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00:00 All right, so I don't want to take up too long here because I think of all the players on the list
00:05 that we're talking about here, all nine of these guys, I think JT Thor is the one that I've
00:10 have the least amount of positive things to say about through this season so far.
00:13 And say the negative things. Give us the negative things.
00:16 I know, I know. I've never been somebody that was super high on JT anyway,
00:20 like coming out of the draft. I think he was a mid-30s prospect for me.
00:26 Was never somebody that really impressed me all that much in summer league or as a rookie or
00:30 sophomore. And now, like, he obviously is far and away the best player from that 2021 draft class,
00:36 don't get me wrong. But I still just don't think he's really anything close to the offensive threat
00:41 that the Hornets really, like, not necessarily need him to be because they're still a decent
00:46 team with how he plays now. But if he was just a better shooter or had any of that off the dribble
00:52 creation that he showed when he was at Auburn, like, that would just help the second unit offense
00:57 so much. Like, I feel like we're watching these games so often and the second unit, either scoring,
01:02 playmaking, or shooting is just not there. And when Lamello, Terry, Hayward, or some combination
01:07 of those guys are all sitting, it's just such a clunkier basketball game. Like, you can see that
01:14 these players don't necessarily fit together as well. And if you just had like a spacing,
01:18 like, spot up four that could really stretch out the defense and attack a closeout and finish,
01:24 like, athletically at the rim, drive a little bit, he doesn't even have to be, like, a playmaker or
01:28 anything like that. Like, it would just be such a big boost to the second unit offense. And JT is
01:34 now in his third year and hasn't been that really at all, like, at any point in his career. He's
01:39 a really good defender for his position, like, no doubt about it, like, 6'9", 3'4", like,
01:45 versatile, maybe a little bit of small ball five in a different system, but just not a whole lot
01:50 there for me. And, like, this year has been pretty much the same deal, like, low 30s percent from
01:55 three, reasonably efficient from the field, but doesn't create enough to make it worth it, doesn't
02:01 pass, not a rim protector, solid positional defender, but the role for that in the NBA is
02:07 just ever shrinking, I feel like. So, but James, give us some JT Thor positiveness right now,
02:13 please, unless you don't have any, and in which case we're in trouble.
02:17 Well, if we're talking about this year, I don't have a great deal, right? He's not had the,
02:21 he's not carried on what, how he played at the end of last season, where in the last 15 games,
02:26 JT Thor made major strides. And he's not, you know,
02:30 He only made three in, I think, 15 games to end the season or something like that?
02:34 And just around that, his general play, like, everything looked like it slowed down for him.
02:39 The buzz out of training camp was pretty good around JT, but I agree, coming in, he just looks
02:44 kind of like first half of the year JT from last year. And I still have some faith that it's gonna,
02:49 it's gonna look better here. I think the, like you say, the lack of creation scoring in that
02:55 second unit is hurt, hurt him a little bit. Like, when he plays with Nick Richards,
03:01 that is just two very low, like, offensive skill guys on your front court. And you put such a load
03:08 in your other three players, but I actually looked it up. JT Thor, when he plays with
03:13 Mark Williams, and who is like a better, much better offensive center than Nick Richards,
03:18 just ability to like, probably finish around the rim. Like Nick is just a
03:22 get jump on. Yeah. Mark has more craft. I think the defense pays more attention to Mark when he
03:30 has the ball. When he's sharing the court with Mark or PJ and not Nick Richards, he's not like
03:36 a plus 8.5 differential. So I think he needs to be the worst offensive player on the floor.
03:42 And then like, he's okay because of his defense. But yeah, just puts a big load when he's playing
03:49 right next to Nick. He still can't put the ball on the floor and do anything off the dribble
03:55 because he's just dribble is too loose. I still feel he struggles to process the games quickly.
04:01 That's something that really improved last year, but it hasn't carried over yet. His usage rate is
04:06 9%. I mean, that is very, very low. The shot still looks smooth and he shoots it with more
04:12 confidence now, but doesn't quite go in as much as you hope it would. 33%, 33%. Is that right?
04:22 I've got this down. 33% at the rim. Is that right? That's maybe that's the type of...
04:25 33% from three, I think is the, must be what you mistook. He's shooting 33% exactly from three
04:33 right now. I think he's 40 something percent from the field right now, 46 or so. So he must be a
04:40 little bit higher at the rim, but still. He's 50% at the rim. Yeah, that's still not great.
04:44 Yeah. I mean, that's only six shots, but the fact that he's only taken
04:47 six shots at the rim for like a 6'10" big is not great. And he didn't score out the rim last year.
04:57 He was 50% as well, which isn't a fifth percentile for all forwards, which is very, very low. So
05:04 like he's not a great shooter on the outside. He struggles to finish on the interior. He's like
05:09 actually a pretty good mid-range shooter, but that's just a pretty narrow lane that he's trying
05:14 to drive here. And the big thing for me is just the defense. It has not been the same level this
05:18 year. This has been the big worrying thing for me. He's made some really bad coverage mistakes.
05:24 That's what's supposed to be his strength. But absolutely, he's picked up bad fouls.
05:30 He's sometimes lost plays. He's not been able to close out well. And those have been some of the
05:34 concerns for me. So look, it's been not a lot of great things to say about JT yet, other than
05:39 I refuse to see that he's gone backwards from those last 15, 20 games last year. Maybe not
05:46 refuse. I'm reluctant to see. I'm hopeful he's going to find that kind of form again,
05:51 because he did show it and the buzz was good. I hope so too. I mean, the jumper has always
05:57 looked smooth. So there's always a part of me that thinks that one of these days,
06:01 he's just going to catch fire and be a 40% shooter. Hopefully it's soon.