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Devin Thomas

I don't know Wrangor. If I'm a coach on the hot seat, fans/students rushing the court gives me a little breathing room I would think.

I do think he needs to maintain the level of play we've seen in our home ACC games plus the VTech game. If we run out of gas 8 games into the ACC, he's still toast. Pencil the UNC game as the next possible big upset. I know UNC will be playing hard not to be embarrassed, but our strengths seem to play to their weaknesses.
 
PhillyDeac said:
Wouldn't it be cool if Devin squeezed out another inch or so in height? He's still only 18 right?

I did not watch the game, can anyone comment on the play of State's big men? Were they just completely outplayed by DT, were there any interesting battles...? Etc...
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As a guy that love post play, watching DT and Howell battle was a lot of fun. State's front court was hampered by fouls which IMO is a really credit to our aggressiveness around the basket and driving. Devin's footwork is so solid that he creates a lot of contact. He was really well coached early on it seems. His footwork was the first thing that jumped out on film and in the Summer League games. Concern now is teams sending him to the line.
 
PhillyDeac said:
Wouldn't it be cool if Devin squeezed out another inch or so in height? He's still only 18 right?

I did not watch the game, can anyone comment on the play of State's big men? Were they just completely outplayed by DT, were there any interesting battles...? Etc...
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Leslie v. Thomas late was king of interesting. Their offense against each other trumped the other. Leslie out quicked Thomas for buckets but then Thomas out muscled Leslie for buckets. Howell played fine. He was just out hustled for boards. He had a double double though I believe
 
PhDeac said:
So can we put a rest to that talk that We need a bigger big to play C. Thomas/Moto could be a good frontcourt going forward.
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It was one game. Devin is a capable center, but he needs another true post defender backing him up, and alongside him. Cav made some layups last night, but he still can't defend the rim. I'm happy as hell that we won, but we hacked the shit out of State's post players last night and were lucky to get away with it.
 
jaybone said:
Leslie v. Thomas late was king of interesting. Their offense against each other trumped the other. Leslie out quicked Thomas for buckets but then Thomas out muscled Leslie for buckets. Howell played fine. He was just out hustled for boards. He had a double double though I believe
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i think howell had 16 boards. leslie acts like a petulant child. really bullshit that he didn't get t'd up at the end. would have made for a much easier ending.

our bigs need to learn to slow the ball down when the other team is in transition. they offered no resistance after our guards would finish a play at the rim and state's guards would run out. gotta have court balance and the ability to stop the ball.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
It was one game. Devin is a capable center, but he needs another true post defender backing him up, and alongside him. Cav made some layups last night, but he still can't defend the rim. I'm happy as hell that we won, but we hacked the shit out of State's post players last night and were lucky to get away with it.
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yes, we need frontcourt depth. but that doesn't have to be in the form of a 6'10 center. we really just need some girth at the 4 position. devin is a fine size for a college center. that's all ph was saying, i believe.
 
We've always been a team that draws a lot of fouls. Cj in particular, also Travis. But now it seems like CMM, Moto, and Thomas are getting more aggressive and confident taking it to the hole. And even if they dont convert at an adequate clip yet, they draw the foul.

BTW, anyone see that reverse angle on the Moto's baseline drive and attempted dunk? Oh man, that would have brought the house down. I see him coverting that in the near future and REALLY sparking the team.
 
bmoneydeac said:
yes, we need frontcourt depth. but that doesn't have to be in the form of a 6'10 center. we really just need some girth at the 4 position. devin is a fine size for a college center. that's all ph was saying, i believe.
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Yep. Thanks. We'd be fine pairing Thomas with a PF going forward. Size isn't an issue on this team.
 
We don't have any frontline depth. We could also prosper moving Moto to 3 his junior year for an uber-big lineup. C or PF it doesn't matter. Distinction is moot.
 
Thomas is averaging 11.2/9.5 over his last 5 games; 8.6/9 over his last 10. That includes a game he scored exactly 0 points
 
Fuck Your Couch said:
We don't have any frontline depth. We could also prosper moving Moto to 3 his junior year for an uber-big lineup. C or PF it doesn't matter. Distinction is moot.
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We don't have any frontline depth if you're only into players 6-8 and above. When you consider Moto and Travis at PF, depth isn't as much of an issue. I'm not saying we shouldn't recruit a big. I'm just saying we're fine with a guy of Devin's size at C. We don't NEED a 6-11/7-0 guy with Devin. In fact, it may generate a Big E/Viss situation when you have two bigs who don't complement each other.
 
But Devin was devastating last night out of the high post... so he could operate there. He is also great on the block so he can operate there. We can get a true C type as long as he isn't the dreaded project and he doesn't even have to start. This year alone three big white stiffs that hardly ever play got career highs against us just because of their sheer size. Only guy we can throw at guys like that are Dev and even he can barely guard them. Cav/Moto/Travis all get shredded by those types. Getting Daniel Green back should help, but who knows what to expect out of him?
 
I was stunned when I read today that both Warren and Purvis stated for the record that they had never even heard of Devin before yesterday. For a college player, that is quite a revelation. Either they didnt bother studying the scouting report, and/or Bobby Lutz did a poor job of communicating it. Probably a bit of both given the short prep time from Sunday to Tuesday and the fact they were overlooking us in anticipation of hosting the Heels Saturday night.

Devin had a monster game. But he needs to develop his right hand to be able to continue to progress. As he gets more attention, it will become more obvious to folks that while he has many moves to get there, he almost always goes left. He wont be able to do it during the season, but he knows he has got to get a right hand before next year. It is even more important that his foul shooting. The good news is that he has the work ethic and drive to make it happen.
 
Fuck Your Couch said:
But Devin was devastating last night out of the high post... so he could operate there. He is also great on the block so he can operate there. We can get a true C type as long as he isn't the dreaded project and he doesn't even have to start. This year alone three big white stiffs that hardly ever play got career highs against us just because of their sheer size. Only guy we can throw at guys like that are Dev and even he can barely guard them. Cav/Moto/Travis all get shredded by those types. Getting Daniel Green back should help, but who knows what to expect out of him?
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Agreed that we must get a true 5. We will not be consistently good again until we do.
 
They probably meant that they never heard of him before they began prepping for this game. No doubt the short turnaround and UNC game on Saturday worked in our favor, especially since they took a big lead into the 2nd half.

FYC, Devin has improved since those games. You can't assume those stiffs would do the same damage now. Not to mention he could do more damage to them.
 
To clarify, they said they had never heard of him by name. On the scouting report they just identify by #. So they knew #2 was the rebounder and probably nothing beyond that.
 
BabyDeac75 said:
Agreed that we must get a true 5. We will not be consistently good again until we do.
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This is the truth. Devin is a beast at the 5 because we need to him to be. As FYC and others have noted, his ability to operate out of the high post (and potential to develop further in this area) make him an optimal fit at the PF position. We have 6'10 Green coming back next year and 7'1 Andre should provide some C depth, but getting a legitimate center is optimal. I don't care if he is 6'7 with a 7'7 wingspan: we need a center if we want to optimize our frontcourt rotation.
 
PhDeac said:
In fact, it may generate a Big E/Viss situation when you have two bigs who don't complement each other.
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We haven't had a big man with Devin's versatility in quite some time. Viss and E weren't half as skilled as seniors as Devin is now.

Should he continue to develop, he could be a special player. Even if he doesn't, then he'll be a serviceable option at PF throughout his time here.
 
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