Minnesota Sports Forum

I would much rather have a player like Rodney Hood be our first off the bench compared to Shabazz

Q12543 wrote:Thomas is amazing for sure, especially of late, with his sister's death. Inspirational performances for sure.

However....color me skeptical if they advance and get to Cleveland. I just have to believe his height at some point is going to be a problem, whether it's through traps thrown at him that he can't see over or not getting calls at the rim where he's been very good at throwing his body into people.

Q -- He's had all that stuff thrown at him over the past two seasons. It's not like he suddenly emerged on the scene in this year's playoffs. Skepticism regarding Thomas isn't really warranted. He's a great player and will continue to be great against any opponent so long as he's healthy. Cleveland will have a strategy for trying to contain him. There will be strategies and counter-strategies. I expect Cleveland to be more effective than the Wizards so I don't see Thomas scoring 53 points in any game in that series. But he'll continue to produce at a very high level. Boston looks like the only Eastern Conference team that can give the Cavs a series, although I would expect the Cavs to take the series.

I'll put it this way. Put Thomas on the Wolves and he would instantly be our best player.

Q12543 wrote:Washington is a talented team, but they just don't have the defensive chops needed to climb to the top of the East.

I thought the Celtics outplayed the Wizards on the offensive end. The Wizards were careless with the ball, were beaten to loose balls and missed shots while the Celtics, especially Thomas hit a bunch of really tough shots. Put Thomas and Wall on opposite teams and I think the Wizards win tonight.

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Thomas is amazing for sure, especially of late, with his sister's death. Inspirational performances for sure.

However....color me skeptical if they advance and get to Cleveland. I just have to believe his height at some point is going to be a problem, whether it's through traps thrown at him that he can't see over or not getting calls at the rim where he's been very good at throwing his body into people.

Q -- He's had all that stuff thrown at him over the past two seasons. It's not like he suddenly emerged on the scene in this year's playoffs. Skepticism regarding Thomas isn't really warranted. He's a great player and will continue to be great against any opponent so long as he's healthy. Cleveland will have a strategy for trying to contain him. There will be strategies and counter-strategies. I expect Cleveland to be more effective than the Wizards so I don't see Thomas scoring 53 points in any game in that series. But he'll continue to produce at a very high level. Boston looks like the only Eastern Conference team that can give the Cavs a series, although I would expect the Cavs to take the series.

I'll put it this way. Put Thomas on the Wolves and he would instantly be our best player.

Understood, I'm not questioning his legitimacy as a great player. I just wonder if his height becomes more of a factor when it comes to getting over the top of the mountain. We'll see, as it appears they are headed on a collision course with Cleveland.

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Thomas is amazing for sure, especially of late, with his sister's death. Inspirational performances for sure.

However....color me skeptical if they advance and get to Cleveland. I just have to believe his height at some point is going to be a problem, whether it's through traps thrown at him that he can't see over or not getting calls at the rim where he's been very good at throwing his body into people.

Q -- He's had all that stuff thrown at him over the past two seasons. It's not like he suddenly emerged on the scene in this year's playoffs. Skepticism regarding Thomas isn't really warranted. He's a great player and will continue to be great against any opponent so long as he's healthy. Cleveland will have a strategy for trying to contain him. There will be strategies and counter-strategies. I expect Cleveland to be more effective than the Wizards so I don't see Thomas scoring 53 points in any game in that series. But he'll continue to produce at a very high level. Boston looks like the only Eastern Conference team that can give the Cavs a series, although I would expect the Cavs to take the series.

I'll put it this way. Put Thomas on the Wolves and he would instantly be our best player.

Understood, I'm not questioning his legitimacy as a great player. I just wonder if his height becomes more of a factor when it comes to getting over the top of the mountain. We'll see, as it appears they are headed on a collision course with Cleveland.

Ok. A lot of thoughts on this one... especially considering I'm the board's resident Celtics "fan"... sorta.

- I have a new basketball crush. I've been looking for one since the day Steve Nash retired. I felt like Curry could have been it... but we were more like really good platonic friends who after a few drinks could maybe... you get the idea. Right now it's Thomas. Part of this is because of his size. And a kid. Kids love Thomas... especially really short possible future PGs. I'm told bonding is good or something...

