DIVISION V-AA : Thomas Calling His Shots

It took two years, but Brethren Christian forward Scott Thomas finally realized that his dad was right all along.

He really can shoot. He simply has to be willing to take the shot.

Thomas took the decisive shots against Brentwood Tuesday in the Division V-AA semifinals and made them all. Thomas’ last shot, a three-pointer, gave the Warriors and his father and coach, Richard, a chance to win their first Southern Section title tonight against Palos Verdes Chadwick.

Last year and probably even a month ago, Thomas acknowledged he would have been too self-conscious to take the big shot. Too afraid that if he missed, his teammates would resent him because he is the coach’s son.

“My dad would always get mad at me and say, “Shoot the ball, shoot the ball,’ ” Thomas said. “I would get frustrated and say, ‘Why do you pick me to be the go-to guy?’ ”

Why?

Because his dad has always thought Scott had the potential to be more of a scorer.

“I’ve expected a little bit more out of him,” Richard Thomas said. “I think he’s got potential to play college ball. Because of his unselfishness, I think he’s got a good chance to play because he can score (but) he doesn’t need to score to feel successful and feel like he’s contributing.

“With failure comes success. Nobody has succeeded that hasn’t first failed. He’s understanding that and he’s playing with more confidence.”

But Scott’s confidence has been built very slowly.

“I have never been one to be a shooter,” he said. “I’m more of a team player. I just make things happen and don’t take as many shots. But this year I knew I needed to be more of the go-to guy. When I get the ball, he expects me to take the shot. Last year, he wanted me to pass it.”

As a sophomore, Scott’s first year on the varsity, he was hesitant to even touch the ball.

“The kids said, ‘You’re only on varsity because your dad’s the coach.’ That kind of upset me. I thought that maybe I’m not that good. That’s when I lost my confidence. I thought if I started shooting more, they would say that you’re a ball hog because you’re the coach’s son. I didn’t want to get that label on me.”

Thomas began to contribute more offensively last year, but he still wasn’t the first option. So this year, when Brethren Christian’s leading scorer graduated and Scott became the go-to guy, conflicts began to arise.

“We’ve had a couple of tense moments, but we have a wife and a mother who keeps open the lines of communication,” Richard Thomas said. “She’s like a little referee at times.”

But it wasn’t until Thomas and his father had a midseason talk that the player and the coach came to an understanding.

“I said, ‘What do you want from me?’ ” Scott Thomas said. “I said, ‘Just let me go out there and play my game and do the things that I’m capable of doing, not what you think I’m capable of doing.’ We agreed on that.”

About that time, Thomas began to get his legs back from football and the off-season work on his jump shot began to pay off. It also didn’t hurt that Thomas’ teammates began to realize he was their best offensive player.

“My team helped me a lot,” Thomas said. “On the bench, they’re always saying, ‘You can take that guy. Go to the hole.’ They got me believing in myself.”

Thomas’ scoring average has started to reflect his new-found confidence. In the playoffs, Thomas has averaged 19 points a game to improve his season average to 14.

Richard Thomas said that average could be even higher.

“If we didn’t have the supporting cast here that we have, he could average 10 more points,” Richard Thomas said. “He gets good height on his pull-up jump shot. He’s quick enough and he handles the ball well enough, I don’t think there’s too many people in our division over a length of a game that can stay with him. He’s proven a lot of things to himself.”

But there was evidence Tuesday night that Thomas is not totally comfortable with all the responsibility. With Brethren trailing by four late in the fourth quarter and the right side of the court cleared out for Scott, Richard Thomas screamed at his son to drive.

Instead Scott passed.

“Sometimes I feel I can do it,” Scott said “And sometimes, I feel if I do it. I’ll mess up. I felt if I’d have gone to the hole, I’d have rushed it and missed it.”

But during the timeout Thomas emphasized to his son that it was time for him to take over. Scott got the message and shot the next two times he touched the ball.

Even tonight, there may be more screaming from the father. But if so, the son said he will at least be able to appreciate what all the screaming is about.

“It’s been quite a learning experience,” said Scott, who was named Olympic League player of the year. “I think this year we have gotten along the best we have in our whole lives. I always thought that in other years, he wasn’t being a coach to me, but a father. But now I realize, he doesn’t mean for it to be that way. He just wants me to do really great things and excel in basketball.”