Is Klay Thompson overrated?

[FNQ]

That's how it works in ANY industry my friend.

The higher you get paid, the higher responsibilities you have and higher standards your held to. For example, y do you think doctors and surgeons get paid so much? Because their held responsible for medical liabilities.

Works that way in sports too. Why do you think so many Laker fans have turned on Kobe the last 2-3 years? Because he signed for so much money while playing like crap. Had Kobe signed for like $3M/yr type contract then nobody would have a problem with how he plays.

Money talks. If Barnes thinks he's max contract worthy, then yes he will be held to max contract standards too.

yo....some of you posters just straight up sound like bandwagoners no lie. you guys do realize we are 30-2 and with 4 players out right? not to mention coming off a championship season....I was over the moon when we got J rich as our 2 and you mofos wanna talk about trading klay..

dub nation we've been spoiled

So, would you criticize a Chiropractor for not being able to perform brain surgery after he got a pay rise for being a really good Chiropractor?

No I would expect him to be the best chiropractor in the city if he's getting paid like the best chiropractor in the city.

I wouldn't ask him to step into another COMPLETELY DIFFERENT profession.

Why doesnt Bogut score more than Steph, make a bigger impact? He's paid more

[sikma42]

for the people down on Klay...what 2 guard in the entire freaking world would make the Warriors better? wait, ill answer it... a player like this doesnt exist in the entire damn world.

He earns every bit of his paycheck. Guy is a top 15 ish player in the league.

[a8bil]

And, back under their rocks go all the Klay detractors. LOL.

I agree that the opinions of some posters are way to harsh on this board and that he gets overly criticized occasionally. That said, there are a lot of games in which he can be frustrating because of his lack of awareness on the court at times. And today really does not disprove anything in this regard since we already know that Klay can be as hot as very few players in the league can be - but we also know that he is prone to inconsistency.

i guess I just see it differently. I don't see Klay as a ball dominant playmaker, so I have no expectations of him suddenly becoming Steph or Harden when Steph is off the floor. I do expect Klay to play good perimeter defense, to move well without the ball and to be taking good shots, i.e., play within the context of our offense. Klay pretty consistently does all of that, and does it very well.
If Klay's TS% was .52, I could understand the complaints, but he's effectively at .60%, which is outstanding for a SG. I just think there is a bizarre standard Klay is held to by certain posters.

I also think a lot of posters here don't understand how important Klay is to our overall offense. It seems that some fans think a player sucks unless he can pound the ball, go ISO and drive the hoop through traffic. They don't appreciate the impact of a player who moves without the ball and can catch and shoot at a high percentage. The threat of Klay's outside shooting--whether he's making his shots or not--spreads the floor, creates open lanes and draws defensive attention. Dray gets lots of wide open looks because the defense's attention is focused on keeping track of where Klay is coming around picks and back screens.

I only get frustrated with Klay when he breaks from the playbook and starts forcing shots like he is Kobe. I can accept missed shots from Klay when he's taking good shots. I only have a problem when Klay is forcing shots.

[likashing]

Why doesnt the SG with minimal iso skills score more without our one consistent shot creator? Does it need further explanation?

Let's throw a party for Klay's first productive 40 minutes without Steph this season. Yay!

Btw I so hope he proves me wrong in the next 500 minutes so I don't need to watch the Klay in the Mavs and Bucks game where he hid under the rock.

It shows the team's structure is there for Klay to get points. The difference between tonight and his bad performance is whether he goes after it and play like he is capable of.

After so many years and a $70m contract I am amazed that this board still need to help Klay find excuses when he doesn't show up when he is needed.

Yes, at his second attempt, Curry having only missed 2 games as far as I recall.

They are devastating the NBA to an almost unprecedented degree with Curry, which is significantly due to Curry being such a unique player. I think they can be forgiven for taking a single game to come up with an alternative scheme with a rookie interim coach.

