Hello Followers. Hope you’re having a great week.
As today’s header indicates, today’s post is all about Mr. Klay Thompson. If you want to check out my view on the big decision he is going to make in the next month or so, then read on.
Followers, there are so many opinions out there about Mr. Klay, including his current/past performance and future aspirations, its hard to know where to start. So, with that in mind, I thought I’d take a ready-fire-aim strategy. Onto quasi-relevant point #1:
All of the talk about this season’s dissapointment re: Cougar Hoops would be practically moot if we all knew that Klay was coming back for his senior year.
Put simply, if Klay were coming back next year, most of us would enter next Fall with this season as an afterthought. Not only would this team enter next year with legit hopes of an NCAA tournament bid, we would justly be thinking about competing for a Pac-10 title, a good NCAA seed, and within, the chance for making a legitimate run in the tournament.
But, because Klay’s status is oh-so-questionable, our current late season malaise has many of us in a bit of a panic. And justly so. If Klay goes pro at season’s end, and if we don’t find a way to pull a rabbit out of the hat before he leaves, then this program is going down even further in the coming seasons. And honestly, its getting harder to envision if and when Cougar basketball might return to relevance if Klay leaves and the season continues to end on an ever-so-sour note.
Of course, there are some out there who believe that this team might actually be BETTER next year without Klay. And to you all, I send out a big hearty “Huh?”
Because while some areas of Klay’s performance may give room for occasional pause, there should be no question that he is the main reason why we have an opportunity to compete each night with the conference (and perhaps national) elite . Simply put, Klay is a once-in-a-generation type talent for a program like WSU. He handles the ball well, he defends well in the half-court, he is a terrific defender in transition, and he is one of the best scorers that many of us will ever see in a WSU uniform. He’s special, folks. And, absent the emergence of another type of superstar, this team portends to slip–and perhaps slip badly–in the coming years without him.
So, in my mind at least, we should not spend one minute wondering whether next year (all else equal) may be better without Klay, because it won’t. Moreover, judging by what I’ve seen of Klay’s game over this past season, I don’t think we should spend a minute wondering whether or not Klay is NBA ready, because in my view, he is quite ready.
Therefore, the question facing Klay right now is not “Am I NBA ready?”, the question is “Should I go to the NBA after this season?”
And for me, the answer to that question right now is “No:”
And the reason why I take such a stance is simple: While I think Klay has all of the tangibles needed to have a decent NBA career RIGHT NOW, I think that he currently lacks several of the “intangibles” that, if properly developed–could lead him toward a really good or really, really good NBA career. And chief among those missing intangibles is “floor leadership.”
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Followers, when you look at past greats–be it from Michael Jordan to Magic Johnson to Larry Bird–there is always one constant: Not only were those players great in their own right, they became legends, in large part, because they made everyone around them better. Mind you, while I do not expect Klay to have a legendary NBA career, I do think that Klay can have a strong NBA career. And by “strong” I think that, with proper preparation, Klay can have a Steph Curry or Landry Fields type early impact in the league. Unforunately, as is, I think he looks more like a James Harden or Gordon Hayward type player: A solid NBA-ready prospect that projects as a “journeyman” type player.
But with another season of preparation–and potentially an increased role as a primary play maker (like a point shooting guard)–Klay may be able to become the type of player that makes everyone around him better. And once he does that, his upside for the pro game will truly start to soar.
To be sure, as a whole, everyone on the Cougar team is better RIGHT NOW because of Klay, since just about any player is better when when he or she gets to play alonside a 20+ppg scorer that doesn’t hog the ball all to himself (which Klay largely does not). But, when you look at guys like Marcus Capers, Reggie Moore, and even De Angelo Casto, it seems hard to find good examples for how Klay has directly improved their games, their mentality, and their execution.
And so, while I think it is quite reasonable to question what’s going on with team’s coaching, it also seems important to point out that, were Klay a developed on the floor type leader, there is NO WAY that this team would come out flat for three or four Thursdays in a row.
Moreover, were Klay a developed floor leader, guys around him might be less likely to take key possessions off on the offensive and defensive end as we have seen throughout the season.
And, were Klay a more developed leader, we would see far more consistent execution in the final five minutes of games than what we’ve seen so far this season.
Of course, asking Klay to shoulder the burden of the team’s problems is no easy task. In fact, some might characterize that expectation as inherently “unfair” to a player that has given WSU fans so many incredible performances over the past three years. (as Klay has!)
At the same time, it also seems important to point out that the great ones always seem to take on (and exceed) those expectations–even if they are unfair. And once they learn how to deal with that load, they become legends.
And for me, Klay has all of the technical tools that a collegiate hoopster needs to become immortal at a place like WSU.
So, over the coming weeks and months, it will be interesting to see whether he chooses to expand his toolkit beyond the technical aspects of the game, to include cerebral, emotional, and spiritual tools and competencies.
And if he decides to take that bull by the horns by eschewing the NBA for a final season at WSU, we can all expect to see his jersey hung one day from the rafters of Beasley; his college stats buttressed by a long and prosperous NBA career.
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