KU freshman Bryce Thompson has been especially effective on a certain type of shot
Wanting to answer a reporter’s question accurately, a conscientious Bryce Thompson asked for a moment to crunch some numbers in his brain.
“Let’s see. Let me do some calculating,” Thompson, Kansas’ 6-foot-5 freshman shooting guard from Tulsa, Oklahoma said recently, asked how many shots he takes on his own in the practice gym during the span of a week.
“I make sure five or six days out of seven I’m getting extra work in outside of practice. I’d say from 6,000 to 7,000, somewhere in there … so around 1,000 (shots) a day,” he replied.
Thompson — he’s averaged 6.7 points on 45.7% shooting through six games entering Friday’s nonconference clash against Omaha (6 p.m., Allen Fieldhouse, ESPN2) — does not just bomb away from behind the three-point line and storm in for dunks.
“I work on all the shots I’ll get in the game,” Thompson said.
That includes a shot not employed a lot by players during the current era.
“His mid-range game coming in (off the bench) is great,” said KU sophomore wing Christian Braun.
“He has a good mid-range game off the dribble. He can catch and shoot easily. He’s been knocking those down,” noted sophomore wing Tristan Enaruna.
Thompson, as noted in stats unearthed by The Star’s Jesse Newell, is 10 of 17 on mid-range jumpers. That’s an impressive 59%. The rest of the team is 29 of 98 from that area on the court for 30%.
Thompson is 4 of 13 from three for 30.8%. He’s also made 4 of 8 free throws for 50%.
The McDonald’s All-American has shown coach Bill Self more than enough early on to include him in the regular rotation. Thompson has averaged 18.8 minutes a game. He played 14 1/2 minutes and scored eight important points in the second half of No. 5-ranked (5-1) KU’s 73-72 win over No. 8-ranked Creighton (3-1) on Tuesday in Allen Fieldhouse.
“Bryce is not gun-shy. He’s a confident kid. I thought Bryce could make a shot if put in position to make a shot,” Self said of Thompson being on the court during crunch time versus the Bluejays.
“Bryce is a natural scorer. That’s his mindset, which is good,” Self added. “We want guys that are hard to guard.”
He said Thompson is in the process of “understanding where your shots are coming from, understanding how to get somebody else an open look, when to pull the trigger, when you need to be a ballmover.
“These things are all new for a freshman. They’ve never been told these things before. They’ve been told, ‘Why would you ever turn down a semi-open look?” Self added. “Here we are telling them, ‘Why would we ever try to score on the first side against a good team? Let’s give the defense a chance to break down before we take a semi-good or marginal shot.’ It’s just a little different. He’s picking stuff up.”
Thompson’s teammates have noticed how hard he’s trying.
“The biggest thing, the most impressive thing about Bryce to me is what people don’t see … Bryce works extremely hard at everything. He is 100% effort all the time putting up shots on his own, stuff like that,” Braun said. “You know he’s confident when he’s in there. He’s confident in everything he does just because of how hard he works,” Braun added.
Self, who coached Thompson’s dad, Rod, at Tulsa, has known Bryce a long time.
“He’s a dream. He wants it bad. He is competitive, He is very sharp,” Self said. “He’s from a beautiful family, great team people.”
Of his experience at KU so far, Thompson said: “It’s been great. I’m loving it here. I am adjusting well, getting used to everything. We are putting in a lot of plays and different sets.“We have a lot of length so in practice certain passes I was able to get in high school aren’t open so I am doing my best to keep up with the pace and maintain.”
On Friday, KU will meet an Omaha team off to a 2-4 start. The Summit League squad is led by Matt Pile, a 6-8 senior out of Eisenhower High in Goddard, Kansas. He averages 10.3 points and 9.5 rebounds a game.
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 3:33 PM with the headline "KU freshman Bryce Thompson has been especially effective on a certain type of shot."
