Tristan Thompson

[Jon]

I used to be skeptical of TT's contributions defensively being negated by what he brought, or lack thereof, on the other end. But, now that he has seemingly discovered his new self, a confident self, there's no questioning his effect on the game.

It's a lot easier to hide an offensively deficient big, especially one who stays near the hoop and gets a lot of his shots off of offensive rebounds he generates. One reason coaches love their garbage men.

Hopefully Tristan can be more than that ...

[Bob Loblaw]

Tristan's literally getting us almost a double double right now with no offensive game to speak of. If he can ever just develop a couple of consistant moves, and a jumper he could easily hit the 16+ppg plateau, but unlike other decent scoring bigs, Tristan will actually be a viable defender. I love his potential, and it's not hard to see him developing a few consistant moves.

He is showing progress in post up situations. The right handed hook seems to be his go to move. I'm not sure about the jumper, because even though he's been making them lately, his free throws are still so flat.

[Mdog1]

He is showing progress in post up situations. The right handed hook seems to be his go to move. I'm not sure about the jumper, because even though he's been making them lately, his free throws are still so flat.

Yeah he's never going to be a mid range shooter like KG, but if he can develop a respectable 18 footer like Ibaka has (out of seemingly no where) then he'll be able to score a lot of easy baskets because he is so athletic.

[Visitor]

I'm currently eating crow during this stretch for TT and I'll happily do it for the next x amount of years....

[Sawduzt]

Its weird how he can make a jump hook from 10 feet on the move but cant co-ordnitate a simple jump shot

[theSTEREO.]

Its weird how he can make a jump hook from 10 feet on the move but cant co-ordnitate a simple jump shot

But at least he can co-ordnitate a sentence.

Ba-dum-POW!

[Lottery God]

But at least he can co-ornitate a sentence.

Ba-dum-POW!

[Sawduzt]

But at least he can co-ordnitate a sentence.

Ba-dum-POW!

Hahahaha! Very good, sir. I see I will now have to be on by best behaviour, or face the grammar police.

[blue_kahuna]

da grumma polce can goh hel

- Tornicade

[D-Wreck]

Yeah he's never going to be a mid range shooter like KG, but if he can develop a respectable 18 footer like Ibaka has (out of seemingly no where) then he'll be able to score a lot of easy baskets because he is so athletic.

Ibaka didn't develop his jumper put of nowhere, he's had good mechanics on it since he entered the league. If you want to look for a guy with a respectable jumper to compare Tristan to, it's still Andy. Varejao doesn't have the prettiest jump shot and its taken him a long time to get it to where it is now.

[The Human Q-Tip]

It's a lot easier to hide an offensively deficient big, especially one who stays near the hoop and gets a lot of his shots off of offensive rebounds he generates. One reason coaches love their garbage men.

Hopefully Tristan can be more than that ...

That'd be nice, but I could live with him turning into a Horace Grant type of PF. What was a missing before was the rebounding, but TT has really stepped up his game there, and that would seem to be a reasonable floor to assume based on his recent play. If he can become more than that, fantastic.

[ArchieBunker7]

It's a lot easier to hide an offensively deficient big, especially one who stays near the hoop and gets a lot of his shots off of offensive rebounds he generates. One reason coaches love their garbage men.

Hopefully Tristan can be more than that ...

I agree. But, before, in said garbage role, he still stuck out like a sore thumb because of his inept play around the rim. He would force shots and look like hot garbage in the process. He was mostly a black hole. He's, seemingly overnight, transformed into a competent "garbage man."

Yes, I hope he can eventually grow into more than that, but for now, that is ok. Hell, as far as contractually, we may be better served if he doesn't find the rest of his game until after his next contract He could still provide us with enough to heavily contribute to winning and at the same time not weigh our salary down disproportionately.

I really see nothing wrong with him continuing spending the majority of his work on his game inside of 10 feet for a while. For as good as he's been recently, it's not like he still couldn't use a few other go to moves. Once he masters more of those, then maybe he can start working more on stretching his range.

[Jon]

Totally agree that he needs to focus on his inside game. Developing a J was never a priority for Tristan at this point in his development.

However, I don't think this has been overnight. His improvement has been gradual, just with a lot of one step forward two steps back sort of stuff that young/raw players go through.

[ArchieBunker7]

Totally agree that he needs to focus on his inside game. Developing a J was never a priority for Tristan at this point in his development.

However, I don't think this has been overnight. His improvement has been gradual, just with a lot of one step forward two steps back sort of stuff that young/raw players go through.

Yes, you are right. I use the term "overnight" loosely in making a point. His passing has been improved from day one this season. His inside moves, though, have looked much more polished in the last few weeks as his confidence has grown. His attitude has been the most noticeable, and out of nowhere, improvement, imo. This new bit of nasty he has been showing lately is surprising the hell out of me. I love it. He, and even moreso his team, need it terribly bad right now. We need him to keep this little bit of mean streak he has going lately. It's not one of those dirty mean streaks, a la Bill Laimbeer, necessarily. But, he's got a new aura of toughness about him right now.

[Douglar]

His improvement has been gradual, just with a lot of one step forward two steps back sort of stuff

Isn't "gradual" the opposite of having visible steps? Maybe you meant to say "fits and starts" instead of gradual.

And then how can someone improve when they go "One step forward, two steps back". Isn't that regression instead of improvement?

So you totally blew my brain with that sentance in a Yogi Berra sort of way. It made complete sense until I tried to read it.