http://theknicksblog.com/knicks/knicks-to-sign-lance-thomas-for-rest-of-season/

These are the guys Phil what's to bring to the bench

Sweet Lou has the same mentality

CrushAlot wrote:

yellowboy90 wrote:I guess being 26 he might have a chance and signing him doesn't mean much as long as other dead weight is moved.

He looks like he has just needed a chance. I hope the Knicks keep Lou. There are plenty of waiver candidates on the team if Phil wants a roster spot open to sign someone.

I wouldn't go that far after just 6 games. You are right that he doesn't have that many minutes in his career. He has less minutes played in his 3+ seasons than most starters do in one season. So there is a chance but I'm not going gaga.

Hopefully Melo shuts it done by choice after the break and Early and Wear can get some playing time though.

Since the 54 win season this roster has been plagued by guys who have come in and done nothing. Cant defend, cant hit shots, plays dumb. Thomas is the exact opposite.

Phil needs to flesh out the top of the roster, but the bottom is important too. Culture. Hard work. John Starks and Anthony Mason were once considered CBA "Quad A" type players also.

TripleThreat wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:Love what brooks said about Thomas
”Lance plays hard,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “He plays every possession like it’s Game 7 of a championship series. ‘That’s why he’s in the league and that’s why he’s going to play another 10 years. When you have guys like that, you win.”

Then, no offense, why didn't OKC keep him?

It's not like their bench is so brimming with talent that they could jettison a valuable reserve.

Lance Thomas is a D League talent. In baseball terms, he'd be called a "Quad A" player ( i.e. more developed than the Triple A level, the top rung of MLB's farm system, but never quite good enough to truly crack a MLB 40 man roster consistently, much less the team's actual game day roster ) He's been trying to work his way into a full NBA season for 5 years now. He was literally, like Admundson and Kirk, throw ins in a larger trade because other team's roster churn still offers better upside than much of the Knicks 15 man roster they opened the season with, sadly.

Thomas is a solid and steady type of player. He will play hard, play the game the right way, make the right pass, do everything he is supposed to do. He just doesn't have very much talent. If you give any player, even a Quad A guy, enough minutes and shot opportunities, they are going to compile some kind of numbers, even on a bad team. ( Play MarShon Brooks 40 minutes a night and give him as many shots as he wants and he will score you 25-30 a night) As a fan of the game, I like Lance Thomas, he's a solid "character guy" on a team desperately lacking it.

If a team has leadership at the top of the roster, they don't need to invest valuable minutes and roster spots to fringe players, character guys, just to balance out a locker room.

Melo, STAT and Bargs are the veteran and highest paid players on the roster. They should accountable to act as leaders for this team. Their failures in leadership requires the Knicks spend a roster spot and valuable minutes on Thomas when they could be trying to develop another D League player with a higher talent ceiling who is younger and has more future upside. Thomas is the kind of guy you use when you are treadmilling, not truly developing. IMHO, he's a "tax" imposed on the Knicks for the cost of the lack of leadership at the top of the roster.

Again, as a fan of the game, I applaud Thomas and wish him the best. He's hard nosed and fights with everything he has. Hard not to root for a guy like that. But consider he wouldn't crack the 15 man roster of 2/3rds of the rest of the league.

As a fan of the Knicks though, the roster spot and minutes could be better spent elsewhere IMHO. IIRC, after Sprewell choked the living **** out of PJ Carlisimo, the Warriors drafted Todd Fuller or someone like that in the next draft. A player who clearly would not move the talent/development needle, but the team, weary of jack offs like Sprewell and Tim Hardaway, just wanted a guy who wouldn't exhaust them from being a gigantic *******. I consider Lance Thomas the fallout of Phil Jackson trying not to claw his eyes out from the raw selfishness/low BB IQ/lack of fundamental play of a Melo, STAT, Bargs, JR Smith, Shumpert, etc.

Bingo

And if he's so good why didn't we lock him

In for a multi-yr deal

OKC could have easily included someone like Ish Smith

Or even another 2nd rounder if Lance was that valuable

No slight to Lance but whenever we take on

Another team's trash we place Gold Value on it instantly

Then it rapidly diminishes, Acy was the first Lance

Wear for the first Langston

Lance is nice, happy he's worked hard and showing

Knick players where hard work can get you

I would prefer he not play as many minutes as he does

Those minutes should go to Wear and Acy to potentially build their value up

Instead of placing us at a crossroads on picking up their options in the summer

Because as things stand now if cap space is at a premium I see 2 guys possibly not getting theirs picked up

Then we enter the bidding war on Lance-Wear-Acy

We always do things the hard way

EnySpree wrote:

fishmike wrote:you guys are missing the point.... that you can put a high IQ player (albeit with limited skills/talent) in this system and he will perform well and translate to wins.

Since the 54 win season this roster has been plagued by guys who have come in and done nothing. Cant defend, cant hit shots, plays dumb. Thomas is the exact opposite.

Phil needs to flesh out the top of the roster, but the bottom is important too. Culture. Hard work. John Starks and Anthony Mason were once considered CBA "Quad A" type players also.

Yes yes yes

EXACTLY. No one is saying LT is gonna be an All Star. However it can't be ignored how well he's fit into this system compared to other players who had much more time to learn it and excel but didn't. Phil is looking for players that are learners and doers.

LG, LT and Amundson have had a positive impact on the team and changed the culture. At this point that's a huge development. It's just the start of the process. I have no idea why people are looking to throw cold water on this.

TripleThreat wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:Love what brooks said about Thomas
”Lance plays hard,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “He plays every possession like it’s Game 7 of a championship series. ‘That’s why he’s in the league and that’s why he’s going to play another 10 years. When you have guys like that, you win.”

Then, no offense, why didn't OKC keep him?

