On Tuesday John Paxson said that Tim Thomas needs to learn to play "the way our team plays". He went on to explain that meant to play all out on every play and to not relax on defense. He said that TT was important to the Bulls upcoming season because there were things that he could do at 6'10" that no one else on the team could do.

Paxson's comments implied that the other teams that Thomas has played for did not have 100% effort on every play as part of their strategy. That sounds a bit naive, in that Thomas has probably heard similar themes from every NBA staff he has ever played for. It is doubtful that all of a sudden hearing it from the Bulls coaches will turn him around.

Such comments are reminiscent of quotes from Larry Brown about Curry being ok once they get "the Chicago out of him". Brown is not the first coach to tell Curry that he needs to defend and rebound. I am sure that he heard that from Bill Cartwright and Charles Oakley to name a few.

For some reason, coaches often think that the problem is that the player has never received the proper instruction. They seem to ignore the possibility that the players have received the instruction but have been unable to implement what they have been told to do.

Maybe that's what trades are for.

Play hard on every play? That's just crazy enough to work, brilliant Paxson, just brilliant....

18,6, and 1 isn't franchise player numbers.

Sounds more like Al Harrington numbers to me...

Money spoiled Tim Thomas.

Posted by bobs3304:

18,6, and 1 isn't franchise player numbers.

Sounds more like Al Harrington numbers to me...

not franchise, but only al harrington on the lowly hawks.

18 and 6 is pretty ****ing impressive, especially from the SF position.

If TT gave us that last year, we'd be in the playoffs and would have easily won at least 42 games.
18 and 6 isn't so great from the C position but I'd take it.

[Edited by - Killa4luv on 11-04-2005 01:03 AM]

A guy like Tim you have to take a look at. Just like Crawford,the potential for greatness is there but how many chances do you give a guy? When do you look at the man and say that this is what they are. I want my kids to do great things but Tim is damn near 30. Crawford still has a window but when do you realize the kid just isn't that type of player?

Larry Hughes comes to mind but not everyone finds it in themselves to out it all together. The way craw and Tim talk you would think they were mike and scottie sometimes.