June 21, 2011

"Phoomph."

Ibrahima Thomas - Thomas never quite broke out. He never stopped fouling, and he never resigned himself to a life on the interior on offense. While pretty much all Senegalese big men fit the same mold - you can draw a pretty sturdy line through Mouhamed Sene, Mamadou N'Diaye, Mahktar N'Diaye, Hamady N'Diaye, Boniface N'Dong, Aziz N'Diaye, DeSagana Diop, Malick Badiane and Moussa Seck - Thomas preferred to go the Cheikh/Mamadou Samb route. Thomas likes a jumpshot or two, despite not being a good shooter, and has never bulked up. He shot 23 for 100 on three pointers for his collegiate career with both Cincinnati and Oklahoma State, fouled 3 times per game in less than 20 minutes as a senior, and was consistently inconsistent. Thomas had the frame, the wingspan and the opportunity, but for whatever reason, he always wanted to be David Andersen. He became less awkward as time went on, making fewer mistakes with the ball and making better decisions, and become a useful (and the tallest) piece of Cincinnati's impressive defense, giving forth fairly consistent good effort, finishing around the basket when he was there, rebounding well, and being a useful shotblocker when he wasn't just reaching and grabbing. It was all rather underwhelming, though, in light of what he might have been.

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