According to our friend Jon Santiago of Cowbell Kingdom, Marcus Thornton was on the practice court for the Kings today after being cleared for full contact. Thornton's been out with a quad contusion that turned into a hematoma. He's missed seven full games, and left the last game he played early. You can blame Dwight Howard for the damage.
When Thornton returns, possibly Thursday in Sacramento against the Blazers, the Kings will have a fully available for just the second game of Keith Smart's tenure. Chuck Hayes was injured in Smart's first game at the helm, and returned this past weekend against the Jazz.
The Kings offense hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire since Thornton's absence, and Smart largely stayed away from Jimmer Fredette in the fourth quarter against the Warriors, so it would seem likely that Thornton will land back in the starting five between Tyreke Evans and John Salmons.
0 recs | 32 comments
Slap hands!!!
Dub_TC - February 1, 2012
hopefully they keep him on the bench
So when He comes into the game he becomes the main scorer. He would be so much better in that situation, once he gets hot the ball looks like its on fire when it leaves his hands.
Chent - February 1, 2012 via mobile
I like MT as a 6th man
But if he must start I just wish he wouldn’t bring the ball up so much. He is not a facilitator at all.
Allbenji - February 1, 2012 via mobile
It will be interesting to see how Evans and Thornton look together
now that Evans has been looking to facilitate a little more. I agree with those that believe that Thornton is ultimately best suited to be a 6th man, but he and Evans are still going to have to spend a lot of time on the court together.
section214 - February 1, 2012
Are you thinking quagmire or more assists for Evans ?
Just not sure what to expect myself.
9K1NGS6 - February 1, 2012
I'm thinking (more or less)
that Evans will find Thornton a little more often, but I don’t if anything different will happen once the ball gets into Thornton’s hands. Maybe if MT gets a few more touches he won’t be so hellbent on trying to jack it up every time he gets it.
section214 - February 1, 2012
What do you think about starting IT ,
and move MT to sixth man ? To small to start in nba ?
9K1NGS6 - February 1, 2012
It would be interesting to see how Thomas would fare against other starting units
I mean, it’s not like he has not had some minutes against the opponent’s best, but starting is a slightly different animal. I like his skill set as a match with Tyreke, though – a guy that can both handle and play off the ball. I still think that there is hope that Fredette can become that type of player as well.
section214 - February 1, 2012
Yeah , im not counting Fredette out either.
He just needs more time.
9K1NGS6 - February 1, 2012
Actually, I like IT in the backcourt with MT
Tyreke needs Jimmer’s shooting more than IT’s ball handling, and Marcus & Thomas can both shoot the deep ball, but MT isn’t the ball handler that IT is. And, in spite of Thomas’ ability to play bigger than his stature, I would consider Jimmer and Thomas too small of a back-court, especially on switches which Utah did and ended up with Hayward posting up Jimmer.
It’s all about complementing each other. Tyreke & Marcus compete for the ball, while Jimmer and Thomas move the ball and can hit the outside shot when they need to.
Thomas is the best ball mover who looks to get shots for others. Tyreke & Jimmer do it to a certain extent but not as well as Thomas. Marcus is the worse of the 4 at doing that and is even more ball dominant than Tyreke. And, both Thomas and Marcus would improve the bench scoring
HighTops - February 1, 2012
I think that's a great point.
Crocoduck - February 1, 2012
Have to agree.
CowbellKings - February 1, 2012
Agree with you there
Perfect assesment. I like Isaiah off the bench because of the energy, speed, passing he brings to the 2nd unit. IT and MT23 off the bench are an explosive duo. If only we had a better sf as a starter….
Chent - February 1, 2012 via mobile
Yep! IT definitely solidifies
the 2nd unit.
sf drift king - February 2, 2012
Good news, the Kings need his scoring.
DiegoKing - February 1, 2012
finally.
not just offensively but defensively. Every time i watch him play D i notice the amount of effort he puts out on going for steals and guarding players. I think we should make him 6th man though. lets see what Smart does
yaboyrafa - February 1, 2012
IMO, Thornton should be coming off the bench.
Our bench has been a detriment. MT23 would boost it. Give him the green light off the bench so he doesn’t have that thing hanging over all the current starters heads where they don’t know who should be shooting, so they pass around and get a bad shot late in the shot clock. If Marcus knows he can come right into a game and let ‘er rip, he’ll be a helluva lot more effective. Basketball is chemistry and you can’t have too much scoring in the starting 5. Thornton off the bench please!
Tom A~! - February 1, 2012
That blast of air you feel was a sigh of relief from Tyreke,
NO more 40+ minute games for at least another month.
We seem to have most of our non-scoring streaks at the beginning of the 2nd and 4th quarters. I think the 2nd quarter is when Portland jumped out to a big lead in our last game. So, I would rather see Jimmer and Tyreke start, and have Thornton come in late in the 1st so he can get warmed up and be ready to carrry the scoring load thru the beginning of the 2nd along with IT while Reke rests. Then having seen all 4 guards, play the hot hands to finish the quarter.
Then if adjustments are necessary for the 2nd half, you’ve got some extended minutes for all four to base your decision on. Thornton has missed a lot of games which isn’t going to help his shot.
HighTops - February 1, 2012
MT23's stock on this board has taken the biggest swing I've ever seen,
from late last season to early this season. The guy has had a rough shooting stretch thus far. If he were shooting like he was last year, there is no way people would be calling for him to come off the bench.
Hell, sit The Fish and let Tyreke play the 3…why would ANY of our small forwards start over Thornton right now?
RJinFairOaks - February 1, 2012
Good points
CowbellKings - February 1, 2012
I will agree with that
I mean, why in gods green earth is Salmons still starting??
sf drift king - February 2, 2012
I thought the kings looked good when they ran this the few times they did
IT
MT
Tyreke
JT
DMC
The only thing I dont like about this lineup is that I have to type out Tyreke
1damutt - February 1, 2012
Your timing is impeccable, sir :-)
RJinFairOaks - February 1, 2012
Great m,inds think alike
1damutt - February 1, 2012
Potesticles!
otis29 - February 1, 2012
If one of those potatoes were to kill a man
would both of them go to potato jail?
wallywagon11 - February 1, 2012
one of them would fry
betweentheeyes - February 1, 2012
Ok, Marcus,
DTG13 - February 1, 2012
Thornton will kill the fledgling chemistry
Sure, the Kings have stumbled along trying to build chemistry and play as a team since Smart took over, but despite the losses they have actually looked more like a group of guys that don’t want to beat each other up lately. Throw Thornton back out there as a starter and yeah, he’s going to score some points, but at the expense of the chemistry Smart is trying to develop.
dethtruk - February 2, 2012
We need more easy baskets for everyone more than we need a selfish scorer
dethtruk - February 2, 2012
How do we know this?
I mean, Smart has built this chemistry with the same group that Westphal had. Whose to say that Thornton won’t buy in like the other players have? After all, he was a pretty good all around player down the stretch of last year, so we know that he is capable. Perhaps the added ball movement of his teammates will relax him a bit and give him the confidence that he can give the ball up and actually get it back.
section214 - February 2, 2012
I'll be pleasantly surprised
if he doesn’t continue putting his head down and forcing up tough shots with that scowl on his face rather than hitting the open man. We’ll see I guess. Here’s hoping he turns it around.
dethtruk - February 2, 2012
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