Thompson heads up pick- and- roll defense
East’s top- seeded Cavs depend heavily on young forward- center vs. Pistons
Since forward- center Tristan Thompson learned the Detroit Pistons were the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first- round opponent, he has watched hundreds of Pistons pick- and- roll sets.
The coaching staff put video clips of Reggie Jackson- Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell- Pope- Drummond pick- and- rolls on Thompson’s iPad.
Before and after practice, at home or at the gym, Thompson, 25, will study those plays. “I break down every player’s tendencies — what they’re great at, what they like to do,” he told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “You have to know the personnel. You have to study.”
Against the Pistons’ steady stream of pick- and- roll plays, Thompson acquitted himself with a high grade during Cleveland’s 106- 101 Game 1 victory Sunday.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has made a decision to try to stop Detroit’s pickand-rolls, especially the Jackson- Drum- mond combination. “They’re the best pick- and- roll duo in the game, and we have to take away something,” Lue said. “I would rather take away that, and we have to build back out.”
That puts pressure on Thompson, who managed to help limit Detroit’s success.
“I think we frustrated Reggie Jackson a little bit and he couldn’t turn the corner on Tristan,” Lue said. “That’s why we start Tristan, because he is our best defensive big and we can do different things with him.”
What did the Cavaliers do to disrupt the Pistons on Sunday? They used an aggressive pick- and- roll defense, blitzing the man with the ball. That means the player defending the ballhandler and Thompson double- teamed the ball, trying to prevent that player from driving to the lane. After Thompson’s quick double- team, he must get back on his man.
It’s a delicate balance: stopping the guard with the ball and defending the big man going to the basket.
It requires a mobile, quick big man, and Thompson fits that role.
“If you play against an aggressive guard, you want to be up on the ball and stop the ball and take him away from getting to the rim,” Thompson said. “Take a team that has a dynamic roll man, say DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, who play above the rim with alley- oops. You don’t want them getting behind you for alleyoop lobs.”
The Pistons run a stream of pick-androlls, a play that is a staple of coach Stan Van Gundy’s offense. He coaches the play well, and his teams, going back to his Orlando Magic days, run that play with a unique style, usually accentuated by shooters at the three- point line.
Even though the Pistons made 15 three- pointers at a 51.7% clip in Game 1, they were 22nd in three- point shooting percentage during the regular season. That’s why Lue will live with Detroit’s three- point attempts for now.
He wants his defenders to close out on shooters with effort and with hands up.
If Thompson can help slow Detroit’s pick- and- roll, the Cavs like their ability to limit Detroit’s shooting in a best- ofseven series.
Thompson, who signed a five- year, $ 82 million deal just before the season started, averaged 7.8 points and shot a career- high 58.8% from the field. Thompson, who is in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for most of the season, finished 10th in the Sixth Man of the Year voting and had two points Sunday.
None of that depicts Thompson’s importance to Cleveland, especially defensively.
“I don’t care what other teams think ( or) what other people think about him,” Lue said. “This team and myself, ( we) value him at a high level. He’s the pulse of our team as far as what we want to do offensively and defensively. To me, he’s way bigger than that.”