By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Consistency is key in any aspect of life, and basketball is no exception.
Head coaches need to rely on winning runs and avoid losing slumps to keep hold of their positions, while fans surely prefer to see winning basketball rather than witness defeat after defeat.
Players build confidence with consistent performances. In the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, this need turns into a priority.
His first season in Istanbul might have given Darius Thompson new experiences, colors, and angles to explore in Turkiye, but it didn’t grant him the consistency he craved on the court.
However, entering the 2024-25 campaign, something changed, giving Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s passionate followers an early present to unpack heading to the new year: the uniqueness of having such a talented and versatile point guard leading the team.
The efficiency of his performances in Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, which saw him named to the 2022-23 All-EuroLeague Second Team, seemed to fade away, but the past few weeks have been proving the opposite.
The importance of having a shooting gun next to him
Over the course of his career, Thompson has always had significant company in the backcourt. Starting with his college days, when he shared experiences with EuroLeague familiar faces.
After a first college season with the University of Tennessee before transferring to the University of Virginia, he found Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv’s Marial Shayok and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul’s Devon Hall, whom he crossed paths with in last week’s Turkish derby. Former Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens guard Kyle Guy joined the party in 2016-17.
Having moved to Europe in 2017 to become a professional, his career took a turn in Leiden, playing alongside future 3×3 star Worthy de Jong. In the Netherlands, he put up 22.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.
Brindisi was up next, with Adrian Banks and D’Angelo Harrison next to him, while in Kuban he had a veteran like Errick McCollum by his side in the 2021-22 BKT EuroCup campaign. Proving himself on the European stage was vital for his transition to Baskonia and the EuroLeague.
There couldn’t have been a better desire for Thompson than playing next to Markus Howard in their joint debuting campaign in Europe’s premier club competition.
With Baskonia’s shooting killer emerging as one of the best scorers in the EuroLeague, Thompson shone under the spotlight, becoming the man to watch when it came to assisting teammates. He led the league in assists with 6.7 dimes per game, as 33.6% of his possessions finished with an assist – this and the following stats are from Hack a Stat.
That’s why, when he was chosen by the Turkish powerhouse to replace Vasilije Micic as the leader of the team’s control room, everybody was awaiting a solid partnership with Shane Larkin.
Last year, it’s fair to say things didn’t work out next to one of the all-time EuroLeague legends. Solidly entering the second part of the 2024-25 EuroLeague Regular Season, however, this hasn’t become a pattern.
Growing in making Anadolu Efes a better team
Comparing this current campaign with the 2023-24 season at Anadolu Efes, keeping the first 19 games as a benchmark, the first thing that stands out is the team’s form.
Heading into Round 20 last year – right after the team’s unbelievable quadruple-overtime instant classic against Real Madrid – the two-time EuroLeague champions were far away from the play-in places with a 7-12 record and in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
Today, after suffering a setback in the Turkish derby against Fenerbahce, they’re just one win away from the playoff places with a 10-9 record, level with Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, as well as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Zalgiris Kaunas.
Thompson has significantly improved as the team’s leader in playmaking duties and controlling the tempo, and the numbers prove it. First of all, unlike last year – when he started just 21 of the total 35 EuroLeague games he played with the Turkish side – he has been among the starting five in all 19 games he has participated in.
Rightfully so, as he has reestablished himself among the most interesting playmakers to watch throughout Europe – he’s now 10th in assists per game with 4.9, having been 36th last year with just 2.8 apg.
The way now-former head coach Tomislav Mijatovic has shaped his version of Anadolu Efes, less fast-paced but always aiming to keep control over their possessions, has been helping Thompson rediscover his consistency. It’s something that can continue now with Luca Banchi taking over as head coach.
Last year he never had more than four straight games with a 10+ PIR, while this season he had an eleven-game run doing so. He has had a PIR higher than 10 in every game played in 2024-25, except for Rounds 1, 2, 14, 16, and 19, with the last coming against Fenerbahce.
Moreover, his impact has involved the whole team collectively. Despite reducing his usage from 21.5% to 20.1% of possessions, still counting the first 19 rounds of the season, he has improved his individual NET Rating from 3.0 to 29.1. With him on the floor, Efes usually shines.
What can Darius Thompson bring his team?
Thompson hasn’t only made a better leap in assisting his teammates. He is shooting better from two-point range (from 54.0% to 63.0%) and from the three-point arc (from 31.0% to 39.0%).
In addition, he has basically been keeping his average at the line (from 85.0% to 82.0%, but reducing his attempts from 2.7 to 2.0 free throws per game). His true shooting percentage, overall, improved from 56.5% to 64.1% in just a one-season span.
His growth, therefore, doesn’t involve only playmaking duties and making his teammates play better collectively.
If the attention of the defense is mainly on Larkin, their partnership can involve Thompson more as a scorer. As mentioned above, he has loved playing in a combo-guard backcourt in the past as well, so why can’t it be effective for the Turkish side?
The Round 19 matchup against Fenerbahce was a night to forget for a lot of players on Anadolu Efes’s roster, and the 29-year-old point guard with an Italian passport is no exception.
It’s becoming a bit of a tendency: if Thompson doesn’t deliver, the whole team doesn’t reap the benefits. It has already happened in both Turkish derbies this season, as he collected 7 points between the two games, and also in the road loss to Zalgiris Kaunas, where he wasn’t in his ideal form.
Once Coach Mijatovic was promoted to the role of head coach midway through the 2023-24 EuroLeague campaign, they found a way to fight all the way to the play-in spot before losing at home to Virtus Segafredo Bologna, a game in which he went scoreless.
Efes now has a new head coach in Luca Banchi. If they manage to make a splash in the second part of the 2024-25 EuroLeague Regular Season, it will likely be thanks to an upgraded and better-suited Thompson in the heart of the control room. Rediscovering his uniqueness from his Baskonia days can only spell good news for Efes.
PHOTO CREDIT: Anadolu Efes