Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Thompson Has Rebounded From Slow Start
1/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - It will be several more years of tough study before Terrence Thompson reaches his professional goal of doctor, but it appears he's already written the right prescription in a Marshall basketball uniform.
To say that Thompson's first month with the Herd was underwhelming would be a good diagnosis. The 6-foot-7 sophomore played only 42 minutes in Marshall's first 10 games, scoring six points to go with 12 rebounds.
Then, Coach Dan D'Antoni's team went to Las Vegas for the Global Sports Classic on Dec. 21-22. Thompson hit it big just off The Strip, starting the kind of play he's continued in a 2-0 Conference USA start by the Herd (6-9).
In the last five outings, the junior college transfer from Georgia Highlands has played 81 minutes, scoring 25 points to go with 25 rebounds, including 12 offensive boards. He's become the first "big" off the Marshall bench and plays a key role if starters Ryan Taylor or James Kelly is in early foul trouble - as was the case in Thursday night's win over FAU, when Kelly played only seven first-half minutes before picking up two personals.
Thompson, who started his college career in C-USA at Charlotte before leaving the 49ers following a redshirt year, finished with a career-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points in his 16 minutes. His frustrations have turned into production.
"As a player, you always want to be on the floor, and it was tough at first," Thompson said Friday, as the Herd worked out prior to Saturday night's Henderson Center visit by FIU (8-7, 2-0). "But I had to keep working hard, showing Coach in practice that I could play on the floor during games.
"And my time came, and I took advantage of my minutes."
Thompson, from Durham, N.C., was recruited by the Herd for his board work. As Georgia Highlands reached the NJCAA national semifinals last season, Thompson was a sixth man ranked in the top 15 nationally in rebounds. He had 17 games of double-figure rebounds, including one game of 20. He averaged 8.9 per game.
"I'm a position guy," Thompson said when asked for his personal key off the glass. "You have to work early. It's mental and physical. Rebounding is kind of what got me here in the first place. They knew from the start I was a good rebounder, so I just had to show it in the games.
"When I'm out there, get boards - that's my No. 1 objective. If I get the opportunity to score, I'll take advantage of it ââ'¬Â¦ and then play defense, make sure my man doesn't score."
He's accustomed to that off-the-bench role from his JUCO year, which Thompson ended with a five-game performance (14.8 points, 9.8 rebounds) in the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., that caught the eye of Herd assistant coach Mark Cline.
As for his early inactivity as the Herd started 3-7, D'Antoni said it was all about a new approach to the game for the long and lanky Thompson.
"The biggest thing is he wasn't accustomed to our offense," D'Antoni said. "He played probably like he played in high school or in junior college, where they kind of just run and get in the paint - and in our system, that's in the daggone way.
"Terrence had to learn how to handle the pick-and-roll and he didn't finish real strong when he got here. And his shooting was a little bit suspect and he didn't like to handle facing the basket much - didn't know what to do with it.
"It just takes you a while to develop the skill. He's finishing much, much better. He still gets in the way a little bit offensively, but he's gotten better at that. He does have what we recruited him for - a real nose for rebounding and he's able to find the ball, or the ball finds him - I haven't figured it out.
"Even though he was just playing a few minutes, it wasn't like we weren't keeping an eye on him. We were watching him, and he and (6-9 freshman Aleksandar) Dozic were competing for minutes and we let it play out to see who would win.
"I think Dozic came in here a little bit further along but Terrence has really improved here enough on all of the negatives that that positive makes a big difference. He's got a bright future here. He's only a sophomore."
Thompson conceded he was behind the curve on the Herd's floor-spreading, constant-motion style of play.
"It was about just working with the team, the team chemistry, having a better feel for the game," Thompson said when asked what he needed to learn to get the playing time he has in the last 2½ weeks. "The system, it was definitely a learning experience for me, and now I think I've kind of got the hang of it. The adjustment ââ'¬Â¦ Coach D'Antoni always tells me to move to start the action for the offense. For me, it's set screens, get rebounds."
Asked about his career night against Florida Atlantic, Thompson told the media in postgame interviews that his "role on this team is to rebound and have high energy. With the past few games, I've been getting more minutes and with those minutes I've been contributing by rebounding, and stepped up when Coach called my name. And it worked out for the whole team."
Thompson said he's enjoyed the last "basketball-only" month and figures the between-semesters break has aided his progress on the court. On Monday when classes begin, it's back to the academic grindstone for the biology (pre-med) major and chemistry minor with a 3.4 GPA.
He's really enjoyed the way the Herd has performed in beating Western Kentucky and FAU with a pair of 90-point efforts in its C-USA start - as well as the fact he's now contributing to the cause.
"It's a great feeling to finally win," Thompson said. "We want to bring a winning tradition here. Even though it's only two games, we just want to build on that momentum and move forward."
Appropriately, Thompson's game has rebounded, too.
