K.Smith thinks JT an all star in 2 years?!

BDIZZNOT

BDIZZNOT

Prospect
I dont know how many of you got to catch the post draft analysis on nba tv after the draft but Kenny Smith had an interesting take. Correct me if im wrong but he thinks JT can possibly be an all star in 2 years....Personally I love the energy and occasional 15 footer JT brings and I think he will be a solid 4 for years but I just dont see that happening at all.

What do you guys think?
 
I think he's a bench PF until proven otherwise. He couldn't stay out of foul trouble with his defensive deficiencies. Only until the pressure was lifted a bit by bringing him off the bench was he able to focus and not play like he's walking on eggshells. So, until he can get his mind right and learn to play defense without leading the league in fouls, and when he learns to finish strong around the basket and not run straight into defenders with his post moves, he's not even sniffing the all star team.

The guy has to prove he can start on a lottery team and stay on the floor first.
 
I wouldn't entirely rule it out -- but it seems unlikely because Evans and Cousins will be the guys demanding double teams. Thompson will be in a good position to put up numbers playing next to those two, but I would expect Evans makes the team first (maybe as soon as next year) and with the lack of depth at center, Cousins will get a look pretty soon as well if he produces anything like we all expect him to. That would make Thompson our third All-Star and the forward positions are tough to qualify for. If we've got the best record in the league maybe we get three All Stars, like I said I wouldn't rule it out, but in two years is definitely pushing it.
 
If he matures on the court he can be a starter for a playoff team but I don't see all star in him. He is already a good rebounder and shooter and he has show flashes of passing ability and defense... Hopefully we see him put it together this year.
 
He also said next season he can see with a week left in the season that we are in the ninth spot battling for the 8th seed.

I don't see JT being an all star, he can be a really good 6th man big though and maybe a solid/good starting PF.
 
Yes, definitely I see the potential. I'm not talking about another Chris Bosh but JT can possibly be a one-time All-Star, a la Brad Miller or Hornace Grant. I've been high on the kid since day one.

When Hornance Grant made the All-Star, he put up 15 and 11 in 36 mins, good stats sure, but not out of this world. Of course a lot of things have to fall in place for JT to be an All-Star; for starters the Kings have to stop sucking and start winning, and who knows how often JT gets the ball in the new and improved Kings. But if, and those are big IFS, if the Kings become really, really good, if JT's defense improves and matches the potential available to a 6'11 athletic guy, and if JT is featured more in the offense. I think 15 and 11 is not of the question for JT, since he already has 12.5 and 8.5 last season. And if the spotlight shines on the Kings and people start noticing this big guy who plays solid defense and putting up double-double, it's possible that he gets invited to the All-Star game.

Once again, those are big ifs, but to answer the question; sure the potential is there.

.
 
BDIZZNOT said:
I dont know how many of you got to catch the post draft analysis on nba tv after the draft but Kenny Smith had an interesting take. Correct me if im wrong but he thinks JT can possibly be an all star in 2 years....Personally I love the energy and occasional 15 footer JT brings and I think he will be a solid 4 for years but I just dont see that happening at all.

What do you guys think?
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JT's season was the tale of two (or three) seasons - look at his game logs on espn.com - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=3462

In the months of November and December JT averaged about 16 points, 9.5 boards 1 bpg while shooting 50% from the field and about 75% from the line.

the months of January and February were atrocious (maybe not so coincidentally this coincided with the Kings worse stretch of ball in the season???) - his foul and turnover rates skyrocketed, he only shot around 36% (which just can't happen for a front court player) and he averaged about 9.5 ppg and 7 rpg.

Then the last 10 games of the season, he averaged 14/10, again shooting around 50%.

If he can even things out and average 16/9.5 shooting 50%, we actually have a better than average player in him. I don't think he has the physical skills to be an all-star, but 16/10 means he's as good as Brian Grant in his prime or LaMarcus Alridge is now, which is a pretty darn good player.
 
cfechter said:
JT's season was the tale of two (or three) seasons - look at his game logs on espn.com - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=3462

In the months of November and December JT averaged about 16 points, 9.5 boards 1 bpg while shooting 50% from the field and about 75% from the line.

the months of January and February were atrocious (maybe not so coincidentally this coincided with the Kings worse stretch of ball in the season???) - his foul and turnover rates skyrocketed, he only shot around 36% (which just can't happen for a front court player) and he averaged about 9.5 ppg and 7 rpg.

