Forget Mo Taylor. Forget Jerome Williams. Forget Jason Collier. Many who post here watched some of the awesome games Kenny put in last season. People even started comparing him to a young Sir Charles. But then he went into a little slump or whatever you want to call it and he was consequently criticized for taking too many shots or committing foolish personal fouls. Am I just mistaken or was Kenny Thomas just a rookie last season. Isn't it a given that all rookies make mistakes at some time in their rookie seasons? There was a stretch of games near the end of the season when Carlos was hurt that Kenny without hesitation would jack up threes because he had been knocking them down in earlier games. Sir Charles also had his fair share of jack-ups from the 3-point line when he resided with the Rockets and he rarely hit his attempts. Now don't read more into this and try to say I am calling Kenny the next coming of Barkley because I'm not. I am just saying why not give Kenny the benefit of the doubt and let him play a full season at the PF spot and see what happens. His height also comes into question when his name is brought up. Once again, Barkley was only 6-4 and each year he was in the top 5 in rebounding. Thomas is considerably taller and has the same instincts IMO as Barkley, but remember I am not comparing these two as Kenny is just a sophomore at this time in his career. Kenny doesn't have as much offense as Mo Taylor, but he is not far behind. Kenny's defense easily surpasses Taylor's defense. And there is no doubt that Kenny is a stronger rebounder and has more instincts for the boards than Taylor. To sum everything up, Rudy and CD need to save their money and let Taylor sign with the Sonics so that they can pay him his max he thinks he is worth. I am sure most of you will disagree with a lot of what was written above, but just give Kenny a chance and let him redeem himself. ------------------
And if Kenny busts? Carlos Rogers? No. Pig Miller? No. Kelvin Cato? No, because that would mean Collier is the backup 5. Jason Collier? No. Matt Bullard? No. That's why we sign Mo, so if he busts, we have KT. Mo is a one year experiment, and if KT outplays him Mo is gone in a year. ------------------
I think KT bashing is weak. The guy was a #22 pick who was not expected to play at all, and put up 8 pts and 6 boards. The Rockets' record when he was a starter was pretty impressive. So he put up a bunch of 3's, big deal. He wouldn't have done that if Rudy's offense wouldn't have called for it. Don't you think he would've stopped shooting 3's if Rudy would've said something about it? Rudy had him setting picks outside the 3-pt line all year......there aren't many options when you get the ball outside the 3-pt line and nobody's guarding you. ------------------ "All these white guys running onstage making believe they're in gangs...Gangs would chew 'em up and spit them out. They'd put peas and carrots alongside them. 'Yo wussup! My name is Eminem.' Really? I'd like to see you walk down the streets alone in Harlem at night and see where that Eminem stuff gets you." - Gene Simmons Metal Sludge [This message has been edited by TheFreak (edited August 20, 2000).]
I think that KT had alot more bad games than good so I wouldn't call what he had a slump I would call what he did do good a lucky streak. ------------------
Yeah I agree with THEFREAK and COUNTINGCROW to an extent. I think Kenny will turn out to be a solid player, despite his relative dissapointment at the Rocky Mountain Revue. FREAK's got it right... if Rudy tells Kenny to stop shootin 3's, he will... simple as that, but there were plays called for him to shoot the 3. Kenny has the potential to be a good 3 point shooter, and I think with some more practice, he'll get there... maybe even this season. I would still like to get MO Taylor, but I would like to have Kenny still play a fair share of the backup role. Who knows? Maybe Kenny will end up better than Mo Taylor too? This is the beginning of Mo Taylor's 4th year, while Kenny's only gonna be in his 2nd year... And there is still Carlos Rogers. Where will he play? Maybe he can play the 3 a little bit? I think Carlos deserves some decent minutes becuz he really did play well up until the injury last year. And plus we REALLY need him in case someone gets injured. ------------------ president of the dan langhi fan club.
If we get Mo, I would guess that both Los and KT will back him up with KT playin spot minutes at the 3 and Los spot minutes at the 5. ------------------
Kenny is good and I think he has Grant Long talent, with the Heat Grant was a 13ppg with 7reb a game, he'll be good.He will be the key. Now Mo Taylor would just add to this young and talented team. If we get him, fine. If we don't, thats fine too. ------------------ the Heat suck!!