In the Bucks game where Klay rested the game before, and everyone else was tired from the previous ot game, Klay played like crap too when he was needed.

This season in minutes without Steph during games, Klay has been shooting 27%.

So Klay's problem without Steph is not just the Mavs game. It's not just the second attempt. His issue has been all season. That's where the frustration comes from.

But the Rockets game is a great start. Hope he has figured it out. And we see him pick up the slack more often than 1/4 or 1/2 of the time when he rolls without Steph.

No one expects him to be Westbrook like when Durant was out. But at least put up some points efficiently more than half of the time.

[likashing]

And, back under their rocks go all the Klay detractors. LOL.

I agree that the opinions of some posters are way to harsh on this board and that he gets overly criticized occasionally. That said, there are a lot of games in which he can be frustrating because of his lack of awareness on the court at times. And today really does not disprove anything in this regard since we already know that Klay can be as hot as very few players in the league can be - but we also know that he is prone to inconsistency.

i guess I just see it differently. I don't see Klay as a ball dominant playmaker, so I have no expectations of him suddenly becoming Steph or Harden when Steph is off the floor. I do expect Klay to play good perimeter defense, to move well without the ball and to be taking good shots, i.e., play within the context of our offense. Klay pretty consistently does all of that, and does it very well.
If Klay's TS% was .52, I could understand the complaints, but he's effectively at .60%, which is outstanding for a SG. I just think there is a bizarre standard Klay is held to by certain posters.

I also think a lot of posters here don't understand how important Klay is to our overall offense. It seems that some fans think a player sucks unless he can pound the ball, go ISO and drive the hoop through traffic. They don't appreciate the impact of a player who moves without the ball and can catch and shoot at a high percentage. The threat of Klay's outside shooting--whether he's making his shots or not--spreads the floor, creates open lanes and draws defensive attention. Dray gets lots of wide open looks because the defense's attention is focused on keeping track of where Klay is coming around picks and back screens.

I only get frustrated with Klay when he breaks from the playbook and starts forcing shots like he is Kobe. I can accept missed shots from Klay when he's taking good shots. I only have a problem when Klay is forcing shots.

I don't think that's how the people complain about Klay view Klay. No one expects him to force shots.

During individual games, people expect him to cut harder, driver harder, and be more decisive with the ball. Not the weak 1 handed floaters he missed a few times in the Mavs game. In the Rockets game he was great.

Over a longer term, people expect him to improve eg his handle off a screen, and also make better decisions off those situations. So he can be more effective when he attacks. He didn't make any improvement and his handle still sucks. We see Green, Steph making drastic improvements from last season when they were already great. Even Barnes improved somewhat by being more decisive and not stopping the ball when the opponents closed out his open 3.

We can all agree to disagree like Coxy says. Many think Klay is good but can improve over the summer, which he did not. but your argument is his style is different and people are unrealistic. That's why improvement is needed.

Hey people could think oh if Draymond could start the break off a rebound once in a while with both Steph and Klay it would be devastating. It wasn't Draymond's style right? Well he has made it another aspect of the game.

The difference between what you say and others is you are complacent with what Klay is. Any further expected improvement is unrealistic to you. While others see his potential and get frustrated by his lack of improvement overall, and lack of aggressiveness in individual games (not going iso, but being more decisive and cutting and driving harder etc so his shots can be 1-inch more open)

I don't know where this iso expectation is from. No one wrote it. You are just making thanks up.

[a8bil]

And, back under their rocks go all the Klay detractors. LOL.

Which rock? The one that says "Klay is better than PG13"?

Hmmm...I'ld be interested to see where I said Klay is "better" than PG13. I don't remember ever holding that thought. If that sounded like my position, then let me clarify that I don't think Klay is better than George. What I recall thinking is why do some people think George is much better than Klay.

You see, I don't watch George enough to know how good he is. What I do see is George's stats, and they tell me that George has never raised his TS% to a level above where Klay was at two years ago. You know, back at a time when posters like you were complaining that Klay was an inefficient chucker. Why is George considered by people like you to be a stud when his TS% is .55, and Klay is a "volume scorer" at the same level? Better yet, how do you elevate George over Klay, when Klay's TS% is .60, with better shooting numbers across the board? George has slightly better assist numbers, but his ast/tov ratio is the same as Klay's so its hard to make the case George is a better playmaker. The only stat that George has a material advantage over Klay on is rebounds...but are we evaluating these players on their rebounding effort?

Seems to me that you can't make the case that George is clearly the better player without engaging in some substantial hypocrisy. Why is that not true ( and please don't respond with, "you're crazy if you don't think PG13 is better than Klay." Make the case for why I or anyone else should consider him the obviously superior player.)?

[FNQ]

No one says he's a scrub. He is doing what he's supposed to as the $18m man. He has a good game.

For those telling ppl to eat crow after his performance today, this is like his first good game, or first good minutes without Steph this whole season. Bucks game, Mavs game and this game. That's like showing up 1/3 of the big games which he is needed.

I will eat crow gladly when he actually consistently shows up when needed / without Steph etc.

Why doesnt the SG with minimal iso skills score more without our one consistent shot creator? Does it need further explanation?

Let's throw a party for Klay's first productive 40 minutes without Steph this season. Yay!

Btw I so hope he proves me wrong in the next 500 minutes so I don't need to watch the Klay in the Mavs and Bucks game where he hid under the rock.

It shows the team's structure is there for Klay to get points. The difference between tonight and his bad performance is whether he goes after it and play like he is capable of.

After so many years and a $70m contract I am amazed that this board still need to help Klay find excuses when he doesn't show up when he is needed.

Nothing you said above addressed my post.
The team's structure is based around Curry, or at the very least, a shot creator. When our shot creators struggle or sit out, why does it not stand to reason that our off-ball shooter struggles?

The difference is simply making shots. He did nothingly different than the Mavs game except made his shots.

[Onus]

Why doesnt the SG with minimal iso skills score more without our one consistent shot creator? Does it need further explanation?

Let's throw a party for Klay's first productive 40 minutes without Steph this season. Yay!

Btw I so hope he proves me wrong in the next 500 minutes so I don't need to watch the Klay in the Mavs and Bucks game where he hid under the rock.

It shows the team's structure is there for Klay to get points. The difference between tonight and his bad performance is whether he goes after it and play like he is capable of.

After so many years and a $70m contract I am amazed that this board still need to help Klay find excuses when he doesn't show up when he is needed.

Nothing you said above addressed my post.
The team's structure is based around Curry, or at the very least, a shot creator. When our shot creators struggle or sit out, why does it not stand to reason that our off-ball shooter struggles?

The difference is simply making shots. He did nothingly different than the Mavs game except made his shots.

This is where Klay mentally needs to get to. When shots aren't falling for him, he seems to get down on himself. He doesn't have a way to get himself going or get to the line. It's probably because he usually doesn't have to since Steph is on the team, so there hasn't been a need for him to get there.

[Mylie10]

It's not without reason, just reaffirms two things:

- Klay is a complementary scorer, not a primary one
- Klay needs an actual PG (Iguodala and Green are not that, nor is Livi)

But someone has to be primary scorer when Curry sits, so it falls to Klay.

Livingston is an excellent point guard.

Give them all a minute to figure things out. We have some of the highest iq guys in the league and we already know they're competitive. It was just 1 game!

When I say 'actual PG' I mean playmaker, shot creator. Livingston is a very good player but he does not habitually create for others and hasnt since his big injury. So in lieu of freelancing like Curry does, Livi would probably benefit from more set plays that are designed to give him an A/B option to pass it to

Disagree a little bit. Not entirely.

Livingston is adept at finding guys with a one pass into a shot creation. What he doesn't do is over dribble and try to create in the way that guys like Tony Parker and Steve Nash do. Livingston has great vision and will hit cutters and make the right passes.

