Role Models: Tyrus Thomas Footnote

Often, players with similar skills and athleticism to Tyrus seem to take longer to develop, because they so often end up playing that in-between space in the game--not quite inside, not quite outside, not always running, not always half-court. He's not a post player, and he's not a jump shooter. He's not a slasher. He has average-at-best handles. He's a runner and a jumper. He's a dunker. He's a blocker. His role model should be Josh Smith.

Let's compare:

	Josh Smith	Tyrus Thomas
Age	25	23
Height	6'9''	6'9''
Weight	225	215
Seasons	6	4
Games	398	229
Min	13250	4,455
MPG	33.3	19.9
RPG	7	5
BPG	2.4	1.3
PPG	14.1	7.7

Now let's adjust the stats to per-36 minute totals, and let's look at Smith's numbers after playing a comparable number of minutes (4609 minutes, his total after 2 seasons):

	Josh Smith	Tyrus Thomas
Reb/ 36	7.8	9
Blk/ 36	2.6	2.4
Pts/ 36	12.6	14

In terms of development, Thomas has had two coaches, clashed with both and been called out by management. Smith has had the same coach his entire career, Mike Woodson (more on Woodson later). Detractors point to Thomas's inconsistencies and say he has a bad attitude. They say he hasn't earned the right to get big minutes. They criticize him for not developing his prodigious talents. I say, what did you expect?!? He's never been given consistent minutes. He's never had a consistent consistent experience with the coaching staff. And most importantly, he's never been in a consistent system, or played in a consistent scheme.

Post players are asked to do the same sorts of thing, for the most part, regardless of the system. Shooting guards, too, by and large. But versatile players like Thomas, who play multiple positions and don't have a clearly defined role? They need to be in a system that they are familiar with. They need to be asked by coaching staff to do the same things, night in and night out, so that they can get into a rhythm. Players like Thomas need to know where they fit and where they stand.

If they ask Thomas to run, then the Bulls need to push the ball 7-10 times while he's in the game. If they ask him to dunk, he needs to get 3-5 ally oops per game. If they don't want him shooting 16 footers, they need to run sets that feature low screens, pin downs, and allow Ty to be active under the basket. They can't tell him to run, then play half-court all night. They can't tell him not to shoot, then run high-screens that leave gaping holes at the elbows for wide-open 16 footers. And good or bad, they can't keep jerking around his playing time. Especially this season, when they are assessing what exactly they have and if they want to keep him.