In 1986, the classic movie "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise was released. He was a handsome young man who fell into ruin several times and finally rose to prominence and rivaled the sky. In the same year, Jason Thompson was born. A week ago, when he landed in Guangdong, he was simply the "Tom Cruise" in the eyes of fans. However, he wanted to fight in the sky, but he had to experience the pain of a hero.
Guangdong and Zhejiang competed in the fourth round of the season, with tragic and exciting music resounding. The master of the king once again faced off against the rising star of the world. In the first three games, Zhejiang suffered a disastrous defeat in the opening game and lost ten championships. After three years of building a dream, they became famous in one game. In the last two games, Guangdong showed its dominance, but did not want to compete in Huashan. Both sides suffered losses and had no impact on the rankings in the fourth game. , the momentum was slightly weaker, but the fighting and killing did not decrease at all.
Thompson is undoubtedly the protagonist of the fourth game. When the playoffs are about to come, everyone who pays attention to the championship situation will focus on him. He played 20 minutes in this game and scored 15 points on 6 of 8 shots. Points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocks. Guangdong scored in double figures for the first time in three games in his career. All attacks were in the penalty area.
Tom Cruise cheered up, but before he had time to look at the data, he suffered the first defeat of his Guangdong career, losing by 24 points. At the same time, he committed 6 fouls and left the game in 20 minutes. This also tied Thompson's record for the fastest fouls in his career. The last time was on March 10, 2019, when Thompson, who was playing for Sichuan, faced Bayi. Unexpectedly, the Tiejun, who was wearing an eight-star championship jersey that night, had a skin bonus. Scored 40 points in the first quarter and won their 10th win of the season.
6's foul is not a big deal, but the key is against Zhejiang.
This is the third time that Thompson graduated with 6 fouls against Zhejiang. He has played for 4 CBA teams in his career. Except for staying at 5 fouls in Beijing Control last season, he is currently in three teams in Sichuan, Shandong and Guangdong. They all faced Zhejiang's mistakes and met their end. This is by no means good news for Guangdong. Thompson was already 30 years old when he first came to the CBA, and Zhejiang always likes to play small and fast. Under high-speed impact, Thompson paid more fouls than usual. In this game, he just He received two fouls in the last few minutes. It was no accident.
Under the impact of Morris -Endor, Lai Junhao , Liu Zeyi, Nicholas Rakosevic, Wang Zailu and others, Thompson looked particularly bulky, and his weakness in the penalty area was eaten up by Zhejiang It was very clear that the Zhejiang team adhered to the principle of one more pass and one more transfer near the penalty area, forcing Thompson to be mobilized frequently, completely seizing the loophole of his large body and slow turn, thus forcing him to foul.
Zhejiang does not have heavy insiders. Zhang Dayu is already the strongest in the rotation with a height of 214cm and a weight of 109kg. He has not played in this game. Among the remaining players, the heaviest one is Liu Zeyi who weighs 103kg, which is much more than Thompson. 10KG lighter. The two foreign aids Rakosevic and Endo, plus Lai Junhao, are all insiders weighing less than 100kg, but they have the same characteristics, they are good at flying and dunking, and move fast, like a group of fighter jets in the sky. Let the confused Tom hesitate.
Looking at Rakosevic and Endor, Thompson's eyes were full of shadows of his twenties.
When he was young, Thompson was also a high-flying player. He went to Reed University in 2004 and became the team's scoring leader from the second year on. He averaged 20+10 per game in his junior and senior seasons. By the way, in After he graduated, his younger brother, Ryan, led the team in scoring. In four years, Thompson's team never made it to the NCAA tournament. However, with his outstanding talent, the Sacramento Kings selected him with the 12th overall pick in the first round of 2008.
Thompson, who entered NBA, quickly realized his physical talent. In his rookie year, he averaged 11.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and completed 91 dunks. On January 21, 2009, the Kings faced the Nuggets. Thompson met the same second-round pick Sony Wilms for the first time on the court. Thompson started the game and scored 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Wilms did not wait until the end of the game. He only came on the field during garbage time and made 0 of 5 shots.It was the second game of Wilms' NBA career. One of the two people that day was a proud man of heaven, and the other was a little guy who was fighting against fate. He didn't expect that 12 years later, there would be such a reversal of fate in the CBA.
's superior physical condition later became the only highlight of Thompson's career. He started high but went low. In the second season, he averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, which became the highest peak of his career. The dunk record in his rookie year could not be surpassed in the following seven seasons. . Unable to develop delicate offensive skills, Thompson could only rely on the offensive end and defensive rebounding to gain a foothold. After playing for the Kings for 7 seasons, he moved to the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors in the 15-16 season. , and then disappeared from the NBA.
Thirty-year-old Thompson could not find a job, so he went overseas to find a new world.
16-17 season, he averaged 19.4 points, 14.3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game for the Shandong team, with a shooting percentage of 57.1%. Then he went to Fenerbahce Ulk in the Turkish League for one year. In the 18-19 season, he returned to the Sichuan team and surpassed Qingdao foreign player Dakari Johnson with an average of 14.9 rebounds per game that season, taking over the rebounding title this season. Last season, he played for Beijing Control, and the three foreign players also attacked Guangdong.
As he grew older, Thompson was first eliminated by the NBA, and then made some achievements in the CBA, but he was never able to develop new offensive skills to continue his career at the peak. It's not that he didn't try. In the 18-19 season in Sichuan, he averaged 2 three-pointers per game, but his shooting percentage was only 27.3%. Later, he was no longer allowed to try under Stephen Marbury . Nowadays, he can still dominate lightweight opponents in the low post, but his performance is lackluster when facing double teams or opponents who do not have a physical advantage.
