Matt Thomas Playing time

[Clonefan32]

This thread if fully of d-baggery. Matt's not shooting the way we'd like, but he doesn't look "lost". He's guarding fairly well, and he rebounds well for a guard. I thought given their pressure he did fine with the ball and made some nice entry passes. He's not scoring at the clip we'd like (or really scoring at all) but he's nowhere near the liability you make him out to be.

 

[Wally86]

Im waiting for the game(s) where he just goes off this season. Will be awesome to bump all these threads.

THIS! Can't wait till Matt stop thinking and just starts shooting.

 

[demoncore1031]

Thomas has a beautiful looking shot, but they are just not falling. I have never seen anyone with such a nice looking shot have such a low shooting percentage.

 

[19clone91]

I don't think he turned it over once today did he? Every other one of our players turned it over.

 

[stormchaser2014]

I have nothing to add, just in before the close.

 

[CyJack13]

I truly believe if you stick with him you will see a senior year similar to what Scott Christopherson did

I don't think he plays his senior year here. With Cooke, Williams, and Burton we already will have a lot more wing depth next year plus I'm sure Fred will target a combo guard type, especially if he can find a senior eligible transfer. Gotta keep upgrading over these types of guys if we want to keep improving the program, and I'm confident Fred will do that. And if for some reason, Thomas beats those guys out and earns minutes next year, well that will be good too, just don't see that happening.

 

[clone4life82]

Unfortunately the closest he'll get to a double double this year is in turnovers and missed shots. He looks completely lost out there.

Missing shots and turnovers don't necessarily equate to looking lost but that's funny you should say that as he had 0 turnovers tonight and since he has the 3rd best asst/to ratio on the team...

 

[Clonefan32]

Matt's on the ball defense isn't as good as others on our team, but he's one of the few guys you can count on to be in good position. The rest of our team gambles too much and puts us in terrible position to rotate. We talk about what great defenders Naz and Hogue are, but they can also be our biggest defensive liabilities at times.

 

[xboxfever]

The kid is not been very good so far in his career. However there is just nobody else on the bench that is going to play over him. He is the 8th best option on this team. The last few games I have been noticing a huge improvement in his defense. I think the light is starting to come on for him. He still lacks confidence. That is his biggest weakness. Once he finds that confidence, his offense is going to start coming along. I think he is going to surprise people next season. I look for him to have a huge run during the tournament. Right now it can be very frustrating watching him, but like I said, you can see that he is starting to improve in at least one area of his game.

 

[dirtyninety]

I think your timing is off on that but that's fine. I'd argue that the part of the game where KU took control was when BDJ brought the ball up three straight trips and popped three ill-advised shots without passing the ball once and KU going back down and getting a bucket....Even if MT was in at that point, it's not his fault.

Agreed....that was a awful stretch for us. For the stat-repeaters, the garbage time for BDJ will make it look better, but he absolutely had a terrible stretch there...and yes I think MT was in there too which compounded the problem of nothing going on. Fred is forcing something that should not be forced right now.

 

[CoKane]

No, but every minute he plays is one minute less than Naz, Nader or McKay get. At least you get a little better D and rebounding from Nader. McKay is on a totally different level than Thomas. Even though Naz can be streaky, he hits way more shots and is slightly better on D than Thomas.

Frankly, I think this team would be better off giving Thomas's minutes to Edozie.

What's Edozie going to do when we are down by 10+? Playing an offensively challenged player isn't going to help at all in those situations. Thomas comes on the court most of the time because Naz is in foul trouble early and often, and he plays over Nader when Nader is a non factor like he was today. I wish we had someone more consistent than Thomas but we don't. He may not even play next year if our last empty scholarship goes to a guard.

 

[cyfan964]

I have nothing against the guy at all for clarification. I love how hard he tries... but I also don't understand rewarding him with minutes when he does nothing to change the game for the better..... CURRENTLY. I'm not saying he won't be a great player... but you know the difference between Kaminsky and Thomas. When Kaminsky wasn't scoring a bunch of points it was because he wasn't getting PT. Matt is getting plenty of PT, just isn't producing. Again, I like the guy, and he may end up being a great player... but I can't seem to find one thing that he is doing that is worthy of more minutes than Nader. Nader is a better defender, rebounder, and more of a scoring threat.

 

[Wesley]

Matt was trying to get away from his defender to shoot, but it never worked out tonight.

 

[istater7]

He's just not going to cut it in the B12. I know that's blasphemy, but the kid just doesn't have it at this level. I'm sure he's a nice kid and all, but you don't seriously challenge KU by relying on a guy like Thomas.

C'mon man. He's a sophomore. Let's be real here. Thomas isn't being "relied" on.

 

[cyfan964]

The kid is not been very good so far in his career. However there is just nobody else on the bench that is going to play over him. He is the 8th best option on this team. The last few games I have been noticing a huge improvement in his defense. I think the light is starting to come on for him. He still lacks confidence. That is his biggest weakness. Once he finds that confidence, his offense is going to start coming along. I think he is going to surprise people next season. I look for him to have a huge run during the tournament. Right now it can be very frustrating watching him, but like I said, you can see that he is starting to improve in at least one area of his game.

I think I posted this EXACT SAME THING at the end of last year. Almost word for word.

 

[mattyice]

Thomas has a beautiful looking shot, but they are just not falling. I have never seen anyone with such a nice looking shot have such a low shooting percentage.

2 years running that "beautiful" shot isn't going in.

 

[Clonefan32]

I will say, it's not hard to tell Matt's thought process is "I really don't feel good about my shot right now, but Coach is telling me to stay confident and keep shooting, so the next time I'm somewhat open I'm going to shoot." Kid's just not flowing right now, most of his shots seem a bit forced or predetermined. I think he will be fine though, and I imagine there is a game between now and mid-March we win because of Matt Thomas.

 

[Jer]

Everybody on here loves to pretend we're super deep and he's being played for no reason, but really there is no other option right now. I'm as frustrated as anybody, but who do you seriously put in that will provide anything better most outings?

 

[clone4life82]

Matt's on the ball defense isn't as good as others on our team, but he's one of the few guys you can count on to be in good position. The rest of our team gambles too much and puts us in terrible position to rotate. We talk about what great defenders Naz and Hogue are, but they can also be our biggest defensive liabilities at times.

This was the difference tonight if you ask me... KU kicked it out, rotated after they sucked these two down into the lane and we couldn't catch up. Next thing you know Oubre and Seldon were canning 3's in our face.

 

[xboxfever]

I think I posted this EXACT SAME THING at the end of last year. Almost word for word.

I thought that too, but I wasn't seeing improvement. I'm starting to see it now.