what Hakeem did, but not even close to what KT brings. You can call it an inside presence if it makes you feel better, but he rarely demands the double team, at least not until his spin-move is nearly complete, and thus doesn't create any passing lanes. Further, KT's initial move always comes when facing the basket. This turns him into yet another slasher/penetrator type player, of which we have a number of in Francis, Mobley, and Moochie. Hakeem almost always started his move with his back to the basket. Hakeem almost always demanded a double team. Hakeem generally made the smart, open pass, creating ball movement and open shots. If KT does those things, it is rare, but when he does, his assit numbers and FG% goes up and the team generally wins. From what I see though, KT doesnt bring nearly as much to this team as his offseason work/conditioning and his stats would lead you to believe.
So what are you trying to say, when Kenny gets 3 assists per game the Rockets win, but when he gets two they lose? And you call that undeniable evidence? Anyways, Kenny's not going to look to score as much when Francis is playing, which probably explains that increase of one assist per game when they win (ie when francis is playing).
First, when players play selfishly, they almost always undeniably harmt he team they play on. I think that is a pretty well supported idea. I stated..."undeniably, KT is a cancer to this team when he plays selfishly" How can you possibly argue that. Second, why should KT look to score more when Francis is out of the game? When did KT become the savior when our PG was missing? Assuming he should look to score more, has it helped u swin. It quite obviously has NOT helped us win anymore games. I dont think KT should have liscence to just stop passing the ball when Francis goes out. KT's apg double in the wins. Ball movement creates ball movement. His increase of 1.4 apg in wins probably creates even more open shots/scoring than that stat alone indicates. You would think after 18 losses of KT apparently looking to score more when Francis is out, he would try something different ("hey, maybe I should look to pass more and see if that works") if he was such a team player.
I think it's incredibly simplistic and unfair to say that the entire performance of the team can be judged on Kenny's assist totals. In Rockets wins the team shoots 46% while in losses they shoot 40%. Simply by shooting % alone, a player could pass the identical amount of times in losses and wins yet have fewer assists in losses. In addition, Stevie averages 6.4 assists in wins and 5.6 assists in losses and Cat averages 3.3 assists in wins and 2.7 assists in losses. Steve and Cat certainly have a bigger impact on our w/l record than KT as they're both primary offensive options. Also, of our 23 losses Steve only played in 9 of them. KT along with Mooch are the two players charged with taking up the scoring slack in Steve's absence. So that's why KT's rebounding, scoring, and minutes are up in our losses, it's not because KT is a cancerous loser as you would attempt to portray him here.
I agree...I just thought we were talking about KT specifically. But why? What came first, the chicken or the egg? It seems to me from watching that it is the ball movemement that creates better shots and higher shooting percentage. Also not surprising. The team as a whole has a problem with ball movement and running too many isolation plays. They also dont fast break enough. It simply seems to me, and apparantly others watching the same games I watch (at least based on these two recent threads), that there are numerous times where KT should pass to an open man rather than shoot - regardless of whether or not he scores on the play. Regardless of who is suppossed to take up the slack, this is a problem that has been observed. However, you dont htink after 18 losses without Francis, KT might say to himself maybe I shouldnt worry about scoring so much and should make a concerted effort to get all my other teammates involved. I havent seen him even come close to that. His apg numbers, rather, decrease by more than half. Francis' and Mobley's differences aren't nearly that much (either on a percentage or absolute scale) in a win-loss split. Anyway, I dont think KT is always a cancerous plague. But I do think that he undeniably is one when he is being selfish, and I do think he plays selfishly 50% of the time, worrying more about his stats, his starting position and his next contract than about the team winning. Those are all valid concerns on his part, but if they arent helping the team win, and I dont think they are, that as a fan it (selfish play) dissapoints me. The other half of the time, though, I do say to myself..."Wow, I didnt think he could do that, or make that" or "now that was a good pass" and I know KT can thus be a valueable commodity, especially in the future giving us a very strong benchplayer. He has 6th man of the year potential but I dont think more than that.
Well I totally agree in regards to ball movement in our offense. I totally detest our offense. In fact every time, seemingly by accident, there is a double screen and Oscar or Walt pops out to shoot a wide open shot I just can't get the grin off my face. In defense of Kenny though, who should he pass the ball to!? Griffin has only been getting big minutes very recently and seems to like to hang out at the 3point line a little too much. Who else is out there? The whole team shoots a bad percentage. Moochie is 42%, Cat is 41%, Walt is 38%, Rice was 38%. TMo has been playing well recently but he's at 32% on the year. I can't verify this but I'd venture to say that in games that Steve doesn't play, we probably shoot less than 40% as a team. I'd also agree with a prior statement that Kenny is a young player just like Steve and Cat. He will make mistakes and he does have holes in his game but he has shown that he does have a hunger to improve his game and build his body. You can't ask much more than that from any player.
Bottom line, KT cares nothing about this team. He's looking to pad his stats and nothing more. I was disappointed last night when the Rockets offense kept defering to him in the post. He scored a few times but more times than not the Rockets came away empty on the offensive end, especially in the second half. You can really sence KT's selfishness with the emergence of EG. I hate to say it but I'll be glad when KT is no longer a Rocket. There's no denying his hustle and over all desire, but he is definately looking out for himself right now at the expense of the team. KT has shown great improvment this year but it's obvious that he cares more about showcasing his skill then helping the team win. I wish him the best the rest of his career, but with his selfish play of late and only thinking of himself, it's time for him to go elsewhere. The less selfishness on this team, the better. KT is the odd man out with the overload at PF. I don't believe KT is exactly a Cancer, I believe "selfishness" itself is a cancer that is keeping this team from being successful.
Okay. I give up! I'm done defending Kenny. When the comments like this start to appear, the thread has pretty much worn itself out. But please, just don't try to act like you know what is going through the players' minds, because you really don't have a clue. Thanks.
Okay whatever. Anyway I know what I've been seeing on the court, a lot of the time KT doesn't play team oriented basketball, thus hinting that he doesn't care much about the team. Look you can defend Kenny all you want. I don't think Kenny is a scum bag, but bottom line, in the long run it's probably best that he moves on.
