Turner McDermott vs. Thompson Teague

[Rondo9]

I think I'd rather have Thompson than Turner, especially with the championship experience.


Thompson is a guy who should be able to match up with Bam but also stay on the floor if the opponent goes small.


Turner is a better shot blocker  and can shoot, but he's slight.  Also, I don't think he's as good at the little things that Brad cares about a lot, e.g. screening, dribble handoffs, passing, etc.

These stats scared me about Thompson:

And again, [Turner’s] interior defense is elite. Teams shot just 51 percent inside of six feet when being defended by Turner last season, per NBA.com, which is an elite mark and just three ticks off Rudy Gobert's 48-percent clip.

Thompson, meanwhile, gave up a bucket 56 percent of the time inside six feet each of the last two seasons, and he gave up a 66-percent clip in 2017-18. He's a big body and feels like more of a bruiser, but he's also two inches shorter than Turner and, again, can't shoot. The Celtics are, pretty simply, a worse team with Thompson than they would've been with Turner, and this is to say nothing of losing Hayward.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/gordon-hayward-myles-turner-and-the-celtics-failed-sign-and-trade-that-could-end-up-being-a-big-mistake/

If the Celtics could get Turner, then wouldn't Tatum, Brown and Smart push Anige to do so? Considering they've played in Team USA a year ago? I mean even during the Olympics, Popovic played Brown at center for times rather than Turner.

We have no idea what the players advocated.  Also, the Team USA thing is a bit irrelevant.  I think Pops would have played Brown over Thompson, too.  It’s a whole different game in international competition.

But he played Brown over Turner despite the team lacking height and the fact that they've overwhelmed by larger teams. If Turner was good, then he clearly should've gotten more playing time against the taller teams.

[PhoSita]

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/gordon-hayward-myles-turner-and-the-celtics-failed-sign-and-trade-that-could-end-up-being-a-big-mistake/

Thompson was playing defense behind Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, and Kevin Love.  Tough gig.


Thompson is similar physically to Daniel Theis and should have a similar ability to stay in front of / contest against perimeter guys.  The Celts were pretty good last year at defending the paint despite giving up inches inside.



For my money, in playoff basketball the most important thing is to not put guys out there who are gonna get cooked on switches by dangerous perimeter players.  Thompson is a better guy to have in that sense than Turner.

[PhoSita]

Thompson has been able to play championship defense only for a couple of seasons and mostly with the help of lebrons court presence.

"only" is doing a lot of work here


Thompson was part of the defensive group that stymied the 73 win Warriors.

Over the course of multiple deep playoff runs he was able to stay on the floor against some of the most offensively loaded perimeter teams the league has ever seen.


He may not be quite the same player now, since he's a couple years older, but it doesn't make sense to me to think that he wouldn't be able to do similar things defensively anymore.  He's only 29.


Not to mention that other than some awesome chasedown blocks LeBron often doesn't do a heck of a lot on defense, he takes the easiest assignment and saves his energy.  He did that a lot on those Cleveland teams.

[hwangjini_1]

Let’s revisit this one after the AS break

is there one this season?  no great loss if there isnt.

There is but with the festivities TBD. Possibly virtual

is the game virtual as well? ha, it would not affect the defense played at all.   

[Roy H.]

I think I'd rather have Thompson than Turner, especially with the championship experience.


Thompson is a guy who should be able to match up with Bam but also stay on the floor if the opponent goes small.


Turner is a better shot blocker  and can shoot, but he's slight.  Also, I don't think he's as good at the little things that Brad cares about a lot, e.g. screening, dribble handoffs, passing, etc.

These stats scared me about Thompson:

And again, [Turner’s] interior defense is elite. Teams shot just 51 percent inside of six feet when being defended by Turner last season, per NBA.com, which is an elite mark and just three ticks off Rudy Gobert's 48-percent clip.

Thompson, meanwhile, gave up a bucket 56 percent of the time inside six feet each of the last two seasons, and he gave up a 66-percent clip in 2017-18. He's a big body and feels like more of a bruiser, but he's also two inches shorter than Turner and, again, can't shoot. The Celtics are, pretty simply, a worse team with Thompson than they would've been with Turner, and this is to say nothing of losing Hayward.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/gordon-hayward-myles-turner-and-the-celtics-failed-sign-and-trade-that-could-end-up-being-a-big-mistake/

If the Celtics could get Turner, then wouldn't Tatum, Brown and Smart push Anige to do so? Considering they've played in Team USA a year ago? I mean even during the Olympics, Popovic played Brown at center for times rather than Turner.

We have no idea what the players advocated.  Also, the Team USA thing is a bit irrelevant.  I think Pops would have played Brown over Thompson, too.  It’s a whole different game in international competition.

But he played Brown over Turner despite the team lacking height and the fact that they've overwhelmed by larger teams. If Turner was good, then he clearly should've gotten more playing time against the taller teams.

Turner got a lot more minutes than any other center on the roster?  By your logic, Turner is significantly better than Brook Lopez, no?

Maybe Pops just misused his roster.

[Phantom255x]

Yeah I'll admit, at first stupid me thought this was actually referring to two players each named Turner McDermott and Thompson Teague and I was like, who the hell are they??