Tyrus sent home with flu like symptoms
Per KC Johnson:
The Bulls sent Tyrus Thomas home from Tuesday morning's shootaround with flu-like symptoms.
What's more interesting is the backstory mentioned:
The incident comes on the heels of Thomas not playing the
entire fourth quarter of a close loss to the Heat in Miami on Sunday
and one day after the deadline passed for Thomas to receive a contract
extension.
The Tribune reported Monday
that Thomas also took exception to Del Negro singling him out for
failing to rotate defensively during a film session. Captain Lindsey
Hunter talked to Thomas in full view of teammates and coaches following
Monday's practice.
The implication here by putting these two things together is that this may be a quasi-disciplinarian issue. They're not suspending him, but they're finding an excuse for him to go away for the afternoon.
Personally, I think Tyrus has a point about not playing more. I'm not sure why he's getting such a quick hook in games, because he's playing much more effectively than Gibson so far while Gibson has had nearly similar playing time.
If Tyrus is unable to go (or the coaching staff is unwilling to let him), then my hope is that James Johnson gets the chance to play some meaningful minutes.
25 Comments
MrHappy said:
I would like to see what James Johnson actually brings to the court, too. The only problem is, he's not a Power Forward.
I hope this Tyrus Thomas spat doesn't linger.
Doug Thonus said:
I think James Johnson's as much a PF as Luol Deng, whom the Bulls have used in place of Tyrus at the end of games. In fact, Johnson's definitely bigger and stronger than Deng physically and better able to set picks.
MrHappy said:
With Tyrus having issues, we just might find out if that is true or not. Granted he's bulky enough to play PF, but really his natural position is SF.
RPK said:
I have been giving Tyrus the benefit of the doubt for his entire career, but after seeing him fail with every coach he has ever had with the Bulls, I've given up on Thomas. It's time to trade TT. He will never be more then a spot role player and prima donna who is disliked by coaches and media alike.
Brian Hanley of the Score, who has covered Tyrus since his rookie season, has said over and over how big a d-bag Tyrus is.
Jimmy Greenfield said:
Come on, wake up. Tyrus Thomas is a classic NBA pain in the ass. All he cares about is himself and if things don't go his way he bitches and moans instead of working harder to rectify things.
I'd say they should dump him but most NBA players are the same way so they'll just bring in another lazy, overpaid complainer.
This has been reason No. 34 why the NBA sucks.
Doug Thonus said:
I think it's a crazy assumption to assume players in the NBA are any lazier or self-centered than the players any other sport.
What evidence is there for that? The level of conditioning required to play in the NBA absolutely dwarfs what's required for baseball or most positions in football.
Are they more selfish than Terrell Owens or Randy Moss? More of a primadonna than Jay Cutler? How's Carlos Zambrano doing after signing a monster contract in terms of conditioning or in terms of not being a self-centered emotional train wreck?
I'm not sure why NBA players have this reputation compared to other sports, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that they're the only ones who aren't constantly obscured by helmets or hats, and who are seen for the entirety of a game.
I'll say this, if you took the top 300 athletes in the NBA and ran them up against the top 300 athletes of the NFL or MLB in a generic athletic condition, the guys with no work ethic who don't work hard would pummel the ever living crap out of the other sports guys. And that's using 70% of the guys in the league vs the top 10% of the NFL or 25% or so of MLB.
Just my 2c.
Jimmy Greenfield said:
I'm not assuming, but I'll stipulate that I used the wrong word. What I should have focused on was how selfish NBA players are.
It's the nature of the NBA, which is designed to reward individual play. That's fine, for true stars. But there are so many NBA players who think they're stars when they're not.
Baseball is selfish in a whole different way. Why does it happen more in the NBA? Who knows. But it's there.
Doug Thonus said:
I disagree.
How many players on the Bulls would you define as selfish?
Tyrus Thomas and....
Kirk Hinrich?
Derrick Rose?
Luol Deng?
Joakim Noah?
Taj Gibson?
Brad Miller?
John Salmons?
Jannero Pargo?
How many head cases are on the Cubs or Bears? I think the primary difference here is that NBA rosters people ignore 60% of the guys in the league when making these claims.
Furthermore, what is your evidence that Tyrus is selfish based on? That he wants to play more minutes? What bench player in any sport doesn't want to play more. Especially when a guy replacing him is younger, hasn't been around as long, and isn't playing nearly as well.
Tyrus certainly has had his issues, but are they any worse than Cedric Benson, Cade McNown, Rex Grossman, David Terrell?
High round draft picks that don't live up to potential are almost always primadonnas in all sports.
I think the idea that NBA players are selfish (or insert whatever negative trait you want) relative to rich athletes in other sports to be more or less complete myth.
Jimmy Greenfield said:
Right now, it's a good squad. But in the past few years they've had Jalen Rose, Larry Hughes and Tim Thomas, who stole millions from the Bulls because he wasn't happy to not be on a playoff team.
The NBA might be more glaring because there's greater opportunity to show off selfishness. One guy on an NFL roster is selfish, it's one of 53. In the NBA it's 1 of 12.
To me, Thomas comes off as a guy who thinks he's a star but has clearly never shown it. That's the prototype for the NBA player who has blinders on and would rather keep them on than figure out what's best of the team.