Thompson and Guangdong have only played 3 games in total, and even trained together for only a week. It is really not easy for the whole team to find a suitable way to feed them in a short period of time. Thompson's struggle is also reasonable. Guangdong may value Thompson's defense and rebounding skills more, but this seemed to be frustrated when facing Zhejiang.
How much of Thompson’s rebounding skills are left?
Thompson, who is already 34 years old and will turn 35 in three months, is of course not as good as he was back then. In fact, his performance in the CBA has been revealing this information. In the past 4 seasons, his offensive rebounds have dropped from 4.3. In the 3 games he played for Guangdong, he only grabbed 4 offensive rebounds. In the season when he won the rebounding title in Sichuan, he averaged 3.8 offensive rebounds per game, which seemed very good. It's scary. In fact, Dakari, who first entered the CBA in his prime, had 5.8. Thompson did a better job of protecting rebounds.
Guangdong actually expects a faster moving Su Wei for Thompson, and a taller Zeng Fanri , but unfortunately, with a short running-in time, he is currently catching up with Su Wei. Wei, defensively caught up with Zeng Fanri. Of course, his fuel tank is not empty. With a shooting percentage of over 60%, active rebound protection, and blocking shots that dare to challenge defenders inside, there are still bright spots on both ends of the offense and defense. There is still some time before the real decisive battle. Cruise's defeat against the Zhejiang fighter group at this time is an excellent summary material.
Having said that, it is still a little surprising that the Zhejiang fighter group suddenly took off in the absence of Wu Qian and Sylvan Landsberg. Since Landsberg, who occupied nearly 30 minutes per game, was out, Endo got more than 30 minutes for the first time, shooting 10 of 15, scoring 23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 5 offensive rebounds. Except for total rebounds, all statistics are career highs.
Endor's performance caused many commentators to say, isn't this the CBA version of Kevin Garnett?
Senegal The big man has very typical sports genes of African descent. He is tall and thin and can run and jump with great athletic ability. In his senior year, he averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.7 assists per game for the Ohio University Bobcats.Like Thompson, he has not played in a championship in four years. However, he was undrafted in 2015 and played 4 preseason games for the Mavericks. Then he went to Europe to join Real Madrid and was teammates with Luka Doncic. Thinking about it, at this time in Endor, the Mavericks should already be paying attention to Luka.
Endor is the younger, shorter and faster Thompson. He briefly worked with Carmelo- Anthony in the Knicks in the 16-17 season. His European career was not very successful, and he was the best. The season is the 18-19 season, averaging 10 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. However, he is similar to Thompson throughout his career, with a good pie-eating efficiency and being quite active on offensive rebounds.
What everyone didn't expect was that when facing Guangdong, Endo broke out in full force. In the last match, he was left open by Guangdong's defense and missed two mid-range shots. However, when they met again, he faced the slow-footed Thompson and showed off his dribbling and mid-range shots, and he did not fall behind at all in terms of aerial operations, which he is better at. The deft performance when facing heavy insiders should be a big gain for Zhejiang, especially before the start of the playoffs. This will become a hidden killer move on the Liu Weiwei guidance tactical board.
Under the leadership of Enduo, Zhejiang is running forward like a wild horse.
Zhejiang played like Guangdong in the past, a sports car with no brakes and only accelerator, constantly moving forward, the insider can keep up with the team's switching speed, full attack and full defense, ever-changing, in the past Du Feng's guidance was the best What we hope Guangdong can do, Zhejiang has done today. Liu Ze ran like a defender, hitting 7 of 9 in the penalty area. Lai Junhao, Rakosevic, and Endo took turns bombing the basket.
was liberated from a faster pace by Lin Xiaotian, who had struggled in the past. After watching it, many fans praised him as the defender whose passing vision is second only to Wu Qian in Zhejiang. This is a bit exaggerated. In terms of rhythm control and In terms of position deployment, both Wang Yibo and are better. However, Lin Xiaotian, a left-handed player with a height of 192cm, has better physical fitness. During the transition between offense and defense, he can see and provide better assists than Wang Yibo. Compared with Lin Xiaotian, who used to dribble through the single block and then pull up from mid-range, today He is what director Liu Weiwei and his father Lin Youqing, a famous player in horse racing, want to see.
Zhejiang played very fiercely. It is said that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. Lin Xiaotian had 12 assists. In 2002, young player Shi Zhenkai scored 14 points in his career debut. Insider Lai Junhao made 4 three-pointers. Wang Yibo also had a super backhand at the end. Pulling the lever, even Wang Zailu played efficiently. Attack opponents with speed and agility, use breakthroughs to kill the basket to create three-point opportunities, and pass in and out of the penalty area to mobilize opponents inside. All these Guangdong special skills have been demonstrated by Zhejiang.
Zhejiang took off and played heartily. Guangdong's Tom Cruise fell into confusion about the blue sky and wanted to go up to the sky to catch the bright moon. Guangdong and him still have a chance, but before that, they still need to solve the confusion in the tactical link, especially The key point is whether the Guangdong players will adapt to Thompson, or whether Thompson will try to catch up with Guangdong's rhythm. When he is on the court, whether Guangdong's offense and defense are slower or faster, and whether more zone defenses should be attempted on the defensive end, all need to be confirmed urgently.
In "Top Gun", Tom Cruise went through many twists and turns and almost gave up, but he finally proved that the blue sky belongs to the brave.
