NBA, the Nets enjoy Cam Thomas

Triple to Lillard, from the logo on the parquet, scored on Lillard’s head. And 45 points scored against the Milwaukee Bucks, legitimate contenders for the NBA title. Cam Thomas’ performances are “making noise” at the start of the season. “Cam who?” The casual enthusiast asks. Cam – short for Cameron – Thomas, guard for the Brooklyn Nets. We need to find out, because I’m here, 7 games into the season and he’s already reached 30 points 4 times. There’s more: in the 2000s for the Nets only four players had at least 5 games of 40 points or more. The other names are illustrious: Vince Carter, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Then there’s him, Cam Thomas. Creation profession. But who exactly is he, where did he come from?

HE ALWAYS SCORES

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He makes a basket. Thomas’ scouting report isn’t particularly elaborate. He moves the retina. He has always done it, he will probably do it for a long time, he is only 22 years old. The big guy born in Japan doesn’t do much else, honestly. He is a guard, but not a director. Undersized. And certainly not a defensive specialist. But he makes a basket. Averaged 28.7 points this season, his third in the NBA so far. Shooting 48% from the field and 83% from the free throw line. Efficient. Among other things, he has reduced turnovers to just one per game. He scores a lot and it’s not too surprising if you analyze his career in more depth. High school at Oak Hill Academy, the hotbed of predestined basketball talent, in Virginia, then college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Near New Orleans, so to speak. How did you go to university? Well, he scored a lot of points. 23 per game. Best scorer among all freshmen from over 350 Division I teams. Best scorer in the SEC, one of the most prestigious conferences in America. Then at the Tournament, in front of the March Madness window, the boy must have trembled, right? Wrong. 27 points scored in the first round against St Bonaventure to lead his Tigers to success, then eliminated in the next round by Michigan. So why was he only called with the 27th pick by the Nets in the 2021 Draft – he declared himself after just one season, willingly leaving the books on the street? Because a 194cm shooting guard who fans just 1.4 assists per game against 1.7 turnovers per outing, at NCAA level, does not necessarily inspire the confidence of many. The Nets also sent him to play a couple of games in the G-League to test him. Result: 40.5 points per game. His second season as a professional, last year, averaged 10 points, 10.6 in detail. With a warning that should not be underestimated, moreover. In just 16.6 minutes of use. “Expressed” points. A microwave of the baskets. Immediate. So why hasn’t anyone bothered until now? Because beyond the limits of the one-dimensional game, there are the verbal outbursts that don’t make him appear like a genius of thought. And they make you doubt whether he is the “right horse” to bet on.

CASSANO SLIP

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In the summer they asked him how many points he could score, if given free reign, in Coach Vaughn’s offense looking ahead to this season. The answer: “25, easy.” He doesn’t lack confidence and he borders on impudence, on cheekiness. “Lillard the best 3-point shooter you say? No, that’s me…”. He was in his first season as a starter, the other was All NBA 7 times…He did much worse, however. Last February he declared for the camera: “We have nice guys on the team, no homosexuals.” An own goal like Antonio Cassano who said in a press conference in June 2012 at the national team retreat: “Gay in the national team? Their problems.” Thomas’s restorative public apology, granted, had not changed the impression that maturity was inversely proportional to the ease of hailing triples at the opponents’ heads.

POINTS YES VICTORIES MAYBE

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Brooklyn has a record of 3 wins and 4 losses, so far. And a team aiming for the playoffs, but which does not have natural scorers in its best talents, Mikal Bridges and Ben Simmons. The winger from Villanova was “born” as a great defender, the Australian from LSU, just like Thomas, as an enlightened passer. In short, Thomas finds himself in the right place at the right time. He will score many baskets, as long as he has the green light to shoot. He still has never discovered a shot that he doesn’t like to take, from any distance, at any time. But his absolute value will be measured by team victories, beyond individual figures. In the NBA there are many, more than you imagine, talents capable of scoring 25 points every night, as the first offensive terminal. The difference is made by status, which allows or prevents you from taking those offensive liberties, and by collective results. Does the team win or lose? It’s up to Thomas to prove he’s more than a solo player who shoots the basket regardless of the side dish. If he succeeds, you can be sure that no one will ever ask themselves “but who is this Cam Thomas?”.