Start Isaiah Thomas At Point Guard? Not Just Yet

For unbridled profanity (see Hart, Jason).

But Lil’ Zeke doesn’t have 3 t-shirts the team is trying to sell like a certain overrated circus act.

On that injury replacement condition: if Thornton remains out, I think Thomas would be a fine replacement for Jimmer in the starting five, solely because Jimmer doesn’t look remotely comfortable.

This has been my feeling for some time now, though I think my favorite part of IT’s game is the chemistry between him and DMC — some of those dimes last night were silver dollars.

I honestly wonder if IT might be something more special than any of us can see quite yet…only time will tell. You can’t teach height, but you also can’t teach heart.

But because we don’t have a SF and Tyreke would be a considerable improvement at that position over anything else on our roster.

Jimmer has also had a couple games under Smart and has been asked to be a playmaker rather than a scorer. It is clear that he took this to mean that he should bypass his own offense and defer to everybody else on the court.

I think that this is all really just more of a speed bump, though still a problem, than anything else. I liked that Jimmer came out shooting this last game and I think that will go a long ways toward him taking on a combo guard role rather than trying to be a pure PG.

With young players we need to be patient, or so I hear, and given the need for role clarity I just don’t see that Jimmer has been able to play his best game yet. No wonder he hasn’t been comfortable.

Patience is hard, but worthwhile before consigning a top pick the end of the bench.

It’s kind of like the Asinine Trade Thread, except for people to go on and on about all the rotation changes they want to make game in and game out and we can keep all of that stuff in one place. And we can name it in memory of the coach who loved to start the hot hand and make perplexing decisions.

He put up very impressive numbers against arguably the worst defensive PG in the league in Calderon. I am as excited as the rest of you on IT’s game and PG potential, but we are days into a new system. That being said, I prefer him being partnered on the court with Evans as opposed to Thornton. as SteveG just said, Thornton/Evans backcourt does remind some of Evans/Martin. This is not necessarily bad, but not ideal. I for one would have liked to see more of the Evans/Martin backcourt, but it is pointless to talk about. Overall, I’d like Thornton to be our punch off the bench in a 6th man role, much like Bobby Jackson, Jason Terry, and Jamal Crawford.

We also need to remember that IT is a scoring first PG. In many ways he is just a shorter version of Thronton, although with better handles and speed. IT’s most precious attribute is his drive and kick ability. Interestingly enough, I see it as very similar to Evans’ ability. When Evans drives to the lane, he looks to score because he can crash with bigger bodies and therefore does not kick it out as often as some of us would like. IT does not have this ability with his size, so his passes seem all the more impressive and productive. It also helps when your teammates make their open shots. Evans would have a much better assist rate if this were the case, and we would not be having this discussion of who our starting PG should be.

Again, if you want to see how the Kings fare with a traditional point guard in place of Evans, you first need the Kings to acquire a traditional point guard.

Acquiring a traditional point guard would mean removing someone from the back-court rotation. Petrie has essentially put all of his back-court eggs into one basket. Tyreke Evans is one of the two (if not the main) building blocks to rebuilding this franchise. Marcus Thorton just signed a multiyear deal to remain in Sacramento and continues to display the scoring barrage that earned him that very contract. Jimmer is a PR dream for this small market and, despite his low performance in the early stages of this season, is still considered (and primed) to become a player in this league.

This team NEEDS a true point guard. Unfortunately the back court, by all standards, seems to be already set. Their are a handful of under-performing players currently on this team but the back-court (along with Cousins) remains practically untouchable. Trade scenarios to allow a pass first point guard would only be obtainable if one of the three key rotational back-court players were dealt. I don’t see that happening this season. Not with a new coach, a superstar in training, a leading scorer, and a Jimmer.

Isaiah Thomas has been a pleasant surprise this season. However, his value can be attributed more-so to the gaping hole of this shoot first team than his talent alone. He’s a fine player and might prove to be the best 60th pick in the draft of all time. But his success, like that of any backcourt player the Kings pick up, is predicated on the departure of either Evans, Thorton, or Jimmer. His playing time only presented itself because of a Marcus Thorton injury. Go ahead, insert the perfect point guard you’d like to see fill that hole for the Kings: Steve Nash, CP3, Deron Williams, or even Isaiah Thomas. They do not work unless you take one of the three out of the rotation. So pick your poison. Do you Petrie and continue to roll the dice on a rotation of impure guards OR do you roll the dice and trade away for the potential missing piece? The really bad news… you can’t do both.

We all know about “Isaiah the Prophet”
Last night Isaiah was “The Profit”

Tiz more important to win games then wait for some chemistry to develop that isn’t here now.

We need to roll the dice…fore we crap out.

But I also think Jimmer will put things together fairly soon.

with Thornton out.

Who starts, quite frankly, isn’t as important as who finishes.

Also, the Kings and Thomas were lucky to feast on point guards who don’t score when playing the Raptors, so there’s no real threat to defend. That’s not going to be the case in many games. The Raptor point guards are also also soft on defense.

That said, Thomas played a terrific game and I look forward to seeing him and Cousins to do a lot more pick-and-rolling. They seemed to have some great chemistry together.

should just bring Adelman back. He could do wonders with a Fredette/Evans back court and MT would be deadly off the bench.