(Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com / Ryan Brown)
It’s definitely been a rough week for Klay Thompson. The Golden State Warriors shooting guard has faced heavy criticism for his inconsistent play in the month of December, and fans seem to have reached a breaking point in the 104-102 loss last night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Coupled with an increasing amount of turnovers, Thompson’s struggles behind the arc have made him hard to watch on the court. Over his last five games, he’s shooting just 25.8 percent from three-point range, and is averaging 3.2 turnovers per game. He has also failed to reach 20 points in each contest.
But how much of this is simply a slump and how much is actual regression? Prior to December 11th, the shooting guard was having a breakout year, averaging just shy of 21 points per game on 48 percent shooting overall and 45.7 percent from long-range.
Despite an increase in scoring and assists, his turnovers had remained roughly the same, at just under two per game. Even now, his numbers are still impressive for the season, save for an unusually low free-throw percentage.
But it’s Thompson’s on-again, off-again stardom that has frustrated Golden State fans most. It’s been pointed out that few players in the league see their numbers swing so drastically between wins and losses.
The impact is overblown (see: Nov 14-Dec 9, when Klay played great but the Warriors went 7-7), but Klay has certainly looked like a completely different player at times, depending on the eventual outcome of the game.
As you can see above, Klay’s shooting percentage splits are almost unbelievable. He shoots nearly twice as well from deep in wins than he does in losses, the kind of inconsistency that is hard for fans to put up with.
However, Klay’s recent stretch has less to do with the outcome and more to do with going back to old habits. December has been by far Thompson’s worst month, despite a handful of good games early on.
Thompson is averaging just 1.6 free throw attempts thus far, compared with more than 3.4 in October and November and his turnovers have gone from a reasonable 1.6 to an extraordinary 2.9 per game.
That’s not a good sign at all, because on the court, it’s clear that Thompson is making many of the same bad decisions he did last year. Klay’s settling for outside jumpers and rushing far too many of his shots, in addition to committing a number of silly turnovers.
But through all of this, there have been good signs. The former 11th overall pick is averaging 3.7 assists per game in December, more than he has in any single month of his pro career.
His defense has had lapses, but he’s still typically reliable as wing defender, too. I’m not sure what the best remedy for a stretch of bad play is, but I’d bet one good night could go a long way to helping his confidence.
Confidence is something Klay has spoken about in the past. He said at Media Day this season that it was his biggest barrier to success last year, and that he has to believe in himself more.
Klay may never be a consistent player in this league, and that may be something Warriors will have to deal with for a very long time. He’s sort of mercurial in that he’ll get down on himself for bad decisions and poor shots, only compounding the issue.
But Thompson brings a whole lot to Golden State that few other players can. He’s already having one of the greatest 3-point shooting seasons of all-time, and is still within striking range of the record Steph Curry set last season.
Oh, and he hasn’t missed a single game in his NBA career. Maybe Warriors fans forget that last fact. Amidst a lineup that has struggled to remain healthy over the last 2 seasons, Klay has been a constant.
Yes, the Warriors need him to play better than he has been, but it’s also likely that it will work itself out. Klay puts in a lot of work in the gym trying to better his game.
I’m not sure where he developed the reputation of giving poor effort, but it really isn’t true at all. He can display some really bad body language from time to time, but a guy that competes as hard as he does on the defensive end while still scoring almost 20 points per game is expending a whole lot of energy.
So let’s give him a chance to get his game right before we go jumping off the deep end.
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