E.T., Go Home!

tsaogrip drops E. Thomas, picks up D. Cook

We've discussed center and poet Etan Thomas here, and DaQueen here.

In the previous post, we thought E.T would produce between 6/6 and 9/9, and, as yet, he's not even close to the lesser of these levels. Rght now he's at 5/4, but that's including his 'impressive' 10/8 first game. Since then, he's only gotten to 6 PTS or REBs just once each. He hasn't been in foul trouble, and yet he's only averaging 15 minutes a game. Presumably he's still recovering his conditioning after missing last year, but the emergence of J. McGee (and the still ineffective presence of the Blatche-Dog) seems also to be conspiring to limit Thomas's minutes.

On the other hand, D. Cook, though not starting for MIA, has been averaging over 25 minutes, and has emerged as a serious source of 3's, hitting 3 or more in his last 4 games. With the Matrix not scoring, and rookies Chalmers and Beasley inconsistent, Cook has become one of the team's best offensive options. Hes also chipping in 4 boards or so. As we mentioned in discussing Chris Quinn, D-Wade's penetrate and dish style can be very good for the numbers of perimeter shooters (Kapono, Damon Jones). Being Wade's backup limits his minutes potential, though Dwyane is nursing a sore ankle, and may very well miss a few games (or be removed early when MIA is getting spanked).

Judgment: 3s are not an area of need for Tsaogrip, while BLK and REBs probably are, but Etan is certainly not getting it done (indeed, DQ is outrebounding him of late!). Thus, we approve.

Tsaogrip gets in the act

Tsaogrip 0002 drops Jerry Stackhouse for Etan Thomas

Jerry Stackhouse is 34 and in serious decline. It's hard to imagine that he averaged 29.8 PPG in 2000-1. He was down to 10.7 points last year, and seems to have lost the SG job in Dallas to an unholy combination of Brandon Bass and Jason Terry. He seems likely to average 10/2/2 and provide little else (maybe a 3PG).

Etan Thomas is big, has a heart problem, and, with Brendan Haywood out, appears to have the starting C job in Washington, at least until Blatche improves. He's a lock for 6 and 6, and might get that up to 9 and 9, with 1.5 BLK. Moreover, he's written a book of poetry.

Judgment: The increase in rebounds, blocks and FG% is just what the Doctor ordered for Tsaogrip. The loss of Stackhouse will not be felt. As always, though, with any not very good C, FT% will suffer and there's a lot of PF/TECH/DISQ risk.