Ausar Thompson

Part of this will sound exactly like Amen’s write up, as they were both able to dominate OTE and as twins, unsurprisingly share some of the same positive physical tools.  However, their games also have some important differences.

Offensively, Ausaur plays more of a wing role, whereas Amen was the primary ball handler.  Like Amen, Ausaur is an elite athlete.  He is an explosive leaper, who is able to throw down some thrilling dunks in space, whether on drives, in transition, or cutting in the half court.  He’s also very fluid and has great body control, and shared Amen’s ability to palm the ball and contort his body while moving his arm into a better angle to score, which allowed him to his some circus shots inside.  Playing a bit more off ball, Ausaur is more active.  He shows more willingness to relocate along the three point line (and not just to put his hands up to get the ball to run a possession).  He’s also a very active cutter into space, who looks for lob opportunities and has great hands for catching and finishing at the rim.  Ausaur’s handles are decent, but noticeably a step down from Amen’s.  He seems to have practiced all of the same moves as his brother and has a full arsenal of moves he can deploy, but overall, his handles are more functional and his moves are a bit slower and his handle is looser, making him less elusive in the halfcourt.  Don’t get me wrong, he shares Amen’s quick first step and is a big threat in a straight line drive opportunity.  However, when his first move is unsuccessful, he doesn’t have the same counters or ability to shake defenders that Amen showed.  This is compounded by the fact that like Amen, his shot is a bit of a mess.  The form and results are not quite as bad as Amens.  However, mechanics were stiff and he kicks his legs far out, while almost pushing the ball.  This allowed defenders to play off of him and prevents him from pushing defenses with a midrange shot or step back when they are trying to stop his initial drive.  On a positive note, like Amen, Ausaur is a three level passer.  He actually seems to make the simple and correct play a bit more, but is still able to hit shooters, cutters, and rollers from all over the floor.  He has good vision and a cannon of an arm, allowing him to throw some pretty impressive crosscourt passes with strong touch and accuracy.  He was also very strong on the glass for the Reapers using his athleticism and anticipation to keep possessions alive, though he also had some pretty big advantages here against the OTE high schoolers.

Defensively, Ausaur played with more intensity and more of a sense of urgency than Amen.  Like his brother, Ausaur has strong lateral quickness and an ability to change direction well.  However, he was more willing to get down into a stance (he still did not enough, but noticeably more) and hound ball handlers, using pressure to disrupt offensive possessions and his quick hands and timing to strip or poke the ball away from his opponent.  Ausaur flashed some ability to navigate screens.  Again, like his brother, he would play upright too much and sometimes get caught on them.  But when he looked more locked in, he would quickly jump under the screen and back to his man.  Now, I would have liked to see him fight through some more screens.  In the NBA, someone like Curry or Paul George will simply hit the three while you run under a screen, but in OTE, the effort and speed he had was enough to stop any the other team gaining an advantage.  Ausaur did have the strength to absorb contact and wall up against OTE player, but will benefit from adding more as he jumps up two levels to the NBA.  Ausaur also has good timing inside, getting blocks and providing some weakside help.  And he is a grab and go threat on any defensive rebound, who can immediately turn up court, but who also looks to pass and move the ball instead of just dribbling the whole way himself.