I had heard about K9 losing some weight this offseason but I didnt expect anything like I saw last night. He looks as slim as anyone else on the Rockets and if he can improve his ball handling, he looked like he could play small forward. His performance last night was also outstanding (17 and 12) in limited playing time and it looked nearly effortless. I think he's made great strides this offseason and had Mo Taylor not gotten hurt, I think Kenny would have been able to challenge for the starting job.
I'm a big KT fan. [I go for the underdawgs so sue me] There are some folx on our team that could prosper from his example. [I hate to talk ill of the injured but If Mo Tay worked like KT . . . . MAN!!! . . and CATO . .. and even Langhi] While MoTay may have the natural skill .. KT got the Hustle I hereby Grant KT the CHUCKIE BROWN PLAYER OF THE OFF SEASON Award. Rocket River
Im not set on K9 until he becomes consistent. He needs to show up and bring his game every night. He doesnt have to put 17 and 12 everynight. He can put 12 & 8 and that will be fine. Just bring your game every night.
well we'll see how he does against Rasheed and those guys monday. Chances are he'll suck and have a bad shooting day because of the height and length.
kidrock8, I think almost all of wish we got Webber, and maybe in hindsight we might of had a better chance than we originally thought. Hopefully Griffen will help to some degree defensively when we go up against good PFs in the West, but I don't see this happening for another couple of years. I agree that Kenny is going to give up big nights to other PFs, but didn't Mo do the same to a degree? Don't opposing PGs have spectatular nights against Steve? I don't think we can knock Kenny too much since he is being asked to do a lot more than he realistically should be asked to do. I think it's more of a coaching staff issue for putting so much into KT. (Maybe it will pay off in a few months, who knows?) B
B-Funny you mention Mo, because he's probably the Rocket I yell at the most. I don't think Kenny is much worse than Mo is. Hopefully in this case, two wrongs make a right.
Not that Kenny Thomas doesn't have his share of detractors, but I have to say leebigez makes them look legion. It seems whenever the name Kenny Thomas comes up, even tangentally, leebigez shows up soon after to bash on him. I'm not sure what it is you have against Kenny -- maybe you just really sincerely feel that he sucks -- but I just wanted to let you know that someone has taken note. We will register here that leebigez doesn't think Kenny Thomas can cut it and maybe it will save you some keystrokes in trying to get your point across later -- we are all now aware of your position.
Juan, its not that I have anything against Thomas, amybe people see something that I don't. I've seen probably 99% of the Rockets game since Thomas has played. When I miss 1 , I tape it, but some form of fashion, I always wind up watching them. I would be the first to agree taht Thomas is our best rebounding, low post player we have. He is a ntural rebounder with good insticts and his footwork in the post is good. My only problem is his lack of length and height. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing a short player, its just when i watched games against players in our conference, these guys would face him up and just shoot over him. I saw games with him against Webber, Garnett, Rasheed, and Duncan where he just didn't belong. He would go to the basket and have to double pump or travel or just plain miss the shot because their length would bother him. Then on the other end, the guys would face him and just shoot over him in basically an un contested jumper. I like his quickness, but he's not quicker than any of those guys. I just think personally, he's a good backup player. A player that can fill in in case of injury, could play some minutes in foul trouble situation. Basically playing against the other teams 2nd tier 4's. Thats not bad, guys have made good careers out of being 6th-7th man type player. He seems like a good team player and locker room guy, but if think he's going to help neutralize the strongest position in the strongest conference, thats not a good idea. If they would have thought that highly of him, they wouldn't have drafted Eddie and try to sign Jackson.
I think that you are right about him giving up a lot to other team's starting power forwards, especially in the West, but with Griffin and an aggressive Cato or Collier, they should be able to make up for it. Kenny has some of the best footwork that I've seen since Dream and Barkley and if he could use that more to his advantage on defense, he could take away many of the easy points scored by opponents.
Well, he scored 18 points, was strong on the boards and mostly pulled the game out in the fourth. I understand your complaints about Kenny Thomas. You say he should only be used off the bench and to fill-in for injured players. Well, guess what: Mo Taylor is our starting 4 and Thomas is filling in while he's injured. It's unfair to judge him by saying that he can't compete with Duncan and his ilk. Of course not -- and neither can Mo Taylor -- but he's a reserve filling in for a starter. Is he great? No. Is he adequate to hold the 4 while the Rockets enjoy mismatches at the 1, 2 and 3? Certainly.
Juan, I don't want this to be a back forth about Kenny Thomas because I think we both want them to succeed. I watched the game Monday and I saw the same thing I've been seeing. Yes he had 18 pts, but while Rasheed was in there, he had 2 and Rasheed had 11. Once Rasheed took that hard fall, he was gone for the game, thats when Thomas went to work. I do admire that he plays hard everynight which is great. Taylor is injured, but if you would have asked me the choice between those 2 I would take Thomas because of effort and rebounding, but thats not saying a lot. My feeling is Griffin is the one. He's the double-double in waiting. He is the future at that position, not Thomas or Taylor. I just think its hard to win in our conference with only 1 position at a advantage. If you look at our starting 5 players, the only one that gives us an advantage every night or most is francis. Rice and Mobley are good player, but its only a couple teams when Rice gives us an advantage and maybe a few more with mobley.
Alright, we can stop going back and forth on Kenny Thomas. I just had to say something because I always, always, always see you bashing in discussions on Kenny and I just wanted to tell you to suck it up because he's our starting 4 this year. I just want to see you cut him some slack -- he's not a superstar but he's a good rotation guy, a good second option at PF. And yeah, we're using our second option as our first option, but there's nothing to be done about that and it's certainly not Kenny's fault. He'll do what he can to hold down the fort, and, when it's time to go back to the bench, he will go back and produce some good backup numbers. he should be applauded for that.
West LA Fadeaway... (Does the Grateful Dead song have anything to do with your moniker?) I think Kenny will do well on the offensive end. Now that he's thinner and stronger, he's going to add to his offensive attack. I think he'll score fine. I do worry about his defense though. I agree that he won't be able to handle the top forwards in the West, but isn't that why their considered the best forwards in the game? I think Kenny is a great back up and will do fine filling in for mo.
3fingeredgus, haha no it doesnt. I havnt even heard that song, I just thought it sounded cool. About Kenny though, he works hard every night but he seems to shy away from taking that big shot (i'm not saying he hasnt made a couple because I remember him making a few last season) and from making that big defensive play. Sometimes he looks like he has the fire to go out and be aggressive not only towards the basket but also towards the opposition, but on other occasions, I dont even notice him on the floor. I think he's made great strides this off-season but he still has a ways to go. He showed that the presence of Rasheed clearly intimidated him but I think he will gain the confidence that he lacks this year, with the playing time he should be getting.
