by Stop Mike Lupica on November 25 at 5:44PM
I'll have my thoughts on Isiah Thomas and his job security in a bit, but for now... just some game notes on yesterday afternoon's exciting snorefest throwback to the 90's Bulls-Knicks game, minus, you know... the talent:
On Tyrus Thomas, Overrated:
In the end he played 15 minutes, got four fouls, and had one ferocious, utterly fearsome dunk. And a couple of blocks. Typical game for Thomas.
Let's just call him what he is - a taller Renaldo Balkman with ups, but without the handle. Yes, Balkman has handle. Relative to Tyrus Thomas, that is.
On Quentin Richardson, straight scrubbiness:
Overall, he's shooting 30.1 FG%. Even without the bricks from three point land (most of which are, again, wide open), he's 19-53, or 35.8% on 2-point attempts. Again, he's not getting to the line, either.
His defense is good, no doubt. And his rebounding is even better - it's been David Lee-like lately. In his last five games, four of them have had outstanding rebounds per minute stats... check it out:
11/16 vs Kings: 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.
11/17 vs.Nuggets: 7 rebounds in 22 minutes.
11/20 vs. Warriors: 10 rebounds in 31 minutes.
11/21 vs. Pistons: 2 rebounds in 18 minutes.
11/24 vs. Bulls: 15 rebounds in 31 minutes.
In those four games he's averaging 1 rebound every 2.8 minutes played, or a 48 minute average of about 17 rpg. That's pretty sick.
I have no idea what's the best way to utilize Q-Rich, either.
On the Bulls and Bricks:
SML's GF's observation:
A Saturday afternoon game means my GF was awake and watched a part of the game with me. Some observations of hers:
![Yo, peace to all the crooks, all the [peeps] with bad looks....](http://stopmikelupica.com/sml/Joakim%20Noah.jpg)
Yes, I guess they kinda look similar, in that "All black people look alike" kinda way. Just kidding... it's actually been stated before that they look alike. In fact, let's play name that person - Joe Kim Noah or Gym Class Hero:
On Joakim Noah's Defense, Lack of:
Two, all that WGN has on during commercials is that NBA "Where Amazing Happens" commercials. That's it. I don't think I saw another single ad.
On the disaster that is the Bulls right now:
The flip side being guys like Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor. They are probably very open to switching situations, and are therefore going to happy to be free agents. Therefore it might have positive effect on their play (or so I'm hoping, fantasy league-wise).
Misc:
I'll be back with my thoughts on Isiah Thomas soon.
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On Tyrus Thomas, Overrated:
- First off, Tyrus Thomas is awful. I mean, he's a great jumper, and ferocious. He also possesses offensive moves so poor Ben Wallace looks like Hakeem. He started the game with a move that ended with the ball flying off the shot clock (no foul, no touch by the Knicks). Ugh.
In the end he played 15 minutes, got four fouls, and had one ferocious, utterly fearsome dunk. And a couple of blocks. Typical game for Thomas.
Let's just call him what he is - a taller Renaldo Balkman with ups, but without the handle. Yes, Balkman has handle. Relative to Tyrus Thomas, that is.
On Quentin Richardson, straight scrubbiness:
- Q-Rich is just not a good three-point shooter. He shoots about two wide open threes every first quarter this season, and rarely hits them. I mean, if they were playing tight defense on him, fine. But we're talking wide open. Until Q-Rich hits those open jumpers, or posts more regularly. He has attempted about 1 free throw a game (14 FTA in 11 games played).
Overall, he's shooting 30.1 FG%. Even without the bricks from three point land (most of which are, again, wide open), he's 19-53, or 35.8% on 2-point attempts. Again, he's not getting to the line, either.
His defense is good, no doubt. And his rebounding is even better - it's been David Lee-like lately. In his last five games, four of them have had outstanding rebounds per minute stats... check it out:
11/16 vs Kings: 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.
11/17 vs.Nuggets: 7 rebounds in 22 minutes.
11/20 vs. Warriors: 10 rebounds in 31 minutes.
11/21 vs. Pistons: 2 rebounds in 18 minutes.
11/24 vs. Bulls: 15 rebounds in 31 minutes.
In those four games he's averaging 1 rebound every 2.8 minutes played, or a 48 minute average of about 17 rpg. That's pretty sick.
I have no idea what's the best way to utilize Q-Rich, either.
On the Bulls and Bricks:
- Kirk Hinrich's jumper is pretty. It's also incredibly ineffective. He's short on every shot he takes, including layups.
- Ben Gordon, who usually lights up the Knicks (especially at the Garden) was locked up by Marbury's defense in the second half. Say what you want about the Isiah Thomas-Marbury showdown, but... it may just pay off. Marbury's defense against Kevin Martin in the fourth quarter of the Kings game, and against Gordon yesterday, shows that he can be effective when tries hard enough.
- The Knicks shot 30% in the 1st quarter. The Bulls shot 35%. The score was 19-18 Bulls. Ugh.
SML's GF's observation:
A Saturday afternoon game means my GF was awake and watched a part of the game with me. Some observations of hers:
- She could tell Nocioni is an Argentine. "Sharp facial features plus greasy hair = Argentine".
