Headline update.
Spurs' Thomas rising to the challenge
Spurs' rotation in flux, but Thomas finds his place
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.”
Last edited by duncan228; 03-10-2009 at 12:15 AM.
If this team is able to do something special in the postseason, one of the big reasons will be because Thomas is playing much better basketball than he ever did last year for them.
In the right match-ups, he's still a high level defender (and he works hard in the bad match-ups). And he's been deadly with the 12 footer coming off the pick n roll for about 6 weeks now. That shot was never there for him last year.
Crazy eyes Thomas is kicking some ass this year. He really will be a big part of the Spurs' post season success or failure. I wonder how the addition of Gooden will affect Thomas.
Thomas should have been playing more all season so as not to wear Tim down so much. Now that he is finally getting to play, in comes Gooden and out goes Thomas.
KT is about my favorite Spur right now. He's extremely physical and extremely smart. I don't think I've seen him out of place even one time this year. He's picked up both the offense and the defense like a sponge. If I had to describe him, I'd use the man he sent to the bench: He's like a better rebounding Oberto with a jump shot.
As for Gooden, my guess is that most of his minutes will come from reduced small-ball and Bonner, with a couple from Kurt. Tim could probably also use a bit of rest now that we'll have another legit post scorer.
Thomas will get more important 4th quarter minutes in the playoffs than Gooden and probably Bonner also.
Thomas was injured when Tim was carrying the load. He had a bad hamstring, and really only rounded into form in maybe mid-December.
Tim is only averaging 34.7 minutes, BTW.
I think Gooden will take all of Fabs 5 mins, maybe 5-7 from Bonner, and if he can be a legit post option of the 2nd unit, anywhere from 2 to 9 minutes from Tim.
Speaking of Gooden, has anyone followed him enough to know if he is a decent passer out of the paint?
Thomas is better defensively than any PF/C we have not named Duncan, so he'll get his minutes.
KT's talents are much appreciated with the rapid decline in Senor Oberto's.
Kurt Thomas has become indispensable for our upcoming playoff run. The man has fit in so well with our system. I never realized how quick and adept his hands were at frustrating his man with his defense. He's like an Horry-Lite in that respect. What is really impressive is his mentality too. Was this guy born to be a spur or what? If what we are seeing now is what Kurt Thomas can bring us, I sure hope he sticks with us for the remainder of his career. Because when that jumper is going down, it makes Duncan's life so much easier. It's been a while since I remember a spurs bigman nailing so many 20fters.
He's definitely up for Spur of the Year award.
I do worry about him being burnt out come playoff time though. I never used to worry about things like this until Pop conditioned me, and other spurs fans, to worry about a player playing too many minutes because he's too old.
I expect Kurt to come back down to earth for a month or so, especially if Gooden comes on, because the man has been averaging nearly 8 and 8 the past 2 months. That's amazing for a Spurs center. But at least he has shown he can step it up for long stretches when the need arises, and if he's ready to go come playoff time, I expect him to make a great impact.
It all depends on the matchups for us. If we're playing small or trying to spread the floor, in comes Bonner. If we need defense, against Gasol/Bynum for instance, Thomas is going to play a lot more minutes. And when we need more offense in the post in comes Gooden... Forget Fab. We now have 3 big men with 3 distinctively different skill sets. Gooden is a great pickup for us.
That being said I truly believe our success in the playoffs will be fueled by Bonner and Thomas' much improved play this season. Ive always been a fan of Kurt Thomas and his defense,rebounding and ability to knock down the jumper have fit in so well with us. As for Bonner, you have to love the three, but more then that he works so hard. Hes undersized and was never known as a defender. But every single time down the court hes working for position and taking on bigger opponents.
We are a much improved team this year, and even though I think the Lakers are the favourites we are right behind them. Cant wait til the playoffs.
I'm glad Crazy Eyes is on our side.
spurs looking better than expected
I really hope that KT minutes stay the same. Gooden minutes should come at the expense of Bonner plus Oberto not getting PT at all.
Thomas is playing very well, especially in the last 8 weeks.
In November he was terrible, may the worst big man, but as soon he got past that injury he's been doing well.
His J is money again
Kurt Thomas has shaped out to be an awesome piece to the Spurs puzzle. Lets get him a ring!
KT has been very good as of late, and his midrange jumper is going to come in handy in the playoffs.
Let's hope he can keep up the good work regardless of how many minutes Gooden might or might not get. And don't forget: If things don't go his way, Kurt always has "the look" to scare the crap out of his opponents.
Kurt's been a hard worker and good player for years now, this man deserves a ring..
Kurt Thomas has been damn good this year, and I am glad he is on our team, I like the guy. It's funny how last year when we got him my gf (who watches the Spurs with me all the time but doesnt know that many ppl on other teams) asked me "Whos Kurt Thomas? Is he pretty good?" And just recently we went to a game in January and she yelled his name out loud while shooting free-throws. All the people around us kinda looked around like...yeahhhh...go Kurt Thomas...lol crazy girl.
thomas has a money 14 ft j, his baseline shot is pretty good too
kurt "crazy eyes" thomas
+1kurt "crazy eyes" thomas
Has he always been this good for us? Imagine how good we're doing now plus Manu and Drew coming off of the bench. I can almost taste the LOB
KT has played very well for the past month or so. Remember he was injured at the beginning of the season and didn't have a training camp.
Also, I believe he has learned the Spurs' system better and has become their enforcer in the post.
His midrange jumper will be important and I still believe he will get his minutes even when Gooden is playing.
I thought this was a good signing by the Spurs and now it's starting to pay dividends!!
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