Tristan Thompson

[Cavatt]

When do we get to call him clutch?

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

I still don't get why people dislike this guy. He's the kind of player you win a lot of games with, and the kind of energy big you want in the playoffs.

The problem with him is still that he's not a very good help side defender. He was getting roasted in the first half hedging on screens, getting burned by showing hard and letting ball handler split the double.

But at the end of the game, Tristan showed his ultimate worth. His rebounding was incredible, he played with massive energy, and that defense on Lowery was amazing. But his help side defense is still lacking. Getting better, but still bad. And if he's our only "rim protector" we will get destroyed when we go up against a team that attacks the basket hard.

 

[Snarly]

I been a huge T.T supporter though thick and thin as it usually takes bigs 4-5 years to pan out. He Is huge for this team and now that he learned from Blatt and Bron how to be effective he is has come up huge for this team. A walking double double off the bench is amazing.

 

[Crosby_Cavs]

Beauty

 

[King of Swords]

Outstanding 4th quarter for him last night. The effort he showed was spectacular, and it was nice to see that type of intensity in an early season game.

He still has lapses defensively that are frustrating, but overall he is positively impacting the game. Not to mention that with him finishing games for us, we are able to preserve Andy (only 16 minutes last night in a close game!) at this point. That's invaluable.

I don't want to overpay for him, but it's becoming harder to say that he is just an interchangeable part. His offensive rebounding is uncanny...

 

[tn819]

When do we get to call him clutch?

Oh trust me, David Griffin and co are well aware that he is Klutch

 

[Omar The Horse]

Oh trust me, David Griffin and co are well aware that he is Klutch

3/10


You gave your best. That's what matters.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Post-game, Kyrie was laughing, and saying that Tristan was hugely pumped up and repeating "that's what I do, that's what I do" after smothering Lowry. The other players were "yes, yes we know". Great having a guy who gets off on defense like that.

Beauty

 

[Jack Brickman]

Those clamps he put on Lowry...wow

That was probably the best play of the entire game. It was a huge stop.

 

[CosmoKramer]

The problem with him is still that he's not a very good help side defender. He was getting roasted in the first half hedging on screens, getting burned by showing hard and letting ball handler split the double.

That's all pick and roll defense, most nights he's our best big at hard hedging and containing dribble penetration in our extremely aggressive scheme.

I guess I didn't see him getting roasted being out of position to contest shots coming from the weak side like you claim. My only problem last night with his D was he looked overmatched guarding Valaciunas one-on-one, he's most likely going to have problems defending legit 7-footers on the block.

But at the end of the game, Tristan showed his ultimate worth. His rebounding was incredible, he played with massive energy, and that defense on Lowery was amazing. But his help side defense is still lacking. Getting better, but still bad. And if he's our only "rim protector" we will get destroyed when we go up against a team that attacks the basket hard.

Does anyone else see the humor here? Lowry wasn't his man, he slid over to prevent a layup and ended up forcing a miss. That's the definition of great help defense, if Tristan is very bad I'm going to hate to see where you grade Love's help defense. Abominable? Odious? I'll go with putrid.

 

[NasstyNate]

That's all pick and roll defense, most nights he's our best big at hard hedging and containing dribble penetration in our extremely aggressive scheme.

I guess I didn't see him getting roasted being out of position to contest shots coming from the weak side like you claim. My only problem last night with his D was he looked overmatched guarding Valaciunas one-on-one, he's most likely going to have problems defending legit 7-footers on the block.

If you didn't see Thompson getting completely destroyed from the moment he came in the game, you were on a bathroom break. We gave up 4 unguarded shots at the rim in the span of two and a half minutes because of his lack of awareness. Fred and AC saw it, the crowd saw it, and a bunch of posters in the game thread saw it. He put up a -7 in his first run, which would easily have been double digits had Waiters not gone off.

Luckily he had a great 4th quarter. Credit where credit is due. But he was certainly a net negative until then and it was because of his bad defense.

Does anyone else see the humor here? Lowry wasn't his man, he slid over to prevent a layup and ended up forcing a miss. That's the definition of great help defense, if Tristan is very bad I'm going to hate to see where you grade Love's help defense. Abominable? Odious? I'll go with putrid.

No, I do not see the humor here. TT did not slide over. He switched and guarded Lowry one on one, which is not the definition of help defense. In fact, it is the opposite.

 

[CosmoKramer]

If you didn't see Thompson getting completely destroyed from the moment he came in the game, you were on a bathroom break. We gave up 4 unguarded shots at the rim in the span of two and a half minutes because of his lack of awareness. Fred and AC saw it, the crowd saw it, and a bunch of posters in the game thread saw it. He put up a -7 in his first run, which would easily have been double digits had Waiters not gone off.

Luckily he had a great 4th quarter. Credit where credit is due. But he was certainly a net negative until then and it was because of his bad defense.

His lack of awareness wasn't single-handedly costing us baskets. When I saw unguarded shots at the rim I also saw the Raptors drawing TT out of the paint, thereby leaving our wings as the lone weak side defenders. LeBron played great offensively last night, but you could count many more possessions that ended with him lagging behind an uncontested shot at the rim- not Tristan.

No, I do not see the humor here. TT did not slide over. He switched and guarded Lowry one on one, which is not the definition of help defense. In fact, it is the opposite.

Uh, Opposite? What the fuck are you talking about? Even if he didn't slide over switching is help defense. Come on...the possession might have ended with Lowry going 1-on-1 with TT, but that only came after he helped out the guard getting screened.

 

[blommen]

Uh, Opposite? What the fuck are you talking about? Even if he didn't slide over switching is help defense. Come on...the possession might have ended with Lowry going 1-on-1 with TT, but that only came after he helped out the guard getting screened.

To be fair I think what Amherst was alluding in his post to was weak side help defense where Tristan would come over and challenge the shot, a la what Ibaka does so very well. Tristan has improved so much this year when challenging his mans shot but he does still have problems when it comes to coming over to "help" a teammate with a defensive assignment. what he did on Lowry was picking up the ball handler, therefore taking over the assignment, not help help the player who was defending him to begin with, who goes on to rotate to another assignment.

 

[World B ThAreee]

I could be wrong, but I think switching and help defense are two totally different things. Help defense is when one of your teammates gets beat and you leave your man to help defend the basket.

 

[CosmoKramer]

I could be wrong, but I think switching and help defense are two totally different things. Help defense is when one of your teammates gets beat and you leave your man to help defend the basket.

They're not two totally different things, they're both separate aspects of help defense. Coming over from the weak side (like Ibaka is famous for) is the most visible form of helping your teammates out, but you can also switch to keep a teammates' man from an open shot- exactly what TT did last night.

There's other examples of help defense, rather than switching, that aren't specifically weak side shot blocking- like wings coming down to front a big on the block or whenever a player leaves his assignment to double another player. IMO much of what most consider team defense is actually many different aspects of help defense.