Reply With Quote
They should have taken LaMarcus Aldridge.
Skiles rips Thomas' laziness
November 21, 2007
BY JOHN JACKSON
DENVER -- Bulls coach Scott Skiles has said repeatedly the reasons for his team's prolonged shooting slump are mental.
But when asked before the Bulls faced the Nuggets on Tuesday why Tyrus Thomas' playing time had been reduced in the previous two games -- he played less than 22 minutes combined against the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers -- Skiles cited the second-year forward's effort.
''We ask [Thomas] to sprint the floor,'' Skiles said. ''To my knowledge, in his career, he hasn't done it one time -- not one time. You guys, sit and watch the game tonight. If he gets in there, is he jogging or is he sprinting the floor?
''I've got to not only look for, especially young guys, can someone help me win a game tonight and balance that against trying to get him to be a high, high-level player. He's not going to be if he doesn't do that one thing. If he did that, that's about all he has to do -- change ends like a train.
''We have not been able to get him to do that.''
Because of his athleticism, Skiles believes Thomas would get numerous easy baskets if he focused on running hard and beating other big men down the court.
''He's leaving an awful lot on the table by not doing that,'' Skiles said. ''With our guys, the way we kick it ahead and when we're open take the early jump shot, if you're running down the middle, there's rebounds, tip-ins, nobody's boxing you out.
''He knows it. We show him on film. We go over and over and over it. It's just something we've got to get him to do somehow.''
Whether the message is getting through is the issue -- and judging by Thomas' reaction to the comments, it may not be.
''It's as simple as that,'' he said. ''You got the answer from the man making the calls. I don't know what you want me to say.''
''I'm not not playing him to penalize him for that,'' Skiles said. ''We played great in the Clipper game, and I didn't see any reason to disrupt the lineup. It's nothing punitive.''
Skiles' comments obviously didn't jump-start Thomas, who had no points or rebounds and two turnovers in 11 minutes against the Nuggets.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baske...llnt21.article
They should have taken LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Bulls ed up by overrating pieces of like Deng and Gordon in trying to land Kobe,KG, or Gasol. They got picky and stupid now they will pay the price for keeping these solid but no where near superstar players. Drafting Noah was ing re ed as well. In 3-4 year it will be time to blow this team up because they arent getting any better with this core.
if Tyrus Thomas ever got his together he could be Amare with defense.
TT only wants to get paid
remember the slam dunk comp, why he sign in...
Wow..Skiles tears into Noah for stating the completely obvious, rips Thomas for being lazy....coming next: video of Skiles joining in the "Ko-beee! Ko-beee!" chants.
When was this?
On second thought, Skiles sorry
By K.C. Johnson | Tribune staff reporter
8:57 PM CST, November 21, 2007
"And let me say something else on the record since you [reporters] are here: I was way too harsh in my comments toward Tyrus," Skiles said. "And I apologized to him personally. I felt really bad about that. I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did. I wasn't misquoted or anything. But I felt bad about it."
At Tuesday morning's shootaround in Denver, Skiles strongly criticized Tyrus Thomas' lack of focus and attention to detail.
"We ask him to sprint the floor," Skiles said. "To my knowledge in his career he hasn't done it one time. Not one time."
Wednesday, Skiles appeared to show some uncharacteristic emotion during his apology.
"It was a mistake on my part," Skiles said. "It's hard when you say something and you're quoted accurately to back up and say, 'I didn't mean it that way.' But that is honestly the case. I had a little something else going on, got distracted and I was way too harsh."
Thomas is averaging 6.9 points and five rebounds in 21.7 minutes. He averaged just 11 minutes over the final three games of the four-game West Coast swing.
Like most players, Thomas wasn't made available for comment Wednesday. Asked if he could envision Thomas playing like Dwight Howard or Amare Stoudemire some day, Skiles hesitated.
"I think you're making a pretty big leap," he said. "Those guys burst right on the scene as double-digit scorers. Tyrus is still finding his game. That's why I was upset with myself about the comments.
"Size-wise, he's in between [small and power forward]. Unfortunately right now, we've got him out there down low, doing battle with huge people. So he's learning what he can and can't get away with down there. We're encouraging him offensively to have freedom."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...ck=1&cset=true
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