Then the last 10 games of the season, he averaged 14/10, again shooting around 50%.

If he can even things out and average 16/9.5 shooting 50%, we actually have a better than average player in him. I don't think he has the physical skills to be an all-star, but 16/10 means he's as good as Brian Grant in his prime or LaMarcus Alridge is now, which is a pretty darn good player.
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Agree.. Thompson right now is too foul prone to stay i the game consistently enough to be counted on.. He needs to stop biting on fakes.

One thing I think that will happen this year is that playing him at his natural PF position, and along side Dalembert, or Cousins will allow Thompson to play more weak side D and stay out of foul trouble. I don't really see his rebound numbers going up higher than about 9 per game (because of Cousins, and Dalembert are much better on the boards than Hawes ever was), but I do see him cutting down on the fouls if we do keep him on the weak side.
 
The third year is often a critical one on this front, but with all the minutes competition = no way. And really probably the wrong read on what JT did last year anyway. toward the end of the year he got it together and was effective, but it was specifically not as a "star, but rather just staying within himself as a solid roleplayer. With all the big bodies, post players, and general competition up front its hard to see that suddenly changing and him dominating at the level you need to to be an All Star (I suppose we have to see if all of Boozer, amare, Bosh etc. all head East to even open a tiny crack, but its out own internal team dynamics that make this impossible regardless of what other teams are doing).

Plus, this was Kenny smith we were talking about. And he wonders why he hasn't been able tpo [parlay his announcing gig into a GM spot -- well Kenny, you should have picked a job where no one got to hear you talk if you were anglign for Gmdom.
 
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This is where I disagree with some people.

JT Foul Prone: With the type of players we have on the roster now I think JT's foul situation should be drastically reduced. He won't be a one man gang in the paint anymore. He should be able to slow his defensive game down along with the workouts this offseason and studying his tape of some of the dumber things he does (like leaning forward instead of straight up.. easy fix). Pressure relieved, and with that being relieved he should be able to make smarter decisions.

JT rebounding: No comment - he's a solid 9/10 avg boards a game guy.. We all know this

JT Scoring: All I think JT really needs to do at times is learn to keep the ball over his head near the basket and not take that 1 dribble. This is one of the things I hope he's been working on hard all this offseason because it will mean the difference in him being a 10pt a game player and a 16pt a game player. He already has a nice pretty consistant jumper out to 16ft-18ft. If he can learn to keep the ball above his head he will be a pretty solid starter I think.
 
cfechter said:
JT's season was the tale of two (or three) seasons - look at his game logs on espn.com - http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=3462

In the months of November and December JT averaged about 16 points, 9.5 boards 1 bpg while shooting 50% from the field and about 75% from the line.

the months of January and February were atrocious (maybe not so coincidentally this coincided with the Kings worse stretch of ball in the season???) - his foul and turnover rates skyrocketed, he only shot around 36% (which just can't happen for a front court player) and he averaged about 9.5 ppg and 7 rpg.

Then the last 10 games of the season, he averaged 14/10, again shooting around 50%.

If he can even things out and average 16/9.5 shooting 50%, we actually have a better than average player in him. I don't think he has the physical skills to be an all-star, but 16/10 means he's as good as Brian Grant in his prime or LaMarcus Alridge is now, which is a pretty darn good player.
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I think you did a good analogy. I think Thompson played the last 15 games of the season better than he played at any time during the year. Thats including the first two months, despite the superior stats. I was encourged more by how he played at the end, more than the stats he put up. For the first time I felt he was letting the game come to him and just taking what was there, instead of forcing things.

