Schoening: Thomas A Good Fit

[duncan228]

http://www.nba.com/spurs/timeout/20secondto.html

Thomas A Good Fit
by Bill Schoening

I remember when I first saw Kurt Thomas. He was a skinny, lanky teenager out of Hillcrest High School in Dallas. It was early in his college career at Texas Christian. He may have been lean but he never backed down. He also had a nice touch in and and around the lane.

As his college career progressed, he improved in all phases of the game. He eventually led the NCAA in scoring and rebounding during his senior year (29 points and 14 boards). It was only the third time that feat had been accomplished. Xavier McDaniel of Wichita State and the late Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount had also paced the nation in points and rebounds.

Thomas has been on Gregg Popovich's radar for a number of years and his ability to get physical on defense, rebound, set screens and pop mid-range jumpers off those screens will all come in handy.

During his professional career, he has been lauded by a number of organizations for his selfless work on various community projects. Among those who have honored him is the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. He has volunteered his time to fight illiteracy and a genetic disease known as Neurofibromatosis.

Kurt Thomas is proud to be a Spur and the Spurs are happy to have him.

[oboymeetsogirl]

Yes, and kudos to Pop for inserting Thomas into the starting lineup now so he has real-time experience playing with Timmy, Bruce, Tony and Manu or Fin. The obvious difference between the Spurs and opponents during the playoffs has always been team chemistry. When games are on the line, other teams fall back on one-on-one isolations so their superstars can win the game by themselves. When shots stop falling, other teams just try to hoist up more shots at a faster pace rather than fall back on team D. They do the opposite of what the Spurs do, and results are usually (granted, not always) a W in the Spurs' column.

The more time we can get Thomas in there before the playoffs, the better. And Manu doesn't need to be a starter because in the past his coming off the bench is also what's gotten him his rings. We need to be proud of the fact that our Spurs are virtually the only team in the NBA where "minutes," "individual stats," "starting" and being an "all star" are not such a big deal. For the Spurs, the big deal is being the one standing at the very end, hoisting up that gigantic trophy.

[SpursFanFirst]

Wow! I had no idea he did so much off the court as well. That's always great to hear!

[Dex]

Elson+pick for Thomas.

I still kind of grin a little bit when I think of that.

[SenorSpur]

Too bad the Spurs had to wait until Thomas was "age-eligible" before they decided to go after him. As you all know, the Spurs minimum age-limit for all FA signees and player trades is 34 years of age or older. :lol

[oboymeetsogirl]

Ironically, this year the Suns and Mavs got their senior citizens to match up against the Spurs' maturity and in response to Lakers' moves. The Spurs were interested in Kidd five years ago, but no way would they take him over Parker now; and for the same reason, I would never have given up a younger, up and coming Harris for him.

The only significant youth we had to part with to get Thomas was Elson, so that was a damned good trade. Similarly, you have to give the Lakers a lot of credit for refusing to part with Bynum, and finally ending up with Gasol for a song. I think right now the Spurs are a potent mix of experience with less than more youth. Thomas, Bowen, Barry and Horry may be on the down side of their careers, but are no less effective in their respective roles than, say, a Kareem or Oscar Robertson in their mid-thirties when they were still winning championships. Timmy, on the other hand, is really in his prime, Manu is approaching his, and Tony is three, four years away from his. So this whole thing about the Spurs being "old" is really just sportswriters mouthing off in their own illogical way.

[sandman]

The only significant youth we had to part with to get Thomas was Elson, so that was a damned good trade.

At 32, Elson wasn't exactly 'youth' anyplace but in the Spurs organization...

[jag]

At 32, Elson wasn't exactly 'youth' anyplace but in the Spurs organization...

Elson was too young, they couldnt wait 2 years to let him into the rotation, they needed immediate production.

[oboymeetsogirl]

Elson is 32? Thanks, I stand corrected on my remarks about his "youth."