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  • #61
    LivedThroughBargnani wrote: View Post
    I'm hearing a lot of bad things about his defence though. That's my only worry with him. Great that he can shoot but if he's giving it all back on the other end it's for nothing.
    I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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    • #62
      GLF wrote: View Post

      I'm hearing a lot of bad things about his defence though. That's my only worry with him. Great that he can shoot but if he's giving it all back on the other end it's for nothing.
      I think his defence as of now is decent. From his early college days it was worse, but later up in college and in Europe he apparently improved in that area significantly. He said something on the lines of during his sophomore year it was "keeping him off the floor", so he took it upon himself to work on that end almost exclusively the following summer (specifically his lateral quickness). He goes on to say that on that summer he developed a mindset/disposition on that end, and he now enjoys that end of the floor as well.

      He's probably not gonna be an elite NBA defender, but he's got good backcourt length (6'5", same as Delon), is very quick (sees the game at a high speed), and has an instinct to not "take possessions off" on the defence. Those things alone tell me he's gonna contribute well to team/individual defence, as opposed to someone you have to hide on that end, but we shall know for sure when the season starts.

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      • #63
        inthepaint wrote: View Post

        I think his defence as of now is decent. From his early college days it was worse, but later up in college and in Europe he apparently improved in that area significantly. He said something on the lines of during his sophomore year it was "keeping him off the floor", so he took it upon himself to work on that end almost exclusively the following summer (specifically his lateral quickness). He goes on to say that on that summer he developed a mindset/disposition on that end, and he now enjoys that end of the floor as well.

        He's probably not gonna be an elite NBA defender, but he's got good backcourt length (6'5", same as Delon), is very quick (sees the game at a high speed), and has an instinct to not "take possessions off" on the defence. Those things alone tell me he's gonna contribute well to team/individual defence, as opposed to someone you have to hide on that end, but we shall know for sure when the season starts.
        Didn't know he said all that. I really like him so I hope he proves to be an average NBA level defender at least. With his elite shooting he doesn't have to be an elite defender but he can't be terrible either. That's the good thing about us having Terrence Davis, if Matt isn't working out defensively we have someone we can play defence (hopefully) but also shoot. Terrence is probably the better all around player anyway, he can do a little bit of everything. I'm excited for them both.
        I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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        • #64
          GLF wrote: View Post

          Didn't know he said all that. I really like him so I hope he proves to be an average NBA level defender at least. With his elite shooting he doesn't have to be an elite defender but he can't be terrible either. That's the good thing about us having Terrence Davis, if Matt isn't working out defensively we have someone we can play defence (hopefully) but also shoot. Terrence is probably the better all around player anyway, he can do a little bit of everything. I'm excited for them both.
          Go watch the 2nd video of Rico Heins I just posted in Offseason thread at 12:18 John Lucas iii completely undressed Matt and took him to school on the way to the basket. That was painful to watch & unacceptable lol he looked like CP3 in his prime with the way Matt was guarding him that day.
          Last edited by Hotshot; Sat Aug 17, 2019, 02:03 PM.

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          • #65
            Hotshot wrote: View Post

            Go watch the 2nd video of Rico Heins I just posted in Offseason thread at 12:18 John Lucas iii completely undressed Matt and took him to school on the way to the basket. That was painful to watch & unacceptable lol he looked like CP3 in his prime with the way Matt was guarding him that day.
            Meh. I saw the clip, no one is really playing good defence there, no one fights through screens, no fighting for rebound position, no real team-D defensive schemes, reminds of the all-star game on that end. Can't read much into these summer pick up games, guys usually play conservatively and not really physical, last thing anyone want is get hurt on these things (like Boogie), or hurt someone. I think these summer pickup leagues are useful for guys to try out new moves on the offensive end, hone shooting, keep up the conditioning etc.. but it's really removed from what an actual NBA game is like. I can't say for sure he's gonna be a good defender, but I can't say he's gonna be a bad one either until the regular season is on the way.

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            • #66
              inthepaint wrote: View Post

              Meh. I saw the clip, no one is really playing good defence there, no one fights through screens, no fighting for rebound position, no real team-D defensive schemes, reminds of the all-star game on that end. Can't read much into these summer pick up games, guys usually play conservatively and not really physical, last thing anyone want is get hurt on these things (like Boogie), or hurt someone. I think these summer pickup leagues are useful for guys to try out new moves on the offensive end, hone shooting, keep up the conditioning etc.. but it's really removed from what an actual NBA game is like. I can't say for sure he's gonna be a good defender, but I can't say he's gonna be a bad one either until the regular season is on the way.
              My feeling stands right now that Nick Stauskas is a better player than Matt Thomas and he doesn't have an NBA home.

              Really hope I'm proven wrong.

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              • #67
                Nobody could guard FVV in those clips either so I'll take Rico Hines runs with a grain of salt.
                Only one thing matters: We The Champs.

