Tired of losing since the All-Star Break, Warriors fans? Worried that Monta Ellis is rapidly running out of gas, and Andris Biedrins peaked at 22? Well, your troubles are now gone. Al Thornton is a Warrior.
What kind of player is Al Thornton? Well, he’s a SF, he’s a gunner, and his teams’ overall record when he plays is 76-198. So you can be sure this is the type of guy who knows how to get the job done. Defense? Look at that stance in the picture to the right — he’ll fit right in! C’mon, Thornton doesn’t have time for defense, he’s too focused on getting as many shots up as possible and grabbing a whopping 5.3 rebounds per 36 minutes. That’s only 1.3 rebounds fewer in the same amount of time as Vladimir Radmanovic, so it goes without saying he’s in great company.
Al Thornton is sure to worry about the Warriors’ team concepts because he’s a free agent after this season. So watch for him to get his teammates involved, which is pretty much a given since he averages 1.2 assists per game for his career. Like I said in the title, Thornton’s arrival is truly cause for celebration.
With Ekpe Udoh moving into the starting lineup and Biedrins moving to the bench in an apparent move to please Matt Steinmetz, the Warriors’ bench needs someone who can take the scoring load off Biedrins so the lengthy Latvian can focus on rebounding and defending the basket like a mama bear defends her cubs. We all know from watching this team that Biedrins doesn’t require any help defending post players, so Thornton won’t need to worry about that. He can spend more time on his 3-point shot. He’s a little rusty from behind the arc, making 16% on the season, but that doesn’t mean he won’t let it fly from back there once every other game or so. You know, it’s the shots you DON’T take that never go in. Thornton knows this.
Yep, the playoffs should be just around the corner following a move like this. And the best thing about Thornton isn’t that he already specializes in the skills the Warriors hold so dear (shooting, ill-advised 3-pointers, not defending or passing to teammates unless by accident), but he’s also drops some of the best Twitter knowledge, like this:
