It’s alarming to see Klay Thompson being canceled so many times this season.
In a way, you can’t blame people for expressing even the slightest bit of suspicion. Thompson clearly wasn’t as solid a two-way stand as he was before a debilitating lower leg injury kept him out for two years. The combination of bad luck and aging into his 30s isn’t exactly a bullish indicator that he’s back to where he was before his injury.
But seeing people expressing blatant vitriol, such as wanting to trade Thompson or wanting him out of “their” team, is something everyone wants to read or hear. Not a thing. Fandom can be just the “hot of the moment” type of experience, but I thought Thompson had amassed enough stake and clout to at least get the benefit of the doubt.
Stephen Curry is perhaps the only Warriors legend to escape such talk. But Thompson’s season efficiency may not be the best — he’s shooting 20.3 points per game with a 45/39/89 shooting split (2P/3P/FT) and 53.5 TS% (about 4% below the league average). ) — he’s been on the upswing lately in his five-game homestand, playing in four of them.
Over his last four games, Thompson has scored 34.5 points per game on 52/42/93 shooting splits (2P/3P/FT) and has a 60.4 TS%.
Thompson’s game is not based on athleticism or jumping ability. His ability to be agile and agile with regards to lateral movement has taken a hit due to injury and age, but he is still passable to at least reproduce the off-ball movements that burned defenses between games. is the level of foundation of the heyday.
Thompson needs plenty of attention from the defense. Top Rock (stops using off-ball screens), Lock and Trail (sticks to him around screens), and Fighting over Ball Screens are still the recommended coverage.
of Atlanta Hawks Not a terrible defensive team by any means, but neither are they elite: 112.9 points per 100 possessions allowed, 15th in the league. They at least have enough boundary stoppers to make life difficult for shooters and ballhandlers, with the one notable exception being Trae Young.
But even the most capable perimeter defenders struggle to track down someone off the ball who keeps punching holes in the defense until the gap is big enough to be attacked.
Draymond Green asks for “Away” (hint: he has two fingers pointing to the weak corner). This is a common NBA set for lethal move shooters like Thompson that the Warriors have run during Steve Kerr’s tenure as coach.
With Dejounte Murray defending Thompson first, he passed Thompson to De’Andre Hunter. This should be the correct way to defend this off-ball action. But this is where screening ingenuity is needed, in the form of Kevon Looney rescreening in the opposite direction to free Thompson for the shot.
The Warriors then run “Away” for Thompson again, but with a twist.
Thompson — with Murray still guarding him — curls around the first downscreen and cuts inside. This is often referred to as the “away” “rotation” option. Off-ball he’s rock-and-trail coverage of the Hawks on screen, but Murray falls behind and gets caught on screen. Young isn’t thinking of “switching” and worries about him. With no Roman help from the weaker side, Thompson receives the pass and walks towards an easy bucket.
Just as the Warriors attacked Damien Lillard with a guard and guard “ghost” screen, portland trailblazers, the Warriors also targeted Young using the same guard-guard action. Thompson took advantage of this by getting into his paint, drawing help, and doing simple readings.
Notice how the advantage was created. The Hawks don’t want Young replaced, so they’re hedging him on-screen to let him recover. But the hedge effectively acts as a screen for his own teammates, allowing Thompson to turn corners for paint touches and assists.
A notable feature of Thompson’s ascending trajectory in this stretch is his willingness to make accurate passing leads, primarily from an advantage generated from his paint touches. While his numbers aren’t particularly outstanding (over the last four games he’s had 3.3 assists), he’s been a featured threat on his set at half-court, giving his teammates the advantage he’s created. I have enough awareness to finish.
Continuing the theme of attacking Young, the Hawks hesitated to switch and defend in space while the possession was isolated. rice field:
Anything the Hawks blundered with on-screen coverage—either under, over, or switch—allowed Thompson to hit some shots with the clutch. On the Warriors’ set, they want to run for Thompson — they call it ’51’ — Thompson sets up the screen with a double-drag/double-ball screen alignment:
The Hawks’ coverage of this is to switch everything. Thompson got a new defender (Onye Kao Kong Wu) and Green came in and set Thompson’s pinyin his screen.
Okongwu pointed at Murray, telling him to switch to Thompson, but Murray didn’t understand the message and was instead stuck in pinyin on the green, with no one to close towards Thompson.
Arguably, nothing beats the sight of seeing a Klay Thompson heater. When his hands are hot like lava from a freshly erupted volcano, the best thing to do is feed the hot hands.
The Warriors fed him at key moments.Thompson has delivered of The Warriors needed him.
The Warriors needed all of Thompson’s 54 points and 67.7 TS% on 39 shots (10 of 21 on 3 shots) to win five straight. They are undefeated in this current homestand without the services of the franchise’s superstars and best wing defenders. I was.
They are between the ages of 20-18 and Phoenix Suns And just 0.5 games behind the 6th seed los angeles clippersThe team is hanging by a thread and finding a way to survive. Thompson tends to be reasonable, but he will need to shed that label and maintain this positive trajectory if they are to continue to survive.
Considering what Thompson has already accomplished throughout his career, he should have plenty of credit. he would do something like that.