I would still like to sign Mo and have Kenny coming off the bench but I agree Thomas is going to be a good player and that with him coming off the bench with Cato,Cat,Langhi,Moochie and perhaps even collier are team will have some depth.I think KT started the year off hiting a lot of his 3s but then he started taking to much i think but as already said rudy might of had something to do with that.I see KT being a really good backup for many years but we need that starting PF and Taylor is the best we can do. ------------------
I'm certain that Kenny's FG% will improve - but as for him being a starter, that's another matter. I don't want to lose him though and I'd like to see him coming off the bench with all his aggression and intensity to add some fire to the lineup. Could be a nice sparkplug tandem of Mobley and KT. ------------------
While Kenny's offense has been a pleasant surprise, we are mostly concerned with him being able to defend some of the bigger Western Conference PF's such as Malone, Kemp, Duncan, Swift. If Kenny can learn to play better defense, which he almost certainly will, we'll be in good shape. As for Mo T., for the exception, the guy's a steal, but for a long term solution to our PF woes, we either need to develop KT better, or look at next year's draft. A Also, I believe that Rudy drafted Collier to play both C and PF. So he is a possibility in case KT is hurt, or continues to struggle from the field next year. ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
I think a big reason for Rudy taking Kenny was his purported ability to knock down the 3. Without that, you've have an undersized 4, nice footwork, but poor finisher. Even without the 3's, Kenny's FG% was horrible (low 40's). That's bad even for a rookie PF. In terms of who needs to improve the most on this team, IMHO it's Kenny. It's not like he didn't play in college, or came out too soon. At this point, Pig is a better player. Kenny will get every chance to improve, but if you can't score over opposing big men on the inside and can't hit the jumper from the outside, that's not good. If Collier shows good range and rebounds better than Mo. Taylor, and Kenny continues to struggle from the 3-pt line, who do you think Rudy will give more minutes to? Kenny or Jason? (BTW-I'm not implying we'll get Mo. Taylor, just an example of a bad rebounder) I really hope Kenny suprises this year. I'm a fan and want to see them do well. I'd be happy to say I was wrong. Honestly, I don't see him reaching 46-50% in FG% which is where I would hope our starting PF would be. Maybe I've been spoiled, but then we've got Pig and Los who both did better than that. ------------------ Bad spellers of the world: UNTIE!
As much as I love Kenny Thomas, please sign Mo Taylor! Never hurts to have more talented big men on the Rockets!!! ------------------ Go Rockets and Comets! Stay in Houston!
Looks like you KT fans will get your wish as it seems Taylor is signing with the Sonics. One of KT's many problems is inconsistency. In the RMR, he was pretty humiliated by Tractor Traylor, but managed to get Fizer ejected from frustration with foul calls. I like KT's effort, but a comparison to Barclay is a little much. It looks like he is going to get a lot of playing time this season and it should be *very* obvious at the end of the season whether he is the answer at PF or will be an NBA role player for his career. ------------------ GATER
TheFreak, "So he put up a bunch of 3's, big deal. He wouldn't have done that if Rudy's offense wouldn't have called for it. Don't you think he would've stopped shooting 3's if Rudy would've said something about it? Rudy had him setting picks outside the 3-pt line all year......there aren't many options when you get the ball outside the 3-pt line and nobody's guarding you." That is a weak argument. I remember when we had OT, Rudy had him set picks at the top of the key all day and all night. And, I would scream at Rudy that Thorpe had no business out that far from the bucket. And guess what, Otis never put up more than TEN threes in a season. Nor did he ever shoot lower than .542 from the field. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
It was just bad decision making on KT's behalf really.. he just couldn't be bothered getting down and dirty in the paint so he though "heck why not shoot a 3" - and just what could the coaching staff do? Bench him for .. umm, that guy, err.... ummm.... oh that;s right, Rogers was injured and so KT got benched for Walt during games - I guess Rudy figured that if the PF was going to shoot 3's he might as well have someone out there who was going to hit them... ------------------
Kenny was actually a pretty good 3pt shooter in college (for a "big man", tho he's not so big compared to other NBA PFs), and that to me explains why he took too many 3's last season. I think Rudy knew this and wanted to see how he'd do, so he gave him the OK to take the shot. Next season might be different - I'd expect to see him take fewer 3's and spend more time in the paint... Mo Taylor... I don't understand why all of you guys are so excited about him. He's definitely a good scorer, but he's a mediocre rebounder, and not much of a blocker at all. With his size, weight, and relative quickness he ought to average around 10+/- rpg, but he had I think 6.5 last year. That tells me he has some motivational problems (ala Cato); granted, he was in Clipperland, but still: if you want your $ value to go up, AND if you're selling yourself as a PF/banger, then you work hard for those rebs. It doesn't seem to me that he's worked very hard... Again, it seems like he's a natural scorer, but unless he really works for those rebs, I see no reason to get excited. That said, though, I think he'd be a nice addition - if for no other reason than we need another big man who can break some bones... One thing I really love about KT is that last season I never once saw him slack off or give up - he has ALWAYS given 100% effort. And I was particularly impressed when Duncan said that KT gave him some of the hardest D he'd had all season... If we can get Mo AND somehow light his fire and make him rebound, then he'd be a GREAT addition. If not, I won't lose any sleep over it... ------------------
I think the new pimped-out picture of Kenny at the top of the .net page is a sign that he will be the PF for the Rockets this year. ------------------ Kenny Thomas had a foul called on him in the Western Conference Finals.
