btw: it is not the system that is making him hustle and rebound. Kenny has improved this year. We can't be stuck envying his new efficient, opportunistic, hustle-player offense (that is system) and deny Kenny the fact he has improved on defense and rebounding for any system. I can say that I've seen him suck down the rebounds in ways I haven't seen him do before. If that was the problem, then the trade exposed it. That's the point. Posey really came on strong for us, no doubt, but it's also a matter of what we lost in a guy who can play 2 positions (especially on defense--and Brown is actually saying SG, too). The Posey argument is really only looking at one side of the ball, and even that is arguable how much of a difference Poseys 10ppg were vs KTs. imo, what zzhiggins is saying is defense and rebounding was winning games for us early, and it should have been perfectly clear to the coaches that they were going to expose that as a weakness via the trade. Why did our zone seem to go away when KT left?
There is no doubt KT looks so good now because: 1. Plays in the weaker conference 2. Inferior competition 3. Contract year and he wants to get paid He does have talent, but I don't miss him a bit. I have seen him up close and personally working out with the Rocks, and he is lacking something in the self confidence department. He could also be a little winy. I wish him luck, and he seemed like a very nice guy. By the way, we all get on EG for jacking 3s, but I remember KT jacking some ill-advised 3s as well. I think MoT, next year, will make everyone forget KT. An achilles tear is a SERIOUS injury. When MoT is completely healthy, I think he will be an excellent low post scorer for the second unit. Pair him with Cato and let Cato compensate for his weaknesses on the glass. If we can dump EG for a serious PF to help Yao in the post, then we might very well have the best front court rotation in the NBA. Add some consistent outside shooting to the mix and we might be a 5th or 6th seed.
kt is playing in the east, against a team that is soft in the middle. did you watch those games? kt was throwin' everyone around who wasn't named tractortraylor. if he was still in the west, he would be getting his shot blocked as usual, and the same amount of rebounds as before. i also do think that mo-t will be better next year as well. by then he will have regained his confidence in that achillies. but that is, just my opinion!
HP, Well said. KT was our 2nd smartest player behind Yao Ming.... Posey played well, but I would rather have seen KT play the 3 spot more. If KT was still a Rocket we would be talking about how to beat the Spurs...instead of wandering who gets traded this offseason. DD
Think how good the calibar of play in the NBA would be if the labor agreement was like it used to be in baseball - one year contracts, plus no free agency.
Hey Rudy apologists, read it again: and one more time for good measure. I miss Kenny. Get Riddy of Rudy.
I wish Kenny the best in the future! I hope things work out for him. I would of preferred to trade Mo though!
I just wanted to point out that Kenny was in a contract year before he was traded, so I'm not sure how that would affect his performance with the 6'ers versus playing for the Rocks, but maybe that wasn't where you were going. As for the 3's, KT basically quit taking them this season, right? I suspect that he was asked not to and he didn't. He's very coachable. He's proved that, if nothing else. The last part of your post that I quoted I definitely agree with. I hope we do something about it, although I'm not greedy at this point... 8th seed would be groovy. Gotta start somewhere, and that's where I thought we would end up this year, if not one or two spots higher. (arrgh)
I think the difference between the level of the East and West is overstated. The East is only slightly inferior to the West in competition, not by a whole lot. If the difference is big, then there won't be young free agent staying in the west, all they need to do is to find an Eastern team, sign a short term contract, inflate their stats and collect big fat checks. It's not hard to figure it out at all. Apparently this is not the case.
btw: here's a quote from Derrick Coleman: <blockquote><hr><i>On the team’s effort in Game 2 versus Game 1</i> “I thought we came out and were aggressive more than anything. Kenny (Thomas) posts up so good and is so wide-open that you just have to give him an opportunity. Once he gets it, then he’s capable of scoring. I just can’t say enough about the way he goes to the boards and rebounds. He really helps out a lot.” <hr></blockquote>Man, they love him. sigh
