Per K.C. Johnson, a happy Tyrus Thomas thinks he's capable of joining the league's elite big men.
Neither does Thomas. In his upbeat mood, he even said averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds is within his reach.
"First, I have to figure out my role as far as the offensive end," Thomas said. "I have to figure out where I'm going to get my shots. But on the defensive end, definitely 10 (rebounds a game)."
It appears to be a flippant comment that may have been a deliberate attempt to get himself a quotable, but that's the thing about flippant comments; they're fun to scrutinise.
So good for you, Tyrus, but think about what you're claiming there.
Six players in the NBA averaged double figure rebounds last season; Dwight Howard (13.4), Troy Murphy (11.8), David Lee (11.7), Tim Duncan (10.7), Emeka Okafor (10.1) and Chris Bosh (10.0). Yao Ming averaged 9.9 boards per game, and Pau Gasol averaged 9.6, so you can probably go ahead and grant them mulligans for that, using the basic mathematic principle of rounding up. (Zach Randolph also averaged a combined 10.1 rebounds between the Knicks and the Clippers, but he didn't have enough games to qualify. The same applies to Carlos Boozer.)
Of those nine, only two managed to simultaneously score more than 20 points per game; Howard (20.6ppg) and Bosh (22.5ppg). Yao Ming can be granted another mulligan, as he averaged 19.7 ppg, and perennial 20/10 player Tim Duncan only just slipped out of the category with a 19.3 ppg average. If you were feeling really generous, you could count Pau Gasol's 18.9 ppg as being essentially 20 ppg, but Murphy, Lee and Okafor were not close.
Therefore, the group of 20/10 players in the league today is roughly about five people. Of those five, Pau didn't even really qualify, and Yao is to miss all of the upcoming season. Kevin Love should join the 10 rebounds per game club next year, as may Blake Griffin, Al Jefferson and Carlos Boozer, the latter two of whom may also make the 20 points per game mark. But the 20/10 group remains elite, elusive and ickle, full of players far in excess of Tyrus Thomas. If they weren't, we wouldn't be trying to acquire them all.
More importantly, Tyrus' own scoring and rebounding have not shown to be up to the job. His scoring efficiency has not gone up with his scoring tendencies, with last year's .525% true shooting percentage being roughly equal to his .512% career mark. (For comparison's sake, of all the other players mention so far in this post, the one with the lowest career TS% is Randolph at .520%, followed by Okafor at .532% and by Murphy at .537%.) His 45% field goal percentage is poor for a power forward - it's not good for a small forward, either - and while the saving grace is his good free throw percentage, he got to the line only 5 times per 36 minutes, down from his rookie season average of 6.4. The better he gets at foul shooting, the less he does it. That doesn't make sense. But it's how it's been.
Tyrus' rebounding has also trended downwards. His total rebounding percentage was a solid 15.9% in his rookie year, but that dropped to 14.5% in his second season, and dropped further to a meagre 13.4% last year. If it drops any further, we have ourselves a real problem. And for comparison's sake once again, the lowest career total rebounding percentage of all the aforementioned players is Pau Gasol at 14.1%, followed by Bosh at 14.5%. No one else is below 15.9%.
For Tyrus to do what he speaks of doing, he'll have to buck every trend that he's created, reform himself as a player, and almost double his averages from last season (10.8 points and 6.4 rebounds a game). That's such a big ask that it's almost unprecedented.
The optimism is fun, and the realisation of his more immediate goals as a player was rather comforting. If he'd added pick-and-rolling to that to-do list, that would have been a clincher. But the ambitiousness, that could perhaps be reined in a touch.
Update, a few hours later: Mike McGraw now adds some more to the non-issue, claiming that Tyrus never claimed the 20 points per game bit. That's probably for the best. But the 10 rebounds is still a big ask for a man who is perfectly capable of doing it, yet who has looked less and less like he wants to. So we'll wait and see.
Filed under: Uncategorized
He is so embarassing for this franchise. I cant wait till Taj takes a majority of TTs minutes by December. Tyrus was the bulls biggest mistake in years. I still cant believe there are bulls fans out there still blinded by his so called potential.
If only he played with effort. Tyrus needs to run the floor hard consistently. So far he has not done that, combined with the bonehead plays he makes on offense and you can understand why bulls fans are running out of patience with him.
I don't expect Tyrus to be a big time scorer, but I do expect him to play hard and smart every game.
I would be happy with a Double Double. He doesn't need to be a 20/10 player. Just get a 10/10/5 average (where the 5 is blocked shots) and I would be elated. But I must say I am happy he is shooting for the stars rather than shooting for mediocracy as he has in the past.
Actually I believe that TT "shooting for the stars" is a negative sign. It just reinforces his delusional mind set that he is "the man." You are correct, however, in that he doesn't need to be a 20/10 player. If he just adjusts his mind set on realistic goals he will be more likely to do things on the court that reflect his actual abilities. We don't need him to take 15 or more shots per game.
T-Time will mean "Trade Time" if he doesn't have a breakout season this year...I think we are blinded by his athleticism sometimes...