Klay Thompson Scouting Report From #USABMNT: Continuous Focus, All Of The Time (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
BILBAO EXHIBITION CENTRE, BILBAO, SPAIN — Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson had a strong finish in USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team’s 114-55 blowout victory over Finland, tallying 18 points on 7-for-10 from the field and 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
“When I play for the Warriors — me and Steph (Curry) — teams try to key on us, but when I play with four other gunners on the floor who are just as good, if not better, than me, it makes my life easy,” Thompson said after the game, “especially if I get open looks, do what I do best, which is catch-and-shoot. If I do that and play defense, then I feel like I’m a good addition to this team.”
With the good comes the bad, as always, as Thompson also committed two turnovers in which he got caught up in the air and proceed to get the ball stolen by an opposing player.
We asked him about that at the post-game press conference.
“Yeah, that was a very un-fundamental play,” Thompson admitted, “You can’t do that even as a kid. (You should) jump stop to make a play.”
However, the one thing that keeps Thompson’s motor running is to keep pushing through.
“Over my years of playing basketball, I just learned to be a continuous basketball player,” Thompson explained, “You can’t hang your head after you make a turnover because you know how it’s going to affect you the next few possessions. Basketball, it’s a long game. It’s a lot of possessions. You just gotta take it one possession at a time. You’re gonna make mistakes. It’s just about responding.”
#TeamUSA head coach Mike Krzyzewski added, “He’s pretty focused all the time. He doesn’t need a turnover to get focused. He’s focused all the time. He’s a great player.”
Thompson added that he’s been working on his pick-and-roll game. Against Finland, there were plays in which he came off a screen on the elbow and faked a shot, then shot it immediately after that. He was coming off the screens at very successful angles.
“I’m still trying to work on my game off the pick-and-roll and I think I did a decent job tonight,” Thompson said.
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