ESPN ranked Kenny Thomas as the 4th best rebounder among the rookies, behind Brand, Odom and Adrian Griffin, saying: If the Rockets would play this guy, he'd be getting eight or nine boards a night, guaranteed. Thomas grabbed 10 rebounds a game his final year at New Mexico and has shown the ability to do that same thing in the Association. He grabbed 10 boards in a game against the Wizards and on a per-minute basis the numbers look good. However, the Rockets like to play Kelvin Cato/Thomas Hamilton at center and feel that Carlos Rogers at forward is enough rebounding. It probably isn't. At 6-8 but a nice 260 pounds, Thomas is no Elton Brand offensively, but he does have the potential be get down and dirty and grab misses. Ironically he has 5 boards in the first 15 minutes of play tonight. ------------------ Clutch Confident the Rockets would be title-less had they drafted Leon "The Dream" Wood CLUTCHCITY.NET -- SPREAD THE WORD
Go KENNY! Thanx for posting that clutch, Im really happy kenny is getting some respect. People doubted his play when we picked him and know one believed he would become this good. His shot has been really off the past week. Tonight as well but he sure plays like a mad man on the board and he did a greattt block tonight. But one thing i want him to do is , Look MEAN when he does something, He has a face that looks like he is nice but he plays like he will kill you. Just get MEANER!!!
That is interesting. We all know Kenny has the skills, but the one thing that was in doubt when we drafted him was his work ethic and desire. While is isn't no Othella Harrington, from what I've seen he's shown some hustle. BTW, was it him that many scouts touted had as much raw talent as Brand, but it was just the work ethic in question? My memory is failing me right now . . . Azim da Dream
Azim Da Dream : Thats exactly what they said about him. Also i remember i was at this store and picked up this nba magazine ( Dont know what) Flipped through pages to see any talk about the rookies and they had this column that said " Most likely rookies to fail" Guess who was the #1 most likely to fail in the nba,, You got it .. KENNY THOMAS. Guess they dont think so now do they, another good pick for rudy t and staff...
not very bold of espn brand odom griffen then sort by reb/min favoring the PFs. fantasy basketball methods.
Hell, if the guy could hit a few shots he might not be so bad! What the hell was he doing taking 13 shots(or whatever the number was) tonight!!! ------------------ Without a good defense, there is no offense. We don't need no stinking badges!!! We need some stinking WINS!!!
A couple of weeks ago, I was watching a game on the television (I as out of town) when someone sitting with me, who doesn't know anything about basketball, but was keeping me company, said: "ya know what? I don't know much about this game of yours, but, that guy (K. Thomas) sure looks like a great player." Thomas was in the middle of a short shift and had shot 1 for 4 or something, but he was hustling, banging underneath, grabbing balls off the glass, pushing and shoving, running up and down. I sat there and thought: Ya know what. This guy is right. Kenny Thomas has that Rocket blood. He has fire and he hustles. He has great inherent skills. He is coachable. He is learning to be immediately "into the game" when he comes off the bench. He plays a number of positions and a number of roles. Whatever it takes. He doesn't have that infectious smile of Othella. That easy way. He doesn't quite have that first to practice ethic yet. But he reminds me of someone. Maybe, an early Othella. His first couple of months out of Georgetown. A little awkward during single possesions. Sometimes not sure where to put the ball, but learning on every mistake. Yeah. He's reminding me of Othella more and more every game. Only he's getting more playing time than O, and he has more range this early in his career. Next year CD will show him the "touch" baby hook, hopefully he have a more refined 16 footer and if he keeps his trey range .... man, look out PF position. I like what I see. I hope we can keep him.
There are two kinds of rebounders: vertical and horizontal. O was a bouncer. He got a lot of his boards and putbacks by going up again and again and again. Kenny reminds me of a different Rocket who got his boards by sneaking in front of people and using his big butt to clear out and occupy space so that when the ball came down he was the closest guy to it. Yes, you know who. Kenny doesn't have the same temperament, unfortunately, but he's the first guy I've seen using the same aggressive (and effective) style. I think I'm going to start calling him Little Sexy.
I must say I love this kid a lot too. I probably loved him more when he was hitting his shots back in his first few games. But there are a couple of things that really stick out in my mind- First is the game that we lost against New Jersey. I was very, very surprised at the defensive job Kenny did on Van Horn. At least twice, maybe three or four times VH (who must be half Kenny's weight) tries to drive baseline on him and can't- He is just flat out stopped. Why- because of remarkable lateral footspeed of Thomas. I'm not saying he shut down Van Horn, but for several possessions Thomas nullified him with good, true, footwork defense. Considering the weight ratios involved, I was very impressed. Second is his speed in his moves. The guy could really do some damage with his face up moves in the post- his spins and fakes are ridiculously fast for someone his size. Isn't he something like 280? He plays like a SF with a lot of muscle. He just needs to work on actually getting his shots in after executing all those moves.
He is 260. PIG MILLER is 280, AND STILL SUCKS. Do you know who the jazz signed??????? ARMEN GILLIAM , they waived Chilcutt. I didnt even know he was available, WE COULD OF GOTTEN HIM INSTEAD OF STUPID PIG.
hmmmmm Othello's "infectious smile" "Little Sexy" to go with comments from a rocket pimp i'm worried guys. seriously, i like that first turnaround j of the year by thomas last night. give me that over the more defensable baby hook. more suitable to his other moves that he wants to free up. a turnaround j will help his spins and over-under moves tremendously, things othella never had. I say this cautiously though, cause Thomas is pretty much traveling or getting stuffed when he attempts these, but the footwork and shooting touch is a start. Joe Joe 16/8.5 PFs yeah...i'll take that company Let's see here who belongs in that club: Garnett.#5 pick Shareef.#3 pick Webber..#1 pick Brand...#1 pick McDyess.#2 pick Malone Kemp That's the extend of the 16/8.5 club... Same for the 15/10 club... And the 15/8 adds only #2 pick Van Horn... One of these days we'll start saying 13/8 PF to mean the solid workhorse, not quite star. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited January 07, 2000).]
Kenny prediction for next year if he gets 35 minutes a game. 16 ppg 8.5 rpg I can't see him doing worse than this with solid PT. He scored 10 shotting 3 of 14. Had 7 rebounds. I think the Heat game is how Kenny will look on bad days next year.
