THOMPSON IS ON THE REBOUND
Cavaliers’ Canadian big man says he won’t be dominated again like he was in Game 1
Tristan Thompson is pretty much flying solo when it comes to flying the Canadian flag at the NBA Finals.
Sure, Steve Nash, the former Phoenix Suns great and general manager of Canada’s national team, has left his imprint working with various members of the Golden State Warriors in his capacity as a team development consultant. But it is Thompson front and centre in these Finals, starting alongside LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving and directly responsible for a lot of their individual and team success.
It was a motivated Thompson that addressed the media between Game 1 and Game 2 after an uncharacteristic Game 1 stat line.
The native of Brampton, Ont., is normally the guy doing all the dirty work, battling fellow bigs under the basket and pulling down rebounds either ending an opponent’s possessions or extending the Cavs’ possessions.
That didn’t happen so much in Game 1, and no one was more disappointed than Thompson.
“Trash,” he replied when asked to assess his first game. “Trash. I have to be better. I have to bring more energy, make it tough for them. I know they’re watching film and something for them it’s to keep me off the glass. It’s going to be a wrestling match down there, and you have to keep it going and make it tough for them and just try to wear them out.
“Make them run a lot of pick-and-rolls,” the 26-year-old said of his plan for redemption ahead of Game 2 on Sunday. “Just take it to another level. Playing against the Warriors, you can’t just play hard: You have to play hard to a level where it’s past the thermostat. It’s a different level with this team. So guys have to be reminded — I have to be reminded — that against this team, you have to go balls out.”
Forgive Thompson the crude reference. He’s just not accustomed to having his lunch handed to him like the Warriors did in Game 1.
Thompson, more than any other member of the Cavs, has had to adapt to a whole new set of Warriors. This time last year, he was wrestling with Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli and even Anderson Varejao. All three have left and now he’s dealing with Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee.
“I think their frontcourt got better,” Thompson said. “With McGee being young and active — younger than Bogut — and being able to contest shots at the rim, they have gotten more athletic. But at the same time, with shot-blockers, you have to go into their body and take away their jumping ability and also throw a pump fake. He likes to block shots, and that’s what he brings to the table. If he is going to block shots, either throw him a pump fake or kick it out to the open guy.”
After Game 1, Cavaliers head coach Ty Lue and a handful of Thompson’s teammates came to his defence, pointing out the Warriors were sending two and sometimes three bodies at Thompson to ensure he was boxed out and unable to do his normal damage on the glass.
Pachulia questioned this assessment.
“I never heard a double-team or playing two or three guys on him,” Pachulia said. “At the end of the day, we got to play team defence. I mean, they have such great talent, especially offensively — their outside shooters, their penetrators and obviously we all know LeBron and Kyrie, what they’re capable (of doing). But we’re trying to get them out of their sweet spots and their comfort zone. That’s the biggest key for us.”
Pachulia did say if LeBron and Kyrie were concerns No. 1 and No. 2, Thompson was right there behind them at No. 3.
“It’s obvious that with his energy he tries to get offensive rebounds, crash the offensive glass, so we just try to take away some of his strengths,” Pachulia said. “Obviously, it’s impossible to take everything away — there’s a reason why their team is in the Finals — but if you take away some of the strengths they have, we love our chances every single game.”
Thompson, as disappointed as he was in his initial impact in this series, has been around long enough that he’s not going to take that negativity into Game 2. He said the opportunities for offensive rebounds — he still had three in the game — were there in Game 1 and it’s just a matter of fending off the Warriors’ efforts and getting to them in Game 2.
“It’s a long series,” Thompson said. “It’s like a boxing match. You have a lot of rounds, and tomorrow is Round 2. You have to be better, and it’s all in the past.
“You can’t get that back. You come out and you play well in Game 2, everyone will forget about Game 1.”
If he can, it will go a long way toward evening up this series.
Playing against the Warriors, you can’t just play hard: You have to play hard to a level where it’s past the thermostat. It’s a different level with this team.