WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — During warmups of the gold-medal run for USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team, the Golden State Warriors backcourt duo, aka the #SplashBrothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, were always shooting around together.
Often times, it would be Curry with a series of shots preceded by a seemingly endless array of between-the-legs dribbles, behind-the-back bounces, and quick-release step-backs, followed by Thompson — also trying some of those same dribble crossovers prior to launching the shot.
However, we still have not seen Thompson employ any of those pre-release moves in a game, whether FIBA-governed at #Spain2014 or during this brief NBA preseason.
“I try to emulate what he does off a bounce, but it’s tough,” Thompson said of Curry today after the Warriors had morning shootaround ahead of their last preseason game tonight, “He’s got really quick hands with the ball.”
“I watch him everyday, so I learn something new from his moves everyday,” Thompson added, “I think I’ve seen it all, though, up until this point. He’s really good at what he does.”
Will we be seeing some of this rub off on Thompson and in an actual game soon?
“We’ll see,” Thompson said, “It’s easier said than done, but I’m just going to stay in my own lane and do what I’m comfortable with because that’s when I’m most effective. When I try to do too much, that’s when turnovers start happening, bad shots start being taken, so [I’ll] just stay in my lane.”
Even without the new and unexpected dribble-then-shoot moves that Thompson showed a glimpse of during Team USA’s shootarounds, the crew over at Hangtime Blogs had plenty of glowing reviews of the #SplashBrothers.
“Curry may be the best shooter in the game and can hit all types of whacky shots off-the-dribble, his passing game seems to improve all the time and when he gets strong defensive coverage, he dishes it off to Klay,” said Simon Legg of NBA Australia, “Thompson shot 41.7 percent from deep on 535 attempts and have improved as a perimeter defender, making up for some of Steph’s defensive lapses. Klay’s offensive game has expanded as well, including post-ups, slashing and even handling and penetrating. I just wish he’d pass more!”
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