BARCLAYCARD CENTER (AKA PALACIO DE LOS DEPORTES), MADRID, SPAIN — Over the nine official games that USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) played in the 2014 FIBA World Cup (#Spain2014), here’s a summary of the skill-set (highlights) displayed by Team USA’s Sixth Man, Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson, who recently said he was happy to be staying the Bay Area.
Please note, these bullet points do not include three-pointers made, which is a rather given skill-set that observers have come to expect from Thompson:
Game 1 vs Finland: Stutter-step-stop-and-pop (although he missed — we have not seen him do this in a Warriors uniform), two turnovers caused by jumping in the air (he would not make these mistakes again in the final 8 games).
Game 2 vs Turkey: right-handed dribble penetration then no-look lob to Anthony Davis.
Game 3 vs New Zealand: tipped a defensive rebound to a teammate, left his man with shotclock winding down to challenge shooter.
Game 4 vs Dominican Republic: strip steal on help defense of big man in post, traveled while attempting to lead break after a steal, low-key blocked shot, three alley oop passes.
Game 5 vs Ukraine (2nd half): post-up against a 6’4″ defender that rimmed short, two steals by stripping the ball away from his opponent, another two blocked shot (one of them of the “low key, stay inbounds” type)
Game 6 vs Mexico: early transition dribble up court then pull up three,
Game 7 vs Slovenia: on defense, an emphatic block from behind in which he screamed and the block careened off the glass; forced Goran Dragic to shoot an airball, all-right-handed drive-and-flip, all with one hand, dunked off an alley oop from Derrick Rose, a “why not” step-back three with USA up by about 30.
Game 8 vs Lithuania: left-handed-dribble-pull-up, catch-pivot-shoot on the left foot, three blocked shots, court vision on an outlet.
Game 9 vs Serbia: lob to Davis, left-handed-dribble-then-pass, left-handed-dribble-pull-up.
Left-handed, left-side-of-the-court dribble penetration resulting in a stop-and-pop or an assist to a cutter? Stutter-step stop-and-pop? Alley oop deliveries? Catch-and-pivot three-pointers? On-ball strip steals? Leaving your man with the shotclock winding down to help out on a broken play? Long outlets leading to early transition layups? Emphatic track-down blocked shots near the rim? Klay Thompson?
Granted, these are all against far inferior international opponents, but it’s clear that Thompson has a lot more resources at his disposal than we’ve known.
At best, he’s always had these skills and the time was ripe to bust them out.
At worst, he’s been trying out all these moves in practice and behind closed doors and his subordinate opponents have made him look good. Very good. At worst, if these moves cannot be executed against stalwart NBA competition, then at least Thompson’s heading into the 2014-15 season with his confidence at an all-time high.
Three of the most prominent FIBA and NBA reporters generally agreed that Thompson’s performance was a pleasant surprise.
“Klay was a revelation during the FIBA World Cup,” Sekou Smith of NBA Hangtime Blog told me, “He played both ends consistently as well or better than anyone else in the competition, from anywhere. He showed off his defensive prowess with lockdown work on some of the best offensive players in Spain. He raised his stock, at least in my eyes, higher than anyone not named (Kenneth) Faried or (Kyrie) Irving.”
“As for Klay, Steph said it best. He killed it,” Sam Amick of USA Today said, “He was a breakout star who played both ends as well as anyone on Team USA. His defense, surprising though it may seem, is actually more fun to watch than his scoring.”
“Klay Thompson had an exceptional FIBA Basketball World Cup,” said Jeffrey Taylor, FIBA’s play-by-play announcer on TV, “He was a reliable source of points, but equally important on defense. I thought before the Final, he was the favorite to be tournament MVP. So I felt bad that he didn’t make All-Star Five. Obviously this didn’t matter to him, because he clearly just wanted to win.”
And, finally, Emmet Ryan of BallInEurope.com said something about Thompson that I also tweeted early on, to the outrage of #DubNation, most of whom probably skipped the FIBA tournament.
“While I was in Spain, I thought he showed more than Curry,” Ryan told me.
But Ryan was also more critical than his American counterparts, albeit perhaps in a good way.
“Looking back, however, he could have done more,” said Ryan, “Klay was great when on the ball, but he could have commanded it more. A touch more aggression would help, but on the whole Warriors fans have to be happy with how he looked like he belonged on that USA team.”
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @beyondthebuzzer)
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