National Basketball Association

Thompson already looks to be in mid-season form

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Warriors’ shooting guard Klay Thompson looks to be in mid-season form during the preseason.

Sharpshooter and apparent “third option”, Klay Thompson already looks to be in mid-season form already. In three preseason games, Thompson has put up scoring numbers of 16, 30 and 11. He had 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, which is not the best percentage, but he was the leading scorer for the Warriors versus the Raptors.

Then three days later on October 4, Thompson poured in 30 on 10-of-14 from the field against the Clippers in the Warriors’ first home pre-season game. A couple of days later, he had only 11 points against the Kings, but shot 50% from the field.

The point of throwing all of these stats at you, even if it’s a small sample size, is that Thompson is in mid-season form and shooting very well. His shot looks as smooth as it’s ever looked and his range looks deeper. He looks comfortable shooting the ball, even with another superstar on his team because he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be an effective player. He can move off screens and be that catch-and-shoot guy he’s always been.

Now, why does Thompson look to be in mid-season form this early in the upcoming season? Well, for starters, it sure helps to play basketball in June to get all of those shots up and to have a deep playoff run, which means more practices and more games to work on your shot mechanics and footwork when shooting.

Another reason that Thompson looks to have gotten in a good rhythm already is that he played on the Olympic team this past summer. There’s no better way to improve your game than play with some of the best players in the world. The amount of shooting drills and shots a player like Thompson can get up in an Olympic practice is incredible.

Hopefully, Thompson can keep the ball rolling and continue to shoot and play lights out and maybe, he could lead the team in scoring.