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

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Deshaun Thomas has the shot to make Ohio State lethal
Mike DeCourcy Sporting News

COLUMBUS?It was just another turnover in an early Ohio State basketball practice. Or was it? Sophomore forward Deshaun Thomas flashed from the baseline to the high post, caught the ball and attempted to feed it inside to star center Jared Sullinger. The ball was deflected and stolen.

A lot of coaches might see this as a teachable moment. And one of the OSU assistants immediately began to correct Thomas.

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DeShaun Thomas will look to improve on his 32.8 percent three-point shooting percentage. (AP Photo)

?I?m like, ?No-no-no!? ? Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta said. ?He passed! It?s OK! We?ll get the pass corrected.?

What do you love in life? Bruce Springsteen? Fried mozzarella? "Breaking Bad"? Whatever it is, however much you love it, Deshaun Thomas loves to shoot the basketball more.

Thomas couldn?t help but laugh when that was put to him. ?It?s close. It could be,? he said. He knows his reputation. His teammates tease him about it now and again.

Wednesday afternoon?s practice confirmed it: If there?s a chance for Thomas to shoot the ball, it?s going to happen. Thing is, he went through the entire 150 minutes without taking a bad shot, without a shot that would leave even the most severe critic wondering: Why?

?This year, it?s more of a calmed-down situation,? Thomas, a 6-7 sophomore from Fort Wayne, Ind., told Sporting News. ?I want to get good shots.?

As a freshman at the edge of Matta?s smallish rotation last season, Thomas averaged a shot every 2.36 minutes. If that doesn?t sound like a lot, perhaps some context is needed: Sullinger, OSU?s leader in scoring and rebounding, a first-team All-American, shot it once every 2.86 minutes.

This is why Thomas? importance to this season?s Buckeyes ? ranked No. 3 in preseason by Sporting News ? cannot be overstated. Sullinger and senior guard William Buford are going to be the team?s primary options and probably the top two scorers. As long as Thomas gets serious time, though, he will take a lot of shots.

cont...
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Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-ba...-shot-to-make-ohio-state-lethal#ixzz1bMso1KqD
 
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2011 Basketball Preview: Deshaun Thomas
October 24, 2011, by Eric

Thomas.jpg


Of all of the players to regularly see the court last season, Deshaun Thomas had to be the most inconsistent of them all. Clearly talented, he quickly became known as a ball-hog for his affinity to never pass the rock to his teammates once he got his hands on it. In fact, it was often joked that there was never a shot that Thomas didn?t like.

Mr. Thomas has one of the more impressive honors sheets on this entire Buckeyes team. If not for Jared Sullinger, he would have been, without question, the star of the 2010 class. With how talented he is, it should not be a surprise that his hard work in the summer has apparently paid off. It is expected that he should be ready to play a significant role on this year?s team.

Cont.....
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http://www.thebuckeyebattlecry.com/2011/10/2011-basketball-preview-deshaun-thomas/
 
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If Deshaun's passing, then he's maturing, and reward him for playing team ball. I expect many a kid had someone on the team that was a 'gunner' - which means in playground speak, he didn't touch a ball he didn't shoot.

At Whetstone HS (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), had one such kid. We'd pass it to him, and then the other four of us would trot to the other end of the court to let him play 1 on five offense......it wasn't too long before he 'got it'.....

He'll get his shots, as does Sullinger, but Sullie has a reputation for looking for the open man, so his team knows that if they break toward the basket, then they'll get the ball......and they in turn look for Sullie in close. It's called team work....our player soon found out that as good a shooter as he was, he couldn't beat five players without some of his own guys helping him.....Good for Deshaun, and good for Thad, he knows.


:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger:
 
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calibuck;2019865; said:
If Deshaun's passing, then he's maturing, and reward him for playing team ball. I expect many a kid had someone on the team that was a 'gunner' - which means in playground speak, he didn't touch a ball he didn't shoot.

At Whetstone HS (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), had one such kid. We'd pass it to him, and then the other four of us would trot to the other end of the court to let him play 1 on five offense......it wasn't too long before he 'got it'.....

He'll get his shots, as does Sullinger, but Sullie has a reputation for looking for the open man, so his team knows that if they break toward the basket, then they'll get the ball......and they in turn look for Sullie in close. It's called team work....our player soon found out that as good a shooter as he was, he couldn't beat five players without some of his own guys helping him.....Good for Deshaun, and good for Thad, he knows.


:gobucks3::gobucks4::banger:
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If you were a team player (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) you would've crashed the boards as soon as you passed the ball to him and got the put-back.

Then pull his ass aside during the timeout and let him know that there's 5 guys out there with the same jersey on.




I kid. I know what you're saying though. Good progress for Deshaun.
 
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Diesel looks like he's in great shape. He says on the above video that he's at about 215lbs now and he was about 235lbs in HS.

This changes my opine on him a bit. Last season he always looked like he was lumbering around out there like he was a Center. In the Walsh game, he looked much quicker and more athletic than last year.

I now think in certain matchups Thomas can play the SF position on both ends of the court depending on who the opponent gas in the game. We could very easily get by if needed with a bigger line-up now with.....

Craft/Scott
Buford
Thomas
Sully
Ravenel/Williams

If Williams can be a solid shot blocker with that crazy length and with Sully being a lot quicker, we could easily play Deshaun at the 3 spot at times.
 
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DZ83CK;2030968; said:
Well, the team needs SOMEONE with size out there other than Jared. Deshaun and Evan appear to be the top supplements in the frontcourt this year.
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I think LitlBuck expects to see Thomas on the court a lot. Ravenel with some minutes and the other bigs get garbage time. Of course if Ross qualifies and catches up we get another big guy and Thompson and Spoon may get decent minutes.

Still, I see 8 as a regular rotation and maybe 9. Craft, Buford, Sullinger, Thomas, Smith and Sibert are going to eat up a lot of minutes. Ravenel, Thompson, Spoon and hopefully Ross after that. Scott needs to develop a lot from what I saw last Sunday to be a fixture in the rotation. Hopefully he will get there quickly as we need another primary ballhandler if Craft needs a blow or gets in foul trouble.
 
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