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Welcome Sindarius Thornwell

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There's literally nothing wrong with saying that a guy that averaged 39% shooting on 8-10 shots a game for his college career is an atrocious offensive player. One outlier year where he is a literal man amongst boys doesn't sell me on his ability. Doc ran him decent minutes his rookie year, and next to none last year.

But you guys enjoy getting your hopes up about sub par G-League grade talent.

In the modern NBA, if you can make 3's, you have a role offensively. That's the idea behind the 3&D roleplayer, and more generally the concept of putting guys in roles that maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Thornwell is an inefficient scorer? Great, so are a lot of guys. Don't tell him to be a scorer; tell him to shoot the ball if he's open and pass it if he's not. He can do that, and maybe he can do that well enough to be useful given his defensive ability.
 
In the modern NBA, if you can make 3's, you have a role offensively. That's the idea behind the 3&D roleplayer, and more generally the concept of putting guys in roles that maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Thornwell is an inefficient scorer? Great, so are a lot of guys. Don't tell him to be a scorer; tell him to shoot the ball if he's open and pass it if he's not. He can do that, and maybe he can do that well enough to be useful given his defensive ability.

You think he can shoot 3's. History says he can't other than one year. We'll see if he can, but I highly doubt it.
 
You think he can shoot 3's. History says he can't other than one year. We'll see if he can, but I highly doubt it.

I said "his shooting ability is clearly borderline." For his college career he shot 34% from 3 and 77% from the line, and in his pro career he's 34% from 3 and 69% from the line (on a much smaller sample size). That's about as borderline as it gets; it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he shoots 38% from deep this year, in which case he'd be a model 3&D roleplayer, and it's equally possible that he shoots 30% from deep, in which case he's basically unplayable. A reasonable gamble for a minimum contract, IMO.
 
Sometimes just taking the 3 is as valuable as making it. One of the problems with Nwaba was that he would pass up a wide open 3 to try a nonexistent drive. Marcus smart doesn't shoot that well, but he is willing and he can get hot so they guard him.

As long as he is willing, he can make himself useful. It will be hard not to have Windler in there instead of him though.
 
LOVED this guy in college. Didn’t he carry South Carolina to the Final Four? Give the guy some props!
 
I said "his shooting ability is clearly borderline." For his college career he shot 34% from 3 and 77% from the line, and in his pro career he's 34% from 3 and 69% from the line (on a much smaller sample size). That's about as borderline as it gets; it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he shoots 38% from deep this year, in which case he'd be a model 3&D roleplayer, and it's equally possible that he shoots 30% from deep, in which case he's basically unplayable. A reasonable gamble for a minimum contract, IMO.

The difference between a model role-player and unplayable is one less shot made out of every ten?
 
The difference between a model role-player and unplayable is one less shot made out of every ten?

Pretty much? I mean, the difference between the best offense in the league and the worst offense in the league is somewhere around 0.1 points per possession. Those small differences are incredibly important.
 
I said "his shooting ability is clearly borderline." For his college career he shot 34% from 3 and 77% from the line, and in his pro career he's 34% from 3 and 69% from the line (on a much smaller sample size). That's about as borderline as it gets; it's certainly within the realm of possibility that he shoots 38% from deep this year, in which case he'd be a model 3&D roleplayer, and it's equally possible that he shoots 30% from deep, in which case he's basically unplayable. A reasonable gamble for a minimum contract, IMO.

These are my thoughts as well. He’s still young and on a cheap contract. On a rebuilding team, we need to take gambles on players such as him and hope that eventually we can find one that pans out. He’s shown me enough in the past to be worth a flier on. Now it’s upto him to mold his game into a 3&D wing otherwise he’ll find himself out of the league.
 
These are my thoughts as well. He’s still young and on a cheap contract. On a rebuilding team, we need to take gambles on players such as him and hope that eventually we can find one that pans out. He’s shown me enough in the past to be worth a flier on. Now it’s upto him to mold his game into a 3&D wing otherwise he’ll find himself out of the league.
Yes, now is a great time to experiment with guys that might make the league. We can give them minutes at the wing specifically without much difference in the outcome. If they show some ability, they become an asset we can keep or trade for other assets. The competing teams have to play the best available, so they dont have the minutes for borderline.
 
You think he can shoot 3's. History says he can't other than one year. We'll see if he can, but I highly doubt it.
Well, he shot 37% from three as a freshman on 3 attempts/game and 39% on 5 attempts as a senior.

