How Lance Thomas’ grueling summer made him Knicks weaponWhile Knicks coach Derek Fisher is always finagling with his bench rotation, he doesn’t mess with Lance Thomas’ minutes.
They have remained constant. It is no surprise. Thomas has been long regarded as the coach’s favorite Knick — even if his profile with fans still is lacking.
Thomas has been their most consistent bench piece and on another roll — having scored in double-figures in five straight games, and seven of the past eight. He’s not going away. In fact, Thomas, Brooklyn-born and raised in Scotch Plains, N.J., is playing his way into a potentially handsome contract next July.
In the offseason, Thomas added range to his jump shot, becoming a legitimate 3-point threat. Training in New Orleans, Thomas said he was lofting 500-to-600 shots a day, sometimes twice that if he did a two-a-day session.
Thomas gained 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason, with a renewed dedication to weight lifting. Defense, hustle and 3-point shooting have kept him in Fisher’s penthouse and even have the coaching staff considering starting him over underachieving center Robin Lopez and moving Kristaps Porzingis to center.
Thomas is averaging 8.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and shooting 47 percent. His 3-point percentage of 41.5 is second best on the Knicks. His 52 3-point attempts is more than double the number he took in his first four seasons combined (23).
“I feel like I’m in the best shape of my career right now,’’ Thomas said, referring to his weight gain. “It’s helping me defensively. My rebounding numbers don’t show it, but I’m holding off guys, allowing guards to come in and get rebounds. I feel a lot stronger on the floor without fatigue, which is something that’s amazing. It’s hard not to play the game tired. I don’t feel tired when I’m out there. I’m giving all on defense but still have something in the tank on offense and taking advantage.’’
When the Knicks embarked on free agency in July, the scuttlebutt at Las Vegas summer league was how hard forward Thomas had been working on his shot. It wasn’t surprising the Knicks re-signed Thomas to a one-year, $1.5 million deal. But even considering Fisher’s infatuation with Thomas, few figured he’d be in the rotation.
“Coaches do appreciate guys who don’t appear to be as talented or have statistics that stand out the most, but do things coaches appreciate,’’ Fisher said. “Those are things important to me. My evaluation of performance, I’m not looking at field-goal percentage and points, but how committed are you to things that don’t stand out on the stat sheet?’’
It’s almost the one-year anniversary of Phil Jackson breaking up the 2014-15 team and obtaining Thomas as a throwaway of sorts in the Iman Shumpert/J.R. Smith three-team fire sale with Cleveland and Oklahoma City on Jan. 5. The Knicks waived Thomas’ non-guaranteed pact and signed him to a 10-day deal. Now he’s earned Carmelo Anthony’s respect as the lone Knick who can guard all five positions.
“I trust my work ethic,” said Thomas, a co-captain on Duke’s 2010 NCAA title team but who didn’t always start. “I knew after the first couple of years in the NBA what I had to work on to make an impact.”
i was not a believer. but i have lived through frederic weis, maciej lampe, gallinari's injury ridden rookie season, and of course bargs, so I think it is fair to have been a little gun-shy on that front as a knicks fan.
12/20/2015 11:13 PM LAST EDITED: 12/20/2015 11:14 PM