• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

F DeShaun "The Diesel" Thomas (Panathinaikos - Greece)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Deshaun Thomas: "One of the biggest things is trying to get his body in the best shape he can possibly be in. His big thing is learning to push through when he gets tired.
"Ballhandling is key for him, being able to put it on the floor.

"Deshaun is a huge key for next year. We know he can put the ball in the basket. The thing we?ve talked to him about is, you?re losing a guy like David Lighty, who I would never ask him to be, but defensively, what David was capable of doing at any point of a game was tremendous."
Click to expand...

http://blog.dispatch.com/hoopsscoops/2011/06/highlights_from_mattapaulus_1.shtml
 
Upvote 0
MaxBuck;1961983; said:
Love for DeShaun from Basketball Prospectus - they rate him the 24th-best player in the nation.

D-I's Top 100 Players - 21 to 35
Click to expand...

I can't believe they have him rated ahead of Buford (who I think should've been 15-20 spots higher in these rankings) ... and they also have Deshaun on All-Big Ten 1st team over WB. Obviously, the rankings were heavily influenced by offensive rating and defense didn't matter a whole lot. Will Deshaun have a break out season? I hope so, but I'm not as sure it will happen as these folks seem to be.
 
Upvote 0
DZ83CK;1962140; said:
I can't believe they have him rated ahead of Buford (who I think should've been 15-20 spots higher in these rankings) ... and they also have Deshaun on All-Big Ten 1st team over WB. Obviously, the rankings were heavily influenced by offensive rating and defense didn't matter a whole lot. Will Deshaun have a break out season? I hope so, but I'm not as sure it will happen as these folks seem to be.
Click to expand...

I saw glimpses of what Deshaun could do last season. Buford struggled early with D as well. Under Matta that will come. It may not be there early but by the end of the season I think Thomas will be all that and a bag of chips.
 
Upvote 0
Oh8ch;1962161; said:
I saw glimpses of what Deshaun could do last season. Buford struggled early with D as well. Under Matta that will come. It may not be there early but by the end of the season I think Thomas will be all that and a bag of chips.
Click to expand...
I will agree with my buddy DZ when it comes to comparing Buford and Thomas. While I will agree that both of them have a lot to learn on defense, I will take Buford on the offense any time of the week. While they both struggle at times on offense, Buford is a better ballhandler and is more willing to take it half way to the hole than Thomas. Thomas just seems to settle for the shot where he catches the ball.

On another note, these entire rankings are just stupid right now.
 
Upvote 0
I like Thomas' all around aggressive attitude. He obviously is not the passive type. Once he clean it up a bit (better shot selection, improve his positioning, etc), he's going to be a huge asset to the team. With his confidence it seems like he plays bigger than he really is.
 
Upvote 0
OhioState001;1962184; said:
I can see DeShaun averaging something like 18pts 7rebs this year as long as he stays in rhythm and doesnt throw up shots everytime down the floor, he is a beast on the offensive glass
Click to expand...

Diesel and Sully crashing the offensive boards is going to be awesome to watch this year. Might ease the pain of not seeing Lighty and Diebler out there.
 
Upvote 0
OhioState001;1962184; said:
I can see DeShaun averaging something like 18pts 7rebs this year as long as he stays in rhythm and doesnt throw up shots everytime down the floor, he is a beast on the offensive glass
Click to expand...

I see Deisel averaging closer to 14ppg & 8rebs this season but he will have a number of 20/10 games and maybe even a 30 point game or 2. We will just have too many other options on our team for Thomas to average 18. Sully and Buford will be good for atleast 15ppg each, 10ppg for Craft and probably 3, maybe 4 other players that will average 6ppg or more. Deep team this year.

I was also very surprised to see Thomas ranked higher than Buford. I like Deshaun alot, but Buford is so under-rated. He's one of Matta's better players in his tenure but is kind of a forgotten player due to being overshadowed by Turner his first two seasons, and Sully his last two seasons.

I think in Deshaun's Jr season he will explode to more of a 18ppg, 10rebs per game average.
 
Upvote 0
Oh8ch;1962284; said:
I think Thomas is getting a bit of a bad rap for doing something that Freshman don't commonly do under Matta.

He played like a Freshman.
Click to expand...

I wasn't trying to give Deisel a bad rap.......I think 14/8 would be a helluva good sophomore season. Add in his 240lb body to bang around down low and he's also a 3 point threat. He's solid.
 
Upvote 0
WyoBuckeye;1962191; said:
I like Thomas' all around aggressive attitude. He obviously is not the passive type. Once he clean it up a bit (better shot selection, improve his positioning, etc), he's going to be a huge asset to the team. With his confidence it seems like he plays bigger than he really is.
Click to expand...

Deshaun does play bigger than he is, he actually out-rebounded Lauderdale last season in fewer minutes. I think Deisel can grab 8rpg this season with a couple 12, 13 rebound games.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top