Thomas Walkup shares his biggest career regret, NBA thoughts, favorite play / News - Basketnews.com

Thomas Walkup sat with BasketNews to discuss Olympiacos Piraeus' goals in the present campaign, the play he enjoys the most, his biggest regret, and the reasons why he's not too worried about playing in the NBA.

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Thomas Walkup has become a synonym for defensive hustle. Putting his muscular body at his team's services, the Texan guard can pull off almost any mission that his coaches assign to him.

Olympiacos Piraeus / Schedule

FC Barcelona Olympiacos Piraeus70-80 Olympiacos Piraeus Zalgiris KaunasFri18:00 Real Madrid Olympiacos PiraeusWed18:45

A couple of months before officially turning 30, Walkup may look like a player who knows how to evolve his game constantly, something that's immediately apparent on the court.

Since his impressive EuroLeague playoff performances against Monaco, where he almost doubled his field-goal percentages and overall averages, Olympiacos Piraeus' defensive ace on the perimeter hasn't looked back.

Walkup has the ability to fill up the stat sheet almost every night- and when he doesn't, he'll find a way to have a positive impact. That's a rare gift for any player to possess, let alone someone who makes a living out of it.

After a double failed attempt to stay in the NBA (without ever getting drafted), Walkup decided that it would be better for him to play in Europe. A year before signing with German side Ludwigsburg, the Stephen F. Austin graduate played with the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Summer League.

His contribution was appreciated by the Chicago Bulls, which signed and used him in four pre-season games.

However, Walkup didn't stay in Chicago either, despite his earnest efforts. He spent one year in the G League with the Bulls' affiliate team and then headed to Germany. One season under coach John Patrick was all it took for him to move to Kaunas for Zalgiris for another three campaigns and then to Piraeus for Olympiacos.

And what about the NBA? Walkup says he's set his eyes on the Old Continent for good.

"My agent and I decided that Europe is our place to be," he tells BasketNews during Olympiacos' Media Day.

Free throws this season

100%25,0Points made:25,0Accuracy:100,0%Place in standings:1Record max:25Record min:25Most made FTs:Joel BolomboyTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"We thought about creating a great career here, and that's what we focused on. Maybe if we were trying to do it, something would have popped up. But our focus is here."

At what can be considered the height of his maturity as a player, Walkup has set his priorities straight, and that's why he wouldn't settle for anything less than a solid role with an NBA franchise.

"I don't feel the desire to be the 14th or 15th man on an NBA roster," he clarifies.

"If there was a team that loved me and wanted me to come and play, we could talk. But if I'm just another guy on the roster, what am I going for?".

The Pasadena-born guard says that the teams that have reached out to him just wanted him to make up the numbers.

"I think that's been flirted with. Some stuff came up, but it fell through. I'm not bugging my agent about this. I let him do his job," he points out.

Spending almost the entirety of his pro career in Europe doesn't mean that Walkup doesn't miss college. He does, a lot. So much so that there's one game in particular that he can't get his mind off.

In the 2016 NCAA Tournament, Stephen F. Austin was 1.5 seconds away from pulling off back-to-back upsets and advancing to the Sweet 16. But Notre Dame snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the closing seconds when Rex Pflueger tipped in a rebound.

Ever since he was a kid, Walkup had dreamed about making it deep into the tournament and beating famous teams along the way. In that game, he scored 21 points, but the Lumberjacks lost the game in the last heartbeats. The loss was even more painful for seniors like Walkup, for whom there would be no next year.

In an interview with Olympiacos' website, Walkup confessed that the one thing he'd like to change about his life if he could go back in time was being able to win that game.

"That's my biggest regret in basketball, for sure," he confirms. "But once the game is gone, it's gone. I will never get to play college basketball again. It was right there for us, and we didn't take it," he utters with disappointment.

Walkup had no doubt that he'd still be playing college basketball if that would have been possible.

"100%. I would just make sure that we won that game. That's the only difference."

For the last four years, Walkup has been playing in the EuroLeague after a season in the Basketball Champions League with Ludwigsburg. However, he thinks that the only things college and EuroLeague basketball have in common are "the environment and the atmosphere."

"When you compare the play styles and the skill level, it's not even comparable," he adds.

According to Walkup, the EuroLeague's main point of reference is the NBA.

"The defense is the same because it's the same rules. But the offense is getting closer to the NBA as far as mismatches, how to take advantage, and moving the ball from side to side. The EuroLeague is gravitating towards the NBA," says the winner of four domestic championship titles in two countries (Lithuania, Greece).

In his interview with BasketNews, Thomas Walkup also touches on Olympiacos' goals in the present campaign, the play and the coaching system he enjoys the most, and his innate love and affinity for defense.

Moreover, he names the EuroLeague teams he thinks got stronger in this past off-season.

Looking back at what Olympiacos achieved last season, how would you define success this year?That's an interesting question. If we won the double again and went to the Final Four, I think people would say that we had a successful season. But we, the players and the coaches, would be happy with the Final Four.

That's what would satisfy us. You'd think that we achieved our potential with the triple crown. That's an objective question, but the triple crown at this point - with the front office, the team, and the coaching staff that we have - would be our goal for sure.

I won't say, 'I want everyone to have fun,' etc. No, it's about winning. That's where my mindset is at.

