Golden State Warriors: Mindset shift key to Klay Thompson turnaround

Klay Thompson reminded the world of his historic shooting prowess on Sunday, lifting the Golden State Warriors to their first road win of the season against the Houston Rockets.

The 32-year-old’s ten threes elevated him to a season-high 41 points, with the performance coming on the back of an efficient 20-point display against the New York Knicks on Friday. Even beyond the obvious increase in output, there’s been a distinct difference in Thompson’s game over these past two games.

A change in mindset has led to a rejuvenation in form from Klay Thompson, with the Golden State Warriors recording back-to-back wins as a result.

Thompson was evidently forcing shots through his shooting slump, with his play becoming a hard watch for fans over the early phase of the season. The sharpshooter has often regarded any shot as being a good shot for him, but even if that’s the case, there’s a clear difference between that and generating a great shot.

While the physical element has been the leading cause of Thompson’s early struggles, basic knowledge would understand that for most, if not every player, efficiency will reduce on tougher shots. For Thompson, that’s jumpshots where he’s fading, perhaps quick-trigger contested threes, and pull-ups off the dribble.

So, let’s breakdown Thompson’s 41 points against the Rockets. While producing that scoring output is never easy, there was an ease, and more important a sustainability to what Thompson was doing.

As seen above, his 14 field-goal makes are broken down into a multitude of shot types. It’s underpinned by six catch-and-shoot threes — feet set, enough open air space where it’s just him and the rim. They are the great looks Thompson speaks of.

He began with a transition layup — great look. He also had a cutting layup and cutting dunk off split actions. Getting Thompson these easy baskets not only helps his efficiency and final box score numbers, but a much needed boost in confidence.

His remaining five were average to good looks, but to be fair, they all came once Thompson had found a rhythm. A drifting catch-and-shoot three was pure, as was a wide open transition pull-up three, even if traditionalists would have preferred a shot at the rim in a three-on-two scenario. He also had a tough floating bankshot in the first half, before closing it with an open reload three that demonstrated good patience. Finally, a tough one-dribble three off a Kevon Looney hand off provided a vital bucket down the stretch.

Speaking in the post-game, a much more relaxed Thompson spoke about getting back to the level that made him a three-time All-Star.

"“Sometimes I need my teammates to reel me in, and we had a great talk before that Knicks game. This morning Steve (Kerr) played a highlight clip of Barcelona. The tiki-taka method they’ve been using for years is kind of what we do…hit the open man, cut. I finally feel like myself. My legs feel great, I’m cutting to the rim, taking great shots and I’m just excited for what’s to come”, Thompson said."

While Thompson will always be a tough shotmaker, he’s got to continue to making things much easier for himself. That starts with a mindset of generating looks within the flow of the Warriors system, rather than believing the offense centers on him.

Thompson is now averaging 17.3 points on 37.7% three-point shooting so far this season, and there’s no reason why he can’t get back near his career average of 19.5 points on 41.5% shooting from deep.