Kenny 'The Team' Thomas gets some New Orleans Love

Glad to see Kenny playing well. Good job passing, KT.

I still want you at 3, passing, defending, and shooting a jumper, not posting up. The post belongs to Yao and a big 4 (hopefully Griff). Certainly, I'd rather see Kenny post a midsize 3 than a bigman 4.

On defense, I don't like KT matched against Webber or Wallace or Duncan or Garnett et al, at all. He can try and all, and good for him, but that's just not good for the Rockets. With our guards and sf being defensively challenged, Yao needs help in the post to close the lane and stay out of foul trouble.

My KT hate is abated, but will burn full on if I ever see an open Yao or Francis or even Mobely get the wave off. If the other team chooses to leave him the open man, fine - but the bull in the china shop drive has no place here.

I do like KT catching and slamming. That is great. Read the opening, cut and jam. That's using his strengths in the team game.

 

Mmmm . . . that might be the case . . . except . . . I think there's a guy named Yao Ming on the team.

Way to go, KT. You've made me flip-flop some many times in just a couple of months. First, in the summer, I thought you'd never be successful at transitioning to the 3. Then you shattered that in the preseason by making your jumpers. I thought you'd be the starter at the 3. Then, you got hurt and when you came back, you reverted back to your old blackhole self. So I thought you were the odd one out in the PF logjam. Now, you shattered that with some good team ball in the last 2 games. I don't know what to think.

 

<blockquote><hr>Originally posted by walterw
To me it is like all KT supporters are BBall scholars; they rely on tapes, deep studies of the game to find the good things out of zillions of actions about KT.
All non-KT fans or haters are just bunch of regular fans who make their conlusion by intuition and impressions. <hr></blockquote>
Yet another polarizing theory.
Seriously, why do so many people talk in polarizing logic....like there are only two ways to look at every issue.

here's my theory.

Many non-KT fans probably don't look at Kenny on the court unless he is ISO'd. And they never watch any Rockets in off-ball defense. In all other circumstances, their eyes are following the ball or Francis, Yao or Eddie. That's my theory.

here's theory #2

Those who think KT is a smart player better suited for motion think similarly to what #33 and Shandon said about this team. Both #33 and Shandon said that they are not spot up shooters, that they are team-oriented slashers who excel in movement. Kenny however, has not voiced that frustration, and it seemed to have won him minutes over Carlos Rogers. imo, that's because Kenny wants to succeed and will try to be anything the coach needs, without complaint....hence, Kenny practicing more range than he ever shot in college.

In the past three years, it was very rare to see many times where our offense allowed off-ball guys to shine, unless they were spot up shooters. Isn't that a true statement? It takes tidbits over 3 years to decipher that Kenny could excel in offenses designed for cutting, picking, passing and should not be included in the list of Rockets who can't play motion.

 

heypee:


kt needs to pay yao ming to teach him how to talk to the media.


seriously, though, i'll be estatic if he indeed is ok with the power forward situation. right now, it seems that as long as he's getting minutes he's happy. and that's probably not likely to change, given his ability to competently play the 3 and 4 spots.

 

HP, codell and others good posts on KT.

The other thing that needs to be said about KT is that the original and longest lasting complaint that he is too short to guard Ducan, Garnett etc. doesn't apply as much when we play a zone anchored by Chariman Yao.

Have you ever noticed that at his present weight KT actually has the lateral quickness to guard and keep in front of virtually anyone in the NBA, including many of the guards?

.

 

For all of those with preconceived notions about Kenny being a black hole and not any good on the defensive side, then I say to you that you are part of heypee's theory (1). You are just watching the ball move around.

In order to see what Kenny brings to this team and more importantly the reliability he gives Rudy T., you have to drop your thoughts about him. Same with the folks that think Steve is playing selfish. If you go into a situation thinking these thoughts chances are nothing short of a perfect performance will change your mind. All players can not be stars. The game that we lost before beating the 76ers there was 97 FG attempts in that game at N.O. Some people thought SF was to blame for taken 28 shots. The Rockets before that game were normally only getting around 70-75 shots per game. Who was going to take the shots? You have to drop your preconceptions at the door before you sit down to watch the games and evaluate SF, CM and KT. Watch what they bring, not what you think they (don't) bring. The proof is in the pudding.

 

Great point. I agree.

Also, I think the knock that KT isnt tall enough to guard most 4s doesnt hold water all the time. KT has very long arms for his height. So while KT is 6'7'', he plays more like 6'9''. I dont really ever recall KT being killed by a Webber, Duncan, etc. At least, not any more than the average 4 in the league that has to deal with players of the caliber.