Concern about J. Thomas
Sophomore forward Joston Thomas wasn’t at Hawaii basketball practice again this morning, the last full team session before the Rainbow Warriors take to the road to play at UC Davis on Saturday.
It marked the second straight day the 6-7, 235-pound Thomas, one of three Rainbow Warriors averaging double-figure points (10.4 ppg) was not present with the team.
In UH’s 69-67 overtime win against Nevada on Monday, Thomas started but played only 9 minutes as UH coach Gib Arnold went with freshman Trevor Wiseman at small forward for 28 minutes off the bench.
“He was excused from these two practices for some personal reasons,” Arnold said. “He’s got some things he’s gotta deal with. We’ll deal with it as things evolve.”
Arnold wouldn’t comment further. The team leaves this afternoon for San Francisco en route to Davis, Calif. It’s safe to say Thomas’s status at UC Davis in the ESPNU BracketBusters game is questionable at this point.
This is obviously a point of concern as the team hits the stretch drive of the season, with only four WAC regular-season games remaining. If you’re a UH fan, you’d hope Thomas is back of the swing of things by the time the team prepares for its next home game against Louisiana Tech on Feb. 24.
Thomas is turnover prone (he leads the team with 76, or 3.2 per game) and hasn’t scored as well of late, but is still an important part of the team, especially if UH is to maintain a rebounding edge on opponents. At 5.8 boards per game, the Washington, D.C., native cleans the glass exceptionally well at the small forward position. It was only five games ago that Thomas went for 14 points and 14 boards against San Jose State, his best all-around game of the season.
He is one of just three Rainbows to play in every game so far this season, starting 21 of those 24 contests.
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Nothing new to report on senior point guard Hiram Thompson, who more than likely will not play in the Davis game. He will make the trip however, good news for the tri-captain, whose family lives just minutes away from the Davis campus.
Arnold said he had yet to hear from doctors on the severity of Thompson’s ligament damage in his left arm. Thompson suffered a hyperextended elbow in a fall against Nevada.
Thomas looked entirely disconnected form the team on Monday night. While the team huddled around their coaches, Thomas was standing in the back, apparently not listening, and gazing into the stands. That probably indicates his state of mind. His absence is not a surprise. Thomas is a very transparent guy, his body language on the court says a lot.
This seems like another player upset about playing time. It would be sad to lose JT too, but everybody cannot play all the time. I hope he sucks it up and just do what the coaches want and try harder.
How did Joston get from 14/14 double double, to where he is now, a question mark , will he be part of the travel squad ,will he be a part of this team , selfish and immature are two words I can use to describe his actions.
Not good. We need Joston. Hope he figures things out and makes the trip to UC Davis
Players at the D-1 level are bigger, stronger, faster, and JT is just struggling with this, he is a talent, once he figures out how to play within himself he will be as effective as Bill Amis. Remember when Amis was first here he also struggled, but now look at him.
Also, I’m no coach, but I’ve noticed that Coach Arnold is really quick on the trigger to replace a player when they make a mistake on the court, I realize that wins are important, and in todays game, I guess there is little margins for error, unlike wahine volleyball, when someone make an error they immediately go back to that person, to instill that they have confidence, in that person, and not let them play scared, that if you make a mistake you will be yanked. Just a laymans observation.
JOSTON (JAY, as he likes to be called) THOMAS in my observation was taken out in the first half after turning over the ball. When he returned at half time he sat on the bench and didn’t warm up until Coach Taylor told him to go warm up. His body language said it all, unfortunately his attitude was bad and not a real team player. If you watched him for the 2 or so minutes he was in, he hardly moved around with no hustle at all. He needs to grow up as he has the potential to be a very good player for UH. Hopefully for the team and himself he gets his act together and very soon as we need him.
Brian, did Mr Thomas make the plane ride to Cali??
I’m with others who hopes this can be resolved. Though he’s talented, the last thing we need is another flake to affect the cohesion of this team. I hope he gets it together & realizes that he has the opportunity to be an integral and significant contributor on a team that will continue to improve over the next several years.
Josten. What are you doing? Look at your former room mate. Those two guys left and now Bobby and Miah(a new player) are getting all the playing time. You’re just a sophomore. You have plenty growing to do and switching colleges is going to hurt you in the short term and the long term. You’re a fan favorite. C’mon dude. kden, brada puhi