Kurt Thomas

[Covert Rain]

Coach D is making a huge mistake. No offense to Caoch D but I think he is making a big mistake by not playing Kurt. He is giving playing time to guys who have not showed up yet in the playoffs but he can't find minutes for Kurt???

The Suns are getting killed in rebounding and defense. Kurt Thomas is arguably the best defender if not second on the team. Yet you can't get him on the floor? He has already proved he can run with this team.

Coach D can't figure out how to get Nash loose and is getting the rest of the team fatigued by playing the same guys with so many minutes. If he doesn't make the adjustments in both offensive play calling and getting guys like Kurt playing time....I will blame this series loss soley on him.

We will see how it goes in the next game which is a must win. However, same major adjustments need to be made or this series is over in 5. We can't depend on Raja to come back in this series 100%. SO MAKE SOME FREAKING ADJUSTMENTS ALREADY!!!!

 

[SirStefan32]

I don't think Kurt is ready, and I think that he really has no business playing against Mavs.

 

[Covert Rain]

He has been practicing just fine. Nobody is asking him to start. However, I would argue that James Jones isn't ready to play either...and he's not hurt. Eddie House has not been effective. Give those minutes at the very least to Kurt.

If he does nothing but grabs a few rebounds and keeps guys like Howard out of the lane then that's enough.

 

[Chaplin]

With Raja out, James Jones has been our best defensive player--it's no coincidence that Jerry Stackhouse is having a bad series. Benching Jones to get Kurt some minutes would be a huge mistake.

 

[Joe Mama]

SteelDog, how do you know for sure that Kurt Thomas is actually ready to play? I actually think that if he's ready he should be getting minutes at the expense of Eddie House, James Jones, and Barbosa.

I just don't think he's ready.

The Mavericks are playing good basketball, and the Suns were dealt a crappy hand with all of these injuries and the crazy schedule.

Joe

 

[pokerface]

I thought the Suns said Kurt would be ready by now??

 

[Nasser22]

Kurt is ready. They wouldn't need to bench Jones, they would bench House right now. Kurt has been ready for the whole series. There was even a article in the East Valley Tribune. D'Antoni isn't putting him in because he's worried about how he'll do. I think Kurt needs to get a few minutes. House isn't doing anything. Kurt will be more productive and he hasn't really slowed down our offense this whole season. Even if he isn't at 100% he is smart and can at least draw some charges and help on rebounding.

 

[CaptainInsano]

Our rebouding has been absolutely abysmal so there is no way putting KT would make things worse, that is one of the main reasons we got him and now we watch as we have scoring lulls (so how could he make scoring worse) made horrible by the fact that when we finally make dallas miss they just grab the offensive rebound. Then mike just sits there with KT on the bench wondering how we can win. Brilliant.

Also we get too see dallas get a bunch of and-1s because people don't foul hard. How hard did KT foul again, anyone remember!

 

[Covert Rain]

Our rebouding has been absolutely abysmal so there is no way putting KT would make things worse, that is one of the main reasons we got him and now we watch as we have scoring lulls (so how could he make scoring worse) made horrible by the fact that when we finally make dallas miss they just grab the offensive rebound. Then mike just sits there with KT on the bench wondering how we can win. Brilliant.

Also we get too see dallas get a bunch of and-1s because people don't foul hard. How hard did KT foul again, anyone remember!

Exactly. We need the rebounding desperately. Kurt has also proved to clog up the lane. Dallas is getting way to may rebounds and layups. Kurt would slow that down. Not to mention getting our rebounding numbers up is a plus. Every game we get killed in rebounds we lose.

 

[Wu banga]

Yeah, the suns could use his defense on dirk so they can move marion to howard and slow him down.

 

[justAndy]

Dallas has done a good job the last couple games limiting the Suns fast break WITHOUT K Thomas in the lineup.
Suns have been dominated on the glass.
Erratic and mostly BAD as Barbosa has been in this series I give KT some minutes in Game 4.

 

[JAndrews]

The mavs have made the best adjustments upto now, However marion on howard is good too. I think the suns are not playing their style because of the mavs overall team play. They are good, they won 60 games and beat the spurs in their court. They are the best team in the western conference, however that being said the suns are not out yet. I think everything is catching upto the suns in this series, the loss of Bell seems to be the back breaker. I dont think Bell will play this series and if he does he wont be the player he was, a tear is a tear is a tear, Eddie Johnson stated he has had 2 partial tears/ calf strains and it took him a month each the rest and heal. the suns need better play from LB, house and JJ and I dont see that happening. When they are on the floor their spacing is bad, their decisions are bad and LB cannot run the offense.

 

[Gaddabout]

KT? Defending Dirk? I'm gonna go lay down now because that suggested adjustment just made me light headed.

 

[Mainstreet]

IMO, the reason KT is not playing is that the Suns do not have any time off to scrimmage with him to get him in game shape. With only one day off between games the Suns just do not have this luxury while trying to win close ball games.
I think if a particular situation arose where the Suns needed to make a specific defensive stand, then we might see him.

I'm not saying not playing KT at all is a good strategy... it's just that he is not presently up to the speed of the game to run with the Suns and Mavs.

If Dampier were playing I would be a lot more upset with KT on the bench.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am not saying they should start Kurt Thomas. So basically him not being in total basketball shape is not as big an issue. However, with our bench being so depleted and when are starters go to the bench...that's when Kurt could help.

The Suns not only have had trouble running but when Nash goes to the bench, the running comes to a complete halt. So if the team isn't running when the starters are on the bench then we can't afford to give up easy buckets.

Giving Kurt some playing time of the bench would help prevent runs when the starters need a few minutes. Not to mention rebounding during those times are even more important.

This next game will show alot in terms of how good coach 'D' can be in terms of adjustments. So far it seems like he is really slow to make adjustments from series to series. Let's hope he uses Kurt to give more of an opportunity to give other guys a blow and give us some of the things we have been missing in this series.

 

[Goldfield]

Our rebouding has been absolutely abysmal so there is no way putting KT would make things worse, that is one of the main reasons we got him and now we watch as we have scoring lulls (so how could he make scoring worse) made horrible by the fact that when we finally make dallas miss they just grab the offensive rebound. Then mike just sits there with KT on the bench wondering how we can win. Brilliant.

Also we get too see dallas get a bunch of and-1s because people don't foul hard. How hard did KT foul again, anyone remember!

Agree 100%

I hate how soft the Suns foul! They just stand there with their hands up in the air. Once you hear that whistle smash that ball & arms back down...

Get KT in there if he is ready and help our guys down low.

On a second note James Jone has been playing very well(without shooting). Once he gets his shot back he will be a very good depth guy. He is doing things that Marion does.

 

[asudevil83]

if Kurt is healthy he should be playing right now. like other have said, we are getting destroyed on the glass as usual.

Kurt - Diop/Dampier
Diaw - Dirk
Marion - Howard

 

[Evil Ash]

I don't think Kurt is ready, and I think that he really has no business playing against Mavs.

Its been hinted from the national announcers that we aren't play KT in order to keep the pace up like we did in game 1. Don't know if there is any truth to it whatsoever but that seems to be their theory.

If true thats a mistake IMHO

 

[Errntknght]

I can see D'Antoni's problem with playing KT but I expect he'll take a chance in this next game. Probably play him when Diop is on the floor. I wouldn't think KT guarding Dirk would be a pretty sight... he'd keep him from posting up but Dirk would just move outside far enough to take him off the dribble. The frontcourt of Diop, Dirk, Howard gave us the most trouble so I think its worth a try to counter with KT, TT, Shawn - with defensive assignments in that order. Of course, KT wouldn't be able to play many minutes but it could be an emotional stimulant for the team just to have him banging for a while. The team looks like it could use that.

Dallas is doing a good job on Barbosa, forcing him to the baseline almost every time which keeps him from getting the angles he likes to use. A lot of this goes back to what I've been saying for a long time - the Suns need to work Barbosa's drives into the overall offense instead of having him always going from isolation. As long as he does that the opponents can stack the D against him, if they're willing to go to the trouble and Dallas is obviously willing. Its probably a little late for that now, unfortunately. About all he can do now is to fight his way more to the middle and pull up.

Repeat a hundred times after me: Heavy reliance on 3 point shooting is not a sound strategy because its the first shot to go under the pressure and the better defense of the playoffs.