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                • #68
                  inthepaint wrote: View Post

                  Meh. I saw the clip, no one is really playing good defence there, no one fights through screens, no fighting for rebound position, no real team-D defensive schemes, reminds of the all-star game on that end. Can't read much into these summer pick up games, guys usually play conservatively and not really physical, last thing anyone want is get hurt on these things (like Boogie), or hurt someone. I think these summer pickup leagues are useful for guys to try out new moves on the offensive end, hone shooting, keep up the conditioning etc.. but it's really removed from what an actual NBA game is like. I can't say for sure he's gonna be a good defender, but I can't say he's gonna be a bad one either until the regular season is on the way.
                  Agreed but to me Matt looked to be the one guy trying on that end and he was beyond terrible. So I'm not holding out hope. If he was decently holding his own okay but man was out there making Demar look like defensive player of the year. That's bad. He was also getting torched by legit a 36 year old point guard who was never that good and is out of the league. That's sad. I usually don't read too much into things like this either but when you're this bad on defence I doubt anything is gonna change in the regular season. Look how bad defensively Demar looked in this and we all know it's no different than how he looks when he's "trying" lmao.
                  I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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                  • #69
                    MixxAOR wrote: View Post
                    Nobody could guard FVV in those clips either so I'll take Rico Hines runs with a grain of salt.
                    Don't be rude, Fred is fire lmao.
                    I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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                    • #70
                      And hey Pascal looked really good last summer in these things and look how that turned out. So you can take a bit from scrimmages for sure. Maybe he's a special case I guess.
                      I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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                      • #71
                        GLF wrote: View Post

                        Agreed but to me Matt looked to be the one guy trying on that end and he was beyond terrible. So I'm not holding out hope. If he was decently holding his own okay but man was out there making Demar look like defensive player of the year. That's bad. He was also getting torched by legit a 36 year old point guard who was never that good and is out of the league. That's sad. I usually don't read too much into things like this either but when you're this bad on defence I doubt anything is gonna change in the regular season. Look how bad defensively Demar looked in this and we all know it's no different than how he looks when he's "trying" lmao.
                        What I see on these rico runs is no one really trying on D really, it's just nothing like regular NBA games. Everyone just looks soft around screens, no help coverage anywhere, no boxing out etc.. To me Thomas looked no better or worse then anyone out there on the defensive end tbh, so it's really hard to gauge anything from these clips. Even Norm who's a pretty good perimeter defender looked soft, just literally putting his hip/shoulder away when a screen comes, multiple guys just getting blown by all the time, like, If this was a true mirror of these guys defensive abilities no one should be in the league. That said, it doesn't mean he's good either, we'll just have to wait and see. I for one try not to get too high or too low based on these summer pick up leagues.

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                        • #72
                          inthepaint wrote: View Post

                          What I see on these rico runs is no one really trying on D really, it's just nothing like regular NBA games. Everyone just looks soft around screens, no help coverage anywhere, no boxing out etc.. To me Thomas looked no better or worse then anyone out there on the defensive end tbh, so it's really hard to gauge anything from these clips. Even Norm who's a pretty good perimeter defender looked soft, just literally putting his hip/shoulder away when a screen comes, multiple guys just getting blown by all the time, like, If this was a true mirror of these guys defensive abilities no one should be in the league. That said, it doesn't mean he's good either, we'll just have to wait and see. I for one try not to get too high or too low based on these summer pick up leagues.
                          You may be right. I guess they were showing Matt so much on the defensive end I kind of singled him out more than anyone else. I let the season start before I make full judgement.
                          I relish negativity and disappointment. It is not healthy. Somebody buy me a pony.

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                          • #73
                            inthepaint wrote: View Post

                            What I see on these rico runs is no one really trying on D really, it's just nothing like regular NBA games. Everyone just looks soft around screens, no help coverage anywhere, no boxing out etc.. To me Thomas looked no better or worse then anyone out there on the defensive end tbh, so it's really hard to gauge anything from these clips. Even Norm who's a pretty good perimeter defender looked soft, just literally putting his hip/shoulder away when a screen comes, multiple guys just getting blown by all the time, like, If this was a true mirror of these guys defensive abilities no one should be in the league. That said, it doesn't mean he's good either, we'll just have to wait and see. I for one try not to get too high or too low based on these summer pick up leagues.
                            All good points that have been made earlier as well. We know that Matt was scouted before he was signed. They signed him anyway. So the coaching staff have ideas in mind as to how good he is, how he can improve and/or how he can be used. If all they do is bring him in for short clock situations and he shoots 2/4 for threes, it's a win. Raptors had a regular season points differential of 6 last year. If he can successfully be used as a specialist, that's all they need. If his personal defense can effectively be countered by who he guards and team defense, it's a win. If he can actually defend at close to average, it's a win.

                            This is one of those deals where you trust the staff. Maybe they were just taking a flier on him. The size and length of the contract, while eminently manageable, suggests they saw something.

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                            • #74
                              Nice read on the life and journey of Matt Thomas:

                              https://sports.yahoo.com/beyond-the-...145602723.html

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                              • #75
                                Scraptor wrote: View Post
                                Nice read on the life and journey of Matt Thomas:

                                https://sports.yahoo.com/beyond-the-...145602723.html
                                Cool piece. Looks like he's had similar tragedy/absence re his father that several Raptor players (past & present) share. Reading this, looks like he has the personality to be a good teammate. Hope he finds success on the team and can provide some spacing for the second unit.

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