Do you think this season will be harder?For sure. We're a Final Four team, and everyone wants a piece of us. The EuroLeague has gotten deeper and stronger. This year it's loaded with talent.

Which teams do you have in mind?Spanish teams are loaded with talent. Madrid, Monaco, and ASVEL are way better than last year. Fener have Itoudis, who's a great coach and NBA talent all over the place. Even those who finished down low last year have gotten better.

I think Zalgiris have a better roster this year, and Panathinaikos have made a lot of improvements. Because we won the Super Cup, people think that we'll beat them so easily every time. But it's not like this. We returned our coach and most of our players, the systems are in place, and everybody knows each other.

These guys have many players that just got there from EuroBasket, they have a new coach and went through a crazy pre-season. They still have a lot to put together. We know that they're a better team than last year and we're prepared for real battles with them.

How are you feeling this season, your second one with the team?I'm just a creature of habit. I like coming back to the same place. The feeling of coming back to my apartment in Glyfada this year and knowing where everything was it's such an easy transition compared to last year.

I come back and see familiar faces. I love being here. Although I'm away from family, I've made some wonderful friends here. All the other stuff - the food, the culture, how warm the people are- goes without being said. What makes it special it's the people.

How does that translate on the court?Being comfortable off the court translates on the court. But when you're comfortable, your confidence grows and grows. I'm definitely confident in the work that I've put in, and that's where it shows.

So far, you've picked up three Defensive Player of the Year awards, two in Lithuania and one in Greece. In a conversation we had with Edy Tavares, he said that he takes pleasure in being a good defender. Is it the same with you? Absolutely. I love playing defense. It's a very alpha thing to do. Seeing a player on the other team and putting handcuffs on him, there's nothing like it.

I'd much rather play great defense and force him to dribble the ball off of his knee than score two points. It's about toughness and tenacity, but there's also a huge amount of skill that goes into defense and reading the game. I think that's an underrated part of basketball.

Credit Olympiacos BC

How does a good defender become a good team defender within a given system?

Team defenders are following the team's rules, making the proper rotation. Not by trying to cover everything but by trying to cover the right thing. You do your personal job on defense so that the next guy can do his.

All together makes one perfect defensive possession. You have to do that 80 times a game. It doesn't mean you're going to get a stop every time, but whenever you do catch that defensive rhythm, and you take a team out of its offensive flow, for me, it's a beautiful thing to be a part of and also to watch.

I think it's just as much fun being a part of that and catching your slack on defense than it is scoring two points.

Being a backcourt player representing the first line of defense, do you feel more accountability and responsibility towards your teammates?I set the tone. If I'm standing at the 3-point line and they can just dribble the ball up fine, start their offense and be comfortable, we're just waiting for them to miss shots.

That's not what defense is. It's about forcing them to miss and turn the ball over, not by taking chances or going for crazy steals, but by being solid for 40 minutes.

Was there a coach, a player, or an incident that talked you into or changed your mindset about defense?No, I don't think so. I think it was my DNA. I've always loved taking the ball from people's hands since I was a kid. Sasha [Vezenkov] tells me all the time, 'Stop bullying people,' but I can't.

Are you as intense in practices as you are during games?Yes, the same. Exactly the same. I think my teammates would say that too. Probably, I'm even more intense at practice because you don't get all those cheap fouls there.

Is there anything that John Patrick, Sarunas Jasikevicius, and Giorgos Bartzokas have in common?I think Patrick and Bartzokas have more in common with each other than Saras as far as playing style and the players they go after. They prefer athletic guys who play with speed and energy and are strong and physical.

Saras' teams are very tactical. It's a different style of basketball. Not that one is right, and the other's wrong. But they're different, for sure.

Which one suits your game best?I've played both, and I was successful in both. So, I don't think that I'm a player that has to play in one certain style, but I will say that I enjoy playing in this system currently.

Credit BNS

Since you see yourself as a coach in ten years from now, have you started to pick up any plays?For sure, absolutely. There are so many things. Your basketball memory bank just grows and grows, and I write stuff down all the time; things that I like and things I don't like. It goes along with being a basketball fan too. I can sit there and watch games for hours.

When did you start doing that?Probably at some point in Kaunas. I had a little folder with notes on my laptop.

From your coach or from other coaches also?From my coaches, I took some actions that I liked. When I'm watching other games, there are times where I write down the action.

Tell me about one particular action from any coach that you enjoy watching and appreciate the most.There are a lot of things in Spanish basketball that I've liked, and we (Olympiacos) actually do. But the whole hand-off into pick & roll with the Spanish back-screen is very difficult when it's run with so much speed.

At first, I thought it was just the action. But it's the action that creates the speed. That's a double take for me. It's about the speed, but this action is also really good and hard to guard.

It's good against switching, against drop, and against hedges. You can run it against multiple defenses. It's a special play.

When you're set to become a coach, would you rather work in Europe or in the States?My experience is here in Europe, but being in the States and closer to the family would be good too. That would be the main priority once my playing career is done.

How do you feel that Kaunas is considered the frontrunner to host the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four?I think it's the perfect place to do it. I love it. I spent three years there, and the arena is the best basketball venue in Europe.

The fans love basketball and would be honored to have it hosted. For the city and the logistics, I don't know. That's for smarter people than me. But from a basketball standpoint, it would be amazing.

Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.