Jason Thompson?

[Bro Johnson]

I don't fully understand why, but after his rookie season I thought Jason Thompson was going to be a beast !

Just out of curiosity... What happened with Thompson's development (or lack thereof)?

[teerfour+40LG]

I don't fully understand why, but after his rookie season I thought Jason Thompson was going to be a beast !

Just out of curiosity... What happened with Thompson's development (or lack thereof)?

80+ different team mates. 6 different coaches in 6 years. The dumb, cheap, and Sacramento-hating Maloofs owned the team for 5 of those 6. He's still a good back up center in the west and workable starter. He can rebound, can hit a midrange jumper (over 40%), shoots 50%, and has solid athleticism. His (pick n roll) defense isn't a huge liability if there are decent defenders in the back court, and he's fine on defense otherwise.

[Nicky Nix Nook]

I had high hopes for Thompson as well. He plays hard and can do some things fairly well, but he's kind of a 6'11 adhd toddler in a china shop.

[City of Trees]

In my opinion his mental toughness has hindered his development. Thompson probably believes he has never committed a foul or any type of traveling violation. Im also quite sure that Jason believes he is fouled on every shot attempt. He spends so much time playing in frustration with the refs that it has hurt his development.

[SactoKingsFan]

Earlier in his career I thought JT's ceiling was 13-15 PTS, 8-10 RBS and good defense. I think the revolving coach door and various roster changes halted his development. Now JT's just a decent overpaid backup big.

[enderwilson]

Mental toughness is lacking, I'd agree. I'd say IQ too. He's not that dumb, but I see him has slightly below average. He's a high energy guy, but more often than not it seems like uncontrolled, untempered energy that's not used wisely. One of the problems with this team overall is defense. The problem there is a lack of coordination among the players to play team D. Much of this falls on the Coach, but the players on this team have gotten too used to the idea of everyone playing individual D. Jason is a clear example of this. I cannot count the number of times where he's been pulled out of position, or is too late to rotate in order to stop a play. His man D is fine. But if his man sets a screen, he doesn't recognize soon enough the need to rotate to cut off the lane or hedge on the screen to give his teammate time to recover. A perfect example of that is the video bashing BMac. Watching it critically I see multiple instances where Jason's man sets a pick on BMac and Jason simply watches and realizes too late that he needs to step out to prevent the penetration.

But ultimately, yea, teerfour is right. Thompson's underdevelopment is likely a casualty of an unorganized and unstable franchise. I have higher hopes for our current FO and their ability to develop the talent we've been accumulating. The Maloof's set a tragically low bar making it hard not to exceed it.

[KF10]

JT is the biggest complainer on the court. Sometimes he let calls affect his game and that's a no no. He strikes me as a smart dude outside of basketball but on the court, he's the opposite. Or at the very least, his bball/emotional IQ is lower in contrast to his non-basketball IQ.

He plays far too aggressive on both sides of the floor and that leads to infuriating fouls. He plays defense with his hands, not with his feet and this leads to stupid touch fouls.

[OGSactownballer]

If he would lean to shut his goddamn mouth with the refs he could potentially be one of the best third big contract values on the league.

[Sacramento_King]

Yeah agree with everyone's points. JT has been hurt by stability of organization, our lack of coaching to provide any type of meaningful development and his emotions.

[teerfour+40LG]

A perfect example of that is the video bashing BMac. Watching it critically I see multiple instances where Jason's man sets a pick on BMac and Jason simply watches and realizes too late that he needs to step out to prevent the penetration.

Great call, dude. I noticed the same thing. I mentioned his pick and roll D. The lineup stats kinda an interesting story too.

This lineup allows 0.95 PPP: IT - Thornton - Gay - Thompson - Cousins. Replace Thornton with McLemore, a worse pick and roll defender, and all of a sudden it gives up 1.08 PPP. BUT, now replace Thompson with Reggie Evans, and it goes back to allowing only 0.94 PPP even with Ben McLemore still there. I guess Reggie Evans can move his feet.

Basically, the lineup stats say we need the SG or PF to be a good PNR defender.

[Bro Johnson]

Interesting, I knew the Kings turned over coaches quite frequently but never realized that they had 6 different coaches in 6 years...

I just remember a game or two against the Nets where Thompson took the ball coast to coast and I was left thinking with the way this guy can move he's got a good chance of becoming a star...

[PaKwAn]

There was a time when we called jt and spencer as our front court of the future. ..

[OGSactownballer]

Interesting, I knew the Kings turned over coaches quite frequently but never realized that they had 6 different coaches in 6 years...

I just remember a game or two against the Nets where Thompson took the ball coast to coast and I was left thinking with the way this guy can move he's got a good chance of becoming a star...

See when we drafted him, the fact that he was a late grower and started out playing as a guard seemed like a great thing. Unfortunately, many basketball people feel the need to pigeonhole - especially when a guy is drafted to fit a specific need. I honestly feel that JT was a victim of this. He was seen here as being a "big" from the get to and criticized for not being that his rookie year. The. They had a parade of second rate big men coaches who tried to teach him post back-to-basket play. I always felt that he was better served - and so would we have been - being taught to home his skills as a stetch four rather than try to be a post guy.

[ICMTM]

Could not agree more OG!

I thought he would have been better off developing a face up game. I have never seen him play well with his back to the basket, and I have thought he was money from 18 feet at one point in time. I think Westphal ruined him.

The funny thing is we hate on JT but he has outplayed any and everyone who has came here to play PF.

[OGSactownballer]

Exactly correct.

Everyone constantly attacks his bitchng to the refs and his contract. What they fail to take into account is that the guy has always adapted as best he can to do what the coach and organization has asked of him. He has never bitched about being sent to the bench in favor of inferior players. He has always been a good locker room guy and teammate. He has been an excellent member of the community.

I really think he has gotten a raw deal here and has the potential of moving to an upper playoff level team or contender and immediately showing up as a great third big.

[enderwilson]

He's gotten a raw deal in the sense that he's been thrown into a crappy situation that prevented his growth as an athlete. I don't think he'd complain about his contract though. His contract sucks in large part because this organization probably hasn't used him effectively. Again the consequence of not having a stable franchise and coaches that understood how to effectively use what their players brought to the team.