It's not like their bench is so brimming with talent that they could jettison a valuable reserve.

Lance Thomas is a D League talent. In baseball terms, he'd be called a "Quad A" player ( i.e. more developed than the Triple A level, the top rung of MLB's farm system, but never quite good enough to truly crack a MLB 40 man roster consistently, much less the team's actual game day roster ) He's been trying to work his way into a full NBA season for 5 years now. He was literally, like Admundson and Kirk, throw ins in a larger trade because other team's roster churn still offers better upside than much of the Knicks 15 man roster they opened the season with, sadly.

Thomas is a solid and steady type of player. He will play hard, play the game the right way, make the right pass, do everything he is supposed to do. He just doesn't have very much talent. If you give any player, even a Quad A guy, enough minutes and shot opportunities, they are going to compile some kind of numbers, even on a bad team. ( Play MarShon Brooks 40 minutes a night and give him as many shots as he wants and he will score you 25-30 a night) As a fan of the game, I like Lance Thomas, he's a solid "character guy" on a team desperately lacking it.

If a team has leadership at the top of the roster, they don't need to invest valuable minutes and roster spots to fringe players, character guys, just to balance out a locker room.

Melo, STAT and Bargs are the veteran and highest paid players on the roster. They should accountable to act as leaders for this team. Their failures in leadership requires the Knicks spend a roster spot and valuable minutes on Thomas when they could be trying to develop another D League player with a higher talent ceiling who is younger and has more future upside. Thomas is the kind of guy you use when you are treadmilling, not truly developing. IMHO, he's a "tax" imposed on the Knicks for the cost of the lack of leadership at the top of the roster.

Again, as a fan of the game, I applaud Thomas and wish him the best. He's hard nosed and fights with everything he has. Hard not to root for a guy like that. But consider he wouldn't crack the 15 man roster of 2/3rds of the rest of the league.

As a fan of the Knicks though, the roster spot and minutes could be better spent elsewhere IMHO. IIRC, after Sprewell choked the living **** out of PJ Carlisimo, the Warriors drafted Todd Fuller or someone like that in the next draft. A player who clearly would not move the talent/development needle, but the team, weary of jack offs like Sprewell and Tim Hardaway, just wanted a guy who wouldn't exhaust them from being a gigantic *******. I consider Lance Thomas the fallout of Phil Jackson trying not to claw his eyes out from the raw selfishness/low BB IQ/lack of fundamental play of a Melo, STAT, Bargs, JR Smith, Shumpert, etc.

I see what you are saying and I agree with most but the why didn't OKC keep him point. OKC doesn't have a great track record. Why did they let Perkins play so much despite being one of the worst players in the league? Why did they trade for Waiters? Who knows why Okc do what they do?

yellowboy90 wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

fitzfarm wrote:Love what brooks said about Thomas
”Lance plays hard,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “He plays every possession like it’s Game 7 of a championship series. ‘That’s why he’s in the league and that’s why he’s going to play another 10 years. When you have guys like that, you win.”

Then, no offense, why didn't OKC keep him?

It's not like their bench is so brimming with talent that they could jettison a valuable reserve.

Lance Thomas is a D League talent. In baseball terms, he'd be called a "Quad A" player ( i.e. more developed than the Triple A level, the top rung of MLB's farm system, but never quite good enough to truly crack a MLB 40 man roster consistently, much less the team's actual game day roster ) He's been trying to work his way into a full NBA season for 5 years now. He was literally, like Admundson and Kirk, throw ins in a larger trade because other team's roster churn still offers better upside than much of the Knicks 15 man roster they opened the season with, sadly.

Thomas is a solid and steady type of player. He will play hard, play the game the right way, make the right pass, do everything he is supposed to do. He just doesn't have very much talent. If you give any player, even a Quad A guy, enough minutes and shot opportunities, they are going to compile some kind of numbers, even on a bad team. ( Play MarShon Brooks 40 minutes a night and give him as many shots as he wants and he will score you 25-30 a night) As a fan of the game, I like Lance Thomas, he's a solid "character guy" on a team desperately lacking it.

If a team has leadership at the top of the roster, they don't need to invest valuable minutes and roster spots to fringe players, character guys, just to balance out a locker room.

Melo, STAT and Bargs are the veteran and highest paid players on the roster. They should accountable to act as leaders for this team. Their failures in leadership requires the Knicks spend a roster spot and valuable minutes on Thomas when they could be trying to develop another D League player with a higher talent ceiling who is younger and has more future upside. Thomas is the kind of guy you use when you are treadmilling, not truly developing. IMHO, he's a "tax" imposed on the Knicks for the cost of the lack of leadership at the top of the roster.

Again, as a fan of the game, I applaud Thomas and wish him the best. He's hard nosed and fights with everything he has. Hard not to root for a guy like that. But consider he wouldn't crack the 15 man roster of 2/3rds of the rest of the league.

As a fan of the Knicks though, the roster spot and minutes could be better spent elsewhere IMHO. IIRC, after Sprewell choked the living **** out of PJ Carlisimo, the Warriors drafted Todd Fuller or someone like that in the next draft. A player who clearly would not move the talent/development needle, but the team, weary of jack offs like Sprewell and Tim Hardaway, just wanted a guy who wouldn't exhaust them from being a gigantic *******. I consider Lance Thomas the fallout of Phil Jackson trying not to claw his eyes out from the raw selfishness/low BB IQ/lack of fundamental play of a Melo, STAT, Bargs, JR Smith, Shumpert, etc.

I see what you are saying and I agree with most but the why didn't OKC keep him point. OKC doesn't have a great track record. Why did they let Perkins play so much despite being one of the worst players in the league? Why did they trade for Waiters? Who knows why Okc do what they do?

Perkins is a really good low post defender.