I can't get this video to imbed for some reason, but here is a Sport Science segment on him:
http://youtu.be/43SrYmqE9K8
Check it out to see how athletic he is.
Also, Pluto's thoughts on Thompson:
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Scribbles as the first round continues Tuesday night.
1. I've been told by an NBA source that the Cavs are expected to keep Tristan Thompson, the No. 4 pick. There had been some speculation that the Cavs would be trading the power forward from Texas at some point. After all, they already have J.J. Hickson and Samardo Samuels at power forward. Starting center Anderson Varejao also can play that position.
2. The Cavs didn't want to wait as long as two years for Jonas Valanciunas to get free of his European contract. These situations can be very messy. That must have been the case here, because the Cavs really like the 7-foot Valanciunas.
3. My thought is the Cavs have their own Valanciunas. He's 7-foot Semih Erden, acquired from Boston. And yes, they are both projects.
4. Yes, they are expected to keep Thompson, but they could trade Hickson, who will be a free agent in the summer of 2012. Thompson is much like Hickson when he came out of N.C. State after one year. He's a power forward whose assets are lively legs, long arms and rebounding. Hickson led the ACC in rebounding in his only season. Thompson averaged 7.8 rebounds, 4.2 on the offensive boards. He's 6-8 3/4, 230 pounds.
5. Here's a Thompson scouting report that Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis received from an NBA executive: "He's a good kid, No. 1. That can't be valued enough in this league. He's a guy I'd love to work with every day for a year just to see how much better he gets. Woo, you talk about a motor! This kid goes after it. He rebounds the ball, has super long arms, blocks shots, a good defender. He's a terrible free-throw shooter and offensively, if he's not dunking it, he's in trouble. But you're not drafting him for his offense."
6. The good news is Thompson draws a lot of fouls, going to the line 7.2 times. The bad news is he shot 49 percent. He did shoot 55 percent from the field, mostly near the basket. He has a 7-2 wingspan and the potential to be a good defensive player.
7. The Cavs compile a lot of complicated internal stats for rating prospects, much like what ESPN's John Hollinger uses.
Hollinger rated Derrick Williams and Thompson as the two best big men in the draft: "Thompson and Williams had the highest ratings of any player in the Draft Rater this year, and while that doesn't come with the same assurances it does for Kyrie Irving, they both appear to be very solid prospects. Of the 13 players who rated at 15.5 or above in previous iterations, most were very successful as pros. The ones that weren't tended to fail due to injuries and lack of professionalism -- issues that shouldn't be factors for Thompson and Williams."
8. Hollinger rated Thompson the No. 3 player in the draft.
9. For weeks, people have been saying Byron Scott will be a good coach for Irving, the No. 1 pick out of Duke. He had major success coaching point guards Chris Paul and Jason Kidd. But another factor is that Scott's motion offense will help Irving. It creates a lot of medium range jump shots. Irving shot 53 percent from the field, 46 percent on 3-pointers. It also features a lot of high pick-and-roll sets, an area where Irving excelled at Duke.
10. One of the real strengths of Irving is that he draws fouls -- he went to the line 6.5 times per game, and made 90 percent. That also means he's a guy who can handle the ball at the end of games because he can get fouled and make the shots, protecting leads.
11. Irving also scores more on drives to his left -- more than his right. That's a major asset because Irving is right handed. Most defenders automatically favor the right hand -- making it easier to go left. At a legitimate 6-3, he can play in the same backcourt with Baron Davis.
http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/blog/index.ssf/2011/06/nba_draft_2011_enes_kanter_the.html
