Stats for 2019
27 GP 10.3 MPG 4.6 PTS 2.3 REB .1 AST .3 STL .5 BLK .8 TO 40.3 FG% 73.9 FT% 24.1 3P%
The anticipation. It would be one season, one incredibly long season but for Pirate fans surely it would be worth the wait. After all how often does Seton Hall secure the services of a 6-10 prototype PF with the physical skills to someday play at the highest level in the NBA?
That's how much potential Taurean Thompson brings to the game. Before committing to Syracuse whom he chose over Seton Hall coming out of high school ESPN wrote this about their #75 4 star player.... a developing big man who possesses physical tools and budding skill alike, Thompson is an intriguing long-term prospect up front. He's got a long and solid build that should fill out naturally, good athleticism to run the floor and play up and around the rim, and the skill to knock down mid-range jumpers and even put the ball on the floor once or twice within the flow of the offense.
With that kind of profile it was no surprise that Thompson playing as a rookie in the ACC averaged nearly 10 PPG in just 18 minutes of play while shooting a robust 54.6% from the field. Numbers that surely screamed future star. But it wasn't meant to be. At least not in upstate NY as after the basketball season concluded Thompson mysteriously lost contact with his head coach Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse program.
Rumors abound that Thompson was not happy playing for the Orange and that he was thinking of leaving the school. Rumors that became official on September 6, 2017 when the Pirates officially announced his commitment to Seton Hall https://www.nj.com/setonhall/2017/09/its_official_syracuses_taurean_thompson_transfers.html.
As expected Pirate fans were ecstatic with the news. SHU had secured a potential star big man. One possessing the physical talent rarely seen in South Orange. The wait would be long. But for a player such as Thompson well worth it. The 2018 season was a ways off but knowing that Thompson would eventually team up with current star Myles Powell to perhaps form the best one/two punch in the Big East had fans of the program salivating.
Jump forward now to April 18, 2019 and everything has changed. The dream of greatness has turned into a nightmare of disappointment. The future once so bright is now clouded with doubt. What went wrong? How could a player once so promising finish his initial season at the Hall playing 5 minutes in the team's last 6 games, including none in the 3 game run at MSG in the conference tournament?
Word was at Syracuse that Thompson had locker room issues and didn't get along with some of his teammates. But that was not the case at the Hall as his basketball brothers in arms got along well with the 6-10 PC/C, in fact seeing him as the joker on the team keeping things light when the situation called for it.
But good character didn't translate to a good basketball player and even though Thompson clearly played the part of the well liked teammate, always supporting them on the bench and in practice his impact at the Hall except for a few brief glimpses was little more than as a cheerleader in uniform. Something unfathomable just 6 months prior.
Thomson is a very likable young man. One who now seems lost on the court. It pains me to say this as you seldom want to give a player, especially one such as Taurean Thompson such a low grade, but being left with no choice I give him a D. Probably a higher mark than earned on the court. But I took into consideration how the player handled his fall from basketball grace, once being considered a future star to eventually being a roster afterthought.
Comments
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
27 GP 10.3 MPG 4.6 PTS 2.3 REB .1 AST .3 STL .5 BLK .8 TO 40.3 FG% 73.9 FT% 24.1 3P%
The anticipation. It would be one season, one incredibly long season but for Pirate fans surely it would be worth the wait. After all how often does Seton Hall secure the services of a 6-10 prototype PF with the physical skills to someday play at the highest level in the NBA?
That's how much potential Taurean Thompson brings to the game. Before committing to Syracuse whom he chose over Seton Hall coming out of high school ESPN wrote this about their #75 4 star player.... a developing big man who possesses physical tools and budding skill alike, Thompson is an intriguing long-term prospect up front. He's got a long and solid build that should fill out naturally, good athleticism to run the floor and play up and around the rim, and the skill to knock down mid-range jumpers and even put the ball on the floor once or twice within the flow of the offense.
With that kind of profile it was no surprise that Thompson playing as a rookie in the ACC averaged nearly 10 PPG in just 18 minutes of play while shooting a robust 54.6% from the field. Numbers that surely screamed future star. But it wasn't meant to be. At least not in upstate NY as after the basketball season concluded Thompson mysteriously lost contact with his head coach Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse program.
Rumors abound that Thompson was not happy playing for the Orange and that he was thinking of leaving the school. Rumors that became official on September 6, 2017 when the Pirates officially announced his commitment to Seton Hall https://www.nj.com/setonhall/2017/09/its_official_syracuses_taurean_thompson_transfers.html.
As expected Pirate fans were ecstatic with the news. SHU had secured a potential star big man. One possessing the physical talent rarely seen in South Orange. The wait would be long. But for a player such as Thompson well worth it. The 2018 season was a ways off but knowing that Thompson would eventually team up with current star Myles Powell to perhaps form the best one/two punch in the Big East had fans of the program salivating.
Jump forward now to April 18, 2019 and everything has changed. The dream of greatness has turned into a nightmare of disappointment. The future once so bright is now clouded with doubt. What went wrong? How could a player once so promising finish his initial season at the Hall playing 5 minutes in the team's last 6 games, including none in the 3 game run at MSG in the conference tournament?
Word was at Syracuse that Thompson had locker room issues and didn't get along with some of his teammates. But that was not the case at the Hall as his basketball brothers in arms got along well with the 6-10 PC/C, in fact seeing him as the joker on the team keeping things light when the situation called for it.
But good character didn't translate to a good basketball player and even though Thompson clearly played the part of the well liked teammate, always supporting them on the bench and in practice his impact at the Hall except for a few brief glimpses was little more than as a cheerleader in uniform. Something unfathomable just 6 months prior.
Thomson is a very likable young man. One who now seems lost on the court. It pains me to say this as you seldom want to give a player, especially one such as Taurean Thompson such a low grade, but being left with no choice I give him a D. Probably a higher mark than earned on the court. But I took into consideration how the player handled his fall from basketball grace, once being considered a future star to eventually being a roster afterthought.
Comments
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
