If you have been following Cincy on The Prowl the last year and following me as a writer you know I’m a big Shaq Thomas fan. In one of my first articles on this site I stated Thomas would replace Sean Kilpatrick as the Bearcats go to guy. I’m here to say I was wrong about that prediction. Hey, it takes a real man to admit he was wrong, but it doesn’t diminish the potential that Thomas has. At times you can see why I would make such a prediction and at times you can call me silly and I’m ok with that.
In Houston, on Saturday Night the first thing I noticed was the insertion of Farad Cobb and Shaq Thomas into the starting lineup. Associate Head Coach Larry Davis had to try something to shake it up for the Bearcats who were riding a 3 game losing streak. At first the lineup change didn’t do much because the ‘Cats found themselves down 12 points, but when Octavius Ellis committed a flagrant 2 foul and got ejected UC took off. Ellis has to control his temper, but at the end of the day the Bearcats rallied around their fallen solider and the player who stood out most in the time of need was Shaq Thomas. Not to slight Gary Clark and Kevin Johnson who both played wonderfully, I was just personally happy to see Thomas be effective.
Thomas had an efficient 18 points on 5 of 8 from the field, 1 of 2 from three point land, 7 of 8 from the charity stripe, 2 assists, a block and a steal. Not a bad game at all, minus a donut in the rebound column (hey, had to point that out!), but when Shaq is playing aggressive he’s an asset to the Bearcats. This team could use the better version of Shaq during their last 4 games and beyond.
Congrats, on the career high point total Shaq, good luck for the rest of the season and it has to be good to achieve a milestone in a victory.