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Tyrus Thomas

Posted by Neil Paine on December 16, 2010

Tyrus Thomas is in some pretty heady company this season:

Player Tm G GS MP USG% ORtg DRtg
Dwyane Wade MIA 26 26 927 31.3 112 99
LeBron James MIA 27 27 1000 31.8 111 99
Tyrus Thomas CHA 22 1 454 26.1 111 100

(For single seasons; played in the NBA/BAA; in the regular season; in 2010-11; requiring Offensive Rating >= 110 and Usage Pct >= 26 and Defensive Rating <= 101 and Minutes Played >= 450; sorted by descending Win Shares Per 48 Minutes.)

Now, the defensive rating might overstate Thomas' case (although the Bobcats are 4 pts/100 poss. better on D when he's in the game), but even if you remove the defensive rating requirement, he's still in a good group:

Player Tm G GS MP USG% ORtg PER TS% eFG% ORB% DRB% TRB% AST% STL% BLK% TOV% DRtg OWS DWS WS WS/48
Manu Ginobili SAS 24 24 765 26.5 120 24.3 0.630 0.557 1.9 11.4 6.7 25.3 2.9 0.7 13.9 102 2.7 1.3 3.9 0.245
Dirk Nowitzki DAL 25 25 909 28.7 118 25.1 0.640 0.589 2.6 20.8 12.3 12.6 1.1 1.9 11.1 102 2.8 1.5 4.3 0.228
Deron Williams UTA 26 26 989 27.0 120 24.9 0.604 0.530 2.1 10.3 6.3 44.8 1.9 0.4 14.7 108 3.8 0.9 4.7 0.226
Kobe Bryant LAL 26 26 859 35.6 114 26.0 0.557 0.487 3.8 13.3 8.8 26.3 2.0 0.3 10.5 106 2.9 1.0 3.9 0.217
Dwyane Wade MIA 26 26 927 31.3 112 24.5 0.581 0.524 5.7 15.1 10.6 22.8 2.1 2.0 13.9 99 2.3 1.9 4.2 0.216
LeBron James MIA 27 27 1000 31.8 111 24.3 0.565 0.496 2.2 16.5 9.8 36.2 2.0 1.1 15.0 99 2.4 1.9 4.4 0.210
Kevin Martin HOU 25 25 792 28.4 120 21.7 0.626 0.519 0.9 9.6 5.3 13.3 1.0 0.4 10.8 114 2.9 0.1 3.0 0.182
Tyrus Thomas CHA 22 1 454 26.1 111 23.1 0.596 0.522 11.8 20.8 16.4 5.6 2.2 6.3 14.5 100 0.9 0.8 1.7 0.179
Russell Westbrook OKC 26 26 953 31.3 111 25.1 0.552 0.458 5.7 10.9 8.4 44.6 2.9 0.7 16.2 107 2.5 0.9 3.4 0.172
Amare Stoudemire NYK 26 26 978 30.6 111 24.1 0.602 0.545 7.5 20.5 14.1 11.9 1.2 3.8 14.8 108 2.3 0.9 3.2 0.157
Eric Gordon LAC 24 24 905 28.9 113 20.6 0.568 0.488 3.2 7.1 5.1 23.2 1.4 1.0 12.5 113 2.3 0.3 2.6 0.135
Luis Scola HOU 25 25 828 27.0 111 20.8 0.546 0.512 7.9 22.9 15.4 11.8 1.0 1.7 8.3 109 1.6 0.7 2.3 0.132

I'll also grant that Thomas is the only non-starter in the group, meaning the lineups he's faced have not been as strong as the others on that list.

Still, that's impressive production thus far... Thomas flies under the radar because he always seems to come off the bench for mediocre teams, but he's quietly having a strong season. With BBR Blog favorite Gerald Wallace slumping and suffering an ankle injury this week, Thomas now has a chance to show everyone what he can do in expanded minutes.

8 Responses to “Tyrus Thomas”

  1. Jason J Says:

    I like TT, and I pull for Charlotte because their owner made basketball my favorite sport growing up, but I'm going to believe he's able to play elite ball when he does it consistently for a winning team.

    What do you think their best line-up is? DJ, SJax, Gerald, Ty, and Diaw? They have a center poo-poo platter.

  2. king t Says:

    This just seems like another case of Larry Brown irrationally holding back a young player. Sure he's mistake prone, but they're pretty clearly much better when he is in the game.

  3. huevonkiller Says:

    He's doing nice but, Neil you need to take into account total minutes played more often.

    It isn't just about per-minute production. That's why Win Shares is so useful (not perfect but a nice recap).

  4. JLK1 Says:

    He's always been a very high upside guy. Looking back now it's not surprising that he and Glen Davis took their LSU team to the Final Four. He's almost like a Michael Beasley, with somewhat different but still serious off the court issues, but with elite basketball potential. Both are having good years. At age 24 he may continue to improve and mature.

  5. P Middy Says:

    I'm familiar with Tyrus Thomas's work from his Chicago days. I watched him play, and he is two things: a superbly athletic and highly skilled basketball player, and also a grade-A knucklehead. I can't tell you how many times I've seen him bust out and basically win a game off the bench, and then get suspended or bench the following day for mouthing off to coach, or missing practice, or meetings, or whatever. He just has no idea about how to behave off the court.

  6. P Middy Says:

    Also, Tim Thomas is the related post. Apt to say the least.

  7. Bill Says:

    You folks in Miami ready to have Lebron James throw your championship game like he did in Cleveland? He should have been investigated for throwing 2 games.

  8. Bill Says:

    I never was a Lakers or Celtics fan but I am now.