Thompson was not covering Klay Thompson or Curry so I'm not sure what you're speaking of. Cavs had a decisive rebounding edge when GSW went small. Problem was that Thompson couldn't make the Warriors pay on the offensive end. Blatt was scared and stopped playing Mosgov as well.
I personally think Tristan Thompson is overrated. Cousins and Koufos ia better than Thompaon Mosgov, so I stick with my assertion that 2 good bigs and a good PG beats small.
The reason why small ball worked this past season is because not enough teams have two big skilled big men. The reason why GSW wanted Jason Thompson is to protect themselves from teams with big men because it's their vulnerability. GSW was so thankful they didn't have to face the clippers. Or a healthy Memphis.
Of course that wasn't his main assignment on defense but in situations after switches when he is the one who stayed with the guard he did a good job and that is extremely valuable:
"Tristan's value defensively doesn't come in one area, but from his quick feet and strength. He isn't an elite rim protector, but he gives you some of that... On defense, that's Tristan Thompson.
He can get away with switching onto most guards, he can get away with guarding most centers. As he gets ready for his age-24 season, that's not a bad place to be. "- David Zavac.
""Every Golden State playoff opponent has tried switching bigs onto [Stephen] Curry to prevent seams from opening, but Thompson is the first enemy big since Anthony Davis with the quickness to (maybe) hold his own... Thompson, always crouched in a perfect stance, might be even better than Davis at this discrete skill."
"Not only that, but he also excels at scampering back to the roll man and preventing him from scoring. Among the 74 players who defended at least 50 possessions ending with a shot, foul drawn or turnover by a roll man, Thompson tied for eighth (with
Marc Gasol) in points per play allowed, per
Synergy Sports. He also checked in tied at 18th out of 77 players who defended at least 75
isolation possessions. When defending in open space, he is among the best bigs in the game."- Jared Dubin.
Putting that part aside, of course that Cousins and KK is better than Mozgov and TT, but that will still hold true with any decent player out there instead of Koufos simply because Cousins is on a whole other level than this other guys...
The question I answered was can we make other team abandon small-ball by playing KK with Cousins- and the answer for me is still no- on offense it will give Cousins zero space to operate (easier for the other team to trap him since KK isn't a threat), and on defense small-ball team will make one of them much less affective by drawing him away from the basket (WCS for example is far better equipped to match against small-ball teams).