- Last night was unreal. He had dental surgery earlier in the day for the teeth that got knocked out in Game 1. He landed ON THOSE NEW TEETH in the 3rd quarter. Like... his face hit the floor before the rest of his body. What did he do? He scored 29 points in the 4th quarter and OT in a comeback win... 53 total points... Oh... and it was the birthday of his recently deceased younger sister. Badass.

- But Q is right. He's always going to be a problem defensively. He's just too small. I think Cleveland sweeps the Celtics. I'm not suggesting it's Thomas' fault. I just see too vast of a difference between the teams. Give Jaylen Brown a couple more years... and maybe he could match up with James. Not now though.

- Everybody knows about Boston's treasure chest of assets... but it's pretty complicated. What do they do with Thomas? Pay him $30M as he enters his 30s as a severely undersized PG who struggles on defense because of it? They might actually be better off trading him and building with Fultz or Ball and the guys they get for Thomas. But Thomas is becoming more of a Boston legend every game. Every day. How much does that complicate matters for Ainge?

- Back to what we discussed earlier in the week... the best teams find hidden value guys in the draft or from other teams. Sacramento picked Thomas LAST IN THE DRAFT... #60. He surprises everybody by averaging 20 ppg. WHAT? That's great hidden value, right? Nice job Kings. Only they literally gave him away. WHAT? Why just throw all that hidden value away? Those are the types of things that make teams like the Kings irrelevant.

Not only is IT a problem defensively, but Boston literally has no other go-to option offensively. So if a team is able to bottle up IT, I question whether the C's have enough other options to outscore a team like Cleveland or Golden State.

Still, the fact they are likely going to make it to the ECF with one star, a "near star" in Horford, and then a bunch of role players is really impressive. Brad Stephens is such a great coach.

Q12543 wrote:Not only is IT a problem defensively, but Boston literally has no other go-to option offensively. So if a team is able to bottle up IT, I question whether the C's have enough other options to outscore a team like Cleveland or Golden State.

Still, the fact they are likely going to make it to the ECF with one star, a "near star" in Horford, and then a bunch of role players is really impressive. Brad Stephens is such a great coach.

Question...isn't that basically what the Spurs are but with obviously more name recognition?

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Not only is IT a problem defensively, but Boston literally has no other go-to option offensively. So if a team is able to bottle up IT, I question whether the C's have enough other options to outscore a team like Cleveland or Golden State.

Still, the fact they are likely going to make it to the ECF with one star, a "near star" in Horford, and then a bunch of role players is really impressive. Brad Stephens is such a great coach.

Question...isn't that basically what the Spurs are but with obviously more name recognition?

Perhaps so. Aldridge was at one time a legit #2 offensive option that could get you 20-25 nightly, but I''m not so sure anymore. He was certainly more of a weapon than any secondary guy Boston has, but again, I'm not so sure after watching him labor through these playoffs.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Not only is IT a problem defensively, but Boston literally has no other go-to option offensively. So if a team is able to bottle up IT, I question whether the C's have enough other options to outscore a team like Cleveland or Golden State.

Still, the fact they are likely going to make it to the ECF with one star, a "near star" in Horford, and then a bunch of role players is really impressive. Brad Stephens is such a great coach.

Question...isn't that basically what the Spurs are but with obviously more name recognition?

Perhaps so. Aldridge was at one time a legit #2 offensive option that could get you 20-25 nightly, but I''m not so sure anymore. He was certainly more of a weapon than any secondary guy Boston has, but again, I'm not so sure after watching him labor through these playoffs.

I was curious and looked up the stats so far in the playoffs. Horford has been a much better player than LA and you can make an arguement that Avery Bradley is better than any other perimeter player the Spurs have other than Leonard playoffs or regular season. I hadn't seen how he had progressed offensively till a few days ago. I've been concerned about Aldridge for months now with him likely having to be the #2 guy. I just didn't think he was going to be up to it. Gasol is an aging guy that can still play but I'm not sure how effective he has been in the playoffs so far. I say all this and I have a ton of respect for the Spurs.

Danny Green guarding Ryan Anderson. Ryan Anderson stands in corner not involved in the offense. I knew Pop would adjust!