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Tristan Thompson

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And you're definitely wrong on TT's height. He was measured at 6'7.5" without shoes. So saying he's 6'8" is generous and if you say he's taller than that, then you have no clue what you're talking about.

Last I checked, guys in the NBA wear shoes when they play, so how tall he is without them makes no fucking difference.
 
Last I checked, guys in the NBA wear shoes when they play, so how tall he is without them makes no fucking difference.

If course it makes no fucking difference. The whole point is he's fucking small for his position. Michael Beasley is listed at 6'10". Go watch a game and tell me he's 6'10". TT is "average" size for an NBA PF. Pay better attention when teams are shooting free throws and he's standing next to his opponent.
 
If course it makes no fucking difference. The whole point is he's fucking small for his position. Michael Beasley is listed at 6'10". Go watch a game and tell me he's 6'10". TT is "average" size for an NBA PF. Pay better attention when teams are shooting free throws and he's standing next to his opponent.

If he can box out and rebound over guys taller than him, which he has demonstrated that he can do, who cares?
 
If he can box out and rebound over guys taller than him, which he has demonstrated that he can do, who cares?

Kris Humphries can box out and rebound. I guess you're ignoring the whole fucking point of why his size prevents him from being the high level defensive player he was made out to be on draft night and that his defensive IQ and play would translate into the NBA?
 
He can defend "some" centers. Probably about 50-60% of the centers in this league. Not too many traditional back to the basket guys anymore, though we are watching a flux of them coming on strong now.

The desire to play him at center is because as a power forward, he is a burden to the team and the offense. The reason he was available for those great offensive rebounds is because he wasnt being guarded. As it is most nights with him. His natural tendency is to play as a traditional center and he gravitates to the paint and throws his weight around like a true throwback undersized center.

I can go through the league and point out centers who I think Tristan can hold his own against. Same for power forwards. Its pretty easy to identify the guys who are so talented or so massive that they can have their way with an undersized positional defender who does not defend above the rim or is not a dynamic shot blocker/quick jumper.

You said earlier that you "watch" the games, but yet you are denying that Tristan is playing center for us pretty much every time on offense?

I'm not the guy who said you are defined by the position you defend. That was you. For the majority of the games, he defends power forwards. And generally pretty well too.
 
Kris Humphries can box out and rebound. I guess you're ignoring the whole fucking point of why his size prevents him from being the high level defensive player he was made out to be on draft night and that his defensive IQ and play would translate into the NBA?

He's in his third-year and has played some very good defense this season. Just because he's not a shot-blocker does not mean he's not a good defender. He's actually quite good, but since he doesn't throw in flashy blocks people such as yourself seem to assume he sucks.
 
Actually, you have no idea what you're talking about if you believe what you just wrote. Typical NBA starting PF's have a perimeter game for a team to be successful. Take for example last year in the conference semi's. Miami, Chicago, Indiana, New York, Oklahoma, Memphis, San Antonio and Golden State. All those teams have starting PF's who have proven, they can consistently hit an open jumper or a face up post game that will command a double team.

Miami (Bosh or Lebron), Chicago (Boozer), Indiana (David West), New York (Melo), Oklahoma (Ibaka), Memphis (ZBo), San Antonio (Duncan). We have none of that in TT. And what's worse, we're counting on Andy to spread the fucking floor. Typically in the NBA, if you're a big and have a face up game, you get moved to the PF position or is considered a PF....otherwise, you play center and bang with the big boys.

And you're definitely wrong on TT's height. He was measured at 6'7.5" without shoes. So saying he's 6'8" is generous and if you say he's taller than that, then you have no clue what you're talking about.

Todays episode of Mythbusters

Per GameTotal
FGA
Total
fg%
In the Paint
(non RA)
Attempts
In The Paint
(Non RA)
fg%
Mid Range
Attempts
Mid Range
FG%
Boozer13.546.5%2.428.96.042.3%
David West1047.5%2.737.4%5.144.5%
Ibaka11.852.8%1.539.3%5.146.1%
Zbo15.044.5%4.241.3%4.939.5%
Thompson1046.93.646.9%2.240.7%
Duncan12.347.0%2.645.4%5.233.3%
Blake Griffin15.952.3%2.541.3%5.4
37.9%
T jones9.351.5%2.038.2%.826.9%
David Lee14.752.4%4.046.2%2.738.1%

<tbody>
</tbody>

Melo and lebron are small forwards playing the 4 but theres plenty of top flight teams we can compare power forwards with.

Ibaka is looking pretty good. He didnt have much of a range game at all in his third season.

Thompson mid range game has taken a slight dip but he is still trending upward and is 22. These guys arent exactly blowing Thompsons doors in from range.
 
derrick-williams-kevin-love.jpg
 
Kris Humphries can box out and rebound. I guess you're ignoring the whole fucking point of why his size prevents him from being the high level defensive player he was made out to be on draft night and that his defensive IQ and play would translate into the NBA?


Can we stop making such a big deal about his height, his crazy long arms (7' 1.25'') let him guard bigger players effectively. LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Love all had poor shooting nights against TT this year. His standing reach is over 9 feet, that's not bad for a power forward.
 
