Klay Thompson Missed 19 of His 25 Shots in Preseason
By Marcus Thompson
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 at 10:56 am in Uncategorized.
With the Warriors down 92-91 inside of 30 seconds, Ellis swung the ball to an open man on the right wing.
It was Klay Thompson, and he got a good look from 20 feet.
“I hadn’t airballed like that in awhile,” said Thompson, who finished with seven points on 2-for-15 shooting. “It felt good and everything, too. I thought it was in.”
After two free throws by Marcus Thornton, Golden State had the ball down 94-91 with 16.4 seconds left. Guess whom Jackson went to for the game-tying 3-pointer?
Yup, Thompson.
But the rookie started the play by going to the wrong spot. Then, he pump-faked himself out of a good look from 3, only to settle for a step-back 3-pointer that clanked.
JACKSON: “Klay made a mistake. But we got a good look out of it, and we learned from it.”
Thompson went 6 for 25 shooting with 16 points in two exhibition games. He has missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. (Remember another Warriors rookie known for shooting who struggled with his shot in preseason?)
Thompson said he’s going to spend the next few days in the gym and vowed it won’t happen again.
THOMPSON: “I’m not going to lose confidence. That’s the worst thing you can do as a shooter. That was tough. It’s going to linger around for a couple days. … I’m just happy Coach Jax has that confidence in me to call the play for me like that. I just feel bad for my teammates that I had a performance like that.”
Jackson gets kudos for giving his first-round pick that experience and vote of confidence. The last thing he said he wants is for Klay to get trigger shy, which he appeared to be Tuesday.
“You’ve got to realize he’s a great shooter,” Jackson said. “You’re going to have nights you can’t make shots. He’s fortunate enough to have a coach that believes in him, that’s not going to tell him to stop shooting.
JACKSON: “I want him to disregard the last possession and continue to shoot with confidence. And I thought a couple of times he put his head down and was upset with himself. And you can’t have that.”
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The Warriors announced they,ve waived two more players: forward Edwin Ubiles and guard Tommy Mitchell.
Golden State now has 14 players under contract.
Guards: Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Charles Jenkins, Brandan Rush, Ish Smith
Forwards: David Lee, Dorell Wright, Ekpe Udoh, Dominic McGuire, Jeremy Tyler, Chris Wright
A few things you can glean from this:
1. Wright might have earned himself a roster spot. The rookie 6-foot-8 power forward out of Dayton has impressed the Warriors. He is physical, strong, can jump and hungry.
WRIGHT: “That’s my game.”
He had six points and three rebounds in 11 minutes on Tuesday night against the Kings.
2. The Warriors are going into the season leaving a spot open. They can carry a maximum of 15 but have already paired the roster down to 14.
Having an extra spot gives them the flexibility to take back more players than they send in a trade.
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December 21st, 2011 at 11:18 am
Well, apparently Fredette is more NBA-ready than Thompson.
December 21st, 2011 at 11:19 am
I liked that Jackson gave Thompson the last play. Having a coach show faith in your game is such an important thing for the long run. It at least shows that Jackson is thinking long term and not just about trying to win a pre-season game. Giving Thompson that opportunity and him failing this time around will be a test of his character come opening night. We’ll see if he can perservere and actually start draining shots.
December 21st, 2011 at 11:32 am
Unfortunately for Klay, the current situation in GSW has just marginalized his learning curve. With Curry likely out for a spell and Monta likely distracted by legal trouble, Thompson will get important minutes. We no longer have the grace of letting him go 2-15.