You made another point earlier in the thread that makes some sense. You said when Curry goes out we should change the way we play, or approach offense. I agree with that. I would give Livingston more free reign to play point guard on offense, rather than just playing the system ball that he is doing now.

Although last night they had 35 assists without Curry and the team really coalesced. It seems as though they really tried to force the system over having the guys try and be Steph Curry. They played good defense and then on offense ran multiple sets with tons of movement. It resulted in lots of easy baskets, and Klay was the only one not really moving the ball....which is fine.

[Mylie10]

I liked the fact that Klay grabbed 7 rebounds. Not so happy about zero assists, but based on the fact that we had 35 assists and Klay had 38 points it stands to reason that he was a huge part of that high assist total.

People forget the incredible amount of work he puts in defensively, as well as the amount of running he puts in on offense.

I think I'd like him to be more consistent on offense, but the guy is working his butt off. The only time I want to smack him is when he forces shots, as others have mentioned.

I used to really critique him in the past. But I have to say, the mere presence of Klay on the floor helps our overall offense tremendously. Even when inconsistent.

[Onus]

i think it's hard for fans to truly appreciate Klay with Steph on the team because they'll be compared even though they're different. But no doubt Klay is a top 3 sg and would start on every team even on the Bulls and Rockets.

[a8bil]

I don't think that's how the people complain about Klay view Klay. No one expects him to force shots.

During individual games, people expect him to cut harder, driver harder, and be more decisive with the ball. Not the weak 1 handed floaters he missed a few times in the Mavs game. In the Rockets game he was great.

Over a longer term, people expect him to improve eg his handle off a screen, and also make better decisions off those situations. So he can be more effective when he attacks. He didn't make any improvement and his handle still sucks. We see Green, Steph making drastic improvements from last season when they were already great. Even Barnes improved somewhat by being more decisive and not stopping the ball when the opponents closed out his open 3.

We can all agree to disagree like Coxy says. Many think Klay is good but can improve over the summer, which he did not. but your argument is his style is different and people are unrealistic. That's why improvement is needed.

Hey people could think oh if Draymond could start the break off a rebound once in a while with both Steph and Klay it would be devastating. It wasn't Draymond's style right? Well he has made it another aspect of the game.

The difference between what you say and others is you are complacent with what Klay is. Any further expected improvement is unrealistic to you. While others see his potential and get frustrated by his lack of improvement overall, and lack of aggressiveness in individual games (not going iso, but being more decisive and cutting and driving harder etc so his shots can be 1-inch more open)

I don't know where this iso expectation is from. No one wrote it. You are just making thanks up.

Wait...what? Klay has improved every offseason since he came into the league. His TS% has gone up every year. His unassisted drives has gone up. He's one of the most driven players on our team. You must be talking about someone else.

Iso ball is just short hand for a ball dominant player who has the handles to dribble drive. Klay is not that player. I think Klay does everything else at a very good level...in fact, there are few players in the league who play off the ball offensively as well as he does. He's not perfect and he does force some shots, but he's damn good, and given that his TS% continues to go up, you have to accept that he is getting better on shot choices, etc. More importantly, Klay is already a more efficient scorer than anyone else at his position outside of Harden, and Harden is just marginally ahead of him. For anyone to be bagging on him when he is already shooting at .6% TS is just being silly and unrealistic.

That doesn't mean I am complacent with who Klay is, I am just realistic about what his role is, and what he is and is not. Players who don't understand their strengths and weaknesses are typically the most frustrating players on the court. We had that with Monte. Offensively, Klay's strength is shooting and he is his most effective with the catch and shoot. His weakness his dribbling in traffic. I'm certain Klay works on his handles but its' one of those skills that I question how much he can improve upon. I'm not going to hold my breath that on the few occasions when Steph is not in the game, Klay's going to become our principal playmaker. He just isn't. He'll remain our off the ball scorer and be the best in the league at it.

