Taurean Thompson

[Zepharus]

The play that made me stand up and take notice of TT was the high post play where he turned and literally directed Lydon into position. Dude literally pointed and barked it out to the defense and was still able to hit Lydon for the assist on the dunk. He has a multiple skillset that not many possess and we got a glimpse of it . If we can get half of that performance from him a game we will improve.

Thoughts?

 

[CaptainJ]

The play that made me stand up and take notice of TT was the high post play where he turned and literally directed Lydon into position. Dude literally pointed and barked it out to the defense and was still able to hit Lydon for the assist on the dunk. He has a multiple skillset that not many possess and we got a glimpse of it . If we can get half of that performance from him a game we will improve.

Thoughts?

Completely agree, excited to watch him progress this season! I'm not going to say he will be like Billy Owens before he graduates, but I do think he is someone with a lot of latent potential that we've recently gotten glimpses of. What a difference from Robey at the 4, as much as I like him. JB can be like a chess player this year with substitutions, which has made the season a bit more interesting to me.

*Disclaimer: In the past, this thread would have been ripe for the Pearl31 banned phrase in the 2nd post. I shake an inner fist at this forced evolution. The kid has a ton of potential. Curious how you folks would compare him to other SU bigs like McCullough at this point in time?

 

[asj410]

Curious how you folks would compare him to other SU bigs like McCullough at this point in time?

I don't recall McCullough having the same basketball IQ or as a refined set of offensive skills as TT. He did seem much more athletic though.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

TT needs to start. go battle, frankie or gillon, TT, TL, AW..i dont care what position they play

 

[PoppyHart]

Does anyone else think he can be the next Tristan Thompson? Doesn't matter if he's righty or lefty, right? i mean, left?

 

[orangefog]

Does anyone else think he can be the next Tristan Thompson? Doesn't matter if he's righty or lefty, right? i mean, left?

Good call, they might as well be twins...Thompson Twins.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

He reminds me of John Wallace. Wallace could hit the outside and medium range shot and still take his guy to the hoop. High praise I know, but that is who he reminds me of.

 

[Bornorange]

His reaction time is awesome. No hesitation or thinking about what to do.
He moves his feet and his shooting form is polished. He is already are best inside scorer not named Lydon.
Hard to compare him with a guy who was injured almost the entire time he was here for a sleepover.

 

[Brooky03]

I still want to see him against tough m2m to really see how much he's improved. There's no doubt the skillset is there, but Boston played some pretty cushy defense against us with a crappy zone. If TT can keep this up against some tight m2m, then we have something special. As always, though, his defense will determine how much of a chance he'll get to show us what he can do on offense.

 

[OttoMets]

Completely agree, excited to watch him progress this season! I'm not going to say he will be like Billy Owens before he graduates, but I do think he is someone with a lot of latent potential that we've recently gotten glimpses of. What a difference from Robey at the 4, as much as I like him. JB can be like a chess player this year with substitutions, which has made the season a bit more interesting to me.

*Disclaimer: In the past, this thread would have been ripe for the Pearl31 banned phrase in the 2nd post. I shake an inner fist at this forced evolution. The kid has a ton of potential. Curious how you folks would compare him to other SU bigs like McCullough at this point in time?

Maybe five times better at every facet of the game?

Posted about this a couple weeks ago, I don't know what recruitniks are looking at to have such disparate rankings for those two kids (a few years apart, of course, so that's not completely fair).

The only thing McCullough was obviously better at was three-point shooting, but if Thompson considered himself a jumpshooter, it wouldn't surprise me at all for him to look just as good at that. And he's so much more composed around the basket, such a better finisher.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Does anyone else think he can be the next Tristan Thompson? Doesn't matter if he's righty or lefty, right? i mean, left?

I don't see the comparison. Tristan is an elite offensive rebounder. He scores off mostly lob plays, offensive putbacks, and the occasional post move.

Taurean has already hit more jumpshots than I have ever seen Tristan make. Hell, maybe even take.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Maybe five times better at every facet of the game?

Posted about this a couple weeks ago, I don't know what recruitniks are looking at to have such disparate rankings for those two kids (a few years apart, of course, so that's not completely fair).

The only thing McCullough was obviously better at was three-point shooting, but if Thompson considered himself a jumpshooter, it wouldn't surprise me at all for him to look just as good at that. And he's so much more composed around the basket, such a better finisher.