As to whether he'll become an all star or not, who knows? But if he comes back and picks up where he left off last year, its possible. Let me say this. People get labeled. And once they get that label people are reluctant to let go of it despite the best efforts of the player. Thompson improved quite a bit defensively last year. Go to Synergy.com and check his results. His weakness was under the basket, but away from the basket he was very good at denying the ball or protecting the lane. He was the best pick and roll defender on the team. Now that doesn't make him a 1st team defender. But it does show improvement.

No one noticed, but his foul rate diminsihed in the second half of the season. He stopped arguing with the refs. In other words, he was making an effort to change. Did you bother to notice? Probably not. Its easier to just continue to criticize him for the same things. He still has a lot of work to do to become a complete player. But I think he needs to be acknowledged for making improvements in his overall game.

Players like Thompson spend a lot of time working hard on their game. They're not machines. They're human beings with feelings. They have the same problems in their life that we do from an emotional point of view. They get up in the morning with a sore throat and may not feel good. They have arguements with their wives or girlfriends. They get depressed just like us. But we expect them to rise above all their problems and perform at a high level because? They're getting paid to. I doubt its that easy, but the great one's manage to do it. However I doubt it has little to do with the money and more to do with inner desires to be great.

I have no idea how good Thompson is going to be. He could become an all star, or he could just be a solid 12 and 8 guy that defends well. Or he could be somewhere in between, which is where I think he'll be. All I ask is that people pay attention and notice when a player does improve. Ask youself this. How many times have you seen a player come to town with the reputation of being a bad outside shooter, and then watch him light it up and kill you with his shooting. Guess what? Its three years later and he's worked on his shot. He's not a bad shooter anymore.
 
Nighthawk1 said:
This is where I disagree with some people.

JT Foul Prone: With the type of players we have on the roster now I think JT's foul situation should be drastically reduced. He won't be a one man gang in the paint anymore. He should be able to slow his defensive game down along with the workouts this offseason and studying his tape of some of the dumber things he does (like leaning forward instead of straight up.. easy fix). Pressure relieved, and with that being relieved he should be able to make smarter decisions.

JT rebounding: No comment - he's a solid 9/10 avg boards a game guy.. We all know this

JT Scoring: All I think JT really needs to do at times is learn to keep the ball over his head near the basket and not take that 1 dribble. This is one of the things I hope he's been working on hard all this offseason because it will mean the difference in him being a 10pt a game player and a 16pt a game player. He already has a nice pretty consistant jumper out to 16ft-18ft. If he can learn to keep the ball above his head he will be a pretty solid starter I think.
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I agree with you in part. JT seldom has the ball stolen as a result of bring the ball down. Actually he doesn't turn the ball over that much in the post. Where I do agree is with his putting the ball on the floor. There are times when he gets the ball near the basket and could got just go up and stuff it. But instead he dribbles the ball one time and thereby gives the defense one more spit second to respond. He needs to correct that.

I also agree that he needs to use his height on defense instead of bending at the waist and thereby shortening himself. It hurts him in many ways. It restricts lateral movement because it locks the hips and it also affects his balance. Its a minor thing, but it would help his defense if corrected.
 
An allstar in two years? I highly doubit it. But I think JT has more talent then many give him credit for. He's been referred to as a garbage/hustle player many times here. Thing is, I think he has the talent to be much more.

We can't ignore the fact JT has never played with a real nba center, and now he'll play next to two. Spencer made life very difficult on JT. Playing next to Cousins and Dalembert, in a starting role, I could see JT getting 10+ rebs in a year or two. He will never be a primary offensive option, but I could see him getting 15 pts/game from open jumpers, flips shots or baby hooks in the lane, and putbacks. I never see him becoming a high scoring pf, nor do I want him to.

But his versatility is what could take his talent up a few levels. I could definatly see JT getting 15/10 on a regular basis, shooting over 50% from the field. But when I refer to his versatility, I think he is an underrated passer and can get 4+ assists in a few years. He has also improved blocking shots, and that should only improve playing next to Cousins and Dalembert. Don't underestimate how much easier his life will be playing next to two top 10 centers.

An allstar though, I don't see. But he could be in that next tier, and could be a starting pf on a perenial playoff team. In two years I could see JT averaging 15/10/4/2, which I would be delighted with.
 
