PF Solution:...Tim Thomas!

I wasnt making an argument for Tim Thomas, i was just trying to make this argument a little more educated. I agree he cannot defend PF's, he doesnt rebound well. We need a stopped at PF first and formost, a bruiser who can defend and rebound, he doesnt even need to be a scorer. But if we brought Thomas in as a SF, he could also be utilized as a PF in some smaller lineups. Just an idea.

 

This is basically the Wrath of Khan, except I win.

Tinman,
I knew that given the right opportunity, Tim Thomas can use his talents optimally.

you got to look at strengths and weaknesses. Shaq isnt going to be using his talents correctly if he took outside jumpers.

Tim Thmas himself is the perfect example. Tim on the phoenix suns or nets would put up great numbers. Tim on the Rockets...


THERE, FIXED!

Can you imagine a PF that can't rebound, defend, or block shots STARTING next to Yao?!? That'll pretty gaurantee that Yao will have to find new ways to get out of foul trouble again. Tim Thomas is playing for a contract. He's shown times throughout his career that he's injury prone and never played a full season for the most part.

He's whined about playing time, which got him into trouble with Milwaukee AND the Knicks. He went on to Chicago and didn't do too much. His playoff numbers are almost EQUAL to his regular season numbers, proportionally. He's benefitting off the Sun's offense and is only playing PF because they have no other choice. Their run and gun style allows him to make up for disadvantages because of long rebounds and because if he gets scored on, he can try to outrun the opposition back on offense. He fits because the Suns doesn't PLAY defense. That won't work for the Rockets. If the Rockets run like that, Yao won't play more than 20 minutes a game.

3 pt specialist? He was one of the most athletic swingmen to come out into the NBA. He resided on shooting long jump shots in which it'll kill the team if he gets a long rebounding miss.

Finally, regardless of any of these things stated above, you'll know two things. 1) some people just like to say things to get a reaction because it boosts an egocentric narcissism that is buried shallowly beneath. 2) Some idiot team will overpay Tim Thomas only to have him play 66 of 82 games and have him being compared to all these "potential" "talents" a la Stromile Swift. He has the tools, but he's lazy and the Rockets don't have space for a guy that'll antagonise the locker by his lazy regular season play.

 

Using this logic, Jerome James sounded like the best signing ever. He looked like a beast during the playoffs last year. Isiah got fooled as usual and James went back to his same lazy self. I don't see why Tim Thomas would be any different.

Versatile players help when they actually try to help. Tim Thomas just has a gigantic history and track record that would indicate otherwise and justifying signing him on one series seems ludicrous. Also, he's a product of the offense they run. He doesn't have to play much defense and he just jacks up wide open threes that wouldn't exist with the Rockets because we don't have steve nash. Also, he's never averaged above 5 rebounds in his career which tells you he's not much of a power forward.

 

Don't let this fling fool you!

 

Now you're way off. I would have loved to keep those guys, but I wouldn't have ever thought that Robert Horry was the answer to the Rockets problems, or worth over-spending on, or starting. Cassell,...I'm not even sure what your point was with that one. Cassell not only was clutch and had heart, but IS a well rounded enough player, obviously.

My point isn't that Thomas wouldn't be fantastic to have off the bench.

My point IS that our very limited resources would be better spent on more well rounded players. Of course Thomas looks good in the Suns system, but they don't have a dominant Center on their team, and they've been getting killed by the Lakers big men. THE LAKERS BIG MEN! Need I say more? He looks good offensively with the Suns because they don't even try to rebound or play defense,....which is why he wouldn't fit with our team at all. Whether or not that's the coach's fault is another arguement for another day (and forum), but the fact remains he wouldn't be the best bet for the money we have.

 

I wouldn’t call Tim Thomas the “solution” at the 4, but based on the comments Van Gundy has made throughout the playoffs, our power forward next year is more likely to be a Tim Thomas-like power forward (a 3/4 that’s mainly out on the court to spread the floor) than a bruiser that everyone thinks will solve everything.

 

1 problem..............no money to sign him

 

It's not just about open looks. It is true that Yao and Tmac should give Tim Thomas the samek kind of looks from 3 point land as Nash does.

The main thing is that he wont have the green light like he does in Phoenix. In Phoenix, every player has green light to shoot an open shot ANYTIME, even if there's 23 seconds left on the shot clock. Why else do you think Suns players shoot such an insane % from out there? They dont have the pressure to miss it. They dont have to worry about their coach waiting for them at the sideline when they miss.

In Houston, if you waiver a teenee weenee bit from JVG's rigid offense, you bet he will chew your @ss next time down the court.

Players love the freedom in Phoenix. In Houston they would be shackled.

 

I only read through the first page of this thread before making this post, and i noticed many saying his contract is bloated...Tim Thomas was bought out of his contract by the Bulls and signed for the minimum with PHX, so he is an unrestricted FA this off-season if im not mistaken. I love his range on the 3 but i dont think he would be the solution at PF next to yao...if we're simply looking for a somewhat versatile 3-point specialist then i would sign Radman instead of Thomas.

 

This thread was made in 2004.

 

he'll be demanding MLE money at least, after his performance in the playoffs, we'd have to spend all of your exception to get him. Meaning we can't get V-Span over here

 

Tim Thomas wont come cheap and the rockets dont have much money to spend.

The cheaper solution will be, trying to bring Scott Padgett back! Yes, Padgett may be more a SF than PF like Tim Thomas and may not be athletic as Tim Thomas but he has some success into JVG system last time he was here, a decent rebounder and he is a hard working which is always a plus point.

 

The farthest I would want to see our STARTING PF leave from the basket on offense is about 15 feet. Tim Thomas exceeds that by at least 7 feet every time.

 

Having a power forward shoot threes isn't necessarily a bad thing. It could actually be really helpful for a team that can't shoot the ball at all.

The problem with Tim Thomas is that all he does is shoot threes. He doesnt rebound, play defense, or have any sort of post game. (although we really dont need another post up player) He'll just camp out on the three point line and just fire shots all day. That works for Phoenix but he's not the tough, rebounding power forward we need.

An example of a guy I would have liked was Donyell Marshall. He had a down year this year but he can shoot as well as any power forward in the league and he can rebound the ball and play decent defense. He is the kind of guy I wouldn't mind having at all.

 

try checking his career stats for a change.