[ILOVEIT]

No one says he's a scrub. He is doing what he's supposed to as the $18m man. He has a good game.

For those telling ppl to eat crow after his performance today, this is like his first good game, or first good minutes without Steph this whole season. Bucks game, Mavs game and this game. That's like showing up 1/3 of the big games which he is needed.

I will eat crow gladly when he actually consistently shows up when needed / without Steph etc.

^this. Thanks for saying it so I don't have to.

People assume that anytime someone criticizes Klay their saying "KLAY SUCKS WHATS HE DOING IN THE NBA SEND HIM DLEAGUE NOW"

Um...no, nobody's saying that or anything close to it.

I could say that seeing him go for 38 a night after he flat out sucks is EXACTLY what we are complaining about. But in this case I think it was the entire team just not knowing how to play without Curry. To their credit they figured it out ( plus they played an awful defensive team). To Klay's credit he had a good game against Houston.

But just as a bad game shouldn't spawn extreme views....a bounce back game doesn' erase his flaws. Klay is sort of a hot or not guy.....is not a number one option on a good team...has poor handles and is prone to mistakes in bunches.

So...nice game...same Klay. Glad to have him on the team.

[a8bil]

No one says he's a scrub. He is doing what he's supposed to as the $18m man. He has a good game.

For those telling ppl to eat crow after his performance today, this is like his first good game, or first good minutes without Steph this whole season. Bucks game, Mavs game and this game. That's like showing up 1/3 of the big games which he is needed.

I will eat crow gladly when he actually consistently shows up when needed / without Steph etc.

^this. Thanks for saying it so I don't have to.

People assume that anytime someone criticizes Klay their saying "KLAY SUCKS WHATS HE DOING IN THE NBA SEND HIM DLEAGUE NOW"

Um...no, nobody's saying that or anything close to it.

I could say that seeing him go for 38 a night after he flat out sucks is EXACTLY what we are complaining about. But in this case I think it was the entire team just not knowing how to play without Curry. To their credit they figured it out ( plus they played an awful defensive team). To Klay's credit he had a good game against Houston.

But just as a bad game shouldn't spawn extreme views....a bounce back game doesn' erase his flaws. Klay is sort of a hot or not guy.....is not a number one option on a good team...has poor handles and is prone to mistakes in bunches.

So...nice game...same Klay. Glad to have him on the team.

See, I just don't understand this POV, unless you equate a #1 scoring option to a ball dominant scorer, like Jordan, Harden, Curry, LeBron. Clearly, Klay is not and likely never will be that. However, there are #1 scoring options like Dirk who play more off the ball and rely on playmakers. I think Klay's career can be very much like Dirk's, with Klay being a better 3 pt shooter and defender, and Dirk being the better rebounder. Go back and look at Dirk's game logs over the years and you'll see the same kinds of variances in his scoring that you see with Klay, 25% one game, 65% the next...its the nature of players who score a lot from outside, but it is the threat of the 65% game that consistently spreads the floor and creates scoring opportunities for other players on the court.

[Mylie10]

Klay has been streaky a bit, but he is shooting right around 50% with 43% from three, and 80% from the line. Thems pretty good numbers folks.

[likashing]

See, I just don't understand this POV, unless you equate a #1 scoring option to a ball dominant scorer, like Jordan, Harden, Curry, LeBron. Clearly, Klay is not and likely never will be that. However, there are #1 scoring options like Dirk who play more off the ball and rely on playmakers. I think Klay's career can be very much like Dirk's, with Klay being a better 3 pt shooter and defender, and Dirk being the better rebounder. Go back and look at Dirk's game logs over the years and you'll see the same kinds of variances in his scoring that you see with Klay, 25% one game, 65% the next...its the nature of players who score a lot from outside, but it is the threat of the 65% game that consistently spreads the floor and creates scoring opportunities for other players on the court.

Your argument with Dirk is interesting so I actually looked up the game logs.

Dirk has played 1296 regular season games and his fg% is below 40% only 30% of the time.

