Northwestern’s record says it all. With Duke transfer Mike Thompson in the lineup, the Wildcats are 5-1. Without him, they are a dismal 2-4.
Glorified as the savior of NU basketball before the season, the 6-foot-10 former McDonald’s All-American has made an immediate impact on the Cats.
“He’s not a savior or anything, but if he can help you win, that’s the key,” NU coach Bill Carmody said.
And the Cats have done just that with Thompson in the lineup.
After sitting out the first six games of the season because of NCAA transfer regulations, Thompson made his long-awaited debut Dec. 15 in a 56-52 win against DePaul in front of a national television audience.
The junior scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Blue Demons, who made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
“I think all the pressure and expectations made me play at a higher level,” Thompson said.
Even some of his former teammates at Duke tuned into the DePaul game, including All-America candidate Shelden Williams.
As Thompson’s roommate at Duke, Williams knew all about his frustrations playing for the Blue Devils.
“We had five big men competing for playing time,” he said. “I knew he was unhappy, so when he announced he was transferring, I wasn’t that surprised.”
While Williams said it was disappointing to see Thompson leave, the pair still talk regularly.
Williams also said he is glad to see Thompson getting a chance to showcase himself at a new school.
Williams said the Cats should take advantage of Thompson and his abilities but also to keep playing team basketball.
“Right now it looks like they depend too much on Mike,” he said. “It looks like they need a supporting cast around him.”
The only misstep for Thompson so far this season was at Arizona State on Dec. 20 when NU was pummeled 90-55. Thompson scored only nine points, but the worst could be seen in the highlight reels following the game.
Only a few minutes into the second half, Sun Devils’ guard Jason Braxton drove down the center of the lane and finished with an authoritative dunk in the face of Thompson.
Across the nation, Braxton’s facial on Thompson was replayed on every sports network, and it was the top play on ESPN’s SportsCenter that night.
But except for taking some ribbing from the Welsh-Ryan Arena maintenance crew, Thompson took the game in stride and is now working toward getting the Cats (7-5) ready for their conference opener against Indiana (5-6) tonight at 6 p.m.
“I feel I really haven’t established my game yet,” Thompson said. “I’m still learning the offense, and in Big Ten play I’m just going to try to establish myself as a player in the offense.”
Coming from a completely different offensive system under coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, Thompson has had to make adjustments to his game.
While Carmody’s Princeton offense is versatile enough to adjust for a true center, Thompson has been required to come off the block, pass and dribble more than he did with the Blue Devils.
“(The Princeton offense) is tough for a low-post player because I’m more of a back-to-back player and (used to) playing inside and getting dirty,” Thompson said. “I know (the offense), but it’s just hard to do it in the game because you want the ball down low.”
The other area where Carmody said he wants Thompson to improve is at the foul line. Thompson is shooting 38 percent from the free throw line. And to make matters worse, he is already second on the squad with 37 foul-shot attempts, despite playing in half the team’s games.
“If he can get better at free throw shooting, he’s going to be a complete player,” senior forward Davor Duvancic said.
With the high number of quality post players in the Big Ten, Duvancic said the Cats will need Thompson to continue to be competitive in the conference.
Indiana showcases standout freshman forward D.J. White as its go-to-guy in the paint. The Cats also will get a look at arguably the Big Ten’s top post player, Paul Davis, when the team heads to Michigan State on Saturday.
But Thompson has shown to be a force on defense. He held Arizona State’s Ike Diogu six points below his average and kept Seton Hall’s Kelly Whitney eight points below his. Both were their team’s leading scorers entering the game.
“With DePaul and Seton Hall, obviously we don’t win those games without him,” said Duvancic, who played center at the start of the season but moved back to his usual spot at forward after Thompson’s debut.
“But now coming into Big Ten play, I’m guessing he’s going to help us a lot,” he said.
Reach Zach Silka at [email protected]