Yeah, not sure as well. Maybe Francis has an idea. To me the only thing I see with TT is that he is pretty good but not a great athlete, IMO. He's definitely way stronger than McCullough right now. CMac would get dislodged so easily under the basket and/or get knocked down just getting brushed by somebody. TT looks like he has good wingspan as well. He's definitely a 'gem' even though he shouldn't be considered one of those. I'm too lazy to look it up but I wonder how he fared against other big guys in high school.

I actually can see some of the Tristan Thompson comparison minus the knack for hitting the boards...so far. But, Tristan played 31 MPG at Texas that one year. Tristan could always make a short jumper, college or pros.

 

[OttoMets]

Yeah, not sure as well. Maybe Francis has an idea. To me the only thing I see with TT is that he is pretty good but not a great athlete, IMO. He's definitely way stronger than McCullough right now. CMac would get dislodged so easily under the basket and/or get knocked down just getting brushed by somebody. TT looks like he has good wingspan as well. He's definitely a 'gem' even though he shouldn't be considered one of those. I'm too lazy to look it up but I wonder how he fared against other big guys in high school.

I actually can see some of the Tristan Thompson comparison minus the knack for hitting the boards...so far. But, Tristan played 31 MPG at Texas that one year. Tristan could always make a short jumper, college or pros.

Yeah, agree about the athleticism. Thompson's sturdy, but he hasn't showed the ability to get up and dunk over people, or even reach some of the rebounds that Roberson gets, for that matter.

 

[tbonezone]

 

[Briancuse]

I think its time to say that TT has the highest upside of anyone on this team, thank God his mom let him come here.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think its time to say that TT has the highest upside of anyone on this team, thank God his mom let him come here.

I'm not so sure about that. We say this about players all the time. Then they start to struggle and we think they are overrated and some people think they never will play well again. It's happened with Lydon and Battle this year already. People get raised expectations, hype players up, and then as all players do they struggle. Then fans start to bury them.

 

[br801]

I'm not so sure about that. We say this about players all the time. Then they start to struggle and we think they are overrated and some people think they never will play well again. It's happened with Lydon and Battle this year already. People get raised expectations, hype players up, and then as all players do they struggle. Then fans start to bury them.

It's the nature of fandom in the Internet era. I'm old enough to remember when people didn't ride a roller coaster of emotions regarding teams, players and coaches from game to game (or even within a game).

 

[ROCcuse]

I think its time to say that TT has the highest upside of anyone on this team, thank God his mom let him come here.

Interesting in that "upside" in the scouting world seems to be usually attributed to guys with freakish athleticism, good measurables for their position, etc. but are projects when it comes to offensive and general basketball skill set.

I love that we have a big that doesn't fit that mold - Good fundamentals and core skill set that will only get better; still with a professional frame. I'll take this type of recruit and "upside" any day. SUball

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Yeah, agree about the athleticism. Thompson's sturdy, but he hasn't showed the ability to get up and dunk over people, or even reach some of the rebounds that Roberson gets, for that matter.

How many people did Richardson dunk over? and yet his combine performance could only be described as quite athletic even in NBA prospect terms.

 

[Victory Lap]

It's the nature of fandom in the Internet era. I'm old enough to remember when people didn't ride a roller coaster of emotions regarding teams, players and coaches from game to game (or even within a game).

True, though I remember the days of people freaking out in homeroom over a bad slash line in the morning papers.

 

[Trueblue25]

Thompson's playing well, if we want to be competitive we need Roberson to figure it the hell out as soon as possible.

 

[GoCuse1979]

Last game, Thompson looked more like the senior, and Roberson the freshman...

 

[KevMonstah]

the concept can't be that hard: SU scored 50 pts, shot 25% vs UConn, and has had other lousy offensive performances.

on the bench is a 6'10" PF with offensive skills. he should play. I get the idea ... he might not be good at playing defense,
but you can't win a game when you hold a team to the 50s and then you yourself cannot score.

he's demonstrated more offensive moves than honestly roberson or coleman have shown in the combined 9 years they've been
here, now just do it against some teams that matter.

kev

 

[Newhouser]

He has a much better feel for the game and all around skill set than Roberson.

 

[SoBeCuse]

the concept can't be that hard: SU scored 50 pts, shot 25% vs UConn, and has had other lousy offensive performances.

on the bench is a 6'10" PF with offensive skills. he should play. I get the idea ... he might not be good at playing defense,
but you can't win a game when you hold a team to the 50s and then you yourself cannot score.

he's demonstrated more offensive moves than honestly roberson or coleman have shown in the combined 9 years they've been
here, now just do it against some teams that matter.

kev

Totally. The thing that still kills me is that we can lose when teams like UConn (Wisconsin last year) play their worst game of the season.