duncan228
03-09-2009, 11:40 PM
Headline update.
Spurs' Thomas rising to the challenge
Spurs' rotation in flux, but Thomas finds his place (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_rotation_in_flux_but_Thomas_finds_his_place. html)
Jeff McDonald
Kurt Thomas was one of the last players to walk out of the Spurs' locker room after Sunday afternoon's victory over Phoenix. The fact that he was actually able to walk — instead of limp or hobble — was a pleasant surprise.
After enduring a four-quarter bout with NBA heavyweight Shaquille O'Neal, Thomas would typically expect to leave the arena feeling as if he'd just been used as a punching bag.
“Normally, I'm real sore,” Thomas said. “This time, I didn't bang with him that much. I had one stretch there where I caught a couple elbows, but it wasn't that bad.”
Thomas, 6-foot-9 and undersized for a center, has made a lengthy career of catching elbows and trading punches with some of the league's biggest big men.
A little more than a year after the Spurs acquired him in a trade from Seattle, Thomas has established himself as the tough-guy enforcer on Gregg Popovich's bench. Since he began earning steady minutes in mid-December, Thomas has averaged 5.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game — numbers that don't begin to quantify his value to the Spurs' frontline.
His presence means Tim Duncan doesn't always have to guard an opponent's best big man, which aids in keeping the Spurs' All-Star captain out of foul trouble.
“We've been getting good minutes out of Kurt for quite a while now,” Popovich said. “He's been playing great basketball, and been really important.”
Thomas, who signed a two-year deal with the Spurs during the summer, says he's at last grown comfortable with his role in San Antonio.
“I've got a good feel of the offense, the defense, the coaching staff, my teammates,” he said. “I don't have to do much thinking. I just have to play and react. I'm comfortable with my role and what's expected.”
However, there is a complication on the horizon in the form of newly signed 6-foot-10 power forward Drew Gooden.
Gooden will receive playing time eventually. In all likelihood, his minutes will come from either Thomas or from starting center Matt Bonner, a sweet-shooting big man ranked second in the league in 3-point percentage.
Thomas said he hasn't begun to contemplate what the arrival of Gooden might mean to his own minutes.
“We leave that to Pop,” Thomas said. “He's the one who gets paid to deal with that stress.”
Traditionally, Popovich prefers to have his playoff rotation finalized — or close to it — by now. With Gooden poised to join that rotation and injured guard Manu Ginobili set to rejoin it soon, that task has been thrown off schedule.
With 20 games to go, including tonight's contest against surprisingly surging Charlotte, there are too many moving parts and too many variables for much to be set in stone.
“It is a concern,” Popovich said. “We still have to work Manu back in. We have to work Drew in. It's a little later than you'd really want to do that.”
If past tendencies are any guide, Popovich will still find a way to carve minutes for Thomas.
Back-alley scrappy and tougher than overcooked skirt steak with 13-plus seasons of big-game experience under his belt, Thomas is just the sort of player Popovich likes to rely on during the postseason.
Thomas admits that he has been miscast as a center for much of his career.
“I'm really a power forward, but I've been a center for seven years,” he said. “Whatever pays the bills.”
Widely regarded as one of the best low-post defenders in the league, Thomas has paid those bills by banging with players who might have three or four inches on him.
In his latest outing, Thomas teamed with Duncan to hold O'Neal to 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Over the years, Thomas has learned to compensate for his lack of size with brains and guile. In a way, he is to low-post defense what Duncan is to low-post offense.
“It's not always about the physical attributes,” veteran forward Michael Finley said. “It's about footwork and positioning. He's kind of mastered it in a way that he gets an advantage over an offensive player.”
Says Thomas: “Any trick I can pull out, I'm going to use.”
Spurs' Thomas rising to the challenge
Spurs' rotation in flux, but Thomas finds his place (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_rotation_in_flux_but_Thomas_finds_his_place. html)
Jeff McDonald
Kurt Thomas was one of the last players to walk out of the Spurs' locker room after Sunday afternoon's victory over Phoenix. The fact that he was actually able to walk — instead of limp or hobble — was a pleasant surprise.
After enduring a four-quarter bout with NBA heavyweight Shaquille O'Neal, Thomas would typically expect to leave the arena feeling as if he'd just been used as a punching bag.
“Normally, I'm real sore,” Thomas said. “This time, I didn't bang with him that much. I had one stretch there where I caught a couple elbows, but it wasn't that bad.”
Thomas, 6-foot-9 and undersized for a center, has made a lengthy career of catching elbows and trading punches with some of the league's biggest big men.
A little more than a year after the Spurs acquired him in a trade from Seattle, Thomas has established himself as the tough-guy enforcer on Gregg Popovich's bench. Since he began earning steady minutes in mid-December, Thomas has averaged 5.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game — numbers that don't begin to quantify his value to the Spurs' frontline.
His presence means Tim Duncan doesn't always have to guard an opponent's best big man, which aids in keeping the Spurs' All-Star captain out of foul trouble.
“We've been getting good minutes out of Kurt for quite a while now,” Popovich said. “He's been playing great basketball, and been really important.”
Thomas, who signed a two-year deal with the Spurs during the summer, says he's at last grown comfortable with his role in San Antonio.
“I've got a good feel of the offense, the defense, the coaching staff, my teammates,” he said. “I don't have to do much thinking. I just have to play and react. I'm comfortable with my role and what's expected.”
However, there is a complication on the horizon in the form of newly signed 6-foot-10 power forward Drew Gooden.
Gooden will receive playing time eventually. In all likelihood, his minutes will come from either Thomas or from starting center Matt Bonner, a sweet-shooting big man ranked second in the league in 3-point percentage.
Thomas said he hasn't begun to contemplate what the arrival of Gooden might mean to his own minutes.
“We leave that to Pop,” Thomas said. “He's the one who gets paid to deal with that stress.”
Traditionally, Popovich prefers to have his playoff rotation finalized — or close to it — by now. With Gooden poised to join that rotation and injured guard Manu Ginobili set to rejoin it soon, that task has been thrown off schedule.
With 20 games to go, including tonight's contest against surprisingly surging Charlotte, there are too many moving parts and too many variables for much to be set in stone.
“It is a concern,” Popovich said. “We still have to work Manu back in. We have to work Drew in. It's a little later than you'd really want to do that.”
If past tendencies are any guide, Popovich will still find a way to carve minutes for Thomas.
Back-alley scrappy and tougher than overcooked skirt steak with 13-plus seasons of big-game experience under his belt, Thomas is just the sort of player Popovich likes to rely on during the postseason.
Thomas admits that he has been miscast as a center for much of his career.
“I'm really a power forward, but I've been a center for seven years,” he said. “Whatever pays the bills.”
Widely regarded as one of the best low-post defenders in the league, Thomas has paid those bills by banging with players who might have three or four inches on him.
In his latest outing, Thomas teamed with Duncan to hold O'Neal to 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Over the years, Thomas has learned to compensate for his lack of size with brains and guile. In a way, he is to low-post defense what Duncan is to low-post offense.
“It's not always about the physical attributes,” veteran forward Michael Finley said. “It's about footwork and positioning. He's kind of mastered it in a way that he gets an advantage over an offensive player.”
Says Thomas: “Any trick I can pull out, I'm going to use.”