Doug Thonus said:
To me, it's not the prototype for NBA players who won't improve. It's the prototype of high draft picks in basically any sport that don't improve and then blame the opportunity. Look at basically every Bear 1st rounder drafted in the last decade and you could make that same statement about them.
Guys who are taken that high have certain expectations of success, and most people in life will blame others rather than themselves for failing to meet their expectations.
I don't think Jalen Rose was a bad guy, he certainly wasn't selfish on the court. He always looked to set up teammates over his own offense first while he was here. I don't think he was a good fit for the team, but that's because he got old and wasn't sucha good player on a massive contract.
Tim Thomas got pre-emptively benched by the coaching staff before getting to be a good guy or a bad guy.
Larry Hughes and Ben Wallace were both guys I'd consider bad guys, but then again, that's still 2 people (if you count Tyrus) on the team. I still don't see Tyrus as being selfish rather I see him being stubborn and lacking in talent.
He does more charity work than anyone else on the team which is impressive considering we've got Luol Deng on the team. He's very generous with his time and money when it comes to doing things that matter.
MrHappy said:
Doug,
But doesn't Rose need to be more selfish, at least on offense?
Doug Thonus said:
It's not selfish if you take a lot of shots when you're always taking the best shot.
So far, Rose hasn't shown that his shots are the best shots as this season, he's played very poorly, hopefully just due to ankle soreness.
However, when fully healthy and playing well, he needs to shoot more for sure.
Simeon2UC said:
I like Tyrus Thomas, he takes no garbage. Vinny does seem like he's lost a little. No way James Johnson should be on the bench if he was taken 16th. If he sucks early-on in the season then don't play him. JJ hasn't a sequence that can justify that claim. Put the man out there and let him learn. I think JJ is the third best scorer on the team from a instinctive view. The players that reign above him in that catergory is Rose and Salmons, Deng comes in at fourth.
1. Rose
2. Salmons
3. JJ
4. Deng
-----------------------
I also disagree with DT that Rose don't set up his teammates. I never seen someone contract the defense like Rose does and give his teammates open shots consistently. Them guys aren't knocking the shots down. Simple. I think he can become better at the lane creations like Rondo, Paul, Calderon and Kidd.
Doug Thonus said:
As far as Tyrus specifically goes, where there's smoke there's fire most likely. There's clearly a problem between Tyrus and the coaching staff or else Tyrus would be playing more.
Given that he is drawing fouls at an absolutely monster rate and rebounding extremely well while Taj Gibson is doing neither, it's hard to argue against Tyrus's view here. He's destroyed his backup who's getting similar minutes. His rookie backup.
Dmband said:
Doug 1
Greenfield 0
Well said. You cannot compare it to other sports, every single professional sport has its fair share of idiots.
(see Milton Bradley)
Jimmy Greenfield said:
Doug's good. But I still think I'm right, though I should have focused on NBA players being the most selfish players. No other sport comes close in that regard.
johnfriendly said:
I wanted Aldridge over TT, and TT's play and behavior since then has reinforced my initial belief that drafting him was a major mistake. Having said this, I believe that TT needs to play major minutes this year to see what value he possibly could have going forward. Clearly, Gibson does not have the talent of TT. TT's athleticism and FA status next year will, IMO, translate into more wins for the Bulls this year.
Dmband said:
Jimmy-
I get what you are saying, but you cant fault the players for the way the sport is played? Of course, its going to be more rewarding to individual players then say, football or baseaball where one player cant really have the impact like a basketball player can.
That would be like blaming golfers for being rewarded for individual play.
I can see your point regarding guys who THINK they are bona fide superstars though...
Jimmy Greenfield said:
That's all I'm talking about. Guys who can get the job done are fine, that's how the NBA works. It's a stars league. But faux stars bring teams down.
juicewolta said:
funny how we all debated/worried about Taj replacing TT before the season started.. I had no idea it would become a problem by the 3rd games of the season (Tyrus plays 21 min to Taj's 18).. and now this. Let's hope it really is just the flu
Doug Thonus said:
I agree. I hope it really is the flu as well. Tyrus has played quite well and done everything management has begged him to do so far. He's rebounded much better and attacked the basket rather than settle for jumpers.
I've had problems with Tyrus's play in the past, but he's finally doing what we begged him to do, play within himself, and he's not getting rewarded for it. I'm not really psyched about that.
MrHappy said:
Does anybody want to see the Bulls go after Marcus Camby?
To Bulls: Marcus Camby and a throw-in (R.Davis, Collins, or Smith)
To Clippers: Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James
The Bulls would take back more salary, but not being paying any luxury tax. Camby is a free-agent, but more importantly another solid veteran, who could mentor Noah or Gibson.
I wouldn't mind that trade at some point this season.
Dmband said:
"But faux stars bring teams down."
Marbury. Everytime I think about that guy, I just laugh and get pissed at the same time. Im glad it happened to the Knicks, but seriously...they paid him 20 million dollars to sit on the bench in streets....brutal.
Bullitt said:
I would like to see the Bulls get Camby because they need a third center, but I don't want to trade Tyrus. Hinrich or Deng, yes. Tyrus, NO.
MrHappy said:
It seems to me that Tyrus Thomas and Jerome James are the most expendable right now. Luol Deng does have a heavy contract, so the Bulls may want to dump it.
The Clippers just demoted Al Thornton (their SF) to the bench, so maybe they would consider Deng in a trade for Camby. It might be worth the call.
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