Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson is building his resume for an All-Defense team selection this season
From a personality standpoint, it is difficult to find two NBA players over the last 30 years who have been more diametrically opposed than Ausar Thompson and the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest.
While Thompson is soft-spoken and polite in his interactions, Artest, who is now known as Metta World Peace, had a more brash, demonstrative demeanor during his playing days. Thompson racks up blocks and steals like World Peace racked up technical fouls and suspensions.
Even though the two players diverge in their disposition, they are unified in their relentless pursuit of turnovers when locked in on defense according to Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
“At that age to be able to do what he does and have the understanding of it, you know, he reminds me a lot, and it may look a bit little different, but of how Ron Artest used to be when he would defend,” Bickerstaff said after Detroit’s 129-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. That type of physicality, the feet, the hands but just being able to be so disruptive. That’s one guy who comes to my mind, but I don’t think there’s many guys who do what Ausar does.”
Against the Pelicans, Thompson finished the game with three steals and two blocks. Before that, Thompson logged four steals and a rejection against the Hawks. Going back two more games, AT posted seven steals with two swats against the Warriors.
With 20 stocks over that four-game stretch, Thompson has shown that he’s no easy task to solve for opposing ball handlers on the perimeter. In fact, it’s more of the opposite– AT has served as an impossible shadow to shake for Pistons opponents as of late.
During his time in the league, Metta World Peace won the Defensive Player of the Year after the 2003-04 season, which coincidentally interrupted what would’ve been a five-year run winning the award by Ben Wallace. The fact that World Peace was able to unseat Big Ben during the height of his defensive powers should make quite a statement by itself.
Thompson, though less confrontational than World Peace, brings a similar knack for harassing opponents on the defensive end even if the Pistons wing is more cordial as he goes about his pickpocketing tasks each game.
Given his aggressive pursuit of stocks during on-ball defense all season long, Thompson has compiled a swath of highlight plays that would support the Detroit defender’s case to make the All-Defensive team once the regular season winds down.
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