Dudes, stop trying to defend Tristan. He has only had 2 20 and 10 games when basically no plays were called for him. No offensive upside. He is below average defensively holding some of the best pf's in the game to % under their averages. 3rd big has reached his ceiling at 22. I can tell. I am a basketball expert that said he would never shoot from mid range. He has no feel for the game.
 
Dudes, stop trying to defend Tristan. He has only had 2 20 and 10 games when basically no plays were called for him. No offensive upside. He is below average defensively holding some of the best pf's in the game to % under their averages. 3rd big has reached his ceiling at 22. I can tell. I am a basketball expert that said he would never shoot from mid range. He has no feel for the game.


That's simply not true. We go to TT in the post more than any player on the team. He gets a ton of chances to face up his man and go to work. Last year that would have been true but this season TT gets plenty of work in on offfense.
 
He gets like 2 or 3 post ups a game. That's not much. Sure it's more than any other player on the team, but we have no post threats outside of TT.
 
Anyone who claims him to be a 3rd big or a bonafide star in the making, hell even a decent 3rd option, are out of their minds.

I've seen him compared to Michael Cage (which is realistic), Olden Polynice (which is a little over the top), and I've seen on other comparison sites see him at best a Tyrus Thomas with more intangibles (and at worse a smaller Jordan Hill) or even Charles Smith as the ultimate comparison. But the thing is: only Tyrus and Jordan started their careers before 23 and these other guys were 25 in their third seasons and mostly capped out (Smith the exception).

No one knows what Tristan could be because his motor drives him to improve, but we also don't feel he has much of a shooting touch past 5-7 feet. Realistically, he hits about 42% of the mid-range because he barely takes any to bring out the defenders. He posts up about 4 times a game (NBA.com close up touches for reference). And then he rebounds the hell out of the ball despite Andy being on the court with him to rebound too.

I'm not going to debate either or, but I always remember to give the guy a chance to see what he looks like at 25. No one realistically knows.
 
As his body continues to mature, he is becoming more and more bigger down low. He already has a bigger base than guys like Tyrone Hill and Dale Davis. He's in the Michael Cage/Georgetown Mike Sweetney category now.

Watching him run up the court today, I know a center when I see one. Just sucks that he is not bigger. He would be a top center prospect already if he had the size. If you put his heart and will in these guys that are 7'0 stiffs with no desire, you'd have one of the better centers in the league.

The crux to Tristan is, that he is NOT a game changing center at his size, just a scrappy undersized guy who will battle centers who are not engaged. He doesnt have the length needed to really be a good positional defender at the rim. Omer Asik can play defense the way Tristan does and he can truly impact a game with his size/length. Tristan cant play like that and be the same type of impact player. Some guys can be very good defenders or offensive players even though they are undersized for the center spot. Chuck Wagon always jumps out to me for his years in Houston where Adelman used him like Nick Collison as the first big off the bench. Nick Collison is another guy. Played that position in Kansas and developed as a center and then just never got tall enough to be that, though he has trimmed down and really perfected being a positional defender of back to the basket 4's as a pro. Kris Humphries wrecked havoc in his year up at Minnesota playing center at 6'9. As a PF in this league, he simply doesnt have the game to be a real impact player but if you get him minutes and just let him produce on the boards and next to a cupcake like Brook used to be, you can see Humphries put up numbers like Tristan can provide for you. Its all about being given the opportunity to play big minutes.

That is why I said dont get caught up on his stat line. Reggie Evans, Kris Humphries, Nick Collison, Danny Fortson, Chuck Hayes... you give these guys minutes as they entered their prime as undersized centers and put softer bigs who space the floor next to them, and they all could/did produced like Tristan can/has. Reggie Evans was one of the best offensive rebounders I ever saw play in college, at 6'8... but a large part of that was him playing center with a non traditional big man next to him spacing the floor. Same for Kurt Thomas at TCU. Didnt he lead the country in rebounding a few times? His body developed JUST like Tristan's body is, and his base widened the longer he was in the league. He had some "near" all star years up in New York where the ball just gravitated to his hands. Probably the exact same size as Tristan in his prime.

In my quest to make this team more Mike Brown proof, the next area to be concentrated on, is going to be improving the power forward spot. Though Im not sure we can truly Mike Brown proof a roster, as I am really having a hard time watching Brown try to play Luol like he is LeBron on high pick and rolls with the ball in his hands and force Dion Waiters into the same role he played starting next to Kyrie. Totally negating the purpose for having Dion off the floor with the starters in the first place. If he is going to have Dion off the ball to Jack, then you might as well start him just the same. (God this coach is bad)

But back to Tristan... he's a center. And as he matures on the court and with his body, that will continue to be evident. Antonio Davis matured into a pretty good 6'9 center as his body developed. But that was a different NBA.

As the first big off the bench, I think Tristan could be one of the most valuable reserve bigs in the league. Capable of facing up and going around slower centers adn capable of holding ground and not being moved by about 75% of bigs, save the true centers and guys who are so long they can just shot over the top of him.

QFT. Great post.
 

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