Meet
Jazz Sign Ryan Thompson!!
Posted by: Chad on September 22nd, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.This kid looks like he can play sort of a Brewer-Matthews mix with a better outside shot!
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Thompson averaged 17.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a senior for Rider last season. Thompson played four years for the Broncs, averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 33.9 minutes during his final three seasons. However, he was not selected during the 2010 NBA Draft. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogs/jazznotes/50335968-62/thompson-agent-5.0-jazz.csp
Check him out on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDrekgIMAEw
Replies: 23
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23 Responses
It’s a non-guaranteed contract, which means he still has to play his way onto the team.
I didn’t see this one coming. I need to do some research.
Thanks for posting!
Justin
Yeah i know its non-guaranteed.. still they are looking at him pretty hard, i hope he could be that sleeper bench guy we need.
He looks great. Let’s see if he can do something like that in the NBA. If he can, well we should be set for a highflying season with a deep Playoff run.
is he the next wes matthews?? His highlight clip makes it seem like he can play.. I am just really impressed with all the moves we are making this year. Course the big names AJ and Raja but what about going and getting a big veteran Elson and the recent signing of veteran guard in earl Watson. I am just been impressed with the jazz organization with the moves they have made this offseason
Who is this kid and is he any good?
I’m a bit surprised he went undrafted and yes he’s good. He’s very similar to Wes Mathews but shoots better. He’s got game. Hopefully he can bring it to training camp next week.
I saw a couple of his college games during the course of the past season, and thought at the time that he had the talent to play at the next level. He has more “game” then Price or Gaines, and arguably, even Earl Watson. The thing is though, that even if he beats the odds, and makes the roster, he probably won’t see much action unless some of our other back court players get hurt. Will he be as lucky that way as Wesley Matthews?
Yes, he is good, but he isn’t that similar to Wesley Matthews like everyone thinks he is, he is by far more of an offensive player than a defensive. And the reason he didn’t get drafted was because he always had a tough time playing against the big name players, so if that translated to the NBA, then that means he would have an even tougher time against pros. I really hope that he has worked on his game this summer, but I think I would rather keep Othyus Jeffers(or sign a veteran), since we are pretty set in the backcourt with the addition of Watson, and because all of our PGs can play both guard positions.
Reminds me of young kobe. Just needs a faster and smoother release and motion. He looks promising.
Thompson looks like he might be a solid player in our system. He’s been in Utah for a long time, playing with all the other Jazzman. You’ve got to hand it to KOC…he manages to find the diamonds in the rough!
I know two things about this kid
1 Sacramento wanted him to come to their training camp and where upset when he chose Utah (just like Wes)
2 He is not a great athlete but is known as a VERY smart basketball player and an excellent team player. He is also a decent shooter, not great but had a drop off his senior year
Ryan looked great at the Dodge Barrage and was very friendly with the other Jazz rookies and the general public, signing autographs, posing for pictures and chatting. I don’t know about great basketball smarts, but he seems to have PR skills. I am pretty sure he is on Twitter at RyT5. At least it looks like him and he has tweeted thanks to several people who have welcomed him to Salt Lake.
My analysis from the youtube video:
clutch player, sense of responsabilities (taking opportune shots), athleticism, quick moves.
question marks: defense ?, left hand ?*
* in the video, he never finished with the left hand in the left side, this is a problem when the opposition is better.
Just one question, Thompson is a Forward, like Ak, Miles, Hayward, Evans, jeffers….. can play Guard, like Bell, Miles, Jeffers, maybe price……. what are we gonna do with Him ??????? it’s only 48min in a game, not 200
It’s like Jason said at the top: it’s non-guaranteed. A lot of the “signings” you’ll hear about moving forward will be for standard training camp deals.
@Frenchdude – I’d bet one Snickers bar he beats out Jeffers for a roster spot; possibly could beat out Jeremy Evans too as he’s a bit more rounded as far as a player goes.
but it change nothing to the problem, at one month of the beginning of the season, we have one reel PF, Millsap, one reel C, Elson, one between the 2 pos, Big Al……. Am i only to be anxious to begin the season with only 3 players in our Frontcourt, in all our roster ??????
Ryan Thompson absolutely has the skills to be just the kind of backup SG we SERIOUSLY needed. I imagine David Smith is absolutely joyful about this one, considering he was among the first to really point out that need and has talked about it in multiple blogs here. DJS: I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! Have you had a chance to see Thompson play, and do you agree he’s the type of player that fits the need we have?
