Klay Thompson: I'm the best shooting guard in the NBA

That's actually part of my point the Pops rarely does a switch.

Over thxgiving break, I actually went back to watch the GSW vs SAS last year. I didn't see any time that Pops put Kawhi on Curry. I went back to watch those games, because many people and the media were saying how much they were looking forward to seeing Kawhi guard Curry. I was hoping to see what he did last year against Curry. But alas, I couldn't find one set. I assume because Pops prefers team defense on Curry (heavy doubles), with Kawhi as a floater/helper. Plus, it makes Parker's mismatch too exploitable. All I could find was Kawhi guarding Barnes, Iggy, Klay and sometimes Livingston. Curry only when in transitional defense, on rare occasions when Kawhi was the closest to him.

I can't recall how much Kawhi guarded Klay last year, as I was focused on looking at all of Curry's FGAs.

Fefo, I like your explanation why Pops might put Kawhi on Harden based on play style vs Klay. But I'm not so sure Klay actually runs all over the court as you say, since Curry is the one who does that. I've never seen an offense that can have two people doing picket fence screens at the same time. That might not be the huge difference that is sounds like on paper.

 

im not saying he runs all the time like curry, but i do think he runs through screens way more than harrison barnes. When they look for him to shoot the ball he is always coming out of screens. Thats why leonard dosent defend him. Green is just as good as leonard running around screens if not better, and of course he dosent have the same offensive responsabilities as kwahi, so why spend energy of your best player off in defense, if you can get the same results with another guy.

 

Yeah, I can see that.

Here's another part though. I doubt Pops is scared of the Rockets vs GSW. Any edge he can get (maybe not all game but key possessions) will Pops put Kawhi on Klay. If he never does, but has Kawhi on Harden most of the game against us Rockets, then he's thinking more about Harden, imo.

Then again, I wouldn't put it past Pops to go straight-up with GSW for every regular season game, and only reveal secret weapon strategy in the playoffs, since they are the main rival and he might not want to prematurely give them any free game video of something to practice.

 

2014-2015

Curry w/o Thompson
TS%: 59.2%
Offensive PPP: 1.17

http://nbawowy-52108.onmodulus.net/j8q7naq335hoajor#/j8q7naq335hoajor

2015-2016

Curry w/o Thompson
TS%: 59.1%
Offensive PPP: 1.19

http://nbawowy-52108.onmodulus.net/n2drsps840h8semi#/n2drsps840h8semi

I don't know what Pelton is using as net rating, so I can't pull that from this source.

 

Currys overall ts% is 68.9%, so Klay would appear to make a difference at first glance

63.8% last year

 

Klay Thompson: "I'm the best shooting guard in the NBA"

 

He's using points/36

 

Again, Klay is NOT a good defender. This is a myth. He is good on the ball, but gets lost off the ball, much like the player he is being compared too in this thread. The Golden State warriors have three players on their team (Bogut, Green and Iggy) who are or have been DPOY caliber defenders, not to mention Ezeli, who is pretty damn good in his own right. Thats their defensive system. You can keep claiming he is, but you are just wrong.

I am not sure how many times it needs to be explained. Klay Thompson is such a good shooter because he gets so many good looks. The Warrior bigs are excellent at setting screens and Curry draws so much defensive attention, a decent shooter like Klay feasts on the great looks he is given.

Seriously watch the highlights

It is nothing but wide open three pointers, easy transition buckets, and a few screened give and goes. This is all system generated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGZyFDWrU4g

What the hell does Kawhi Leonard have to do with this?

 

That doesn't make any sense.

Points per 36 is a completely different column, the first one. Its a mostly worthless volume statistic.

Net rating is his last column which I have seen different formulas for, so without knowing how he is calculating it, I cannot replicate.

 

Lol at giving Klay zero credit for being a great off the ball player who can get open.

Also, Ariza get tons of open looks and it doesn't exactly translate into elite shooting.

Also, this system stuff is backwards. Klay would be great in most systems. Imagine him playing off the ball with Harden.

Is there a system klay wouldn't be good in? That's opposite of system player

 

Translation: I'm switiching to the 'ol eye test to judge Klay, because the advanced metrics aren't saying what I want them to say.

 

You don't think he's using points/36 with Curry on/off ?

 

Never mind I looked at It closely. Not sure either.

 

Plenty of people are giving him credit. He's either top 2 or 3 SG in the league and an all-star based on every response in this thread. He's a great off-ball player. Don't make him into something he's not.

Peja was one of the best shooters in history, absolutely incredible off the ball. That doesn't make him Paul Pierce. Pierce could create his own shot, Peja couldn't. That's why Pierce hit clutch shot after clutch shot throughout his career while Peja was never a go to guy.

 

Agree with what you're saying. Just interesting how some people want to ignore advanced stats all of a sudden when they show for this year only Klay is comparable to Harden.

Prior years. Not close

 

Kawhi is waiting klay.

 

All the metrics say his defense is crap. The people saying he's a good defender are using the eye test argument

 

What defensive metrics? Most public stuff isn't good

 

All of the available ones? which one(s) do you like?

 

Morey said there aren't really any good ones so I generally don't use metrics for defense.

Was curious which ones you use