He also shot 38% from three as a rookie, playing 15 minutes/game. You'd rather look at last year as a player getting 5 minutes/game, and call that a legitimate sample size? It's arguable that none of it is legitimate, but he's shown to be successful as a shooter at various points.

You can't just make up stats and call it "history."

He's the definition of streaky, but that doesn't mean the mechanics aren't there. He's a good defender. This is the type of player a shitty Cavs team should be adding. Give young guys expanded roles and see if they can become rotation pieces on our way to 25 wins.
 
Well, he shot 37% from three as a freshman on 3 attempts/game and 39% on 5 attempts as a senior.

He also shot 38% from three as a rookie, playing 15 minutes/game. You'd rather look at last year as a player getting 5 minutes/game, and call that a legitimate sample size? It's arguable that none of it is legitimate, but he's shown to be successful as a shooter at various points.

You can't just make up stats and call it "history."

He's the definition of streaky, but that doesn't mean the mechanics aren't there. He's a good defender. This is the type of player a shitty Cavs team should be adding. Give young guys expanded roles and see if they can become rotation pieces on our way to 25 wins.

How is it making up history when his sophomore year, he shots more 3s and managed a whopping 26% shooting from behind the arc? The guy is a non-scoring defender that had a couple years where he got hot.

You all can keep talking up your subpar end of the bench players. I'd be more interested in calling up G-League studs than wasting time on people that have already proven they don't have a place in the league. When a coach who always seems to get the best out of fringe players gives up on you after your rookie season, I don't really care to go the retread route.
 
Well, he shot 37% from three as a freshman on 3 attempts/game and 39% on 5 attempts as a senior.

He also shot 38% from three as a rookie, playing 15 minutes/game. You'd rather look at last year as a player getting 5 minutes/game, and call that a legitimate sample size? It's arguable that none of it is legitimate, but he's shown to be successful as a shooter at various points.

You can't just make up stats and call it "history."

He's the definition of streaky, but that doesn't mean the mechanics aren't there. He's a good defender. This is the type of player a shitty Cavs team should be adding. Give young guys expanded roles and see if they can become rotation pieces on our way to 25 wins.

I heard a Clippers reporter talking about him, and the take was that he simply doesn't take 3's. He took a step back on that last year, but he basically never had the ball last year as most of his minutes came at the end of quarters in defensive lineups.

I really DGAF about his percentages. Like Nwaba didn't shoot an awful percentage from 3, but he was an unwilling shooter. If a great pass isn't there and you are wide open, you have to take it. Thornwell is apparently unwilling to shoot it. That isn't good, and I hope Beilein just tells him to let it fly, because it is the only way this kid will make it in the league.

Just look at Larry last year. When he would stand on the perimeter and kind of mull it over when he was wide open it was not good. By the end of the year he was letting it fly, and that willingness seems to result in more makes because you aren't second guessing yourself and are playing more freely.
 
I heard a Clippers reporter talking about him, and the take was that he simply doesn't take 3's. He took a step back on that last year, but he basically never had the ball last year as most of his minutes came at the end of quarters in defensive lineups.

I really DGAF about his percentages. Like Nwaba didn't shoot an awful percentage from 3, but he was an unwilling shooter. If a great pass isn't there and you are wide open, you have to take it. Thornwell is apparently unwilling to shoot it. That isn't good, and I hope Beilein just tells him to let it fly, because it is the only way this kid will make it in the league.

Just look at Larry last year. When he would stand on the perimeter and kind of mull it over when he was wide open it was not good. By the end of the year he was letting it fly, and that willingness seems to result in more makes because you aren't second guessing yourself and are playing more freely.

He's about just as likely to turnover the ball as he is make an assist. So if a guy is unwilling to shoot, doesn't shoot consistently enough to be considered a threat when he does shoot, and can't get rid of the ball efficiently... What good is he in today's NBA?

I guess I don't see a point in bothering with a player like him.
 
How is it making up history when his sophomore year, he shots more 3s and managed a whopping 26% shooting from behind the arc? The guy is a non-scoring defender that had a couple years where he got hot.

You all can keep talking up your subpar end of the bench players. I'd be more interested in calling up G-League studs than wasting time on people that have already proven they don't have a place in the league. When a coach who always seems to get the best out of fringe players gives up on you after your rookie season, I don't really care to go the retread route.
Well, you said he was a good shooter for exactly one season and cannot shoot.

I just gave you three seasons, including his most recent two where he actually played real minutes.
 

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