Former Longhorns Generating Lots of NBA Buzz: Tristan Thompson

Last year, the Texas Longhorn basketball team was led by two freshman (Corey Joseph and Tristan Thompson) an done sophomore (Jordan Hamilton).  Up until the draft, I'm going to focus on these prospects and how they fit into the NBA.  For today's article we are going to focus on Tristan Thompson

Thompson is generating the most buzz out of any of the three young Longhorns for the upcoming NBA Draft.  Thompson is a true power forward who has a non-stop motor.  He's listed at 6-foot-9 but has a huge 7-foot-2 wingspan that will give him a nice advantage in the NBA.  He's a little bit undersized but his wingspan will make up for that.  He has a little trouble scoring with his back to the basket.  Doesn't create a whole lot of shots for himself and mostly scored off of hustle points and put backs during his one year in Texas.

With Thompson's game, it's fairly easy to see how it will translate to the next level.  You can expect him to continue to rebound at a high level.  His scoring will be pretty limited during the first couple years of his career, but he has a lot of room to develop in that area.  He's going to be a really good defender from Day 1.  I think a nice comparison for Thompson is a less athletic-less long version of Serge Ibaka.  He'll impact the game in a lot of the same ways except he is a little shorter.

Cory Joseph and Jordan Hamilton Join NBA Draft

Underclassmen Cory Joseph and Jordan Hamilton have joined fellow Texas Longhorn Tristan Thompson and have entered their names in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Losing the three players really hurts the Longhorns and this is a tough blow to handle.  It was expected that at least two of the three players would stay.  Unfortunately, all three have left and have until May 8th to withdraw if they did not hire an agent.  If they stay in the draft, good luck and represent the Longhorns proudly.

Tristan Thompson Declares for NBA Draft

Tristan Thompson is leaving the University of Texas to the NBA.  The freshman anchored the Longhorns team this season as a freshman and played exceptionally well.  Thompson averaged 13.1 points, 7.8 rebounds (second-best in the Big 12) and 2.4 blocks per game.  Thompson's draft stock increased when higher rated players at the same position, like Jared Sullinger (Ohio State), Perry Jones III (Baylor) and Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), decided to stay in school.  He is expected to be a mid-to-late 1st round pick, but definitely has upside with his age.  Good luck Tristan!

Texas Squeezes Out 85-81 Victory Over #13 Seed Oakland

The #4 seed Texas Longhorns defeated the pesky #13 seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies 85-81.  Tristan Thompson, the sensational freshman, had a monster game with a stat line of 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots.  He was HUGE in this game.  Texas was leading the majority of the game, but Oakland kept staying alive and trying to rally.  Hats off to Oakland, they fought hard.

Up next for Texas will be the winner of Memphis and Arizona.

Texas Longhorns Rebound For Big Victory Over Iowa State

Following a tough and emotional loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Texas Longhorns rebounded for a nice victory against the Iowa State Cyclones.  The Longhorns cruised to a 76-53 victory with Tristan Thompson leading the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds.  Texas built an 11 point lead by halftime and never looked back.  Jordan Hamilton also chipped in 20 points, breaking out of a two-game shooting slump.  Gary Johnson finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. 

Texas Longhorns Take Down Baylor Bears

The #3 Texas Longhorns defeated the Baylor Bears 69-60.  The victory made it the 10th in a row for the Longhorns, who could vault to #1 after Ohio State suffered their first loss of the season.  Freshman Tristan Thompson had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.  The Longhorns had a 16 point first half lead but they watched the Bears rally in the 2nd half.  The Bears cut the lead to 63-60 until Texas finished on a 6-0 run.