December 21st, 2011 at 11:41 am
Let’s hope he doesn’t continue shooting as bad as VladRad did 2 years ago.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:07 pm
His shooting looks just like Curry’s did when Curry was starting as rookie. That will buy him lots of patience here in the golden state…
December 21st, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Fredette is way more ready for the NBA than Thompson. Tyler Honeycutt is more ready. However, I doubt that this disparity will last for long. I expect all three of those guys will be rotation players this season. Fredette may be a starter, given the loss of Gordon.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Klay looks stoned out there…
December 21st, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Although he wasn’t hitting shots, I thought Klay played pretty well. He made some real nice passes setting up some easy shots for teammates, he made some steals stepping into the passing lane and just looked energetic and involved in the offense and defensive sets. Give the kid some time and his upside may end up being higher than Fredette’s. Fredette has a sweet stroke but it looked like the when the Warrior’s put pressure on him he had trouble getting open and finding room for his shot. He also looked like a liability on the defensive end.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Warriors roster is set for opening night. But if Curry can’t go on the opener because of the ankle injury, look for the Giants to throw out impressive rookie PG Charles Jenkins out there, who is physical and big and can probably get his feet wet guarding Chris Paul. If Curry can go, then with Jenkins backing him up makes this Warriors bench deeper.
Starters:
PG Stephen Curry
SG Monta Ellis
SF Dorell Wright
PF David Lee
C Andris Biedrins
Bench:
PG Charles Jenkins
SG Brandon Rush
SF Dominic McGuire
PF Ekpe Udoh
C Kwame Brown
PG Ish Smith
SG Klay Thompson
SF Chris Wright
FC Jeremy Tyler
Let’s Go. Bring on the Clips Christmas Night. I Believe!
December 21st, 2011 at 3:45 pm
I know its just the preseason games jitters but yeah Klay compared to most of his rookie counterparts hasn’t showed up. What do you expect?.. his time at WSU wasn’t that impressive but i think Brandon Rush will take some of the pressure off and contribute where Klay can’t at this point.I don’t think Monta’s situation will effect his play on the court, if you remember how Kobe played during his scandal(which in comparison is 3x worse) he actually played better.
December 21st, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Shades of Mike Dunleavy.
December 21st, 2011 at 6:01 pm
When he becomes good, he will have earned the nickname: “The Avatar” (dude looks exactly like an Avatar from that movie “Avatar”).
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Watching Klay made me think of Dunleavy and Belinelli. Shooters the warriors drafted who didn’t shoot.
December 22nd, 2011 at 2:38 pm
It’s been what, two games??
He’ll be fine.
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:37 pm
[...] he's a total of… here I'll post this article that I just found while looking for his numbers. Klay Thompson Missed 19 of His 25 Shots in Preseason – Inside the Warriors – with Marcus Thompson That airball on a wide open jumper that could've been the go ahead bucket was the worst shot I've [...]
December 22nd, 2011 at 3:54 pm
I’m not too sure with the harassment if Monta will be a long time Warrior. Klay needs to improve fast.
December 22nd, 2011 at 7:26 pm
If Thompson can never find his stroke, then the comparison to Dunleavy and Belinelli would be apt, at least as far as shooting goes…but I think (hope?) it is just jitters. Beyond that, there is a LOT to like in his game. He is not shy on the court, is not playing like a rookie. He aggressively (and quite effectively) handles the ball, moves it around. He looks like a real playmaker, and if/when his shot comes around (pre-draft, he was supposed to be 2nd only to Jimmer in pure shooting ability), he will be a very, very good player. Reggie’s shooting will be missed, at least for a while, but I’ve already seen in 2 exhibition games a lot more from Thompson of things that Reggie could never do.
December 23rd, 2011 at 4:23 pm
We could see the potential in Klay, however he’s trying too hard to prove something right now. He needs to settle down, take what’s given to him and let the game come to him. He’s not ready yet to be the go to guy and he needs to realize that!
December 24th, 2011 at 10:42 am
If Klay can shoot – and I assume that he can – he’s going to be damned good. The rest of his game was impressive in those two preseason games.
December 25th, 2011 at 12:46 am
Klay will be fine! it was only preseason. he did well in other aspects opf the game, and he showed he can play physical ball. The shot will come! Jimmer is not more NBA ready, just can stroke the 3 better in my opinion, plus he got more open looks as well, and jimmer plays NO defense whatsoever, but he will get that down and be a nice NBA player
December 25th, 2011 at 12:51 am
We cant panic off two preseason games, we will be fine