The only way he is an all-star in 2 years is if Cousins and Reke blow up so big that the Kings are on a 70 win clip, at which point everybody on the team starts looking like an all-star.

I think that's the goal but I'm not sure 2 years is realistic :)
 
rainmaker said:
An allstar in two years? I highly doubit it. But I think JT has more talent then many give him credit for. He's been referred to as a garbage/hustle player many times here. Thing is, I think he has the talent to be much more.

We can't ignore the fact JT has never played with a real nba center, and now he'll play next to two. Spencer made life very difficult on JT. Playing next to Cousins and Dalembert, in a starting role, I could see JT getting 10+ rebs in a year or two.
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I think that Hawes made things very difficult for JT on the defensive end of the court. I don't know how many times I would watch JT show on the pick & roll only to see Hawes NOT come over and pick up his man. JT would also come over to help Hawes when he got beat or needed a double-team only to see no one switch over to JT's man leaving him wide open under the basket.

It will be interesting to see how much his defense improve playing next to good defensive centers. I think one of the reasons JT looked so much better the last 15 games of the season was because Landry was playing next to him instead of Hawes. Landry doesn't have the size, but is a very good team defensive player, and plays solid positional defense.
 
Jason Thompson played out of position for most of the year last year, causing him to cheat on defense and get into foul trouble damn near every game. With Dalembert, Cousins and Whiteside coming in, I believe all that will change. We'll actually have an imposing big man at the 5 spot this year. I think it's possible JT wins MIP this season. I really do.
 
At 24 years old, it is unlikely that Jason will make any significant improvements in his game.

This past season he averaged 12.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG playing roughly 31 MPG. He likely would have played more minutes, but he fouled at a rate of 3.7 per game.

If Jason is able to foul at a lesser rate and play around 5 minutes more per game, then his numbers should be in the range of 15 PPG and 10 RPG.

Those numbers have been good enough to get players into the All-Star game before, but there would likely have to be a lack of competitive PF's along with the Kings being playoff contenders.
 
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dmj said:
At 24 years old, it is unlikely that Jason will make any significant improvements in his game.

This past season he averaged 12.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG playing roughly 31 MPG. He likely would have played more minutes, but he fouled at a rate of 3.7 per game.

If Jason is able to foul at a lesser rate and play around 5 minutes more per game, then his numbers should be in the range of 15 PPG and 10 RPG.

Those numbers have been good enough to get players into the All-Star game before, but there would likely have to a lack of competitive PF's along with the Kings being playoff contenders.
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I agree that players with 15 or 16 points and 10 boards a game have made into the all star game. But to say than any player thats 24 years old won't get any better is ridiculous. Back when you had to graduate with four years of college most of the players coming into the NBA were 22 or 23 years of age. And a lot of them went on to become superstars. Steve Nash didn't really make a splash until his 5th year at age 26. He didn't start averaging double digit assists until age 30. I just don't get this nonsense that a player is peaked at age 24 or 25.

I grant you it depends on the players dedication and talent base. And I'm not saying that Thompson will become better than 15 and 10. But its silly to just write him off because he's 24.
 
bajaden said:
I agree that players with 15 or 16 points and 10 boards a game have made into the all star game. But to say than any player thats 24 years old won't get any better is ridiculous. Back when you had to graduate with four years of college most of the players coming into the NBA were 22 or 23 years of age. And a lot of them went on to become superstars. Steve Nash didn't really make a splash until his 5th year at age 26. He didn't start averaging double digit assists until age 30. I just don't get this nonsense that a player is peaked at age 24 or 25.

I grant you it depends on the players dedication and talent base. And I'm not saying that Thompson will become better than 15 and 10. But its silly to just write him off because he's 24.
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It would be ridiculous to say that all players stop developing at 24 years old, and I don't believe I said that. What I said was that it was unlikely a player would make significant developments past 24.

Steve Nash is a great example of a player who bucks this trend. As you pointed out he wasn't really a great player until around his 5th season. (And as an aside, Nash also defies the trend of players declining once they enter their 30's. The best years of Nash's career have been his early to mid 30's.)

Jason could become a much better player, but I do think chances of that happening are small.
 
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