Klay is much more likely to shoot below 40%. In fact, 41% of Klay's games have fg% below 40%. In addition, 14% of Klay's games is below 30%. So every 1-2 games out of 10, Klay will shot below 30%. Nearly half of Klay's games he shoots below 40%.

Bottom line is Klay needs to be more consistent and this is what everyone is asking for. He is anything but consistent right now.

Good try though.

[jason bourne]

Klay is very good, one of the best SGs and around #25 in the league, but his play is down a bit this season from last season. I was actually expecting more this season, i.e. more 30+ pt games. Not sure why he took so long to find his groove. I agree his weakness is his inconsistency, but you can't expect great shooting every game. He's entitled to some off-nights.

I did expect Klay to bounce back last night and he did so in spades. It was one of his better games this season if not his best one. Klay and the Ws didn't exactly shut Harden down last night which was one of the criticisms of him in the POs but Harden was trying to make a point and so was Klay. Klay beat him last night and beat Harden in REBs, and the Ws continued their dominance of the Rockets during the regular season. Harden usually gets REBs as well as assists and Klay kept him below his average of 6.1 REB and 6.8 AST. Harden averages 28.6 ppg and got 30 last night. He and Klay got into Klay saying he was the best shooting guard last night and for Klay beat him no question was icing on the cake .

Here's the youtube:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DdyV145MgU[/youtube]

[wraith985]

Didn't he have a back injury to start the year? I thought that was well-established as the reason he started slow.

He's a top-3 SG in a league where the SG position is kind of shallow at the moment. Taken in the context of the talent pool in the league and how well he fits his role on the team, I think he's not overrated. But if you expect the best SG in the league to play like Wade or Kobe, like it's been for the past 15 or so years, you're going to be disappointed. I really think most people are just so used to Kobe or Wade dominating games with slashing, midrange turnaround fadeaways, and other such shenanigans that they think it's a bit jarring for a top SG to look kind of like a 3-and-D guy. Harden's complete lack of defense I think is overlooked for precisely this reason.

[jason bourne]

Here's what Harden said the day before the game. Asked if Thompson’s comment adds any motivation to Thursday’s meeting, Harden left it at “No.” That's bullsh*t .

"An All-NBA third-team choice last season, Thompson had continued his recent roll in the three games since, averaging 19.6 points heading into Wednesday’s game in Dallas. Rockets guard James Harden, the first-team All-NBA guard last season and second-leading scorer this season behind Stephen Curry, did not seem concerned if his own reputation has been diminished by the Rockets’ struggles and did not argue Thompson’s assessment of the shooting guard hierarchy.

“People are going to talk,” Harden said. “Just let them talk and do whatever they’re going to do. Whatever gets them excited and whatever gives them that confidence to want to talk, just go ahead and do it. But we really know what’s going on.”

Asked if Thompson’s comment adds any motivation to Thursday’s meeting, Harden left it at “No.”"

Here
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/james-harden-on-klay-thompson-just-let-them-talk/#zoVuc8QQvOEhqOGC.99

[jason bourne]

Didn't he have a back injury to start the year? I thought that was well-established as the reason he started slow.

He's a top-3 SG in a league where the SG position is kind of shallow at the moment. Taken in the context of the talent pool in the league and how well he fits his role on the team, I think he's not overrated. But if you expect the best SG in the league to play like Wade or Kobe, like it's been for the past 15 or so years, you're going to be disappointed. I really think most people are just so used to Kobe or Wade dominating games with slashing, midrange turnaround fadeaways, and other such shenanigans that they think it's a bit jarring for a top SG to look kind of like a 3-and-D guy. Harden's complete lack of defense I think is overlooked for precisely this reason.

Yeah, he did have a back injury and a sprained ankle later. Well, that explains his slow start. We're almost 40% done with the season so he still has time to get back on track as long as he performs like last night. Man, he, Dray and the Warriors made our new years start out right.