- "Joakim Noah looks like that guy from Gym Class Heroes". Hmm, let's see:
Yes, I guess they kinda look similar, in that "All black people look alike" kinda way. Just kidding... it's actually been stated before that they look alike. In fact, let's play name that person - Joe Kim Noah or Gym Class Hero:- Along the Florida Gator alumni tip comes this gem: "David Lee is cute in a "Jim from The Office" kinda way.
- Last one: "Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman are wearing matching orange leg warmers (actually: arm sleeves) on their right arms. Does that have something to do with pumpkins?"
On Joakim Noah's Defense, Lack of:
- Jared Jeffries just drove on Noah. Ponder that for a minute.
- Tyrus Thomas checks back into the game in the second quarter. He doesn't have a standard "jumper"; he has a "chucks a ball at the rim-mer".
- The Bulls have missed more 8-footers than anything else. This is the rare case of "Bulls inefficient Offense > Knicks' porous Defense"
- Just for fun, I watched some of the game on WGN (Chicago's local TV channel, or like Channel 45 on your cable box - just look for the channel that's always showing Ferris Bueller's Day Off). Two things - one, Bill Murray was at the Garden yesterday, looking like a French mime.
Two, all that WGN has on during commercials is that NBA "Where Amazing Happens" commercials. That's it. I don't think I saw another single ad. On the disaster that is the Bulls right now:
- How poor are the Bulls? After scoring only 12 points in the second quarter against one of the worst defenses in the league (the Knicks), the score is 43-31 at the half. In fact, that's the first time all season long that the Knicks have had a 10 point lead. In any game. Wow.
- How do the Bulls miss so many open jumpers? Are the in debt to the mob?
- Odd stat: Zach Randolph had 3 assists in yesterday's game, after having 10 all season long. Odder stat: That was his third game of 3 assists this season.
- Sh*t man, how did I not see this before? The Bulls have 5 free agents on their roster - Deng, Gordon, Nocioni, Joe Smith, and someone else. Three of those are key players. How did I write about how the Wizards were in trouble because they had too many free agents to be, and totally miss that the Bulls were in an even worse situation?!?
The flip side being guys like Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor. They are probably very open to switching situations, and are therefore going to happy to be free agents. Therefore it might have positive effect on their play (or so I'm hoping, fantasy league-wise).
Misc:
- Zach Randolph rebounded a miss free throw by Eddy Curry. That's like the fourth time he's done that this season. Seriously, something's up. Do they practice this?
- When David Lee and Joe Smith grab a rebound together, and it ends up as a "held ball", do they get credited for half a rebound each? How does that work stats-wise?
- Irony is: Balkman drawing a charge on the Argentine Nocioni by flopping. You're next, Ginobili!
- Speaking of Balkman: After hitting a jumper (a 19-footer), the first time I think I've ever seen him hit a jumper and look good doing it....
- Um, having watched 10 games of Zach Randolph, I have a question for NBA defenders. Why would you not guard him by cutting off his left? He always goes towards his left when he gets a pass down low. If you cut off his left, he'll just shoot the jumper. I mean, he hits a good amount of those 15-20 footers (far more than I thought he would when he got traded here), but still... that's a better bet than letting him drive on you.
I'll be back with my thoughts on Isiah Thomas soon.
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6 Comments
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stopmikelupica
said
Rickhouse, that's a great point on Skiles and Ty-Rise's development.
I mean, I think the biggest problem is that like straight out of high school/only one year of college type players, Thomas has little fundamentals. His jumper is awkward, as is his footwork in the post. And he needs better hands if he wants to be a vicious finisher like Marion/Amare.
A lot of that, in theory, can be improved by experience and practice. See the improvement in Dwight Howard (a similar mode of player) this season.
But like you said, confidence is a big part of Ty-Rise's game, too. And that is possibly damaged by Skiles' calling of him out in the media. That habit of calling players out in the media might be Skiles' undoing....
all u guys that talk about "ugly basketball" never saw the Sixers I guess....
SML, I picked Chicago to win the East this year, do I sound TOO stupid if I say I think they can still do that?
I've never watched them this year (just few minutes of the 4th Q vs Torornto yesterday) but it looks they simply don't put the ball in the damn basket...
is this impression true or there is more? just asking
all u guys that talk about "ugly basketball" never saw the Sixers I guess....
SML, I picked Chicago to win the East this year, do I sound TOO stupid if I say I think they can still do that?
I've never watched them this year (just few minutes of the 4th Q vs Torornto yesterday) but it looks they simply don't put the ball in the damn basket...
is this impression true or there is more? just asking
all u guys that talk about "ugly basketball" never saw the Sixers I guess....
SML, I picked Chicago to win the East this year, do I sound TOO stupid if I say I think they can still do that?
I've never watched them this year (just few minutes of the 4th Q vs Toronto yesterday) but it looks they simply don't put the ball in the damn basket...
is this impression true or there is more? just asking
Easy there Simmons with the whole: 'how did we no see this coming!?!'. But seriously, good write up, i watched that game, it was awful. Just ugly basketball.
I disagree a little with your assessment of Ty-Rise, however. First off, Skiles fucked him up so bad it's not even funny. At this stage in his career, you just have to let him play basketball. They'll still be some mistakes , but he will sporadically but together 20/13 type games like he has this season. If he's effective, leave him not. If not, put in Noah or Joe Smith. It's not rocket science. But by calling Tyrus out in the media, and railing him every day in practice, Thomas thinks too much instead of just playing.