Walkup makes history without realizing it
Only a few hours have passed since the end of Round 10 of the Stoiximan GBL and Olympiacos’ game against Peristeri, and Thomas Walkup has still not fully realized his historic achievement of dishing out 16 assists. It is certain, however, that he had no idea he was chasing a record during the game. “I didn’t know how many assists I had during the game, nor what the record was,” Walkup said.
The 32-year-old guard of the ‘red & whites’, with his 16 assists, became the player with the most assists in a single game in the history of our club across all competitions. What’s more, this record came in a game in which Walkup was flawless, something that seems almost… robotic.
Shortly after his incredible performance, Thomas Walkup spoke to olympiacosbc.gr about how he feels after setting the record, the importance of reaching such an assist total without a single turnover, as well as how he views the team’s ball movement and his role following the arrival of Monte Morris.
When did you realize that you broke Olympiacos’ all-time record?
“After the game I saw the stats, but I had no idea about the record. To be honest, it’s exciting. It’s fantastic to be on such a historic list of a club like Olympiacos.”
So, you weren’t aiming for the number ‘16’ during the game?
“No, no, I had no idea, honestly. Not even how many I had during the game. I thought it was 12–13, but when I saw the ‘16’ in the stats, I was a bit shocked.”
In the last two games you have handed out 26 assists without committing a single turnover. How is that even possible?
“I just feel good and I see the floor very well and very clearly. At the same time, though, I think our offense is starting to click. We had a tough start to the season and now we’re beginning to get a bit better in that area. That’s starting to show, not only in my own numbers, but also in the team’s numbers.”
At the beginning of the season Olympiacos struggled somewhat with the assist-to-turnover ratio. Do you think it’s just a matter of time before the team improves in that area?
“Yes, we’ve changed a few things regarding our lineups and we’re still changing things to find the right balance. It’s not that easy to start a season and have everything be perfect. With time, though, you find it. Sometimes things don’t go well until you do, but other times they go extremely well. Now we need to keep repeating the things that work well, and I think we’ve started to do that.”
Olympiacos added another master of the assist-to-turnover ratio, Monte Morris, and many believe that his presence will free you up even more on the court. Do you agree?
“Definitely. I’m looking forward to playing with him and I think his presence will give us even better ball movement and even more passing. He has an excellent feel for the game, and that’s not easy to find. Having another player like that on the floor will make everyone’s life easier, and that’s what we’re trying to do; to make life easier for Milu (Milutinov), Sasha (Vezenkov), Evan (Fournier), Tyler (Ward), Alec (Peters). For all our scorers. We don’t want them to have to work so hard to score; we want to make their lives easier.”
To close, I’d like you to mention the most important assist you’ve had during your years at Olympiacos, both on the court and off it.
“As far as games are concerned, it’s very difficult to think of one. Maybe I’ll come back to it at some point if something comes to mind. Off the court, however, the most important assist I give is recommending restaurants to my teammates. When a new player joins the team, I know exactly how to point him in the right direction to find what he’s looking for.”