Also, for anyone with knowledge on Thompson, how’s his makeup? Is this kid ready for the NBA level? Older brother Jason has been pretty effective for the Kings, so Ryan will have a legitimate second person account of the experience. I’m wondering if he has the maturity and composition to make use of that advantage.
@French Dude: There certainly is a concern about the lack of bigs, though the team size as a whole isn’t too bad and some of our SG-SF combo guys can guard bigger players (Gordon Hayward is a pretty legit defender, for instance). Okur is expected to be back for the regular season, though only with limited availability early. Also, both Kirilenko and Millsap have the ability to be combo forwards, and we have a lot of depth at SF, so it’s not a stretch to foresee line-ups like:
Jefferson, Millsap, Kirilenko, Bell, Williams ->
Okur, Jefferson, Millsap, Bell, Williams ->
Elson, Kirilenko, Miles, Thompson, Watson
or if Okur is completely out an AJ, Sap, Miles, Bell, Williams line-up is reasonable in the 2nd slot. CJ has the game and defense of a SF really, just minus an inch or two of height.
If the concern is player freshness rather than fouls, this rotation keeps our needs generally met. Pretty much, AK rests a bit earlier than the rest of the starters, then joins the reserves in something of a combo starter/ sixth man role. I also think that allows us to put our best 5 players on the floor to start the game (AJ,Sap,AK,Raja,DWill)
If needing to sub any of those 5 due to fouls, the natural subs are Elson or Okur for AJ, either Okur or Miles for Sap (with AJ or AK respectively moving to PF), Miles for AK, Thompson for Raja, and Watson/Gaines at PG (no more Ronnie Price, please, I’m begging you Jerry!).
Anyway, this isn’t the ONLY way things work, and we do have the depth to handle it if Okur is fully unavailable for a while at the start of the season. Having a backup shooter allows for that depth because it lets Miles come in at SF instead of SG and Kirilenko move over to PF for some stretches. Trust our exceptional coaches to figure it out.
Well lets see if hes good i welcome in player who joins the Jazz as long as hes good and can help my only question is how are all these players on our roster
Everyone is questioning his Defencesive ablities and then turns around and, says he is a good fit in are system. That doesn’t make much sense to me Jerry always wants guys to play D if he wants to make this team he better learn and, fast because im with French Dude. We got a lot of guys that play both SG and SF with Hayward Raja Price, miles and also Jeffers I wont throw evans and AK on that list because they go more the other way SF to PF so they aren’t in there. If this guy wants to make the team he is goin to be fighting for his life against Price and Jeffers. That’s hard to do when your fighting against guys that have played in the system alread and, know what to do in certain situtations. so I wish him luck i think it will come down to either him or Jeffers
The guy is gifted on the offense. He can drain shots. 56% from the field. 64% from beyond the arc. That’s insane. But when matched up against a long good defender he has all kinds of trouble. And in the NBA he’s really going to have bad match up troubles cause he doesn’t get much lift on his shots. And is slow laterally on defense. But he is big and thats a plus and a negative. He’s less athletic but he can bully his way to the basket and be a charge block on defense. I also don’t like him only finishing with his right. He goes right and shoots right and I can just see that getting slapped away many times. He has some good presence and potential. But with help from vet guard raja bell and team along with coach sloan. He’ll learn quickly. Hoping for the best with this kid. We’ve never had a good scoring guard. If he can be that on our team. We’d be a VERY good team.
I have seen Ryan play about 80% of his college games. Ryan was solid since he stepped onto the Rider campus. This year he was the preseason player of the year in the MAAC.
In the opening game at Miss State, he was the best player on the floor. It helped that his teammates shot well, so he wasn’t doubled or tripled teamed all game.
The first half of the season was up and down for Ryan. His teammates could not hit a shot, the offense was stagnet and he ended up with the ball in his hand with 2 seconds on the shot clock an 30 feet from the basket. This year, Ryan was moved to the point. I think his college coach was trying to market him to the NBA. (Ryan is unselfish but is not a point guard.) Also in December a cousin of Ryan (who he was very close to) died. I think that put him in a funk for a few weeks.
Late in the year, Ryan was moved back to shooting guard and he started to dominate. His best games of his career were usually against the best competition. (see Rutgers game from this past year.)
If Ryan is going to make the Jazz he is really going to have to work on his defense. Offense will not be a problem for him fitting in. He needs to work on his lateral movement, as really quick guards can blow by him.
Ryan is one of the hardest workers and he is extreamly humbled. He comes from a wonderful supportive family. Hopefully he can make the team, as I am sure he will become a fan favorite.