All kirk needs to do is run one scrimmage against larry hughes, thats it just one scrimmage guarding larry hughes…and then…whamo!!!….no one discretely discconnects body parts quite like the great white ninja kirk hinrich. Why do you think he is always slumping, those wrists of his are so strong, so heavy, that they are constantly pulling his arms down.
Thats why reinsdorf likes him so much

That is how i see thabo, i think he can be a scottie without the shot. I think thabo was drafted as sort of a brandon roy esque player, as in a poor mans brandon roy. I dont think thabo can quite be floor general like roy is, but he is still a decent passer. His physique gives him the ability to really attack the rim (speed, strength, hops) and his length and speed make him a great defender at the 2 guard (hes done great defensive jobs on kobe). Thabo i thought would make a nice 3, but i think he would make an even better 2 guard, if he had a chance to attack the basket more. D. Rose should help in that, as can a better post offense (not neccesserily a player, but plays and players that can open up driving lanes). I think thabo can work on his shot over the years and perhaps have a decent one, nothing special, but enough that he can get mroe chances to attack the rim.

Pottential wise i dont think thabo is going to grow alot, i dont think hes gonna be a special star in the league, but i think he can be a real good role player who can keep the bulls team away from jumpshots and defend both the perimeter and the wings real well.

I dont think he should ever start, but i do think he should get something like a consistant 16 minutes a game (or more depending on what the defense requires) I also think he is a better fit with gordon, rose, or hinrich than any of those three would be with each other. He compliments our guards defficiencies really well (gordons lack of size and defense, hinrichs lack of size and driving ability, roses lack of size and for now defense).

That said i would like to see larry hughes player more of the 3, just the position alone should force him to stay away from crazy shots, or at least shoot more in range.

which, except for Thabo’s 3-like solid rebounding, are frighteningly similar. I actually went into that analysis thinking Thabo would blow away Pete in most every category and I was being stupid to do it.

Then, looking at the advanced stats and Per36 minutes stats, I got kind of disappointed.

Now did Thabo do better the second half of the year? Sure did, but it’s not dramatically different. He shot a fair amount better, but things didn’t change a whole lot aside from that.

I like Thabo, and I’m perfectly happy to have him on the team. The issue isn’t whether he’s awful forever, the issue is what is this guy like after two years in the league, and what would it mean for us if he starts. And the numbers say it’d be more or less like starting Pete Myers. He’ll become better than that, but I don’t want to commit 30 minutes plus so he can develop into a slightly better journeyman. he can do that on his own.

I’d rather have Gordon, or truth be told, Hinrich or probably even Hughes if I actually want to win a particular game.

an improvement in thabo’s handle before giving him substantial minutes at the 1.

even though there’s not much data for him playing the point, this shows his production by position (and the fact that there’s data for him at the 4 is just scary). i’d like to see him get his TOs down. though if he could keep his opponent to a 6.9 PER while on the floor i’ll take it. :)

I don’t think there’s any way around that. It might be a grudging admission of what he’s worth, but if he’s not really worth it, you simply don’t pay it. I mean otherwise, right, you’d be hurting yourself by giving up more than you’re getting back.

I also don’t see how Gordon’s posturing hurts him in the long run. How?

If Ben wants, he seems to be able to wait another month, make everyone sweat, then sign the $59M deal if that’s the best he can do. Nobody’s going to give a shit in 6 years when it’s time to negotiate his next deal. And if it gets him a few more million, then it was clearly worthwhile.

Sure, it seems the Bulls aren’t offering more now, but if he could grudgingly pull a few more million out of you, maybe he could pull a few more million out of them. And if he can’t, no harm done, he signs the $59M.

What sounds bad about quality of life in Moscow? It’s got like 10M people and if he’s pampered from head to toe and spends most of his time playing hoops, I doubt it’s a big deal to him.

I want Gordon but I do not want to pay him more than close to the $59 mil. I think we do lose something if Gordon does a dumb move like sign with Moscow, but in the long run SG is the easiest position to fill. Without Gordon we still have a decent team with a possible future superstar in Rose.