Tristan Thompson

[wuck]

And I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but, coaching plays a MAJOR part in that. Trusting your coach to put you in a position to attack. Trying to counter what your coach is doing that you know doesnt work. Playing in a system that puts you in positions not conducive to you playing without having to think too much. This truly is amazing to see and hear people totally excuse a major part of what determines how players produce on the court. A coach truly can/does make a difference.

It's hard to argue this because the thinking/reacting issue seems to be occupying many or most Cavs players. Coaching is one aspect. Time/comfort/reps is another. And familiarity playing with new teammates (especially Bynum) is another. There's also going to be inconsistency -- a monster game against Faried followed by a pedestrian game against the Hawks.

 

[mAo_mAo]

He has shown his ability to hit that midrange shot. He should just shoot it. MB should tell him it is ok to shoot it. He is left unguarded by opposing pfs everytime he wants to try a hi low play with Bynum.

Everything will open up once he has shown defenders that they can't live him wide open.t That hi low play is Memphis' bread and butter next to their duck in play and we can probably do more variety with that if TT could provide some spacing for Bynum to operate.

 

[Rich]

ANd honestly he shouldn't feel ashamed. Maybe he feels that if he misses a couple he should stop because the jump-shooting should be left to better men. But when Kyrie is going Brandon Jennings and CJ Miles is out in space and Alonzo Gee is playing the game of basketball, well, Tristan shooting an open jumper from the FT line is not all that bad of an option.

 

[Tornicade]

Veteran fundamentally sound quick forwards in their prime will give Thompson problems. its the next step of his evolution to bring it against those guys.

Thats when Tristan will finally be the rock Grant drafted.

 

[Adam]

He needs to shoot the open shot every time. Then bynum or andy will know to get in rebound position consistently.

 

[willthelawyer]

I am a big TT fan, and really wish that he could get the rock every once-in-a-while outside of offensive rebounding. He rarely if ever gets a play called for him in the post, and hardly ever gets the ball on the Roll of a P&R (yeah our guards are complete ball hogs on the P&R. Is this a function of Mike Brown's "offense"? Does it have to be that our PF are simply garbage players and can never get plays called for them because our guards need to shoot 20 foot covered jumpshots? Just getting the ball on offense, even if you don't end up taking a shot, gets you more in rhythm, and usually makes bigs more active on the glass and on defense.

It's like we do absolutely nothing to get any of our players in a rhythm. We don't get fast break points to get some easy baskets, we don't do any back door cutting, we don't feed the post, we don't pass the ball around allowing everyone to touch it once on a possession. Basketball is so much about feel and flow, as evidenced by teams we play against who, after getting 20 fast break points and layups from missed assignments, end up making shots they usually miss because we have let them get settled.

We really need to do some things early in the game to get our guys in rhythm, and I think that applies equally if not more so to TT than anyone else.

 

[rabman_gold]

Doesn't anyone have anything to say about Tristan and Andy? They played great defense against Blake (maybe in part because Jordan couldn't play the rest of the game too) and we're vital to the glass. Tristan in particular may not trust his jump shot, but he's causing organized chaos out there. His activity is the same as Andy's, except he can get more rebounds in critical possessions. He can face up and should take more jump shots so he can use that to his advantage. He may be a little small, but he's got the same skill as Andy, maybe double that. They were in the exact same place trying to share a rebound.

I mean, think about it... 20 and 13 with just GARBAGE points, no plays called for him? I don't know, maybe Andrew's game is allowing him to play off his man, but most of the possessions came with a slightly decent jump shooting Varejao, who plays the same game.

Anyone have any thoughts? Or feelings that he may have more potential than just a Cage or Hill type power forward?

 

[Cashius X]

I don't really understand why we gave TT the ball in iso situations so much last year only to freeze him out this year. In 1 on 1 situations TT actually seemed to be scoring more often than not. Very underrated part of his game is taking opposing players off the dribble.

 

[Derek]

Tristan isn't a guy that we should be running plays for. Garbage points and the occasional pick and roll/pop should be his sources of offense.

 

[CardiacCavs]

Tristan isn't a guy that we should be running plays for. Garbage points and the occasional pick and roll/pop should be his sources of offense.

I understand this sentiment, especially because he is elite when it comes to crashing the offensive glass, but I feel like TT is capable of more than that. I think he can actually be a reliable scorer in the post, whether its from his little hooks, or driving to the rim and drawing fouls. If he isn't being guarded by a particularly good defensive player, I don't see much harm with dropping the ball down to him every once in a while. I've also noticed that our team seems to play better when we play inside out. I'm not saying we should have a steady diet of TT, but in those instances where he is being guarded by the likes of JJ Hickson, Ryan Anderson, or other smaller bigs, I think he can be a reliable option.

He also needs to not hesitate on that open FT/Elbow jumper that he ALWAYS gets. Andy is not hesitating anymore and we've seen how successful he has been so far. Just catch and shoot the ball with confidence. If he hits it a couple of times he could start clearing some room in the paint.

 

[Fuggles]

Despite all of TT's growth he just isn't a legit offensive threat yet.

The good news is that he might be one by next season at this rate. I don't even think Mike Brown can fuck up his growth.

 

[The Process God]

Tristan needs to develop more around-the-post moves because he has basically one go-to move that is really predictable. When facing up a defender on the baseline, he will go right of the defender if he is on the left side of the basket and vice versa if on the right, and then he will jump stop as soon as he is in the middle of the paint and do a push/hook shot. He did this against the Clippers, and the entire defense collapsed on him, and he ended up taking a horrifically contested shot that missed because teams are now expecting it.

Gotta love his insane rebounding though.

 

[Kouki]

He's really just not a guy you can dump the ball into and except a good shot the majority of he he time. Occasionally he has a matchup he can exploit but his offensive game is just way too unrefined to expect him to do those kind of things.

 

[polklop1]

[video=youtube;2lPGCgzSrK0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lPGCgzSrK0[/video]

Talk about him from 13:13-13:54, mostly about how he and LeBron share the same agent and the implications.

 

[OptimusPrime]

[video=youtube;2lPGCgzSrK0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lPGCgzSrK0[/video]

Talk about him from 13:13-13:54, mostly about how he and LeBron share the same agent and the implications.

Are you Bill Simmons? Are you going to post this in every thread on the board? Simmons is a buffoon and I couldn't care less what he thinks the implications of anything are.