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He came up big against Orlando. I like the Spurs rollin out with THE ENFORCER!
Edit: They took the 'finally' out of the headline.
Thomas rounding into form for Spurs
Thomas finally rounding into form for Spurs
Jeff McDonald
His legs are beginning to feel like they belong to his body again. His wind is coming back. His semi-famous mid-range jump shot is beginning to go down with some regularity.
Spurs forward Kurt Thomas is feeling spry, at least as spry as is possible for a 36-year-old NBA player.
Finally.
“It took me a while to get it all figured out,” Thomas said.
Thomas missed nearly all of the preseason after arriving at training camp with a strained hamstring. He spent the first few months of the season working out the bugs in his game and getting his legs back under him.
Since taking back-to-back DNPs (Did Not Play) in early December, Thomas has emerged as a key member of the Spurs' rotation. Lately, he has been the first big man deployed off the bench.
Thomas is in the midst of one of his better stretches since joining the Spurs last season, doing all the dirty-work little things on which his 14-year NBA career has been built.
He scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in a loss to Orlando on Sunday. He had nine rebounds in 17 minutes in a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers last week.
In a victory at Miami, also last week, the 6-foot-9 Thomas played an understated but all-important role, supplying 17 minutes of toughness. Just ask the Heat's Daequan Cook, who for the second time this season left a game thanks to an errant Thomas elbow.
“Having him back in the lineup, getting another body on the boards, that's going to be huge for us as the season moves on,” Tim Duncan said. “He's going to play better and better.”
This is the Thomas the Spurs thought they were getting when they traded for him last February, then re-signed him to a two-year contract worth $8 million over the offseason.
For a while, however, they had to be wondering where their money went.
Thomas showed up at training camp already injured, straining a hamstring while stretching before an offseason workout. He spent most of his preseason being tortured by strength and conditioning coach Mike Brungardt.
By the time the season began, Thomas' hamstring healed. But his body wasn't ready to play NBA basketball.
He played nearly 27 minutes in the season opener against Phoenix and 21 two nights later at Portland, but otherwise wasn't much of a factor during November.
“I wondered what the to do with him, why we signed him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “Then he came to me one day and said, ‘OK, I'm ready to go now.'”
Popovich's conclusion?
“He doesn't need me,” Popovich said. “He's been in the league a long time, and he knows when he's ready to go.”
While most of Spurs fandom spent the early part of the season wringing its hands over the injury saga of Manu Ginobili, Thomas was quietly toiling in the background, working his way back into game shape.
The way Thomas saw it, all he needed to get back into playing form was time.
Not time on the practice court. Not time on the exercise bike. But real, actual, bona fide NBA game time, playing basketball.
“Nothing is like actually being out there on the floor,” Thomas said. “You can do all the sprints in practice, all the conditioning on the treadmill or the Stairmaster. Nothing can compete with game time.”
Thomas' teammates say they knew he'd come around eventually.
“Nothing he's doing now surprises me or surprises anybody on the team,” swingman Michael Finley said. “He's been doing it in practice. We see it there, and he's just carrying it over to the game.”
Thomas hopes to do more such carrying over in the weeks and months to come.
On Wednesday, the Spurs face the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since last season's Western Conference finals. Much as he did in the playoff meeting, Thomas should play a prominent role in the rematch.
Now that he has won the battle with his own body, Thomas is up for it.
“My body's starting to come around, my conditioning is there,” Thomas said. “My legs feel like they're under me, and I'm shooting the ball well. Just hope it continues.”
Last edited by duncan228; 01-13-2009 at 04:01 AM.
He came up big against Orlando. I like the Spurs rollin out with THE ENFORCER!
that jumpshot is automatic. hat-diggity!
consider this post as a general apology for all those times i bagged on him, written or otherwise.
Hope KT continues to play well and that Pop would play him a lot come POs.
I don't think the rules would have allowed it but it appears KT would have benefited from a couple of weeks playing in the D league. Or couldn't the Spurs have hired a few scrubs for some intensive 5-on-5 scrimmages.. not NBA-level play of course but good enough to get his timing and conditioning back. Just a thought.
KT playing well fills the hole the spurs have at the centre position. Hope he keeps it up!
It will be nice to have Kurt in this post season. Last year he played decent defense against his old team Phoenix. Then basically was not heard of much. If we plan on making any kind of noise. Kurt will have to play beyond his own game. The same goes for Fab and Matt. When these guys line up against sorry teams they play very well. But as soon as they put a good team on the court......well I think we already know.
Hopefully Pop keeps playing him.
Thomas looks to be getting some of his game back but I think, especially with Oberto MIA, that we still need another big to fill out the rotation. A Theo Ratliff-Tony Battie type would really help this team...
We need KT's crazy eyes to stare down Bynum. I have a feeling Thomas will be big against the Lakers.
KT is fearless and very strong, and that midrange jumpers will make Bynum sagging in the paint pay.
Thomas is playing well now and that's a great news because at the beggining of the season he was awful
he played really well vs. the Suns last year, but he seems to always play well against them(former team)..
I felt like he didn't get a chance vs. LA last year, when he could have definitely helped us IMO..we'll see how he looks against them tomorrow night..
Woohoo! crazy eyes is back
With no Bynum, Thomas was not usefull due to matchups.
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