Deon Thompson, Unicaja: 'I'm very thankful'

Veteran big man Deon Thompson of Unicaja Malaga shares his thoughts and feelings in the first edition of his new EuroCupBasetball.com blog.

In his 11th season in European basketball, forward Deon Thompson is one of the most experienced players in the continent. He played college basketball at the famed University of North Carolina and has had stops in Greece, Slovenia, Germany, China, Israel, Turkey, Serbia, Spain and Lithuania before joining Unicaja Malaga before the start of the 2019-20 season. An NCAA champion and domestic league winner in four different countries, Thompson knows what it takes to be successful and is trying to lead Unicaja to its second 7DAYS EuroCup crown. In this EuroCupBasketball.com blog, Thompson will tell us all about Unicaja, its run in the competition, and how great it is to live in Malaga as he waits for the fans to return to the stands to make his whole experience even better.

Hello everybody. It is tough to start the Top 16 with a home loss. Obviously, we still have five more games and we are aware that every game, and especially in the top 16, is so important. We want to bounce back as fast as possible. We want to, also, recover some of our injured players, who are very important to us such as Alberto Diaz, Carlos Suarez, Axel Bouteille and Gal Mekel. A lot of our guys who are important to our team and the success of our season are out right now. I think a big thing for us is to try to get those guys back as soon as possible and to try to approach our next game, which is Monaco next week, as one of the most important games of the season.

"It is tough to start the Top 16 with a home loss"

Personally, I had a good game, but I would have traded that for a win. The season is always going to have its ups and downs and you've got to try to manage those and not try to get too low or too high. I want to continue to work and to continue to improve individually and as a team. I think it is important to try to improve from game to game and week to week. I think if we can find a way to improve as a team and if I can find a way to continue to be better personally, we can turn things around and head in the right direction.

We face Monaco on the road on Tuesday. I think all year we haven't had a problem with scoring. Our biggest problem, right now, is trying to get stops on defense, especially when we need those big stops to win the game. I think for us, scoring has never been an issue. I think on defense it’s all about "want to". I mean, obviously, you have your schemes and your tactics, but it comes down to wanting to accept the challenge and wanting to try to stop the man that you are guarding. Playing defense is a team aspect that needs to be done collectively. I think that's our key to moving forward: our ability to be able to play defense.

Mathias Lessort is in Monaco - both of us played for Crvena Zvezda, Bayern Munich and Unicaja at some point during our careers. He is a really good player, very talented, obviously an up-and-coming player who's having a great career. But for me, I think more so about the team and about how I can help my team win. And if that's a matchup, where I have to guard or defend, then I accept that challenge. But the biggest thing for me is our team's success and how well our team is able to perform. I am sure he will be motivated to play against his former team. I know we will be motivated because we understand how important this game is for us.

I am sure that some EuroCup fans are surprised by Francis Alonso, who is having a great season. I was not surprised, because I've known about him for a little while. He played at UNC Greensboro, where his head coach was Wes Miller. I played basketball with Wes Miller at the University of North Carolina. Wes travels to Europe to recruit and we stay in contact and have a good relationship. He was always talking to me about Francis and saying how good he was and how talented he was. One time, he said to me 'man, he saved my job so many times' speaking about Francis. I knew of him already, before I was playing in Malaga. Then, this past summer, I worked out and trained in Malaga. I would always see Francis because he was here in Malaga and he was putting the work in every day. I have seen the work that he's put in, and I'm just happy for him. He’s showing the fruits of his labor. So it's not a surprise for me, but I'm definitely happy for him and what he's doing.

"We can turn things around"

This is my second season in Malaga. Of course, everyone has struggled because of the pandemic, but I am really thankful to be spending it in Malaga. I haven't been able to fully enjoy it or be able to fully experience it with my family, which is something I really enjoy with this whole journey that I'm on with: being able to play basketball in Europe and do something I love, and to be able to share it with my family from back home. I'm thankful that my wife is here with me, but to be able to share with my family is, also, something I really enjoy. I'm thankful to be here during this pandemic. Being here last year during a lockdown with good weather and seeing the sun definitely helps with the mood. So Malaga for me, I think is one of the best places to live and play basketball in Europe. I'm very thankful and grateful for this opportunity.

From a basketball standpoint, the thing I am missing the most, like any other player, is playing in front of our fans. Unicaja is a basketball city and the club has great passionate fans. I mean, obviously, it changes everything to have those fans in the arena with you to push you and motivate you. It is just that basketball is not really the same without the fans. I think watching basketball sometimes makes it difficult without the fans. So we definitely miss them and we hopefully can continue to make a run deep into this EuroCup season and maybe things can change with this virus and have some people back in the stands.

My final words have to be for the fans: I think they have been very critical of us all season, which I guess they have every right to as a fan and want to support their team, but just stick with us. Obviously, we are going to have our ups and downs, but to be a fan, is to be there during the good times and the bad times. Know that we're just going to continue to work and that we're going to give our best to try to turn things around.