The 3-point revolution is still in full swing in the NBA, with seemingly every player willing and able to chuck it from deep. Teams are more reliant on the 3 than ever before, and by and large, most of the top contending teams in the league also rank highly in 3s made per game. The Detroit Pistons are the exception to the rule, because only the lowly Mavs and Kings make less 3s per game than they do.
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The Rockets are the only other top-four team in either conference to rank in the bottom five in 3s made per game, and perhaps it’s not a coincidence, because one thing both teams have in common is that they each have a Thompson brother.
Amen Thompson plays for the Rockets and is a rising star. He’s currently averaging 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, and he’s doing it while almost completely ignoring the outside shot.
His brother Ausar is in the same boat shooting-wise, though he’s not as productive in most other areas. Ausar is averaging 10.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists, but the lack of floor spacing his presence creates is becoming a problem for the East’s top seed.
The Pistons lost to the Spurs on Monday night, and Ausar was conspicuously absent in crunch time, playing just 18 minutes in total, his lowest number in over a month. Afterwards, the No Fouls Given guys discussed how this could bite the Pistons when it matters.
“I thought he kinda stuck out like a sore thumb because at the end of the game when they were trying to catch up, the coach was like ‘yo man, we gotta go with guys like Duncan Robinson and guys we think can spruce the shooting,’ Wosny Lambre said.
“Because at certain points, they were like let’s put Wemby on Ausar Thompson, meaning he doesn’t have to guard anybody and he can just roll. Now it’s 5-on-4. You’re playing against a Wemby defense 5-on-4?! That’s death,” he explained.
The whole thing reminded Danny Green of something similar he experienced. “It reminded me of when I was in Philly and we had Matisse Thybulle,” he said.
“He was capable of shooting, but he wasn’t confident. [Defenses] were not reactive, so the big can guard him and also play in the paint and roam. It puts you at a disadvantage. Ausar, he’s got some things to work on,” Green pointed out.
Green looked ahead to a possible playoff matchup with the Knicks, who in all fairness, the Pistons have owned this season. Green even said Detroit gave New York “belt to a**“ when they completed a season sweep of them last week, but in the playoffs, he expects Mike Brown to match big men Mitchell Robinson or Karl-Anthony Towns up with Ausar and dare him to shoot.
Like Thybulle, Ausar is a defensive dynamo, someone who thrives on being able to steal the ball. Like Thybulle, though, his shooting hasn’t really evolved at all, forcing the Pistons into a difficult decision of whether they’re willing to sacrifice offense for defense in tough games.
Thybulle wasn’t the only non-shooter Green played with on the Sixers. He also played alongside Ben Simmons, whose infamous lack of confidence in his shot derailed his entire career. With that in mind, Green had some advice to Ausar that he said Doc Rivers used to give to Simmons.
“I know Ben Simmons is not what we expected him to be,” Green said, “but when we had Doc coaching, that’s what he would tell Ben. Like yo, if they’re not gonna play you, sometimes you attack, but be a DHO guy.”
“You should be DHO’ing the hell out of people, because you’re gonna get your shooters wide open, because eventually that big has to come out the paint, and then you can roll and be effective. So you gotta be a great screener when they’re not guarding you,” the veteran advised.
We’ll see if JB Bickerstaff makes that adjustment going forward, or if Ausar remains relegated to the bench in tight spots in favor of guys who can shoot and space the floor.
Either way, it’s a problem the Pistons will have to contend with if they want to make a deep playoff run, and it’s an adjustment Ausar will need to make if he doesn’t want to see his career go the same way as Green’s former Sixers teammates.
